People argue over whether it was Escape from Tarkov or The Division, but Phantom Pain is the earliest example of this gameplay loop.
- Home base with upgrades you expand and improve your base.
- Set your loadout before going on an extraction mission into the zone.
- Extraction zone is a large open world map with memorable locations used for multiple incursions and different objective missions.
- Exits from the map are set locations.
- Gameplay loop is to get in, do a [thing], and get out.
MGS: Phantom Pain was the first extraction shooter. The only thing modern extraction shooters do that it does not is that they put multiple human players on the map simultaneously for a mixed pvpve environment whereas MGS was purely PVE.


I’m one of those crackpots who thinks the missing elements of the story add to the themes emphasized by the story. But I won’t disagree with you that this is most likely serious cope.
As mentioned by the chapo boys 4,PW, and 5 place enormous importance on themes over plot points and I think V pulls this approach off really well.