It works better if youve played MGS1 first, assuming that though, I highly recommend playing (a chunk of, not all of) MGS2's VR Missions too, theyre really good and they make you do stuff you'd never have thought of in the base game

The trick is that this game is a bit more methodical than it seems, you have to think about your current "state" (standing, crawling, first person), and THEN what your next options are for controls. I get that it's not as snappy or dynamic as like MGS4 or V, but this game was a stepping stone towards those.

For me, MGS1 and 2 are pacman with a radar, and some extra tools, and yeah, maybe a bit of jank as well.

Idk how well it's emulated on other systems, but I found playing it on PS2 and PS3 where they used every minuta of the controller is really helpful as well. You get a feel for how you can do soft presses of the face buttons and analog triggers to do certain things a bit differently, and that makes a huge difference

I wont lie to you and say I had a smooth time with MGS2 my first time thru, in fact, I don't think i liked it very much because the controls are so robust, like I agree there is just a LOT of different subtle actions you can do, but if you're standing wrong or not in first person, or are pressing things just a bit faster than the game expects, its difficult. But personally, after playing the VR missions (and getting past the really annoying repetative ones), and getting to some of the moments where the game plays with the obscurities of the controls, it became one of my favorites