Metal Gear Solid
- If the game isn't ported but merely emulated: are you aware of the full advantages recent free PlayStation 1 emulators can offer such as higher resolution, perspective correction, anti-aliasing, CRT shaders, scanlines, texture filtering, ...?
It would allow players to experience the original game with a much nicer visual presentation.
- Before the boss fight against Psycho Mantis, the latter has specific lines if he detects save data from PS1 Konami games such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Suikoden, Silent Hill, ...
Considering ports/remakes/sequels of these games are/will be available on the latest platforms (Castlevania Requiem, Suikoden I and II HD Remaster, Silent Hill 2 remake, ...), could these be detected instead?
Metal Gear Solid 2
Cutscenes
- If there's no HD native (or higher res) file available for the intro (the one with the Konami logo), an AI upscaler with manual touch-ups could be used to get a far cleaner presentation of this clip.
- Opening cutscene: "Light beams emanating from Snake's (stealth) suit as it shorts out render too small."(*)
- "The lightning from Fortune's railgun charging mostly doesn't render."(*)
- "Crossfade effect missing in cutscenes." (*)
- Reduced depth of field blurring.
- "In two instances the DOF effect is missing from foreground objects (a Gurlukovich soldier's leg in the cutscene before the shootout in the Tanker holds, and a US Marine's gun on the left side of the screen in the game over cutscene which plays if Snake is discovered in the very first area of the Scott Dolph speech section)."(*)
- "Color filters missing from 5 scenes.
1) Snake's stealth camo shorts out during introductory cutscene - cyan filter.
2) Raiden interacts with node and is electrocuted - high contrast filter.
3) Raiden's face reveal going up the elevator to the top of Strut A - cyan filter.
4) Otacon cries with parrot in Shell 1 Core B2 - dark blue filter.
5) Olga as Mr. X hits Raiden with her HF Blade - high contrast filter."(*)
- After Snake takes a photograph of Sergei Gurlukovich, he gets up. Sometimes parts of his bandana and the lightning behind him are not displayed (might have been only on PS3).
- During the cutscene before the boss fight against Olga, Snake points his M9 at her. The laser sight was visible on PS2 but it's turned off in the HD Edition.
PS2:
HD:
- When Raiden gets out of the water at the beginning of the Plant chapter, water drops were spilled on the screen on PS2. Most of the water drops are not there in the HD Edition.
PS2:
HD:
- Some elements are randomly missing from cutscenes (depends on the playthrough - might have been only on PS3) :
1) The rope used by the Gurlukovich soldiers to get on the Tanker.
https://www.metalgearsolid.be/metal_gear_solid_hd_collection_etranges_rencontres_06.html
2) The bugs on the ground before Fortune's boss fight.
https://www.metalgearsolid.be/metal_gear_solid_hd_collection_etranges_rencontres_07.html
3) The blood after Solidus has been beaten.
https://www.metalgearsolid.be/metal_gear_solid_hd_collection_etranges_rencontres_16.html
- Pliskin's head (hair/beard/face) textures were simplified in the HD Edition compared to the PS2 textures.
https://twitter.com/Nitroid/status/1628153900552314880
- During the cutscene introducing the Dead Cell unit, the name "George Sears" is now misspelt "Gorge Sears".
Source: https://www.metalgearsolid.be/metal_gear_solid_hd_collection_etranges_rencontres_09.html
Gameplay
- It feels like it doesn't rain as much on the Deck in the HD Edition.
- The Tactical Light on the USP also lights what's *behind* Snake before the gunfight with Gurlukovich soldiers.
- On PS2, pushing lightly or strongly on the Square button was used to brandish or fire a few weapons (assault rifles for example). On PS3 the pressure sensitivity wasn't the same, so it was harder not to shoot right away. On Xbox 360, the new control scheme for this was a bit cumbersome. In both cases, it made a few "Hold Up" missions much more difficult to complete.
- The CODEC takes each time several seconds to load compared the original on PS2. There are many CODEC conversations in this game so it's really annoying.
