History YMMV / MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker

** The game being broken up into short missions. Some think that it makes sense for portable play, and it keeps the pace up. It also allows going back to Mother Base in between missions. Others feel that it destroys tension as keeping track of your inventory is no longer an issue (ammo is never truly scarce), and stopping the action every 20 minutes breaks the game's flow.
* ContestedSequel: Many ''Franchise/MetalGear'' fans who do not own the PlayStationPortable and/or care for the system's controls consider ''Peace Walker'' an unworthy sequel, much like ''Portable Ops'' before it. Of course, the control issues were fixed for the ''HD Edition'' released for the {{PlayStation 3}} and {{Xbox 360}}.
** After the remastered editions were released, they went on to out-sell the original PSP version and was widely acclaimed. Worth noting is that Metal Gear Solid V is a direct sequel to Peace Walker, and "Ground Zeroes" picks up more or less directly after it.

** Remember that little music video where Paz sings her theme song on top of Mother Base? [[spoiler: It's the exact same area where you fight her... with the song as the background music.]]

** In a briefing file about Ruinas de Xochiquetzal, Paz mentions after Big Boss mentions he'd show respect to the temple only if the mood strikes him that he has no one to blame but himself if Xochiquetzal strikes him down for that defiance. [[spoiler:That line becomes a lot less funny when one of the lines that Paz states during her fight against Big Boss is "You have no one to blame but yourself!" when firing ZEKE's railgun at Snake.]]

** The damn Velociprey in most of the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' missions. Not allowing you to reload? Getting in your way of firing potshots at the bosses? Leaping on you at the most inopportune times, knocking you down just as the boss is about to do something stupid? Just being an annoying part of the bosses? ''At least'' they let you cook up your rations. The funny thing is, they're faithful to their roles in VideoGame/MonsterHunter - being annoying pricks.

** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', Revolver Ocelot was fully complacent in the Patriots S3 Plan and was implied to be involved in the threat towards Olga's child's life if Olga didn't cooperate. In ''Peace Walker'', Ocelot himself was later revealed to have been under Sunny's position when The Boss and The Sorrow had their final battle at Dolinovodno.
** Anything involving Huey [[spoiler: in light of his actions in The Phantom Pain, where he becomes less of an Otacon-clone and more of a callous monster; it makes you wonder exactly how much truth there is to Coldman's comments regarding his plagiarism and exactly ''how skilled'' Huey is, given Skull Face's team are able to complete their Metal Gear ''without him'']].
* HilariousInHindsight: After Snake blows up the Chrysalis, he comments that Strangelove "played me like a piano". This is strikingly similar to a certain bit of MemeticMutation from ''Ground Zeroes''.
* HoYay: Kojima strikes again. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kie5hwjouNo Just listen to Paz 8th diary entry]]. Or watch the, well, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwVPfF8Ir1g date with Kaz]]. It's official: Kojima is actively pre-empting the slash fiction continuum. [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HoYay/MetalGear More info in here.]]
* IKnewIt: [[spoiler: "So wait, at the "endgame" the question of the discrepancy between Cécile and Paz stories concerning their capture by the CIA and the origin of the tape Vladimir Zadornov used to assure Big Boss's involvement still hasn't been answered? One of them isn't telling the truth... now which one is the ''least'' likely to be a traitor...?"]]

* {{Moe}}: Paz, the cutest girl in the franchise since Emma Emmerich. To a lesser extent, Cecile.

** [[spoiler: In a cruel twist, The Boss's horse must be euthanised by the player while also shooting The Boss again in a flashback, ''one right after the other''.]]

* PolishedPort: The HD Collection edition of the game for the [=PS3=] and [=Xbox360=] has improved controls thanks to dual analogue sticks. Being ported to consoles with proper online support makes the versus and co-op multiplayer a viable option.

** Paz. Most find her {{Moe}} persona extremely saccharine and more annoying or creepy than cute. [[spoiler: Post-reveal, she becomes more of a BaseBreaker, as she is either RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap by her tapes and true role in the story adding a lot of nuance to her character, or comes off even worse due to her betrayal of MSF and attempting to frame them by launching a nuke at the US. There's also the fact that she throws the player on a wild goose chase every time she frees Zadornov]].

