How I Learned To Hate Grand Theft Auto V

I hate Grand Theft Auto V, it's a game that I've come to realize is an utter mess. But hate is a strong word when it comes to the content of the game. My hatred runs deep once you examine the greater context of GTA 5. I don't hate the game for what it is, but rather what it represented. I don't really have anything else to fill out this description with, so I'm just typing aimlessly.
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#gta #grandtheftauto #grandtheftautov

[@TBP]

Okay, so apparently a lot of people don't know this, so I need to address it. When I refer to a character as a "straight man" I am NOT referring to their sexuality. In any sort of story, a straight man is a character archetype referring to someone who is stoic, and straight faced. This character usually is meant to contrast against more eccentric personalities. That's ALL it is. More info here en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_man

[@naw726]

oh wow crazy you need a disclaimer for this, people are wild lol

[@looplst]

Lol, you are a better person than I am 😂

[@holotrash]

It was cranked up in 5, but Lazlow was always a sex pest.

[@nood1le]

Bro got called out and is making up excuses

[@naw726]

@@nood1le you are genuinely dumb if you dont know what the term straight man means in regards to writing and comedy. 1 google search could save you from looking this stupid

[@Gulfer47]

Even though gta 5 is one of my favorite games of all time, I have to agree with you. They milked this game so much that in a few years, gta 5 will leave a legacy not as a GOAT, but as a cashcow. "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villian " Rockstar is now the villian.

[@Jamushu]

This is gonna sound like I'm making excuses for them but I don't care. *Never forget that it **_ALL_** comes back to Take Two.* R* has become the Villain not by choice, but by infection. Reminds me of that old image of all the Studios dead thanks to EA, from a few years back.

[@MeenoWulff-tu3mg]

I'm sayin like 6years from Release on that they should have Released gta6 instead

[@kinsan89]

​@@Jamushu no no, you're entirely right. Take Two is making the executive decisions to milk this golden cashcow. It's why we never got single player DLC

[@SilverGeFer]

GTA 5 became the villain of the GTA series

[@MGaluski72]

I’m glad I never played the online and only chose to play the single player story mode

[@mspat8332]

I was in highschool, I dropped out, then f*cked up my life with drugs, almost ended up in jail, went to the military, then went to college, just became a lawyer, my little brother has a house, a wife and a kid, all of that happened between gta5 and 6 lol

[@Raiden-pi3gt]

Lmao yeah it really shows that gta v is a 10 year old game by now

[@fulumukwevho4744]

I mean GTA V was released on 3 different Generations of consoles.

[@stolensentience]

Your life was a whole ass gta game in between iterations

[@iiTzKaran_YT]

Bro made his own gta

[@ddss7073]

BRO IM DOING THE SAME SHIT RN LMFAO

[@DarkViperAU]

Good video essay mate, agree with pretty much everything. Wanted to note two things about the characters just as passing thoughts: 5:04 I don't see it as Franklin being 'weirdly trusting' more that Franklin always wanted to be the 'big shot' CEO guy with power, and had spent his entire life up to this point getting absolutely nowhere while feeling held back by his poor upbringing and those around him. He was desperate, and now he actually had a chance to get somewhere with his new connections through Michael. Nothing he was being asked to do was really new to him with his life in the hood, It was ultimately just higher stakes. Once he got REAL money with the Jewel Store Heist, he was going to latch onto Michael and never let go because Micahel was Franklin's life raft. 5:38 A significant part of Michael as a character is that he doesn't like to kill people and will actively work to avoid doing so. It is why he just talked the janitor into giving him his gear, and why he buys the guard's silence with gold in the Big Score. Even Michael's dialogue with the guard in prologue likely showcases this (although that also could be explained by his promise to Dave for no killing). After he kills Trevor in Ending A, Michael rants about Trevor bringing it upon himself. How he had no choice but to kill him, that Trevor forced his hand, that Trevor was a rabid dog that needs to be put down. That Trevor basically killed himself. If you bring Frank to Michael afterwards, Michael will admit it affected him emotionally and he needs more time to process it. Michael hesitated to shoot Trevor on Bury the hatchet for a reason, he didn't WANT to kill Trevor but he just felt he HAD to. It was likely why he had Dave attempt to kill Trevor in prologue rather than do it himself. He seems sincere when he said Trevor was his friend, but he was also a friend who was a crazy psycho who represented a significant threat to Michael and his family in a large part due to Michael betraying him. Michael didn't betray Brad or Trevor without a second thought, he seemed to genuinely believe that either it was that or die (although it is a stretch to say Brad was Michael's friend). It was as Michael says to Franklin, 'One day your legs, they give, and you can't run no more'. Trevor to some degree either enjoys harming people or is indifferent to it. Michael is just selfish, and so will harm others if he needs to in order to gets what he wants, but he will dislike that he needs to do it. Trevor will actively hurt and kill others for small slights, Michael on the otherhand, will threaten people with harm but won't ever act on that threat unless backed into a corner. 11:04 I agree, the existence of 3 different characters with a bunch of different 'villians' all being involved in and out of the story can be hard to follow. Even I, speedrunning the game endless times, didn't fully understand nuances of the story until I started making content for KZbin and had reason to actually think on it.

[@Devon14]

Witness protection? For what?

[@idontknowanygoodnames1498]

This type of response makes me think you may have somewhere in the ballpark of 10,000 hours? 😉love your videos

[@wiawaysb]

@@idontknowanygoodnames1498 he has around 8000 hours

[@speedytruck]

The probability of making that comment is millions to one.

[@idontknowanygoodnames1498]

@@wiawaysb he showed his total playtime, it's over 10,000 hours

[@migueeeelet]

I think my main issue is the lack of a sense of progression. GTA SA has you unlocking new islands, meeting new people, killing important enemies (the Loco Syndicate, for example), etc. It gives me a feel of CJ slowly growing and learning, breaking out of the 'hood and gangster lifestyle to tackle bigger, important things. GTA 5 just feels stagnant in comparison. The biggest development is "they get along again", aside from "Franklin becomes rich" (which just *happens*, cause robberies are a get-rich-quick scheme, and thus has 0 weight to the result).

[@arealassassin]

In that regard- GTASA was a build up, whereas GTAV was a culmination, a packing up and putting away of an old, already established story. CJ WAS a 'banger through and through, he just got lucky, met the right people, and built a small empire, while remaining OG throughout it all. With GTAV; we just got to the party late.

[@ethanhernandez9889]

@@arealassassinit’s a story about white collar crime, each gta represents a different perspective on the criminal element. The numbered gtas are meant to be a reflection of where the crime world irl has gone , and it’s not mafiosos doing the crime, it’s rich people.

[@ethanhernandez9889]

In 2013 anyway

[@leijten]

Main issue is that most missions in single player are boring as hell. "Wonder what the next missions will be. Oh jolly, another lap around the map."

[@ethanhernandez9889]

@SS-rf1ri lmao then play something else dumbass

[@xaviergl]

About the lack of personality or character in Franklin, personally that’s kinda what i liked about him. He’s always been the neutral ground, doesn’t always agree with Michael or Trevor, and is sometimes the reason the group sticks together. However it would be nice to have seen him take more of a leader role as it would fit the narrative of him wanted to do better things for himself

[@Duncle0]

You should play gta online. Franklins story is expanded in the Agency story. He married Tanisha, had children, is still taking care of chop and is a very successful business man.

[@xaviergl]

@@Duncle0 ill check it out, haven’t been into GTA Online like that for a while

[@banshotenin1178]

@@Duncle0 Ah yeah I remember the last time I hoped online they just brought out that update. I did a few missions for Franklin, they were cool. Tanisha didn't deserve him tho.

[@FraserSouris]

I think Franklin does do that. In Lamar Down, he's the one who gets the group together to rescue Lamar. In Fresh Meat, Franklin's the one who both rescues Micheal and takes point in getting out. In Predator, Franklin's the one who leads the O'Neils into the ambush. And in The Third Way, Franklin's the one who gets angry Micheal and Trevor to calm down and work together.

[@THEPUNISHERBRAZIL]

If you guys don't know Franklin was supposed to be a high role in story mode, gang wars and more missions with grove street families

[@jacobsendejo8788]

I think Rockstar not making a "Episodes From Los Santos" story expansion is what hurt GTA V's legacy. GTA Online is fine but it's more of a alternate reality Los Santos. I love how GTA IV and Episodes From Liberty City were all connected with eachother and made the world feel larger than life.

[@callmelou5397]

gta online is kinda weird its a prequel and a sequel to the story mode

[@YoureMadBozo71]

sucks that they scrapped all the single player dlc for online. HOPEFULLY they have separate teams working on single player and online for gta 6. Thats massive copium tho

[@thememester1190]

I think the biggest problem with GTA 5 was just how all over the place the story was. Like, I genuinely don't even remember why Michael had to steal the nerve agent, or how Devon Weston became a part of the situation.

