THE FUSE

I’m admittedly a Johnny-come-lately to the work of Hideo Kojima. It took me until 2020 to play Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 (finishing the latter less than 24 hours after Election Day—a confluence of events so thuddingly ironic that it could easily be a plot point from the game itself), and until 2024 to play Metal Gear Solid 3, via Master Collection Vol. 1. These are, indeed, some of the best games ever made: inquisitive, personal, needle-sharp things that probe the possibilities of interactive fiction in ways both generous and bombastic.