** Huey Emmerich, a [[GenerationXerox poor man]]'s Otacon. Whereas Otacon's considerable angst made him TheWoobie, in Huey's case, while he does have some legitimate grievances, many players just see him as selfish and {{Wangst}}y instead. Mind you, this is all before VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain.
* ScrappyLevel: The torture chamber escape. In a throwback to Solid Snake's escape from prison in the original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', there's more than one way to escape, but the game doesn't flat out tell you what they are, [[spoiler:instead just expecting you to look around the room for unusual prompts]], which irritates some players, and once out, you're practically naked (and literally naked, too, at least from the waist up). Having to button mash very quickly for the first time since ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', with no way to opt out, doesn't help matters. Luckily, unlike many other levels in the game, [[AntiFrustrationFeatures it doesn't count the torture cutscenes as cutscene interaction]], meaning that if you know what to do, you can actually escape the level with an S-Rank. You ''will'' still die a lot due to how punishing the torture session is, though.
** If you wonder exactly what makes this part so hard, the speed you are expected to press the button is so fast that even you somehow get past it, your finger will be strained for at least a week from pressing the button so fast. And even worst, the presses are programmed so fast that ''turbo controllers can't even keep up''.

* TheyJustDidntCare: At the end of Chapter 4, Snake removes The Boss' bandanna and lets it fly into the sea. In [[ExtendedGameplay Chapter 5]], Snake ''still wears it'', even in story missions and the graphic novel cutscenes.

* {{Moe}}: Paz, the cutest girl in the franchise since Emma Emmerich.

* {{XenSyndrome}}: The entirety of chapters 4 and 5 are punishingly difficult in single player, and require ridiculous amounts of grinding in the side missions.

* HarsherInHindsight: In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', Revolver Ocelot was fully complacent in the Patriots S3 Plan and was implied to be involved in the threat towards Olga's child's life if Olga didn't cooperate. In ''Peace Walker'', Ocelot himself was later revealed to have been under Sunny's position when The Boss and The Sorrow had their final battle at Dolinovodno.
** Anything involving [[spoiler: Huey in light of his actions in The Phantom Pain, where he becomes less of an Otacon-clone and more of a callous monster; it makes you wonder exactly how much truth there is to Coldman's comments regarding his plagiarism and exactly ''how skilled'' Huey is, given Skull Face's team are able to complete their Metal Gear ''without him'']].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: One of the early game powerful soldiers you recruit in the game is named Alligator. He quickly became ''the'' MSF member.
%%* FauxSymbolism: [[spoiler: The Mammal Pod is full of butterflies, which become the pale petals of Rokovoj Bereg. The final butterfly becomes a peace symbol upon contact with water! Hideo Kojima is a genius, stop looking confused!]]
* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** Remember that little music video where Paz sings her theme song on top of Mother Base? [[spoiler: It's the exact same area where you fight her... with the song as the background music.]]
** The Tactical Espionage Operations trailer has Kazuhira Miller explaining to Big Boss about their potential future role in the economy, as well as Big Boss explaining that they probably shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place because people are going to get rid of him. It becomes a heck of a lot more harsh after beating the game, as this was actually part of the second ending, [[spoiler:a few hours after defeating Paz, where Miller ends up admitting to his involvement in Cipher's scheme.]]
** In a briefing file about Ruinas de Xochiquetzal, Paz mentions after Big Boss mentions he'd show respect to the temple only if the mood strikes him that he has no one to blame but himself if Xochiquetzal strikes him down for that defiance. [[spoiler:That line becomes a lot less funny when one of the lines that Paz states during her fight against Big Boss is "You have no one to blame but yourself!" when firing ZEKE's railgun at Snake.]]
** Miller's English voice actor is British-born Robin Atkin Downes, which is ironic when you take into account of the fact that [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid about 31 years later]], British-raised Liquid Snake does pose as Master Miller.]]

* [[spoiler: Paz - who we later learn is doing her utmost to fight everything she feels for Big Boss and MSF, turns on you in the finale with a mocking, heartbreaking ''"Say peace!"'' that goes against everything about her character prior to this]].

** Some fans of the series were divided over the boss fights. Some saw the need to procure ammo by calling it in as a mechanic that added tension, others found it [[ScrappyMechanic just wasted time]]. This was especially true when fighting bosses in single player, where there would never be enough ammunition in the field for you to win the battle.
*** Additionally, the bosses were all armored vehicles or AI, rather than single humans with superpowers. It does provide the game with a more serious tone, but not everyone liked this detraction from the rest of the series.