[@ILikeSoda229]

The Gameplay is what carries it

[@LegioXXI]

@@ILikeSoda229 Its funny how GTA 4 and 5 have the opposite "problems" and advantages: GTA 4 has the best story, immersive world but the gameplay itself is very mundane throughout the whole game, story + open world. GTA 5 has a "wtf is even happening" story that barely has depth, character and intrigue but it leads to so many creative gameplay situations on a versatile map. The perfect GTA formula is existing right between those games and we still didn't get this balance - at least not within the HD universe. Actually, i think that "The Ballad of Gay Tony" may is the closest thing we got towards this golden middle ground.

[@eveningswan8796]

What gta story was not all over the place?

[@raithrover1976]

Yes, is seems to be a device to allow the missions too be crowbarred in. I do like the underlying storyline surrounding Michael and Trevor even if the devs did "borrow" it from Sexy Beast (great movie starring Ben Kingsley and Ray Winston)

[@aliekexie8467]

@@eveningswan8796 Vice City? 3, even tho it kinda lost its focus somewhere past the middle

[@Whit3WolfXArcadia]

When Dan Houser and his team left you can definitely see the drop in output and to some extent quality from rockstar games GTA online is the best and worst thing to happen to rockstar

[@FraserSouris]

But, Houser and co wrote GTAV tho

[@akramirez]

They haven't released a game since he left.

[@barriehannon6857]

only the worst thing for me i only care about the single player content

[@santosarr]

​@@akramirez red dead 2?

[@MCoconut97]

@@santosarr that was his last work

[@CheeseYourself]

i think it's genius how Franklin sums up everything wrong with his own character in the intro to the third mission: "it seems like all i do is let people tell me what to do, and i do it, and nothing changes"

[@mrscruffles801]

My life pretty much

[@massivetwat5515]

Almost like thats the point. Franklin has spent his whole life in the hood under someones thumb, until he meets michael and breaks out of the hood, only to find out that he is under someones thumb again and theres always a bigger fish. All he got for breaking out of the hood was an empty mansion in the hills

[@mrscruffles801]

@@massivetwat5515 I mean, getting a mansion for that ain't a bad deal really. Going from sharing a house in the hood with a feminist aunt to million-dollar real-estate in a quiet area is quite an achievement. I'd take it.

[@massivetwat5515]

@@mrscruffles801 big empty mansion, no friends, no family, no partner, nothing just alcohol and some hookers from time to time. Tell me you wouldnt feel hollow and deppresssd

[@ididntmeantoshootthatvietn5012]

But he is the one making decisions in the final mission

[@jewelsvevo8153]

I think the main problem I have with GTA V's story is that because there's three playable characters the game doesn't focus on them enough to properly flesh them out so they all end up feeling hollow in someway by the end of the story GTA IV didn't have that issue because all the 3 of the playable characters (Niko, Luis and Johnny) had their own game to play through letting them be properly fleshed out and you got to experience their stories better

[@lepoticha1]

It also feels like they cut nearly all their exclusive story and rush it in option C Trevor with the chinese and that latino drug Guy in the North Franklin & Lamar with Stretch Michael is maybe the only one that truly get his little storyline like the movie studio or his family They even cut a heist with only Trevor & Michael I nearly wish this game that game got 1 year or 2 to expand and or Finish their ideas

[@1977TA]

@@lepoticha1 Rockstar would have been better off allowing each of the GTA 5 protagonists to appear in their own game first before putting them together. GTA 5, Franklin. GTA 6, Michael. GTA 7, Trevor. GTA 8, all 3 of them.

[@notyourdaddude1957]

In my opinion, it was the worst decision to make 3 protagonists in the same game because it's much more harder to include all 3 of them in the same story, which means the story must not be that linear and in GTA the story is always straight up linear and doesn't work well when you play with more totally different protagonists at the same time. I find that a waste of time, Rockstar could have handled it much better.

[@indestructible247]

@@1977TA or single player dlcs for gta 5, where michael and trevor frequently appear in franklin's story and why they are there can be explained in the dlcs, kinda like what they did with gta 4 eflc

[@trevorveillette8415]

You can't blame it on there being 3 protagonists. NieR:Automata exists and is a story driven single player game that has 3 protagonists, and you replay the story 1 time to play as the 2nd protagonist, and then you start the 3rd playthrough and play as the 2nd protagonist again, and can now also play the 3rd protagonist. All 3 main characters are phenomenally well written. 2B, 9S, A2. 2B is just the best written fictional character I've ever experienced. 9S has the best character development and arc I've ever seen. A2 is just an all around good character, even if she doesn't have the complexity of 2B and the insane development of 9S. These 3 amazing characters are wrapped up in the best video game story out there. So what im saying is that, having 3 protagonists isn't something that hurt gta5. If the story or characters seemed worse because of having 3 protagonists, then that just means the story or characters weren't written well enough to begin with. So what im saying is that gta5 just has an unimpressive cast and story in general. There being a game that shows that having 3 protagonists can do wonders for your story and overall game experience just proves that having 3 protagonists isn't an inherent design flaw for a game.

[@vinegar4556]

I think V suffered from trying too hard to be a course correction from IV. The driving and physics were toned down to be less weighty and more arcade-esque, the bleak tone and mature storytelling was exchanged for more wacky antics and a colourful setting, most characters are essentially jokes and the antagonists were even more forgettable than Rascalov, who didn't appear much but at least had a presence whenever he did. Hell, even with how the game treated characters such as Rocko and Johnny, it feels like V is a game that is embarrassed by IV and wants to be the exact polar opposite of it. Maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing, but as someone who adores IV, I can never fully enjoy V, something about it just feels hollow by comparison. At times, the writing almost feels like it's doing the pretentious indie game thing of "we're too cool to be seen taking anything seriously", a trap that not even the classic games fell into. Recently, I've been palying Red Dead 2 for the first time and honestly, I'm genuinely loving how it feels like it takes more after GTA IV and RDR 1 than V, if that makes sense. Better physics, better writing, more interesting world and characters, capable of taking itself seriously when needs be, it somehow feels more like a sequel (or prequel?) to GTA IV than V does.

[@lepoticha1]

Exactly !

[@LegioXXI]

I agree on that. GTA 4 had its issues and was gameplay wise a bit dry (especially coming from the feature-fest that was San Andreas at the time), but the thought doing a complete 180 with their next title was the way to go? Idk man, its like being a strong alcoholic and quit it just to become a chronic smoker. Its especially weird since they had a good middle ground with "The Ballad of Gay Tony". Like, just expand on this formula and you have a perfect GTA - you don't have be 100% serious and depressive or 100% whacky and over-the-top, there are middle grounds...

[@santiagorojaspiaggio]

I completely agree. Whenever i played a new GTA (first VC, then SA, and then IV) i was always immersed by a "this is the real life" feeling. You were in that town; everything felt each time more real. I didn't feel that in V. A lot of the things there just felt downgraded. But after years and years, when i played RDR2, that feeling of "this is the real life" came back, and it was something inmensely magical. I felt myself like in the old times, where each new videogame was becoming better and better.

[@usernameiphone3gkid]

Driving was toned down cause the 360 couldnt handle it

[@ItsReallyJCole]

@@usernameiphone3gkid then why tf didn’t they bring it for the ps4 or ps5 versions?

[@CsubAzUrmedve]

I remember that by the end of the game, I completely forgot what the plot was originally. I chose Ending C the first time and they just went and killed every single "villain" in one mission, and I completely forgot who Stretch, or Wei Cheng was by that point. Hell, I even mixed up Steve Haines and Devin Weston's name. And then they taunted Weston who was in the trunk of a car and I didn't even know what the guy did.

[@thegamingbayskeletor1637]

fr fr, it's been 10 years and i managed to graduate 3 times, get a job, get my driving licence, move out of my parents house AND get my motobike licence ALL OF THAT BETWEEN THE RELEASE OF GTA 5 AND THE RELEASE OF GTA 6

[@lovingdemon2932]

Thats like a 7th of an avg lifespan lol.

[@thegamingbayskeletor1637]

@@lovingdemon2932 That's like an eternity between 2 games

[@h_the_great]

And it was never even formally announced that they are making that game.

[@lovingdemon2932]

@@thegamingbayskeletor1637 yeah it was not worth having some dlc man😥

[@hoodieap2858]

Sounds like you have been very productive. Congrats on those accomplishments dude

[@mohamednail1707]

I liked gta 5 but damn Rockstar is milking this game to death

[@raptorskilltor4554]

We could’ve gotten a bully sequel

[@FraserSouris]

@@raptorskilltor4554 I doubt Bully 2 would have been made even if GTA Online never existed. Bully 1 sold below expectations. Rockstar's games take 8+ years even with 2000 people and crunch to make. This means it wouldn't make financial sense to make a Bully 2.

[@FraserSouris]

They released RDR2 tho. And is it Rockstar's fault that people want to play their older game and support it? Like if Rockstar said tomorrow "we aren't supporting GTA Online anymore" wouldn't more people be angry at that?

