Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain may have an ending, but it's not THE ending, according to many fans. The game ends rather abruptly, with a number of storylines unfinished and plot points unresolved.
Even more peculiar was the discovery of concept art, half-finished cutscenes and more from a final mission not actually included in the game, but that could be seen in behind-the-scenes footage included with the Metal Gear Solid V collector's edition.
Many fans have long hoped the now-infamous mission 51 would eventually be finished and added to the game as either a free update or DLC. The recent announcement of Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience (which includes MGSV and its prequel Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, along with all the DLC for both) would be the perfect time, in theory, to finish the ending for the game that was left on the cutting room floor. Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be the case.
Not only is the mission still unfinished and not included in The Definitive Experience, but now, the official Metal Gear Solid Twitter account is telling fans Konami has no plans to ever revisit the cut mission. When asked directly if Konami had plans to ever revisit mission 51, the account replied, "There are no plans we can speak to."
The Twitter account even went so far as to explain to numerous fans that, at least according to Konami, Metal Gear Solid V is finished.
"Mission 51 is additional story content that was cancelled before development finished, but its [sic] definitely not the ending," reads one tweet, while another states, "the ending isn't and never has been missing, but this is a prequel game to Metal Gear (released 1987)."
It's still unclear why mission 51 ended up on the cutting room floor in the first place, after so much work on it appeared finished in behind-the-scenes footage. Of course, fans have plenty of guesses. Metal Gear Solid V had a massive production budget and lengthy development cycle, one that didn't come cheap for Konami. Finishing the content may have meant another costly delay, something of which Konami might not have been keen. Add on creator Hideo Kojima and Konami's deteriorating relationship in the months leading up to the game's release, and any hope of the content being finished pre- or post-release by Kojima evaporated.
It seems that fans will simply have to live with the ending they've been given, but without mission 51, Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Edition feels like the exact opposite of what its name implies.