* MoeMoe: Paz, the cutest girl in the franchise since Emma Emmerich.

** If you wonder exactly what makes this part so hard, the speed you are expected to press the button is so fast that even you somehow get past it, your finger will be strained for at least a week from pressing the button so fast. And even worst, the presses are programmed so fast that even ''turbo controllers can't even keep up''.

* BadassDecay: The fact that [[VideoGame/MonsterHunter Rathalos]] the "King of the Skies" is rendered a bit moot when it's fighting a modern-day BadassNormal that almost exclusively uses guns, unless it decides to use the [[OverlyLongFightingAnimation "Rathalos World Tour"]].

* HarsherInHindsight: In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SomsOfLiberty'', Revolver Ocelot was fully complacent in the Patriots S3 Plan and was implied to be involved in the threat towards Olga's child's life if Olga didn't cooperate. In ''Peace Walker'', Ocelot himself was later revealed to have been under Sunny's position when The Boss and The Sorrow had their final battle at Dolinovodno.

* {{XenSyndrome}}: The entirety of chapters 4 and 5 are punishingly difficult in single player, and require ridiculous amounts of grinding in the side-missions.

** Fans are divided as to whether ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'' was made non-canon due to the relative lack of reference in ''Peace Walker''. In addition, fans were also similarly divided in regards to whether [[spoiler: Kazuhira Miller was still working with Cipher by the end of Peace Walker or whether he quit working with Cipher after Paz attempted to launch a nuke at the East Coast under what is implied to be their orders, although the ending and the call itself suggests the latter belief is true.]]

*** Additionally, the bosses were all armored vehicles or AI, rather than single humans with super-powers. It does provide the game with a more serious tone, but not everyone liked this detraction from the rest of the series.

* ContestedSequel: Many Franchise/MetalGear fans who do not own the PlaystationPortable and/or care for the system's controls consider ''Peace Walker'' an unworthy sequel, much like ''Portable Ops'' before it. Of course, the control issues were fixed for the ''HD Edition'' released for [=PS3=] and 360.

** The Stealth Camo, the Infinity Bandana, and the Soliton Radar (which, ironically enough, was part of normal gameplay as early as ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake''). If it's any condolence, usage of the Stealth Camo won't allow you to S-rank missions, the Soliton Radar isn't useful until Rank Five, and the Infinity Bandana is acquired after a ''very hard'' Custom AI fight. If that wasn't enough, they also require a very long time to develop, too.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: One of the early game powerful soldiers you recruit in the game is named Alligator. He quickly became '''the''' MSF member. With many players hoping that he'll show up as an actual character in Ground Zeroes

** Kazuhira Miller's English voice actor is British-born Robin Atkin Downes, which is ironic when you take into account of the fact that [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid about 31 years later]], British-raised Liquid Snake does pose as Master Miller.]]

** Scouts are particularly annoying to deal with when attempting to use CQC on them. They can counter with fibre wire to strangle you. Worse yet is that they can easily detect you even when using a high-index camo suit and night-vision goggles. [[NintendoHard Careful stealth is key here.]]
* HarsherInHindsight: In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', Revolver Ocelot was fully complacent in the Patriots S3 plan and was implied to be involved in the threat towards Olga's child's life if Olga didn't cooperate. In ''Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker'', Ocelot himself was later revealed to have been under Sunny's position when The Boss and The Sorrow had their final battle at Dolinovodno.

* IKnewIt: [[spoiler: "So wait, at the "endgame" the question of the discrepancy between Cecile and Paz stories concerning their capture by the CIA and the origin of the tape Vlad used to assure Big Boss's involvement still hasn't been answered? One of them isn't telling the truth... now which one is the ''least'' likely to be a traitor...?"]]

* MemeticMolester: Paz's diary reveals Strangelove groped her under the guise of applying suntan. (Strangelove nearly fainted.) Then she gets a cold, and then Kaz tries to serenade her, and then exclaims that suppositories are good for colds... and then takes off his pants. And after that, Strangelove comes by with an "Indian remedy" that you rub on your chest.

** Interestingly subjective: Many might dispute when or indeed if Naked Snake has crossed this in the prequel continuity so far. When you consider that he's running a mercenary company that will fight for virtually anyone with the money, it seems that if Big Boss didn't cross already, he's right at the edge. Most of his dialogue in the game suggests that, at the very least, he's developed a very fatalistic outlook of the world, without even the hope for a better future that defined his son's career.