[@cloud99955]

@@FraserSouris bully is like really popular tho

[@FraserSouris]

@@cloud99955 True but not in terms of sales. It didn't sell well enough to justify sequels. That's also what happened to Midnight Club, Max Payne and Manhunt. If your games now take 8+ years to make and require 2000+ people per game with crunch, you're going to stick with developing GTA and RDR games since those sold crazy well.

[@Scottyy788]

i think the story kinda feels like a tv show where pretty much every episode is random filler but carried by the characters

[@Tails7212]

The story is really bad. At the time we all thought it was decent, on the first playthrough.. now I just see how little they tried

[@jklxyy]

​@@Tails7212what are you talking about, they were clearly successful at what they were trying to do, you simply don't like the story.

[@Sigmundfrued]

Agreed, I like the story purely for its characters and the comedy. But the story itself is just, meh…

[@SSEi02]

I’ve played through it around 4 times now over the r years and I couldn’t even give you a synopsis of the plot

[@leijten]

I didn't care for the story anyway, but many of the missions are also so boring as hell. A lot of making a loop around the map for the umpteenth time, in between stacking containers and slowly picking up radio active waste material in your sub. This games mission's are utter dogshit.

[@NostalgiaNet8]

I still prefer GTA IV than V.

[@drewtube6838]

The Hipster thing to do, but all the GTA games can fight for the top spot.

[@Gergaloth]

King

[@potato4534]

I NEED a ps5 port of that game

[@TheManWhoErasedHisNane]

I prefer Watch Dogs over V

[@yeah2956]

Sleeping dogs CLEARS gtav

[@Hitomora]

I believe Trevor, Franklin, & Michael represent the three playstyles a player takes when playing a GTA Game Franklin- just playing the game kinda aimlessly Michael- straight forward and story driven Trevor- pure utter chaos

[@WildWombats]

I love this analogy and never thought of it like that but I can see it. And I was a mix of all 3 as a kid playing GTA III when it came out originally. At first, I'd focus on the story and all side quests. In between, I'd have some bouts of utter chaos and just having fun and letting loose, usually I copped a save before so I could load the save, no harm no foul lol. But sometimes I'd take the L. Then when I beat the story and all side missions, I just kinda wander aimlessly, with a mix of Trevor chaos, and usually would end up pulling some fun cheat codes out like spawning in tanks and what not and just seeing how long I can last against the police, I'd do little challenges like that while just playing around with all the cheats, which GTA III had tons of.

[@Hitomora]

@@WildWombats and think about it when the characters team up Franklin & Michael = finding objectives randomly Franklin & Trevor = bouts of chaos sprinkled into exploring the world Trevor & Michael = chaotic missions (usually the harder missions in a game)

[@BernardMarx95]

The most unoriginal GTA V comment, that has been posted incessantly for the past ten years.

[@damndave3237]

@@BernardMarx95 posted a million times and it’s not even correct

[@MiniMight]

i’d swap franklin and michael tbh

[@justjoe1071]

They abandoned story and blew up online. Forcing online play to see an epilogue or expanded world is just cruel.

[@OneFreemanC17]

I remember really liking the game because it felt familiar. Couldn’t put my finger on it initially. Then I rewatched Michael Mann’s Heat and it all clicked in place.

[@MCoconut97]

Oh my goodness, i never made that connection, now its so obvious!

[@banshotenin1178]

Yeah, it's actually why Heat is one of my favourite crime movies. GTA V gave me such Heat vibes even reusing some of it's scenes. I loved GTA V and doubt any amount of slander will make me dislike it. Max Payne 3 is also a game I really loved and also set up GTA V nicely. GTA Online is a different story as I used to enjoy that until they brought in the Oppressors and Online turned into Saints Row 4

[@gotninjalotusness]

Yea. GTA V is Heat/heist movies. Vice City is Scarface/80s drug movies. San Andreas is 90s gangsta flicks. Most GTAs are just movies or genre blends.

[@Nukem2Bits]

Con: Every side story character is annoying (luckily they always give you a chance to pop 80% of em). Pro: Trevor is the first protag that is erratic enough to do the same things you can do in free roam (punching out civilians at random n' such).

[@rkhale02]

Lore accurate trevor is literally just freeroam 10 year old doin shit.

[@JohnDonovan1968]

They already did that with Claude in GTA 3, Claude is hell on earth compared to Trevor. Trevor is just a over the top edge lord with tons of shock value. When he finally finds Michael, he spends the story just descussing and screaming the whole time with Michael. He's obnoxious, no idea what R* was doing with his character

[@CurtisAlfeld]

He is a much more appropriate protagonist for this franchise than Niko is.

[@titlasagna2172]

​@@CurtisAlfeld he's a cringe lord. Niko is one of the most well written characters

[@CurtisAlfeld]

@@titlasagna2172 yeah, but Niko's entire story conflicts with the gameplay. He'll give a speech about how killing is bad, then the player immediately fires a rocket at a group of pedestrians.

[@pardoxia7242]

One of the biggest sins GTA V committed for me was that the character switching mechanic was woefully underutilized. GTA V's narrative really sets up Franklin, Michael, and Trevor as a power trio once they all come together and start executing heists and jobs. Character switching does come up in missions, but it's usually scripted and heavily limited in how you can use it. There could have been so many possibilities allowing the player to use character switching organically both in-and-out of missions. You're in a police chase as Trevor: switch to Franklin, cause a distraction, and take more of the heat since he's a better driver. Or switch to Michael, find a vantage point, and snipe some police cruisers/helicopters. Rob convenience stores or Ammu-Nation: get Franklin as the getaway driver and Trevor/Michael as the gunmen. These examples probably aren't the greatest, but I'm throwing out ideas that came to me immediately.

[@pokermitten9795]

May as well make a xcom gta hybrid at that point. ...I would play it

[@TheAdmantArchvile]

If you want to go back even further, you can blame Valve for the whole "Microtransactions in games" with the Mann-conomy update in TF2. This was the one that introduced crates and keys and showed that you could make an economy off of just selling microtranscations to people who'd already bought the game. This update came out a year before the F2P update, so there's no excuse.

[@skibot9974]

But didn’t TF2 go free to play by that point

[@cantstandurbs876]

This basically, Valve were the pioneers when it came to flooding their games with microtransactions and gambling, if anything they popularized lootboxes, and of course their braindead fanbase still spend thousands into their shit while pointing at other companies for doing the same.

[@TheAdmantArchvile]

@@skibot9974 Nope. The Mann-conomy update came out on September 30th, 2010. The Meet the Medic update, which included the F2P update, came out on June 23rd, 2011. Almost a year after the Mann-conomy one.

[@Cappuccino_Rabbit]

I might say Bethesda also had a play into all this mess Remember when people mocked the infamous oblivion cosmetic horse armor? Well turns out that shit still made a lot of profit for Bethesda. With that horse armor, despite it's controversies, Bethesda discovered that people would still be willing to pay for cosmetics just for the sake of it

[@2Poor4UserName]

​@@Cappuccino_Rabbit i think maplestory was the first to introduce mtx... predates horse armor

[@staufackar2135]

"Allegedly going into witness protection but actually that's a complete lie" Dark Viper AU: *Visible hapiness*

[@edlascarus-yv7xi]

I was baffled when that 'theory' became famous It's in the game, the characters question Michael's status: "I've never seen people in witness protection living in mansions"

[@jirden]

@@edlascarus-yv7xi Right? It was obvious on the first playthrough, and yet somehow it became a massive "fan theory"

[@BaseNAND]

I heard "disingenuous" and at that point I was just waiting for him to mention witness protection. Good to see he got it right!

[@MrTimPL]

WITNESS PROTECTION FOR WHAT

[@WooolyBully]

Viper is so whiny lol

[@Kacpa2]

Mistreatment of Johnny is what ruined it for me. They nether needed to use Johnny nor Lost. Angels of Death were said to operate in San Andreas/San Fierro. It would be better to use them, especially how throwaway treatment of Lost is. And its increasingly dumber in GTA Online with Mac sending you out to kill Lost, and that apparently took place prior to main story... Gameplay wise, GTA IV is superior, both gunplay and driving was much more entertaining. San Andreas had also nice driving. GTA 5 has completely unchallenging driving so you barely need to do anything to drive cleanly. Max Payne 3 had much better gun play than GTA 5 aswell and was a far better and more memorable experience for me. They also get scammier and scammier with time, as resent events show, both GTA+ mess and what they've done with last dlc.

[@animehater1]

I genuinely wonder to this day what the reason was for killing off Johnny in such a pathetic fashion.

[@dr.gnomeson904]

​@@animehater1Ikr? They could've just used a random ass meth head in place of Johnny and it would've done a similar job of showing how unhinged Trevor is.

[@leatheryfoot6354]

9:03 there's actually a reason for all of the GTA Memes being in the first 2 hours. That's because memes are successful based on how relatable they are, and while not everyone has beat a GTA Game, most people, including people who don't play video games, have seen or played the first 2 hours of most GTA titles. Whether it be through watching a family member who bought the game, or playing it yourself, or watching a KZbinr.

