Metal Gear Rising Nostalgia

It's worth to mention Raiden barely speaks of his family in MGRR. While not mentioning a divorce he doesn't visit either. This makes him a deadbeat dad. John would grow in Raiden's shadow, a father he can't even mention out of the fear of his enemies.

In MGR2 Raiden would be the main antagonist. The story would take place in 2028 likely during the American president election, or 2030. Either the government or a group of technocrats want him dead, so they call for the new protagonist to take him out.

To make things more interesting Raiden isn't alone. While he works alone, his streak of assassination of high profile figures has created a wave of anarchists who root for the man who can take down untouchable giants. An anarchists "fan club" would follow Raiden around. They would have their own goals and leaders, but they would treat Raiden as a hero.

Now about the new protagonist. We could have a new character we never heard of before or we could work with the now grown kids of MGRR.

Sunny as the new Otakon, this one is easy. Raiden rescued her from the Patriots and she has a lot of respect for him in MGRR. But she's not protagonist material. Also the problem with Raiden as an antagonist is the power scaling. How do you scale to a man who can lift a metal gear and throw it across the city? Even if Raiden returned back to his tutorial body, he's still a powerhouse.

We have George from MGRR who is also a fan of Raiden. He was sliced in half by the cyborg in the events of Guadalajara Mexico mission and now is himself a cyborg from the waist down. He was last seen working with Sunny at the end of MGRR. He has high potential as a protagonist, being what Raiden involuntary created and likely not wanting to hurt Raiden but rather bring him back to his senses. Or maybe he is the president of the fan club, so also an antagonist. I know he's a divisive character and many people don't like him, so he wouldn't be the protagonist.

Lastly we have John, whom outside of the short ending we get in mgs4 is a total blank slate. Like stated, Raiden is a deadbeat dad and John's life must not be easy living only with his mom and switching countries and possibly names every time his dad kills a politician. If he is going to be the protagonist then he has to go cyborg too.

So I was thinking about a mix of Nero from Devil May Cry V and David Martinez from Cyberpunk Edgerunners. John lived in the shadow of hid dad his whole life. As he turns 18 Rose either dies from natural causes or is killed by one of Raiden's enemies. Raiden cannot bring himself to see nor raise John so he keeps wiring money like nothing happened, even if both him and John are suffering.

John decided to send everything to hell and joins a gang from the country he's currently in. He uses the money to get cybernetic upgrades to keep the pace with the times. All goes well for a year or two until he faces a corpo group, likely with some governmental figures involved and he is captured. Given how he's related to Raiden and has beef with him, the group gives John the equipment and training to track and capture Raiden.

Raiden by this time would have evolved from "Jack the ripper" to "The Reaper" as a world class terrorist that strikes from the shadows brings fear in the minds of the powerful.

John would face George and Sunny as the kid Raiden forsaken vs the kids Raiden saved. Things would get complicated towards the ending with Raiden not wanting to hurt his own kid and surrendering. The corpos would want to kill him, but John wouldn't be ok with it and he helps Raiden escape. Personal costs may vary on the ending. Maybe they both make it out alive. Maybe Raiden is forever taken out of commission, but John joins the anarchists.

Possible dialogue between Raiden and John towards the last fight:

Raiden: "I couldn't live a normal life, I've tried, but fighting is all I've ever known, the only thing I'm good at. You expect me to sit at a desk all day and live meaninglessly my whole life as I drag you in debt for merely existing in this body? I didn't choose any of this.. choice was taken away from me years ago and all what's left is this thing.. I stopped pretending. I gave myself a meaning, taking down the men who create other people like me. Putting an end to their corruption and exploitation. I wasn't made for normal."

John: "I was the normal in your life, asshole! Mom was the normal.. You couldn't stomach returning home every day, seeing us every day, you left because you wanted to, nobody forced you and you know it! Stop lying to me and stop lying to yourself!"

(Btw if Hideo Kojima himself, an employee of Konami or of Platinum games is reading this, please consider hiring me for a metal gear rising sequel. I have many ideas for a cyber stealth-action game.)