[Updated again: Kojima says the game is a “spinoff”, an “interpretation”, and a “parallel” universe in this interview. Considering that he’s the final authority on the subject, I guess my initial review was correct after all (I knew he’d said that somewhere before!) Either way, I’ll leave the review as it is, and you can see my take on the game no matter what they decide in the future.
Thanks to JMG519 for having my back with the link — go watch his videos!]
Bottom Line: Platinum Games does their best with a failed experiment.