[@unholychazer]

The lack of good side characters is really where V lost me, Lamar was the only one I liked that had a good presence on the plot, the others either dragged the main characters down or weren't present enough to make a difference. Franklin's ex, whatever her name was, is the worst example. Like, I wanted Franklin to fucking deck her, she served no purpose besides showing up out of nowhere to bitch and being used as a plot device to tell Franklin that Lamar was kidnapped. Michael's family sucked, his daughter was the only one I cared about because she actually had some depth to her, being a bitchy spoiled teen but you could see that she genuinely cared for her dad despite being afraid of him. Trevor's side cast was also terrible. It's one thing to have a toady but he surrounded himself with toadies and the only one who wasn't, Chef, barely showed up unless you picked him for heists.

[@mangaming1942]

Nico is literally just Guts from Berserk. He doesn't want to get close to anyone because he knows he'll hurt them. Both are amazing Main Characters.

[@treetheoak8313]

GTA IV's story and atmosphere... Was special, Niko's story was good and it really was one of the only games you Needed on that generation.

[@VEE0034]

V is also special :)

[@phaseshift943]

It's the best installment in the whole series!

[@VanessaMagick]

I don't even like GTA 4 but Niko is such a good character and his story is criminally underrated

[@woofer3284]

It might be just me but I never really liked Niko like everybody. The game felt like it was trying to force me feel sympathy for him which doesn't really work. Might need to reply soon.

[@Handsome_Squidward69420]

@@woofer3284 Yeah i prefered roman as a character more than niko

[@sanchezs7614]

I still like GTA 3 and GTA SA over GTA 5. What killed GTA 5 was that you couldn’t stand next to any NPC for more then a second without turning into a fight or getting shot unlike GTA 4 where the NPC interactions were more realistic

[@TheJayson8899]

That's such a moronic thing to claim is what "killed" it. "This tiny detail that barely anyone cares about or even notices? Yeah, this was the downfall of the entire video game."

[@sanchezs7614]

@@TheJayson8899 i mean i could go on why GTA 5 is a trash, cash grab, downgraded GTA SA version but I would be here all day

[@andre6563]

​@@sanchezs7614hur dur

[@the-golden-duck]

hm maybe they try to do different things and it being set in one of the cites in the game doesn't make it a "downgraded" GTA SA version?

[@bobross9370]

I think there is a huge difference between the characters being unlikeable rather than "poorly written", Michael is not a poorly written character, a man who faked his own death in a cover-up with a corrupt Bureau officer, who then moved to Los Santos where his kids became spoiled brats and his wife cheats on him several times, it's valid for him to be stressed and given his criminal history, he's obviously not going to take it like a normal functioning human would, Michael only betrays *Trevor* in a heartbeat because of his families' safety, same reason he faked his death, this isn't "poor writing". We've only ever gotten snippets of Lazlow on the radio in previous games, of course he's portrayed differently, this again is not poor writing, adding an extra layer to Lazlow raher than having him a carbon copy of how he acts on the radio is actually **good writing** because it makes him seem more human and less like an android reading lines. You may not be happy with the context they gave, but again, your opinion on the story does not make it poorly written, you simply dislike **how it was written**.

[@haffygaming]

Exlacty this man just doesn’t like this plot, like comparison is the steal of joy. GTA V’s story was very well written with complex characters but he’s just overstepping that and igorning it and labeling it as not well written which is really annoying.

[@Ireee702]

@@haffygaming No. It wasn't. Tell me one memorable villain of this game, lol

[@alarrim29574]

@@haffygamingif you wanna say the main trio are well written I can atleast understand that but the story was most certainly not well written. It was all over the place with no good villain or faction and outside of the main trio every single character is a joke or a stereotype which atleast I think that’s what they were going for but it got old and not funny real quick

[@Zeroshiki]

He's definitely not poorly written, but I absolutely hate him and I've never felt that way about a Rockstar protagonist before. I just can't stand a traitor character or a rat character, and Michael is both. Also, his actor is so insufferable, just like Michael is, that it makes it even harder for me to like the character.

[@skfl7014]

​@Ireee702 steve haines, devin weston, the triads, stretch

[@Kuru20134]

Not to mention that they locked most of the new content from the dlcs behind drip feed which lasted for months

[@youseenednedisdead]

apparently there was going to be an entire "official secret agent trevor" dlc that just got turned into online content and i really wish i couldve seen that

[@SCA84]

I think the main thing that made V such a disappointment was how dead the open world was. You could tell Rockstar wanted to do so much more with it based on GTA Online but were severely held back by the aging hardware of the 7th gen consoles.

[@precariousworlds3029]

Yeah it's weird how like 2/3 of the map is completely empty

[@PolishGod1234]

How was its open world dead? Mountains being dead is understandable - they are mountains. But Los Santos is a big and alive city

[@codeinetcetera]

​@@PolishGod1234yeah but its so much city for so little activity. like cool i can play tennis and look at titties... maybe im just super pessimistic or something but it just feels utterly lifeless once you realize there's only depth in x number of things and zero depth anywhere else

[@Knighttt662]

​​​@@PolishGod1234 I recently played 4 and yeah compared to it, 5 does feel empty and dead. Small things such as garbage trucks only working at night, the city being littered, pedestrians reacting to rain, cops chasing down random crooks in bohan, streetside hotdog vendors, Also.... Across your house in bohan there is this guy who keeps shouting about the coming apocalypse and sometimes you can find a random NPC heckling that guy...and so many buildings having interiors makes a world of difference when compared to 5...i wish rockstar had more time to make 5

[@karithema9ician657]

@@PolishGod1234no it’s fcking NOT ! Those NPCs feel like robots! They do and say random stuff like in GTA 3! Stop being delusional! That game is trash and 4 was 1000 times better.

[@tommyvercetti9434]

This was my most anticipated game _ever_ . I was 17 when the first trailer came out and I remember searching for news about the game almost every day. I read so much bullshit rumors and especulations than when it finally came out it ended up feeling kind of underwhelming, it was good but I was expecting more, specially after IV which was my favourite game for years. Now I'm at a point where seeing anything related to GTA V makes me feel physically groan. I played GTA Online actively twice, one was when the Zentorno and the T20 where the best cars and the second during the Doomsday Heist but I've grown to despise the fucking game after a decade of Rockstar social media accounts trying to shove it down my throat.

[@kaydgaming]

Nah, Franklin had a personality. Even if he wasn’t taking the lead, his balance between characters like Lamar and Michael is rooted specifically in his desire to do something different.

[@Typachisan]

What personality? 😂

[@CakeScented]

Franklin by himself is boring. He works better when he can bounce off of Lamar or micheal.

[@discobroccoli198]

@@TypachisanYou just sound unintentionally racist

[@LegioXXI]

@@discobroccoli198 You just sound intentionally "everything is racist"

[@shoreZ]

im not even a gta defender i had the same phase as the guy who made this video but the one thing i disagree with is that franklin is poorly written. hes by far the most likable out of the three characters and in my opinion the funniest though i know most would disagree

[@WsK-]

Trevor killing Johnny immediately made me hate the character. Johnny deserved a better ending than that

[@shain74]

Actually hard disagree. A whole motif in gta is the circle of violence. Today's crime lord is tomorrow's grave filler. We don't see CJs death either, it's just a background event. Johnny lived through drugs and violence, he was not going to get a hero's send-off. He was going to become a statistic.

[@Machete87]

agreed well written character jus thrown away like garbage jus to fit the narrative that Trevor is a unhinged character.

[@WsK-]

@@shain74 I get that but they could’ve used a lesser character than Johnny

[@WsK-]

@@Machete87 yeah exactly, Trevor is an example of how rockstar’s writing fell off. There was no nuance to him

[@Duncle0]

Oh when you find out that Trevor murdered Niko off screen..

[@legend7951]

It's so frustrating that Rockstar abandoned the main game after online became the cash cow. They could've done so much to flesh out characters in DLCs that people would happily pay for but they couldn't allocate any developers to the main game despite making a shit ton of cash from online. This game was amazing (for me at least) in 2013 partially because of the impression that more content would be added, but it's not 2013 anymore and we still have the exact same game.

[@orangemv]

Never heard Franklin being called "A generic straight man" before

[@orangemv]

@@ryszakowy Imma be completely honest, I haven't played through the whole game. I play fiveM

[@elpiedra1596]

​@@ryszakowy Do you realize how hard it is to include heists in the storyline? This complaint makes no sense.

[@trillavanilla3425]

@@elpiedra1596he likes whining

[@leijten]

Yeah let's not add more heists, the only somewhat fun missions, so that it serves the story better. Great logic, great way to make the game suck even more because the story was ass anyway.

