Driving Off the Map: A Formal Analysis of Metal Gear Solid 2
i don't know how to tl;dr this but it seems right for the eggbug crowd. one of the points that stuck with me is "raiden is hated because he's a reflection of the player, someone trained on simulations who believes he's as good as the real thing, snake"
I've had this in my bookmarks for like a decade and I go back and reread it once every couple years. extremely good stuff
and he did it again with Venom Snake, literally a plastic surgery appearance clone of Snake that happened to be nearby who is deluded into believing he's Snake and filled with rage. and in the end, when it is all revealed, it's via a thank you from the real Snake and saying he's now part of the legend of Snake
