The video discusses the iconic but often overlooked detail of Snake's smoking habits across the Metal Gear game series. It highlights how cigarettes were initially just health-depleting items but later gained properties like steadying nerves or detecting lasers. The focus then shifts to the "Phantom Cigar" in Metal Gear Solid 5, which alters time perception. The host speculates on possible real-world substances that could mimic this effect, discussing various drugs and their impacts on time perception. Ultimately, it suggests that marijuana could be the in-game herb due to its time-altering effects when used socially versus alone. The video concludes by humorously pondering what drug another character, Psycho Mantis, might be using.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. The Metal Gear Solid series has a recurring theme of the main character smoking.
2. In the first Metal Gear game, cigarettes were the first item received and could help Snake's nerves when aiming.
3. In the original Metal Gear game, equipping a cigarette extended the time Snake had to escape from a self-destructing facility.
4. In Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Venom Snake uses an electronic cigar that speeds up his perception of time.
5. The cigar is blended with a medicinal herb that speeds up the user's perception of time, but loses its effects if the user is under stress.
6. The game's description of the cigar's effects is similar to the effects of certain drugs, such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and opium.
7. Methamphetamine was first synthesized by a Japanese chemist named Nagai Nagayoshi in 1893.
8. Cocaine is sometimes used as an anesthetic for nasal surgery and as a diagnostic test for Parkinson's disease.
9. Opium is made from poppies and has been used for medicinal purposes, including as a pain reliever and to induce sleep.
10. Marijuana has been shown to alter the user's perception of time, but the effect is dependent on the user's circumstances and level of experience with the drug.
11. According to a 1963 study, most of marijuana's effects are learned rather than being a direct result of the drug.
12. A 1972 book on altered states of consciousness describes how marijuana use can cause users to focus on non-time processes, leading to a distorted sense of time.
13. The author of the text believes that the drug in Venom Snake's cigar is likely marijuana, based on its effects and the game's setting in the 1980s.
I hope this helps!