This 30-minute Metal Gear Solid 5 demo (and these 19 GIFs) turned me around on the game

Meet Mother Base, home of the Diamond Dogs and, well, home base for the player. "As you gather personel and resources, you can expand the base, which will in turn allow Diamond Dogs to support you in the field. If you meet the proper requirements, you can issue orders to develop various types of weapons or items, get field support in the form of intel or supply drops, or first aid and medical treatment."

In addition to the Command Platform — the main hub where you send soldiers you've recruited from the battlefield — you can build additional specialized platforms like the R&D Platform. You can choose the location and color of this new platform, making every player's Mother Base unique.

The R&D team "work around the clock to develop new weapons and items based on your orders." That means things like new guns, of course, but also heat-seeking missiles.

Oh, the heat-seeking missiles didn't do it for you? How about this optical camoflauge?

This is part of the Combat Unit Platform, wherein you can dispatch troops on discrete missions or even on regular missions in place of Snake. For example, "a soldier with the botanist skill will have an easier time identifying and gathering plants and herbs."

Build a Support Platform and call in support on missions, like a vehicle supply drop.

Or, curiously, your support team can "develop techniques to manipulate the weather." So basically they can become gods. "You're able to turn the very environment against your enemy and use it to your advantage."

I think it's fair to say that the best feature of Mother Base is, unequivocally, this puppy dog. "Hey, it's D Dog, or DD as Ocelot calls him. He's still a puppy here but eventually he'll grow into an adult and become a valuable buddy that you can bring into the battlefield with you."

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

Big Boss all caked up with blood and guts? Use the shower units conveniently located at the primary heliports on each platform of the base. If you don't want to use the shower ...

... this happens.

You can decorate your Mother Base with decals, in addition to colors and unique layouts for your platforms. One of the decals that appears all over this gameplay demo is a spider with the letters "PT" printed over it. While we're not sure if the ghost from P.T. is going to make an appearance in the final game, it's nice to see some tribute to Kojima's canceled masterpiece.

I can't do FOBs justice in this one small section, so you really owe it to yourself to watch the entire FOB section in the above video starting around 14 minutes. Basically, you can make bases outside of Mother Base to get more supplies ... but those bases can be invaded, Dark Souls style.

This begins 1 v 1 game of cat and mouse and, honestly, is one of the most exciting parts of the entire demo. This PvP experience is entirely optional, the narrator points out, but it sounds like there are some incentives to building these bases. Also ...

There are wormholes. Amidst the narrative calisthenics of the Metal Gear Solid universe, this shouldn't be (and isn't!) surprising, but it's wonderful to see regardless.

So long as wormholes exist, why not the Hand of Jehuty weapon, which teleports (?) enemies closer for a CQC takedown. Metal Gear!

Think the invader is probably hiding in this box? Nope, tricked you!

Oh look, it's the defender, better get him! Lol, you dope.

As you expand Mother Base with additional platforms, it can become so large that driving makes more sense than walking. But maybe you think driving is wasteful and want to take advantage of the existing infrastructure on the base.

Lucky for you, Mother Base comes equipped with the Diamond Dogs Postal Service. Just pack yourself in a cardboard box and pick your destination.

What happens to all of those animals you've been Fulton-ing throughout the game? Oh, THERE'S A ZOO, called the Animal Conservation Platform that is only accesible by helicopter. A zoo. Metal Gear.

And it wouldn't be Metal Gear without these kinds of goofy touches. What happens if you stand under a "Caution" sign with an image of a falling box? Well, duh. "Staff Morale Increased."