PAUL MACGILLIVRAY

The Blood & Truth dev loves MGS

STUDIO SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE / ROLE QA LEAD – BLOOD & TRUTH

What’s your favourite PlayStation game of all time, on any system? If I had to pick, it would probably be Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2). For me this was the best Metal Gear game with an incredible story, protagonist, bosses, and theme song. No other game lets you capture, and then eat, a boss’ pet parrot mid-fight. Also the ending. Bloodborne (PS4), Shadow Of The Colossus (PS2), and Persona 4 (PS Vita) have to get honourable mentions.

What PlayStation series most affected you? It has to be the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy VII was the reason I got a PlayStation and was also the first JRPG I played. It was my first time experiencing a game with such a narrative, fantastic music and excellent turn based RPG gameplay. I absolutely loved it! I’m still a massive FF fan to this day.

What game or series most influences you? The Bloodborne/Souls series. There is such care, passion and polish put into almost every aspect of the game. I really respect the way the developers leave the player to figure out the game on their own. This really promotes exploration and experimentation and gives a great deal of freedom to the player. This also feeds into the difficulty, you can either take your time to learn the boss fights or you can summon in other players if you just want to proceed. I’ve completed every single Souls game.

Which PlayStation game or series or developer changed the industry? The Metal Gear Solid series and Kojima Productions. When Metal Gear Solid released on PS1 it defined 3D stealth games as well as cinematics in games. Each new entry in the series has further refined gameplay and storytelling. Now it’s very common to see games with strong narratives but Metal Gear really set the bar for this. I really cannot wait to see what Kojima Productions do with Death Stranding!