[@slaydog5102]

Even in video games people whine about black people 😂

[@solidbhatt]

I remember starting san Andreas for the first time with my brother after finishing vice city and we were blown away at that time, we were saying look! That guy is coming out of his house! There is a train! The map is so big so can we visit vice city? Its just mind-blowing upgrade

[@jacobobobo4404]

18:10 important to note that it is not just microtransactions. The problem is that here they are pay to win. It is pretty much impossible to do start from scratch and do the grind with actual missions nowadays, or doing CEO / Bike club work to get money bc you WILL get griefed by people who paid to get their funny flying rocket bike, and your progress is not only interrupted, you even get pushed back.

[@kolyasmirno9116]

yes...so true man as a Formiddable grinder on MC and CEO i was griefed tohns of times and people's only excuse nowadays "game told me to do" "just to annoy you" people dont appreciate anything because they been helped by mods,a@ole friends and just rich.

[@BaronNate]

I HATE that rocket bike more than anything on this planet. If I had 3 bullets and there was a pedo and a rocket bike and a politician, I would shoot the rocket bike all 3 times and pistol whip the other two. That's how bad I hate that fuckin thing.

[@LemonHeisenbergWhite79]

GTAV had so much potential, it’s sad that greedy corporates from T2 had to kill everything and made GTAV an ATM machine for their benefits.

[@UnitSe7en]

It's just an ATM. Otherwise it would be an automatic teller machine machine.

[@Milty2001]

Gta 5 will always be the only gta that I have a love hate relationship with, the graphics were phenomenal, story was alright and the customization was good for its time, you could tell rockstar had the inspiration from the movie heat, but as rockstar continued to milk online part of me started to miss the effort put in san andreas and gta 4 and I won't forgive them for abandoning red dead online considering the fact that it's their newest game and it's community is stronger than ever

[@FraserSouris]

To play Devil's Advocate, didn't Rockstar put more effort into V and RDR2 than San Andreas and GTA4? Like, there's more details and content in V and RDR2 than San Andreas and 4. And said content is more polished. It's not like GTAV is a barren game that has nothing going for it because all of its resources were diverted to online. As for RDO, is it really GTAV's fault that RDO did poorly? Like remember when GTO first came out, it was barren of content for its entire first year but people still played it. That's what made Rockstar decide to invest in it and support it. But RDO didn't manage the same. If people supported GTA Online even when there was no content but people aren't supporting RDO with no content, then doesn't it make sense to support the game people will support no matter what?

[@jeffreymarksworld534]

The story was the worst part to me. There's pretty much no story at all. Guys want to make money, how revolutionary

[@FraserSouris]

@@jeffreymarksworld534 You act like that wasn't one of the major themes of most of the past GTA games lol

[@jeffreymarksworld534]

@@FraserSouris because they weren't that's why I said it. GTA SA and 4 and arguably VC is way better than 5 so yeah the story definitely sucks compared to the other ones. Why you getting so butt hurt over an opinion?

[@RBH75667]

​@@jeffreymarksworld534 u r clearly blinded by nostalgia gta 5's story takes a different approach from gta 4. Gta 4 has more of a darker tone to it, to suit the eerie atmosphere of liberty city, and to suit niko's dark past as an ex human smuggler smuggling people into Italy, it has in depth side characters that you can find more about during friend hangouts and niko too when he speaks about the old days with Roman. Gta 4 hardly has customisation and properties to buy like the others which isn't a bad approach because niko's goal isn't to build and expand a criminal empire its to escape his troubled past by moving to America. Gta 5 takes a more different approach from 4 in terms of narrative, gta 5 tries to take inspiration from over the top Hollywood movies while bringing back the rags to riches formular the gtas before 4 had. While the characters maybe not a depth as 4s it made up for it with comedy and cinematic over the top scenes which caters towards people who like that stuff. With the 3 protagonist you can find out alot about their pasts through friend hangouts and some side missions and other stuff. Gta 4 spoon feeds you with info about the character throughout the story (which isn't bad) Gta 5 doesn't take this approach much instead makes you find out urself i guess why people think gta 5's character aren't depth. In terms of villains Dimitri fits perfect with the themes of greed and betrayal which is what gta 4 is going for while Devin fits the themes of corruption and the American capitalism. Both games cater towards a different audience gta 5s story suits the bright LA setting, u can't really expect it to be dark and depth as gta 4 and its liberty city.

[@joeboah6040]

Objections: 1. Stretch is not the leader of the Ballas, just a Families member that tries to bring peace between the two factions. 2. Martin is not a ''minor antagonist'' in the grand scheme of things, he is the reason the whole story is happening after all. But it is true that later in the story after Michael pays him back that he is reserved as a joke character. It is just that he served his purpose, which is to boot the story up, after that he wasn't a threat anymore.

[@Aurora-bv1ys]

This GTA 5 slander that is taking place these days is kinda annoying to be honest. I genuinely think it's a good game with it's problems.

[@kingsgaming2265]

​@@Aurora-bv1ysit is happening because they are salty about gta online But I like both gta 5 and online and both are fun I still play gta 5 but don't get bored

[@whitecocksmatter]

​@Isuskralj oh, another croatian piece of shit being mad about GTA IV for it's honest portrayal of Serbs as superior to y'all nazi degenerate wanna-be's. fuck off, boy. you ain't never getting a 100 million dollar game with a nazi kroaten protagonist, be butthurt for another decade and a half elsewhere, this ain't your show. GTA IV is still the GOAT.

[@nood1le]

​@@Aurora-bv1ysmfs aren't left to do anything but criticize it after playing it for 10 years

[@GodlyTails-fm8fv]

​@@Aurora-bv1ysIt's because after the hype established by the older games elevated V to be beyond expectations but underdelivered and now people are dissecting it for what it is. You disliking GTA V slander does not warrant abandoning critique entirely.

[@faktCheck]

San Andreas is not a game, it's an experience.

[@heartlessangel2910]

You mean the remaster that had loads of glitches and performance issues?

[@ZenShroud1]

Got it on launch day in 2004. Never looked back lol.

[@FraserSouris]

Personally, I'd argue GTA SA is the black sheep of the modern GTAs. GTA3 and VC do the formula better and 4 and V improve the core gameplay. Firstly, a lot of GTA SA feels like Rockstar tried to go for quantity over quality. That they wanted a game with everything in it. And they did that but it means a lot of the game's features are undercooked. There's a stealth and home robbery minigame but since the stealth and the missions are so basic, it gets repetitive fast. There's a system where you can go the gym and work out which improves your muscles which allows you to learn new melee moves. But you never get a chance you really use said moves since 99% of the combat in the game is either gunfights or in cars where melee is unusable. There's a full on fat system where eating lots of junk food makes you gain weight and spending a lot of time out and about causes you to lose weight. But you can't ever accidentally gain weight. You need to go out of your way to eat a lot of food (around 12 pieces for 2 days) to get overweight. And when you get hungry, all you need to do is stop what you're doing and go to a Cluckin Bell which feels like an interruption. The game has 3 massive cities and a massive map, but the wilderness in between the maps is absolutely boring. Missions that take place there are the worst. The game has an RPG-lite system for your stats where you start out terrible in everything and get better as you do stuff. But this makes it so that shooting and driving are worse than in Vice City when starting out. And at your maxed out stats, you are back to being as good as you were in Vice City's start. This is where the other GTA Games are better. 3 and VC are much more focussed. Most side activities featured are decently fleshed out. They're set in a single city that's dense with content. So you won't be wasting your time driving in boring forests and deserts that have nothing to do. But more importantly, it is more feasible to memorize the map as you play which allows you to use your experience to get certain shortcuts, weapon and vehicle spawns which can help on repeat playthroughs or help you out on a current one. That alone really helps these games feel like a sandbox rather than a linear series of missions that happen to be set in an open world. Even GTA 4 and V at least improve on stuff like driving, gun combat etc. So that's where SA falters. It's so bloated that it lacks the elegance of 3 and VC. And it's not as dynamic as 4 and V.

[@PeterParker-ff7ub]

ok sure

[@faktCheck]

@@heartlessangel2910 Only the OG.

[@djaccountisbfisbx3880]

If you haven’t played any GTA games, definitely play the older ones first. Not only do they have connections and references throughout each entry in the series, but they also have polished mechanics and more content to expect so you’re never underwhelmed.

[@K3rhos]

​@@ryszakowy Yeah these type of thing where really nice, you really felt the reward of doing side missions grinding, in modern games this type of thing didn't exist anymore sadly.

[@yunjin909]

3D universe was goated and it also has Bully, Manhunt 1 and 2 connected.

[@boberfros]

Bro how can you not like Vic Vance? He was like one of the Best written protagonist in the gta series and most humane one

[@DannyBirchTheAnimeLoverGamer]

Vic Vance can fight very well with the punches he has like the ability to grapple, throw, kick, stomp, snap necks and throw three punches.

[@ltsquidward]

The game just felt pointless because vic just dies in the first 2 mins of vice city

[@SleepyMook]

I prefer Tommy tbh.