** Keep hitting CODEC while facing off against Peace Walker and you'll hear a very panicked Huey lament 'Oh God! We're all doooooomed!'.

** One of the game over lines has Cécile saying "Here. I'll do the Quetzal for you." and do generic bird sounds. Made funnier when the subtitles says "Kyoooh Kyoooh".

** How you destroy [[spoiler:the Mammal Pod. Basically, you go inside Peace Walker and pull out all the AI memory boards, listening to a progressively deteriorating voice of The Boss. To put this in human terms, you're going inside her brain and ripping chunks out of it until she's completely lobotomised.]]
* ScrappyLevel: The torture chamber escape. In a throwback to Solid Snake's escape from prison in the original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', there's more than one way to escape, but the game doesn't flat-out tell you what they are, [[spoiler:instead just expecting you to look around the room for unusual prompts,]] which irritates some players, and once out, you're practically naked (and literally naked, too, at least from the waist up). Having to button-mash very quickly for the first time since ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', with no way to opt out, doesn't help matters. Luckily, unlike many other levels in the game, [[AntiFrustrationFeatures it doesn't count the torture cutscenes as cutscene interaction]], meaning that if you know what to do, you can actually escape the level with an S-Rank. You ''will'' still die a lot due to how punishing the torture session is, though.
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''Peace Walker'' is the sequel to ''Portable Ops'' in the sense that not only is it an MGS game made for the PSP, but it follows the same premise of building a small army by capturing and indoctrinating enemy soldiers. However, ''PW'' builds on virtually every aspect of ''MPO'' and pretty much blows its predecessor out of the water.

** The changes for the various promotional product placement items in the game were mostly changed. For instance, the magazines, which were originally referencing stuff like ''Dengeki Playstation'', ''Dengeki Gaming Blitz'', ''Weekly Shonen'', and ''Weekly Famitsu'', were altered to be about more serious matters, such as politics, and also to include nods to the Les Enfants Terribles children (Solid, Liquid, and Solidus).
** The various Curry items were originally Bon Curry, Bon Curry Neo, and Bon Curry Gold 21. However, they changed it to Spicy Curry, Future Curry, and Great Curry, respectively, and they also redid the item description to give a history on what Curry is, and even stated that it was Kazuhira Miller's favorite food. With Pepsi Nex, they also altered the design so it acted as a reference to Narc Soda, the soft drink that Drebin often drank from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''. Likewise, all of the items were also given some unique brand names (Tres Bien for the Men's Cologne [originally a product placement for Axe], and Taco Chips for the Tortilla Chips [which by the way was a product placement for Doritos]).

* UnfortunateImplications:
** The fact that Kojima had several characters in the series, even those who haven't officially turned evil in later chronological instalments (e.g., Kazuhira Miller), were praising Che Guevara caused a degree of controversy within the fandom, particularly those who were very familiar with Che's history, including the fact that he declared his intent to use nukes to commit genocide against those who didn't believe in Socialism, since it directly contradicted Kojima's anti-nukes message in the series.
*** WordOfGod states that the only 'true hero' of the Metal Gear universe is ''Solid Snake'', however. In this game, the people who put across support for Che Guevara are either people whose countries were in similar positions to pre-Castro Cuba, or people who actively support Big Boss, too - who ''is'' to become a lead villain in the series as the games progress.
** At the end of the game, Strangelove's possible case of [[spoiler:CureYourGays, where she goes out on a date with Huey and is implied to be Otacon's mother]]. This is even worse considering she was a villainous character for most of the time before then.

** At the end of the game, Strangelove's possible case of [[spoiler:CureYourGays, where she goes out on a date with Huey and is implied to be Otacon's mother]]. This is even worse considering she was a villainous character for most of the time before then.

** In Paz's 10th Diary entry, she briefly wonders if Chico would keep her secret to himself in order to protect her, before reassuring herself that he wouldn't. Chico's briefing files on "Paz's True Self" reveals that he actually considered the idea and probably would've gone back to tell Paz that had she not already activated ZEKE.

** In Paz's 10th Diary entry, she briefly wonders if Chico would keep her secret to himself in order to protect her, before reassuring herself that he wouldn't. Chico's briefing files on "Paz's True Self" reveals that he actually considered the idea and might have tried go back to tell Paz that.