- "Weird audio quality for UI. Codec bleep and menu beeps sound tiny. When scrolling through options, the beep randomly becomes louder than it should be."(*)
- The grenades take too long to explode.
- Several posters of girls have been significantly darkened (including Mochizuki Saya poster: Deck-A, Crew's Quarters - left locker).
- The video displayed on the big screens in the Tanker Holds is really low quality.
- There are mirrored textures on the Connecting Bridge.
Source: https://www.metalgearsolid.be/metal_gear_solid_hd_collection_etranges_rencontres_14.html
- "Convex lens effect missing from sniper rifle scope."(*)
- If you've got a guard's dog tag, look at him wih the Scope and if it's his birthday, there'll be a special message on PS2. It doesn't work in the HD Edition.
Source:
- The geometry of the torture machine is flawed in the HD Edition.
Source: https://twitter.com/HEITAIs/status/1637060184622387200
- The alternate 2D portraits for the "Crazy" Colonel CODEC conversations are not displayed properly.
- If Raiden finds an electric shaver, he'll give it to Pliskin. When he finds Snake in Arsenal Gear, the latter will be clean shaved on PS2 (during gameplay, cutscenes and on the Codec Screen). If the player saves and reloads 10 days later, Snake's beard will have grown again.
HD Edition: Snake will only be clean shaved on the Codec screen (?). Saving and reloading days later won't have any effect whatsoever.
Source:
- In the PS2 versions, the difficulty of the torture sequence on top of Arsenal Gear was linked to the difficulty level chosen at the beginning of the game.
In the HD Edition, it's stuck on Normal regardless of the difficulty level.
- "Background textures for clear screen and Snake Tales text scenes are improperly stretched from 4:3 to 16:9."(*)
(*) https://tcrf.net/Metal_Gear_Solid_2:_Sons_of_Liberty#Metal_Gear_Solid:_HD_Collection
Metal Gear Solid 3
- The intro cutscene featured audio noise on the Konami logo, then the Snake Eater song started with the newspaper clips on PS2.
The Snake Eater song immediately starts with the Konami logo, so it's not synchronized with the video.
PS2:
HD:
- When Snake wears the Splitter facepaint, his head (hair/face/beard) displays SD textures instead of HD textures.
Source: https://twitter.com/HEITAIs/status/1662459729208287233
- On PS2, pushing lightly or strongly on the Circle button was used to catch an enemy or to slit his throat. On PS3 the pressure sensitivity wasn't the same, so it was harder not to kill him right away. On Xbox 360, the new control scheme for this was a bit cumbersome.
- Effects like Depth of Field, Blur Motion, ... have been diminished/removed.
- The rain is barely visible in the HD Edition (especially during the cutscene where Snake meets The Boss on the Dolinovodno bridge and in Chyornyj Prud ).
- The Cure & Food video clips start out the proper way but end up horribly pixelated.
Source: https://www.metalgearsolid.be/metal_gear_solid_hd_collection_etranges_rencontres_19.html
- When a weapon is found, the descriptive text isn't sometimes centered.
- If Snake crawls underneath Rassvet during the fight against the Ocelot unit, the dust moves in big patches.
- If Snake runs with a lit cigar, the tip will duplicate.
Source: https://www.metalgearsolid.be/metal_gear_solid_hd_collection_etranges_rencontres_17.html
- During the pre-boss fight custscene with The End, the scenery behind him when he gets up isn't displayed anymore.
PS2:
HD:
- When you kill The End's parrot on PS2, it appears as a "ghost" (transparent textures) on the The End death cutscene. I think it doesn't work anymore in the HD Edition.
- On PS2 the player has the choice to pull the trigger (pressing Square) or to let the game do it after defeating The Boss. In the HD Collection (PS3 only?) pressing Square doesn't work.
- The Duel Mode has been removed. There was strictly no copyrighted content or use of another game engine for this mode so it doesn't make sense to remove it.