Interpretation and creative intent will never perfectly overlap. However much we want to embrace creative authority as a guide – as the guide – for understanding our favorite media, we ultimately must fall back upon the created thing for necessary critical information.
Interpretation does not assess what had been desired; it assesses our experiences with what has been made. If, along the way, it finds ghosts of those creative intentions, then we may count ourselves richer for it.
This essay’s interpretation of Metal Gear Solid 4 relies solely upon the authors’ intimacy with the Metal Gear Saga in conjunction with direct experience of the game itself. If we err or over-reach in some particulars while speaking to the heart of the game’s experience, then those mistakes have been made well.
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