It’s been nearly nine years since Metal Gear Solid 5 first came out, and it has since held its place as one of the most extraordinary stealth experiences in gaming. Although Kojima could only partially realize his creative vision with the game, it can still dominate most of today’s games.
Funnily enough, the most prominent instances of the game’s vision come from all the little details that push players into the realm of speculation and wonder. Even today, all these years later, people are still finding new information that hints at the game’s final plot twist.
A Metal Gear Solid 5 Fan Has Discovered One Small Detail in the Game’s Birthday Cutscene
Perhaps getting tired of waiting for Metal Gear Solid Delta, a few fans of the franchise are now jumping back to the series’ glorious past, starting with V. Here’s the thing – one of them seems to have made a rather peculiar discovery about the game’s Birthday easter egg:
Idk if I'm overanalyzing, but during the bday cutscene in MGSV Venom Snake sniffs the cigar, and then Kaz looks at him with a straight face because canonically Big Boss can't smell anything pic.twitter.com/pI3vguKhS1
— Isa 🦖❗️ (@isassaur) July 6, 2024
Here’s a refresher to understand what exactly is going on – when you begin your playthrough of Metal Gear Solid 5, you may remember being asked to enter your birth date.
While having little to no significance from a gameplay standpoint, if you decide to play the game on your birthday, a sweet little cutscene plays out with Diamond Dogs celebrating your birthday.
The interesting bit here, of course, is how Big Boss smells the Cigar that Ocelot gives him. But, most will be aware from the previous titles that Big Boss canonically cannot smell, and Kaz, too, seems to notice the behavior, questioningly looking at Snake.
Of course, given how much time has passed since the game’s release, it’s difficult not to put two and two together and realize that this tiny detail was yet another hint at how Venom Snake was a brainwashed clone of Big Boss.
The Hint Is Simply One of Many Hints That Kojima Throws at Metal Gear Solid 5’s Player Base
While it remains to be seen how much Konami can live up to Kojima’s vision with their upcoming Metal Gear title, let us take a moment to appreciate all the breadcrumbs that Kojima left for us to pick on throughout the narrative of V.
From Venom Snake’s need for an interpreter throughout the game, his confusing reaction to Ocelot’s references to MGS 3‘s story, and his use of E-Cigar, which mirrored his own fabricated persona compared to the original Big Boss, the game contains a rabbit hole’s worth of details that allude to the plot twist.
From a narrative standpoint, the references to Moby Dick and how our “Ishmael” finally appears at the end of the story is another point worth mentioning here. It’s a stroke of narrative genius that only Otacon’s real life could have accomplished.
With that said though, what are your thoughts on this discovery? Are there other hints to the plot twist that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!
