I'm going to recommend the opposite of everyone else. I tried to get into the mgs series when 5 came out, and had a tough time.
I tried starting with MGS1, but that game is so old now I had a really tough time controlling it and it was filled with odd segments where it expects a lot more from you than many modern games. I burnt out on it and had to come back to it after playing some others to really appreciate it. If you start with 1, use a guide.
Ground Zeros is neat, but it's basically a demo for 5 which is kinda boring? I tried 5 next because it was the newest game but it's just one huge open world stealth shooter and feels empty otherwise. Its quite long and I got just over a third of the way through the main story before burning out due to lack of interest.
For me, third try was the charm and I emulated peace walker which I really enjoyed. It's shorter and simpler than 5, while not being quite as old as 1, and maintains a decent story focused on imperialism and the use of MICs and the like. It also takes place immediately before Ground Zeros so it was cool to see familiar characters and work towards where you will start in 5. I played 3 immediately after Peace Walker and enjoyed it for similar reasons. It was more concise, not ancient, and had a more compelling story.
TLDR: I recommend trying the games chronologically, as it helped me get invested with the series enough to work through the jank of the old games and the unpolished bloat of 5.
I'm going to recommend the opposite of everyone else. I tried to get into the mgs series when 5 came out, and had a tough time.
I tried starting with MGS1, but that game is so old now I had a really tough time controlling it and it was filled with odd segments where it expects a lot more from you than many modern games. I burnt out on it and had to come back to it after playing some others to really appreciate it. If you start with 1, use a guide.
Ground Zeros is neat, but it's basically a demo for 5 which is kinda boring? I tried 5 next because it was the newest game but it's just one huge open world stealth shooter and feels empty otherwise. Its quite long and I got just over a third of the way through the main story before burning out due to lack of interest.
For me, third try was the charm and I emulated peace walker which I really enjoyed. It's shorter and simpler than 5, while not being quite as old as 1, and maintains a decent story focused on imperialism and the use of MICs and the like. It also takes place immediately before Ground Zeros so it was cool to see familiar characters and work towards where you will start in 5. I played 3 immediately after Peace Walker and enjoyed it for similar reasons. It was more concise, not ancient, and had a more compelling story.
TLDR: I recommend trying the games chronologically, as it helped me get invested with the series enough to work through the jank of the old games and the unpolished bloat of 5.