Metal Gear Solid 5: Best Things to Do After Beating The Game

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is not a new game. It came out in 2015! That doesn’t make it as old as Solid Snake was in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots; but still, it doesn’t seem like the game will be getting the never-ending Grand Theft Auto V treatment anytime soon. In many ways, it’s a game that begs not to be continuously played.

There has been much debate and controversy about the troubled development for this fifth and final mainline Metal Gear Solid entry, but even when treating the game on its own terms, it’s hard not to feel like the narrative is meant to peter out as it drifts from Act 1 (where the majority of the plot is tidied up) to Act 2. In the final dozen or so hours, many of the missions are retreads from the first act and one of the final, original missions Snake takes part in sees him having to execute his own soldiers. It puts a damper on any desire to continue to play the game (and is arguably meant to). Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean players can’t and that there isn’t a reason to. This guide will cover some of the best things to do after beating the main game.

What to do after beating Metal Gear Solid V

Get an S-rank on every mission

• Unlike most other Metal Gear Solid games, The Phantom Pain lets you replay missions that have already been completed. The stealth and action mechanics are top-notch here, and it’s a real joy to play. Playing it well and earning S-ranks on all missions is a challenge definitely worth doing for those who can’t get enough of the central game-play loop.

Listen to all cassette tapes

• The story in The Phantom Pain is much less cut-scene heavy than past games in the series, but it’s still there in the cassette tapes. As Snake completes main missions and side-ops, he’ll receive tons and tons of them. It’s hard to listen to them all, especially in the heat of the main story, but they’re worth diving into to learn more about what’s going on in the world of Metal Gear Solid V.

Collect all music cassette tapes

• What’s even better than tapes that give little chunks of narrative? Tapes with music! The Phantom Pain has a killer soundtrack that mixes classic staples from the franchise with some cool ’80s hits. Get them all, kick back with D-Dog, and just listen to some tunes.

Master the F.O.B.

• Forward operating bases in The Phantom Pain are an online component of the game that only briefly gets included in the main campaign. In a sense, it’s a kind of competitive base-building game-mode where players can build up their bases with resources and staff, defend their bases from attackers, and infiltrate the bases’ of others as well. It’s a bit of a surprise to see PvP returning to the series after 2008’s Metal Gear Online, but it’s great for anyone who wants to keep working toward something even after the credits role.

Work toward the secret ending

• Want something to work towards? Well, there’s a secret ending in Metal Gear Solid V, but it’s a doozy to actually unlock. In order to do so, players must denuclearize their entire arsenal through the above-mentioned online component of the game—all players, that is. Every single player on a given server must collectively get rid of all their nuclear weapons in order to unlock the secret ending. To date, it has only ever been done once in July, 2020 on the PlayStation 3. Still, can’t hurt to contribute to the cause and denuclearize.

Start from ground zero

• Finished the game? Why not start the series over! Not from Ground Zero—the teaser/prequel that was released in advance of The Phantom Pain—but ground zero of the series: Metal Gear Solid. One could even go back and play the original Metal Gear games! It’s an epic and convoluted series that yields so much with repeated play-throughs. With the circuitous timeline (The Phantom Pain technically takes place between the first and third entry) one could conceivably just keep playing the games on a loop forever and ever. Or at least until the Colonel says, “Turn the console off!”

Metal Gear Solid V  is available on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC.

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