[@brotbrotsen1100]

I'm gonna be completely honest here, i never liked any Rockstar character or a Rockstar story for that matter it's always just generic "angry dude does crime and gets betrayed at some point" stuff. I only like going on a rampage in the open worlds, everything else is pretty stale.

[@NoobSterr9945]

@brotbrotsen1100 maybe youre more into sandbox game rather than story game, gta is not for you then buddy

[@pablofernandez2335]

Stretch actually had name and surname, can't remember now, Franklin mentions it during the final mission (if The Third Way ending is chosen)

[@xI-MIKE-Ix]

Harold Joseph I think

[@thirdhandlv4231]

Harold Joseph

[@Aurora-bv1ys]

Bro got the most Christian name I have ever heard

[@kimlee6539]

No police or ambulance missions always bothered me

[@wedasantika6079]

What about firefighter and taxi?

[@ThatOnePlatypusGuy]

You steal a police van, and ride away in an Ambulance in Bureau Raid

[@asais1024]

Ambulance sucks though

[@ThatOnePlatypusGuy]

@asais1024 What would you even do with rhe ambulance?

[@Ragnadave]

Usually what makes a game great is that you develop nice memories out of it. With GTA V, I just finished the main story and got bored afterwards, a week later I didn't remember what the story was about.

[@whocares3317]

17:04 this just reminded me why i almost never used explosives outside of main missions, the amount of times something like this happened to me is embarassing.

[@JRC99]

In V every character is used to set up a punchline. Only to mock stereotypes. There's nothing else to them.

[@shawklan27]

Yep

[@thirdhandlv4231]

The fact that the majority agrees with you really shows just how truly brain dead this fandom is.

[@blackagent4754]

Good to see I wasn't the only one that noticed this about V.

[@thepolarphantasm2319]

GTA minus Lazlow Jones and Leslie Benzies

[@EatWave]

That carried over to the 'satire' on the radio and TV channels in game. It got to the point where it was preferable to listen to the cars' engine sounds than any of the talk radio even for a moment.

[@whatever57010]

pretty much sums it up... and is the reason I am not really looking forward to GTA 6 I believe R* has peaked and will be declining

[@Obri55]

Brainrot

[@KnottsBear-yTalesPreserved]

I think us being stuck with this game for a decade is the reason why we hate it these days. I don't blame people for feeling that way. I am just waiting for the day GTA VI happens. But even with that we'll probably feel the same there as we did for this game. Depending on how its gonna be milked...

[@Udontlikeice]

This game has literally witnessed and experienced all my phases as a kid

[@SaturnVII]

8:49 My blunt fell out of my mouth when you mentioned Lamar, THANK YOU! Literally the only cool friend out of any of them because he was the only one to call Franklin a goof to his face.

[@BigHairyMarty314]

What really bugs me about GTA Online is that I don't even play it, yet Rockstar are so adamant about pushing it onto players that I can't start up the single player game without an internet connection, which renders it completely useless on the Steam Deck whilst travelling.

[@bryanlassiter698]

I will forever have a hate for GTA V for how Rockstar ignored RDR2's online.

[@ericjones4776]

No one cares about RDR2 online

[@TheyWantMeGone69]

@@ericjones4776 Yes because the majority of R* fans have short attention spans

[@TheyWantMeGone69]

@@godzillazfriction RDR2 will plays be peak gaming for me but I will also still be bothered at how they didn't give him his signature hair.

[@FraserSouris]

To play Devil's Advocate for a second, is it really GTAV's fault that RDO did poorly? Like remember when GTO first came out, it was barren of content for its entire first year but people still played it. That's what made Rockstar decide to invest in it and support it. But RDO didn't manage the same.

[@TheyWantMeGone69]

@@FraserSouris Yes. They were smart to invest in GTA Online because that's where the money was at. It's just about perspective. RDR fans weren't happy.

[@5persondude]

I’ve felt the exact same way ever since it released but could never fully articulate why, so when I’d go anywhere online and say it, people would just dunk on me or tell me I was wrong for not gushing over GTA V. Thanks for making this video and not focusing solely on GTA Online

[@ydgjoe]

i think hate is a bit strong, wouldnt say the story is life changing or anything but i think its a good enough vehicle for the gameplay which is very solid in my opinion

[@titlasagna2172]

The story has the quality of a 10 year old's writing.

[@Trampymctramptramp]

​@@titlasagna2172🧢

[@thelastjerkbender2505]

Honestly the story up until the FIB raid is a damn fun romp. It's perfectly paced, the characters are cool and the missions are fun and flow very logically into each other. After the torture mission, the story kinda falls apart, mostly because the trio keeps getting reeled into hijinks by Weston and Haynes and they take a very passive role in their own story.

[@MichaelisBLee]

You probably won't read this, but I've been following your content for a long while through your God of War and Twisted Metal videos, among others such as you Tony Hawk, Jak and Daxter and Breath of the Wild videos. This is one of only two videos where I felt the need to disagree heavily with your video - the other being your Jak and Dexter video (and even then, it was only one point I disagree with). It's become common to criticise Grand Theft Auto V and (very deservedly) Grand Theft Auto Online. I will not defend Online, nor the story of Grand Theft Auto V. I agree with you there. I also have nothing to say on the game design or world map, and I also agree with Niko being Grand Theft Auto's best creation. But that's where my disagreement stands with you: the characters. When you compare every protagonist to Niko, almost everyone is going to fall short except Victor Vance. And that's not an excuse to say, “weaker characters should be excused”. But it's also not an excuse for you to disregard the amazing characters in three protagonists Grand Theft Auto V gave us. For someone who could defend Kratos's negative traits through context of God of War's story and historical context, it's disappointing you cannot do the same for Michael and Trevor. For someone who did a video on why felt Breath of the Wilds was limited by a silent protagonist, it's disappointing that you're unable to understand the nuance of writing that ALL characters are reactive and proactive. If you find Franklin boring, that's fair. But if you're going to misrepresent him as reactive, it's just wrong: - It's Franklin's proactive choice that leads him to work towards a better future out of the hood. - It's Franklin's proactive choice that leads him to continue saving Lamar. - It's Franklin's proactive choice that leads him to staying loyal to Trevor and Michael. - And finally, it's Franklin's proactive choice that allows him to guide us, the player, to one of three endings. Those are all significant choices represented to them and through these choices, Franklin guides us through a character arc of loyalty and friendship over the corporate capitalism of Devin Weston and the cold calculus of Steve Haines and Dave Norton. This is not even delving into the strong, subtle writing of Michael and Trevor and how both of them ended up as they are, whereas you chose to go in depth when it comes to Niko in this video or defending Kratos in your other videos. Again, I agree with most of the video, but this was significant enough of a point for me to disagree with you on, because I respect you as a man who wants to foster a community of critical thinkers, rather than an echo chamber of yes men. Even if nobody reads this, I, at the very least, wanted to stand up to defend my third favourite game in the franchise, because I doubt anyone else will.

[@skibot9974]

What part of the Jak video did you disagree with

[@anthonyemerson2965]

I agree almost completely. GTAV’s story is easily the worst in the series since III. In Vice City, Tommy wants to take over Vice City. Simple enough. In San Andreas, CJ wants to earn the respect of his brother and bring his gang back to its former glory. In IV, Niko wants a better life for him and his cousin. In V…Franklin wants money? And Michael’s bored and hates his wife? And Trevor’s a lunatic? It feels hollow. Rockstar took the negative reaction to IV’s more dark tone (which was overblown, by the way) and completely overcorrected, and instead created a story where nothing matters at all. And then you gave GTAO, which is so stupidly successful one of the best game developers doesn’t even need to make games to make money anymore. It’s pretty sad.

[@cracmar03]

'since III' are you implying that rather very potent revenge story, that GTA III has is somehow bad ? I can tell you I played GTA III-San Andreas, and there is hardly a villain that I hate more and with more passion then mofo Catalina to this day. Claude maybe mute but he was straightforward in way he acted in game - he gave absolutely zero f's for most things as long as he will reach Catalina and end her, heck I laughed he was only GTA protagonist that thinks given lack of voice they made him put clues about Cartel together. I could say, III had the most potent story out of all of them. San Andreas made stupid .. rewrite I guess with Ryder betrayal for no reason, because Rockstar couldn't get along with voice actor. I liked Ryder the most .. by end of SA when CJ reclaims Grove Street lands and such .. well all I could think of was - what for ? So Sweet who was always bitchy could be less so ? For whom ? CJ's other relatives are dead, Kendal will go wherever with Ceasar. All homies are dead, sure Smoke deserved it .. but Ryder was just wasted, and his death never felt good. Can CJ still call it even 'home' ? His mother is dead, and we saw how memories haunted him when he arrived about both her and Brian. I can never feel same thing as I did to beggining group, towards new replacable group consisting of who exactly. Wu won't live in Los Santos. Sister is off to wherever latinos will be. The Truth is a hippie so settling is hardly for that weirdo. End of San Andreas felt .. tokenish. CJ got Groove Street back. Not for him though. Neither for sister, whoever he hangs with as 99% don't care, not for old gang as it got wiped/betrayed .. he reclaimed it, sure, but for nothing. Vice City on other hand Tommy is played like a fiddle by Forelli, sure he eventually kills him and get betrayed, but still his most concern was to grew empire to pay off Forelli, while we as player knew that Tommy is just being used to be discarded. This is major disconnection I have for Vice City and how I couldn't relate with it's story. Doesn't help that I barely know Tommy minus his commentaries and sarcasm. Sure he is likable, but there is not much depth to Vercetti at all. I could relate to Claude so much more then to either CJ or Tommy, just thinking of how he let Asuka torment Miguel despite he knew the truth about Kenji's death .. I felt that necessary evil there. "Actions speak louder then words" would be perfect explanation how III felt by Claude not being voiced, but certainly not sitting around either.

