Parasites are the new nanomachines--or should I say, nanomachines were the new parasites. MGS4 used nanomachines as a crutch to explain everything weird from seemingly immortal super healing to personality transplants. MGSV does the same thing, but using parasites instead. I never expected an explanation for the powers the Cobra Unit possessed, but MGSV went ahead and explained them anyways.
On the surface, parasites being used to infect people who speak certain languages sounds like a stretch, but Kojima has a way of providing a strong enough extrapolation from reality that it at least seems plausible, and the same goes for the concept of metallic archaea. Only from Kojima can you get equal doses of hard hitting military realism, historical minutia, and pseudo science. It creates a package that can't really be found anywhere else.
For all its faults with the narrative, the Metal Gear universe is one that is so uniquely realized that no other series comes close. Nowhere else can you can find such strong anti-war themes wrapped up in the ultimate war game with some of the corniest, most dramatic, and silliest gags out there. I look forward to finishing this game and potentially raging at the ending. Whatever happens at the end doesn't matter, because this journey has been worth it.
