Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Adds The Ability To Pause Cutscenes, Takes Over 10 Seconds

Konami’s upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol 1 includes a brand new feature that allows players to pause cutscenes, though doing so can take over 10 seconds.

Multiple sources have indicated that Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol 1 offers a brand new feature that wasn’t there in the original games, which is the ability to pause cutscenes. However, there is a bit of a catch.

While it’s great to finally have this Quality of Life feature in Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, and 3, loading up the pause menu during cutscenes can take over 10 seconds on current-gen consoles! This is somewhat disappointing, and likely due to the porting staff not tampering much with the original game code for each of the titles included in Vol 1 of the Master Collection. That said, the lengthy duration is only there when pausing the games during cutscenes, which isn’t a frequent use case at all. The pause menue loads up instantly during regular gameplay in each of the Metal Gear titles included in Master Collection Vol 1.

Previously, it was reported that the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection will allow players to create save data from other PS1 games for use in Metal Gear Solid 1. Diehard MGS fans will remember a feature in Metal Gear Solid 1, where Psycho Mantis would read save data on the PS1 memory card, and certain saves from other Konami titles would trigger certain dialogues from him. The Japanese version of MGS1 offered a wider range of dialogues for Psycho Mantis, where certain save combinations from certain Konami games would trigger more specific lines from him. Metal Gear Solid Integral, a re-release with some new features, had a slightly different list of quotes from Psycho Mantis, including a modified/updated list of games he could detect compared to the original Japanese version of the game.

With Metal Gear Solid Master Collection, Konami has not only restored this feature in Vol.1 of the Master Collection, but it has gone one step further, by allowing players to create dummy save data for games that resulted in a unique dialogue from Psycho Mantis in the original.