[@goldswaggamer4007]

You pretty much boiled down the GTA V story into both an accurate description and a dumb one that makes the game look worse than it is. Franklin wants to leave the hood and make a better name for himself, which in result causes him to get into the same problems he tried to leave, as well as getting roped into the problems of Michael and Trevor. Basically, a different CJ with a watered-down Niko Bellic story. Michael is a sociopath and liar who has settled comfortably in the city of Los Santos, but the effects of Los Santos and his dirty money are shown in his family, as they are literally constant garbage. This drags Michael back into a life of crime, and as his past is slowly opening into the world, it's bringing old friends into the equation and furthering his spiral into being a criminl. It's not the best story, but its link with the game itself is probably the best thing the story has to offer. Trevor is a complete psychopath who has been mentally and physically abused his entire life, which is shown by both his complete careless nature and his slight empathy for people around him, which is shown both in how he doesn't kill Ron or Wade and in Burying The Hatchet, where he refuses to kill Michael and would rather someone else do it. After his dreams of being part of the air space flopped due to Michael, his entire story has something to do with either harming the person that ruined his life (something he can't do and is stuck with), or building his drug empire. The actual basis of the story is great, but the execution can be both good and flawed, just like the rest of the games. Vice City is just a watered-down Scarface ripoff and San Andreas is just your average LA 90's gang violence movie, so it isn't hard to boil these games down into the worst form of themselves while leaving out the quality parts.

[@goldswaggamer4007]

​@@cracmar03Catalina was definitely an evil goblin, that's for sure. She was a genuine domestic terrorist in both GTA III and in San Andreas. Now that is a villain.

[@Resident4Island]

Don't insult Gta 3 like that . Claude was a much more developed character than all of GTA 5 Trio combined and i'm not joking. Claude is the first and only anti hero in GTA franchise he wiped the floor with criminal underworld, he never killed single police officer in the entire game and before you say the intro Claude only knocked out that single officer he was hesistant to kill him it was Columbian's and their bomb that killed him. Claude is much more better strategist and tactitian than 50 year old Michael he played the gang's of Liberty City like a fiddle turning them against each other, he managed to do bank robbery's for 9 year's without getting caught, but here is the kicker Claude has no defining backstory so his past is pretty much a mystery he's real name might not even be Claude , his motivation's are a mystery is he an Agent of Chaos , Kingpin of Crime, Revenge . What if Claude had a millitary background like say Niko, maybe he was abused by his parent's like Trevor, maybe just maybe he had no bad past what so ever he was just normal guy who one day was bored and decided to do some crime for the thrill of it and here is a another thing he is much more intimidating than Trevor during S.A.M mission when Asuka is about to torture The Columbian he beg's Claude to let him go Pls Amigo she is crazy she loco i can tell where Catalina is Pls amigo Claude gives him a cold dead stare without saying any word as if for in a brief moment you can enter his mind *YOU'RE PATHETIC AMIGO* 🥶🥶. Claude is easily my favorite GTA protagonist playing like Claude is like playing like Tyler Durden from Fight Club.

[@badleesins9961]

GTA 5 is GARBAGE , easily the worst in the franchise.

[@hitman109109]

tbf on the Lazlow characterization, they gradually made him more of a degenerate throughout the games.

[@Eirik_Bloodaxe]

I liked Lazlo, so I kinda hated what they did to him. But maybe that’s because I started with Chatterbox.

[@vinegar4556]

GTA 3 Lazlow is still the goat. I really miss back when he was portrayed as the one "normal" guy in the city, having to deal with all these morons and Lunatics on his talk show.

[@hitman109109]

@@Eirik_Bloodaxe yeah, but gta 3 is the only game he was like that and that could be explained away by him being numb on drugs while on the air, maybe Donald Love giving him anti-psychotics while he was on the air and when Love disappeared so did the drugs which would explain the events of his divorce he later talked about in gta 4.

[@hotwire96]

I very much agree with this. GTA V plays like a game where, compared to previous GTAs, they just didn't care as much. This shows in the storyline, the characters, the map, and the gameplay. The older GTA titles had kind of an intangible 'soul' to them, which I believe came from a level of commitment, effort and, as strange as it sounds, love poured into them from the people that made them. GTA V doesn't seem to have that to me.

[@unchi1999]

Same

[@TheMiddleFiddle]

side effect of having a game set in Los Angeles

[@paulie-Gualtieri.]

It was crap when it was released back in 2013, the whole world felt lifeless and empty.

[@alainportant6412]

Box of mallomars on the counter. Fuckin empty

[@marek1shtar538]

One thing i like about 5 is the Underwater exploration. which 4 lacked for some reason. aside from that, their easter eggs, secrets and myths are all telegraphed and barely there. its kinda sad

[@Eirik_Bloodaxe]

I think for IV it was probably because of 1. Getting used to new consoles and what they can do. And 2. How many people are trying to scuba dive The Hudson.

[@marek1shtar538]

@@Eirik_Bloodaxe Bro ngl it would've been interesting to have found skeletons with "concrete shoes" in the river in 4 not to sound weird. It just gives the city more to it than just the city. like imagine diving into the lake in the park to find an easter egg or something

[@YoungBasedChefBeezy]

@@marek1shtar538 the underwater portions of gta v were pretty useless tbh. The time spent modeling is he barren underwater world could’ve been used to make the city more robust

[@Xegethra]

@@marek1shtar538 They did that with Vice City. But yeah it would have fit GTA 4 as well.

[@maydaymemer4660]

