More impressions
MGS4 and OId Snake are one and the same, just as Big Boss is MGS3. The fans adored the latter, idolized it, made it into a "perfect" icon, and wanted to propagate and continue it. So, thus far, Zero is the fans of the series. Therefore, 4 is a pale, semi-castrated clone of 3, which can be argued in a lot of aspects, but it also surpassed its predecessor.
In order for Snake to finish everything, the entire cast of MGS3 needed to be dead. Once he was free from that legacy, he had nothing else to do. There was no motivation; there was nothing left on the "inside," where he was created and meant to live. Upon Big Boss' death, he went both "outside" the world the Patriots had created and "outside" the world that the fans had forced to exist, his game world. Big Boss pretty much explicitly stated that Snake was free from control, and he obviously didn't just mean the missions and the Patriots. Just as in the ending of MGS2, he was freed from the player.
And just as the Patriots in-game helped him along to complete his mission, unaware that he would bring them down, too, the player unwittingly brought him to the point where he could break "outside" and never be controlled again. They did this both by demanding the creation of the game and by playing it through to the end.
The end of MGS4 brought everyone in that universe "outside." Outside is both outside of the Patriots and outside of the player's control, and therefore there cannot be a chronological sequel. By this logic, Rising by necessity takes place before 4. But at the same time, new games with Big Boss are possible, as he is a completely "inside" character. "Outside"-ness can only occur after his death. He's intrinsically tied to the Patriots/fans for his entire life, since he dies within the series.
The Beauties are obviously "inside," too. They die on the outside, as they make no sense out of MGS4's context. I... well, there's a lot that can be said about them. I'm more concerned with why Snake can never be the protagonist of another new game. I mean, other than the obvious physical reasons.
Then again, Raiden broke free of the player and the innermost "inside," yet Rising is still being made. But with the retcons, I suppose he still was "inside" at that point.
In order for Snake to finish everything, the entire cast of MGS3 needed to be dead. Once he was free from that legacy, he had nothing else to do. There was no motivation; there was nothing left on the "inside," where he was created and meant to live. Upon Big Boss' death, he went both "outside" the world the Patriots had created and "outside" the world that the fans had forced to exist, his game world. Big Boss pretty much explicitly stated that Snake was free from control, and he obviously didn't just mean the missions and the Patriots. Just as in the ending of MGS2, he was freed from the player.
And just as the Patriots in-game helped him along to complete his mission, unaware that he would bring them down, too, the player unwittingly brought him to the point where he could break "outside" and never be controlled again. They did this both by demanding the creation of the game and by playing it through to the end.
The end of MGS4 brought everyone in that universe "outside." Outside is both outside of the Patriots and outside of the player's control, and therefore there cannot be a chronological sequel. By this logic, Rising by necessity takes place before 4. But at the same time, new games with Big Boss are possible, as he is a completely "inside" character. "Outside"-ness can only occur after his death. He's intrinsically tied to the Patriots/fans for his entire life, since he dies within the series.
The Beauties are obviously "inside," too. They die on the outside, as they make no sense out of MGS4's context. I... well, there's a lot that can be said about them. I'm more concerned with why Snake can never be the protagonist of another new game. I mean, other than the obvious physical reasons.
Then again, Raiden broke free of the player and the innermost "inside," yet Rising is still being made. But with the retcons, I suppose he still was "inside" at that point.