We caught up with Metal Gear Solid Rising producer Shigenobu Matsuyama, who has provided details on the latest entry in the franchise.

The story...

Well, the story itself takes place between MGS2 and MGS4, and will revolve around how Raiden turned from “flesh and blood” into a cyborg. The core of the story will focus on Raiden's transformation physically and mentally. That’s all I can really share at this point.

Changes in story delivery...

One of the key points of MGS series was the long in-game cinematics, but based on consumer feedback, it seemed as though they were a gift and a curse. So I am trying to find the right balance and set the appropriate length for cut-scenes and focus on story, versus the amount of action and pure gameplay.

From tactical espionage to lightning bolt action...

MGS Rising will include a feature called "Dan Zatsu battle." Hopefully you saw our stage demo at Tokyo Game Show where we demoed Raiden’s cutting ability. A layer of stealth, which is what the MGS series is known for, will be implemented as well, however it will operate a little differently. The stealth feature in MGS Rising will be called "Hunting Stealth" and will be more active and acrobatic. Regarding the actual tagline, "lightning bolt action" is derived from Raiden's lightning bolt like speedy action. "Rai" in Raiden means "lightning" and "den" means "bolt" in Japanese.

Free cutting in combat...

The "Dan Zatsu battle" system has a couple of different features that not only involves slicing and dicing enemies, but enable the player to gain information, and obtain weapons and items from enemies as well. The aiming and slicing is the fun part though, as you can aim and slice every time when attacking.

And you can cut just about anything...

We want to give the player a lot of freedom when using Raiden’s Katana and you will be able to slice just about anything. Though we have recognized through prototype-examination that we do maintain a balance on what can actually be sliced – it’s a continuous adjustment. The full list of items that the player can cut hasn’t been decided yet. We do continue to throw ideas

Slicing is satisfying...

We learned early on that the “free slicing” program feature will deliver a great feeling of satisfaction to the player. Using that mechanic as the foundation, instead of using Snake as the lead character – who's more reliant on guns and CQC, it made perfect sense to bring Raiden in as the lead protagonist. The game will ultimately show players the true potential force and terror a Japanese Katana can cause when used as a weapon. These were all the ingredients that made the general concept and MGS Rising was born.

To kill or not to kill...

Yes, it is possible to disable enemies in MGS Rising, same as MGS series. You can actually simply slice an enemy’s weapon and disable them that way. But we wanted to give the player the option on whether to disable or kill an enemy. It’s literally up to them, but you have the option to do one or the other.

On 3D and motion control...

3D is not officially confirmed yet. What we showed at TGS was just a referential presentation. We have not officially confirmed if we will support motion control either, as it is very difficult to manage such precise accuracy of action and speed that MGS Rising’s controls will require. Both 3D and motion control features are worth considering, though.

When will we learn more about Metal Gear Solid Rising?

It’s all part of our rollout strategy and we didn’t want to give away too much until now. Though I would like to apologize if this has caused some fuss among fans. You’ll be happy to know though that the next unveiling planned will reveal a lot of the story elements so stay tuned!