I like to think of audio and text logs as wooden logs used as pillars to hold up the fictional constructs of a game - they're not pretty, they're not always practical, but they're cheap(er). Cut-scenes are expensive and environmental story-telling is difficult so plenty of otherwise ambitious games resort to the use of logs, mostly RPGs. Another reason for logs is supplementation of information for the keen; the 'average gamer' doesn't want to be bogged down with tens of hours of cut scenes and exposition but would rather get on with gameplay - bloomin' right 'n' all! But for those more curious about the world they're exploring logs exist.
To some extent, I suppose, logs can sometimes serve the same purpose as unlockable concept art - we paid people to make this, we own this, we might as well use this (as is the case in most BioWare RPGs I remember playing). As an optional extra tidbit, logs are more like firewood for the brain - quickly consumable, practical if used right, resources. Although, when playing Mass Effect I remember thinking that Shepard is painted as an ignorant twat by the "TELL ME ABOUT YOUR RACE" dialogue options which all could've been neatly slotted in the codex, what with being things Shepard ought to have known.
Logs can be a waste of time though, I remember playing Final Fantasy XIII (*shudders*) and reading through the logs clumsily trying to explain the fal'cie and the l'cie only for a cut scene later to make it all crystal clear (ha, crystal). I don't think I ever found reason to read R&D reports in XCOM - it's a plasma rifle, which is better than the laser rifle because it's four times the price.
So, why am I wasting my time writing about all this? Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain. It took me 78 Steam Hours (Steam Hours are the amount of time a game has been opened through Steam, starting with 1 minute and rounding down to the nearest hour after 3. So trying to boot a game up brings your playtime to 1min and having it turned on keeps the clock running. Basically, I don't think I spent 78 hours playing MGS V) and at least 2 must've been spent listening to audio logs.
The Shock series is known for employing the audio variety of log. These would be scattered around the world, offering background and vital information. In the Bioshock games, these logs are easy to play and don't interrupt anything. Audio logs also have a feel of being more compulsory so generally there are fewer of them and they're shorter, easier to consume. Not in MGS V though. Sorry, mate.
The audio logs themselves are fine, they're great. They are well acted and well produced with a few interesting quirks like Miller in the 80s sounding like Ocelot in the 2000s, which I'm 88% Liquid sure is deliberate. There are important informative logs and funny side logs. So, revisiting my wooden logs metaphor, imagine plain logs coupled with ones that have had Willem Dafoe making out with Susan Boyle, or Donald Trump with a toothbrush moustache painted on them. The logs are assorted into separate folders grouping them in various groups: people, events, policies, items and you can only set one folder to play at a time.
My personal favourite was the outlandish "Kazuhira's Burgers" which sees, or hears rather, Kazuhira Miller make burgers for another character and adapt the recipe several times to suit his companion's tastes. This being a Hideo Game, I'm going to read far too much into this quirky tidbit. A character who doesn't need food to survive asks Miller to make him a burger and when Miller does, it's not good enough. Miller then adapts the recipe and uses finer beef but our friend still isn't satisfied. Miller decides to go left field and make a lamb burger to which the other character replies with interest and curiosity but not satisfaction. Miller is at a loss and his dissatisfied customer throws him a bone by telling him what the burger really needs is chemicals, that our brains react best to a load of chemicals, that's what we really want. Finally, Miller makes a very cheap, almost entirely artificial burger and finally satisfies the diner. I believe that covers Kojima's opinion of big publishers.
That is, for me, a big part of where the problem lies. I didn't mind audio logs in the Shock games because there weren't that many of them and they were mostly easy to follow monologues; in MGS V, Miller sounds like Ocelot, Ocelot sounds like Channing Tatum and Otacon grovels more but is somehow more evil (okay, it's Otacon's dad). Most of the logs are naturalistic conversations and playing them in the background while doing other things meant I couldn't pay them the attention they needed. Even managing Mother Base didn't work as busywork while listening to them, it required just a touch too much attention. If you try playing logs while doing side missions you'll soon find that radio messages are louder than the logs themselves and that this can't be adjusted. The sheer volume of these logs and the nature of them means that at least 5 minutes to every hour is spent sat down and listening to people talk. And as if that wasn't bad enough, some things locked away behind audio logs could easily have been placed in regular dialogue. There's an instance where Ocelot suspects a member of mother base to be related to Big Boss so he decides to run a DNA test. Once he has run his tests he tells Big Boss the results are in and sends the busy mercenary to the audio tapes. Ocelot makes you navigate through 3 windows for a very simple "yes or no" bit of information that would've taken him 12 seconds to just tell. Who knows, maybe Ocelot just suffers from stage fright, maybe he's not a sadistic bastard after all.
Ultimately, I would have preferred it if MGS V had given me the option of reading logs rather than listening to them. I'm a fast reader and perhaps not the greatest of listeners, being stuck with hours and hours of audio tapes was agonising. I wouldn't write a whole article about it if it was some small aspect of the game either, this took up a shedload of time. I have no beef with audio logs, I already admitted they're awesome, but for goodness sake give me transcripts as an option - I value my time.
Audio logs are: listening to your mum/10
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