Review · Action · PlayStation 4 · PC · Xbox One
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Reviewed: 30 Apr 2026
PlayStation 4 · PC · Xbox One · PlayStation 3 · Xbox 360
Kojima Productions · 2015
Ludograph rating
A
Recommended
78 /100
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is an action shooter that cultivates strategic thinking and adaptive challenge through complex gameplay, featuring significant mature content.
Growth (BDS)
64
Risk (RIS)
0
Daily limit
–
Age guidance
17+
Developmental benefits
| B1 | Cognitive | 0.84 | |
| B2 | Social-emotional | 0.27 | |
| B3 | Motor | 0.70 | |
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain offers a deep and engaging narrative experience with complex characters and themes. Its open-world design encourages strategic thinking, problem-solving, and spatial awareness through stealth and combat encounters. Base management adds a layer of resource allocation and planning, fostering cognitive skills. The adaptive AI provides a dynamic and challenging experience, requiring players to constantly learn and adapt their tactics.
Design risks
| R1 | Compulsion-loop pressure | 0.00 | |
| R2 | Monetization | 0.00 | |
| R3 | Social risk | 0.00 | |
The game's M-rating indicates mature content, including significant violence, some language, and potentially mild sexual themes or substance references. While it avoids manipulative monetization and engagement mechanics, the intense narrative and action-oriented gameplay may require emotional regulation. The military themes, while part of a complex story, could be interpreted as mild propaganda.
Content (not in risk score)
| R4.1 | Violence Level | 1.00 | |
| R4.2 | Sexual Content | 0.33 | |
| R4.3 | Language | 0.67 | |
| R4.4 | Substance References | 0.33 | |
| R4.5 | Fear / Horror | 0.33 | |
Content risk is displayed separately and does not affect the time recommendation.
Regulatory design checks · DSA — Assessed: meets criteria·GDPR-K — Assessed: meets criteria·ODDS — Assessed: meets criteria
- DSA:What Ludograph checks: whether the game's design gives minors the transparency the EU Digital Services Act expects: plain terms, honest defaults, and clear reporting routes.: Estimated from review data. No dark pattern or child-targeting concerns found.
- GDPR-K:What Ludograph checks: whether age assurance and consent flows are designed for under-16s, in the spirit of GDPR Article 8.: Estimated from review data. No privacy or child-targeting concerns found.
- ODDS:What Ludograph checks: whether paid random-reward drop rates are disclosed, as required in China, Japan and South Korea.: Estimated from review data. No paid random-reward mechanics found, so drop-rate disclosure requirements do not apply.
These reflect Ludograph's assessment of the game's design practices against each framework's criteria, not a legal compliance determination.