I feel like people who hang trout on main characters for being "emo" and "whiny" are definitely missing the point. Just because a character has flaws and isn't some over-idealized Mary Sue doesn't make them badly written.

I think Square Enix has missed the point lately with their games, especially of the Final Fantasy variety. Every time they try to expand on their beloved games they always vastly miss the mark, whether it's due to trying to force a self-contained plot to be continued, rehashing worn-out plot elements while doing absolutely nothing new with them, simplifying the characters while forgetting what everyone loved about them and in some cases undoing their development from the original story, or just plain bad writing, I've yet to see SE do a direct sequel/prequel right.

Speaking of MGS4, I used to be obsessed with that game. Then I played the rest of the series, and saw MGS4 for what it truly was: just a flat out insult to the series, its fans and gamers in general. The fact that it's praised as a legitimate masterpiece of storytelling only shows how horrendously low the standards of the video game industry are, and how easily an epic and flashy presentation can disguise what is easily a top contender for the single worst story ever told in a game. And that's no hyperbole, either. I could write an essay on everything wrong with that game from a narrative standpoint, from the trainwreck of a plot riddled with holes, contradictions and retcons, to pretty much every character having inconsistent, poorly developed motives. And honestly the story being so bad wouldn't be such a big deal if not for the fact that it honestly had more cutscenes than actual gameplay.