I like this video, but im also going to play devil’s advocate a little and give my take on some of the points: - I believe that the microtransaction problem has been a slow boiling frog since DLC was introduced. The 360 and PS3 era started introducing paid cosmetics, horse armor is infamous but Saints Row The Third started locking the previous games’ most famous outfits behind DLC. Theres also the Sims series which included “stuff packs” too - I personally like GTAV’s narrative for how it is trying to experiment more with what makes a GTA protagonist and also with its attempt to be a parody of the Houser Bros’ favorite movies of the time. I think while you may not like the characters I enjoy them for being larger than life and being memorable enough that you can tell who they are by mannerisms and way of speaking like all good characters. Michael always talks in movie quotes and self pity, whereas Trevor has a conversational but also weirdly offended tone whenever he talks to people. Franklin I will also give credit that you kind of affect his arc via your final choice. Giving the character who follows orders a chance to defy orders and “pick C” is a good narrative idea - As for the humor, I will admit I like the lowbrow stuff so for me for every joke that hits theres another I really like. I also like how the humor and atmosphere being so nasty is kind of indicative of the time it was made. The game is a time capsule of what LA was like, as viewed by Brits. So the games tendency to rib at the sex pest nature of celebrities, the virtue signaling of online progressives, the ignorance of the white working class regarding border control, the schlubby racism of upper class burnout failsons who play video games all day. All this kind of hasnt gone OUT of the discourse but I think GTAV was the first big game that made that a thing to do and lets be honest even if you hate its sense of humor it’s done it better than most other things. Imagine any of these ideas and think of a recent thing - like the Saints Row reboot - which tried to lampoon it - I think youre a bit reductive of how good GTAV’s driving is. Theres definitely a place for its inbetween style, just like how racing games arent all either kart racers or simulators. Everything ive read about the mechanics it seems to be incredibly deep and the customization is excellent. I also think the game being full of so much gimmicky mechanics like golf and tennis was just a product of Rockstar wanting to be as ambitious as possible and make GTA an evergreen game. Theres no need to make a dedicated golf game, tennis game or whatever game if they can just put that in GTA - I feel like as much as I dont like Rockstar’s output being so slow, I think they should have done a bunch of small games instead of one big one every five years, I dont think the way it works necessarily is just that theyre working on GTA online all the time. San Andreas was developed by Rockstar North in Dundee, then their next game came out four years later with GTA IV. Then five years after that it was V and then five years after that it was RDR2. The reason RDR1, Bully, Max Payne and the GTA spinoffs were made was because they were games by spinoff studios. You do talk about this but I still think you understated how big an undertaking RDR2 and GTAVI are, they had every studio working on the former and thats probably the case with the latter. RDR1 was San Diego cutting its teeth but the sequel was green lit apparently immediately and required every studio to finish. So Dundee was on it for five years but the game itself mightve took eight, and even then there’s signs it was rushed due to them cutting five hours of campaign off it. What im trying to say is the backup studios probably arent working on Online, I would wager that it’s a skeleton crew currently because from what little ive heard the online updates have gotten worse - Another reason the games have taken longer is also that Rockstar have very recently moved away from crunch. Now im not trying to guilt trip you, im actually someone who thinks a little crunch can be a good thing as long as it’s paid overtime and not completely debilitating. However Vice City was famously crunched and that led to them cutting down on that map significantly, not only was an entire area cut but also the second island if you replay that game isnt as good as the first. It took until VCS for them to give it a glow up. LCS was started after Vice City was done and thus it and VCS probably took about two years and hopefully didnt have crunch but that was using assets that were already there. A modern day Stories equivalent would probably take four to five years with how much HD gaming has upped the budgets and dev times of even small projects. Look at how Insomniac crunched hard to do annual RAC releases. So from what I read RDR2 was the last crunch game and thus GTA VI taking longer is definitely due to that I feel. I wouldnt be surprised if VI came out this year if they still abused crunch as hard as they apparently did for previous projects - Another thing to say is I think a second Bully game was cancelled twice due to them not being satisfied with the project. So once again I dont think they just sat on Online for all these years, we just havent seen what theyve tried to work on - However I wont say your critiques of GTA V are inaccurate because it is to me a weak entry in the series to not only have supported for so long but to basically be the last swan song of Houser Bros. era GTA. I dont think VI will have strong a narrative as RDR2 or even GTAV - I also wont say GTA Online’s success hasnt affected support of RDR2 and even GTAV itself, I also will say that it has definitely negatively affected the industry and Rockstar for it to be so successful. Theres a lot of mechanics in V that are half baked because of Online, for example the world doesnt have as much random florishes to give it life like there isnt a gang war system like in GTASA and i bet that was to make the experience of Online more of a PvP experience and not wanting to frustrate players with too many variables. Which is a shame because GTA V has a less interesting world than Saints Row 2, for example. Theres also proof that Online’s success essentially killed off Rockstar’s interest in singeplayer DLC, which probably rippled into the industry as a whole. GTAV’s promised singleplayer DLC is infamous and I bet if Online flopped RDR2 wouldve gotten something be it Online or singleplayer So overall I really liked this vid but wanted to give my own takes. I enjoy your voice and the way you view things, so I really like videos like this even when i disagree with them because theyre still very agreeable if that makes sense. I would really like to hear you cover more open world and GTA games in the future, it seems you and I have tastes that line up from Just Cause to Ratchet to Spyro to GTA, so hopefully youll make videos on for example the Saints Row series in the future I think thatd be interesting because ive been playing SR1 and SR3 and theyre both very different but very good games if u havent tried them. Id like to know how you would revive the franchise as its recently gone the way of Just Cause 4 with the reboot. Also ive said this before but u should really try out hitman lol

[@VSPhotfries]

I feel similarly on nearly all of those points. I especially like the point about Franklin's arc, since he's pretty clearly meant to be the only "relatable" character and therefore the closest thing to a self-insert. He's been dragged along by these two major players and extremely bad influences, though ones who have given him enormous benefit, and in the end he can basically decide either to stay loyal to them or keep following orders, but ironically if he keeps following orders, that maybe make the world a better place by getting rid of one or two of the most dangerous and selfish men alive.

[@ThePope2003]

I ain’t reading allat

[@NEELZE99]

Adderall is speaking

[@efficiencygaming3494]

GTA 5 had a very strangely written story. Of the three protagonists, Franklin is by far the easiest to relate to because he's not either a selfish, impulsive egotist or a deranged psycho like the other two, but he's also the least important because he has little control over what happens to him in the story. If you think about it, Franklin kind of seems like an afterthought in the game's story, almost as if Rockstar put him in at the last minute. The story always revolved around Trevor and Michael from the start, and Franklin occupies an awkward position where his business doesn't really overlap cleanly with that of the other two. He's one of those characters that I would describe as being more of a "playable NPC" than a full-fledged protagonist.

[@Zuwze]

"If you think about it, Franklin kind of seems like an afterthought in the game's story, almost as if Rockstar put him in at the last minute." I see it the other way around. Franklin was written first, that's why he's a pretty normal guy, the straight man, easy to relate to and a decent pov character, very much like CJ. Trevor on the other hand feels like a side character that they just decided to make playable.

[@wedasantika6079]

What about Sindacco Chronicles?

[@popatsot1]

GTA 5 without online. Amazing. GTA 5 with online. Shiny garbage that has ruined Rockstar.

[@rodmunch7278]

YES!!! 🕳 °•.🏌‍♂️

[@Celisar1]

Online is not garbage but simply the best multiplayer online game you can ask for. There is no other game offering such a dazzling variety of activities online.

[@popatsot1]

@Celisar1 It was fun at the start and after they added heists but they went too far with it. In the same way I hate Call of Duty for cannibalizing every Activision studio I hate GTA online for taking every resource from Rockstar to make GTA marginally better. It's barley added anything in the past 5 years yet it still gets nearly all of their effort. No single player dlc for 5 or RDR2. No Bully sequel despite several attempts. No new IP to actually flex some creative muscle. Nothing. We are now about to get GTA 6 but that's just a vehicle for the next iteration of GTA online, which might not even have them stop working on GTA 5's version depending on sales.

[@AnekoF90]

​@@Celisar1 it is.

[@dame2547]

​@@Celisar1 😂😂😂 man's really said GTA is the best multiplayer online game lmfaooooo

[@michaeld8280]

I have heard that criticism of Fives trio vs. Niko and I do agree, but you had three main characters vs. one, it was bound to happen. I liked the "team" aspect of five but it came at a cost of depth for sure. If only we had some single player DLC or something to explore them more lol.

[@atomic747]

Instead they put the story into gta online for some reason..

[@stiffchris9720]

cuz money@@atomic747

[@Veldazandtea]

The more people support microtransactions the more it kills games.

[@thefierycharmeleon164]

I feel the same way as you do TBP. GTA V not only did it popularized microtransactions into the mainstream, but like you said at the end, it basically revolutionized the "Just keep one game that is too big to fail, and just use that only to profit the company" trend. Though, now thinking about it, Value could've been the first to do it, with Steam, Counter Strike and Dota 2, and make nothing else from there. Many companies do this now. Blizzard with them barely touching Overwatch, Warcraft Rts games, and StarCraft, as they have World of Warcraft and mobile games and Nintendo using less and less of their franchises, with Pokemon, Zelda and Mario keeping them very much alive. Those are the ones I can think of and it's probably only gonna be more apparent in the future.

[@Duncle0]

Microtransactions were never pushed on people in gta. They were useless from the start, money making in that game has always been super easy. They keep the game around because its a great game and millions love playing the online mode. There is so much to do and the player base is split up massively into several kinds of players. The speedrunners, the online speedrunners, the pvp players, the money grinders, the racers, the people who like to find glitches, the easter egg hunters etc. GTA 6 has also been in development for 9 years now. Its taken so long because the map is apparently 4 times bigger than Los Santos, the story is way longer, they had to exactly model most of miami, then every time there was something new such as RDR2 or the PS4/Xbox One/PC and PS5/Xbox Series X ports of the game they had to pause development.

[@Zuwze]

@@Duncle0 "They keep the game around because its a great game and millions love playing the online mode." Lol no, look at the revenue. They would not have developed the game as much if it didn't make nearly as much money as it is.

[@Duncle0]

@@Zuwze Obviously the revenue comes with that many people dipshit. If they didn't care about the game, they would have stopped updates years ago and millions would still be playing today and that same revenue would come with it.

[@frankmacs9379]

I absolutely agree with this. Nico's rise & development was excellent. He was better than all 3 of GTA V's combined. They're going down to 2 characters for GTA VI, so maybe Rockstar recognised this. I hope some other company makes a game in competition to GTA. It'll stop Rockstar's complacency in game releases.

[@CopiousDoinksLLC]

14:46 That's the most "GTA:Online" thing ever - you're peacefully buying new clothes at the store when some lunatic in clown make-up frantically busts through the door and shoots you in the face for no apparent reason and then disappears without elaborating.

[@Ctar99n]

the protags are the reason why i never got more than like an hour or two into the story mode, the whole character hopping doesnt help, makes it even more difficult to connect with a character when none of them can be the main character

[@excellentestevan4488]

It was that and the fact the game developers didn't give us enough missions to care or relate to them. Literally there's 69 mission because funny that's why

[@airboruto23]

​@@excellentestevan4488 gta 5 was rushed imo. look at all the fun stuff gtao got that gta 5 probably would've had if they had a little more dev time but probably had to pop something out after 5 years of no gta at the time, I mean gta4 and sa had way more missions then that game did, more content as well imo.

[@excellentestevan4488]

@@airboruto23 very true indeed

[@MasteRgamer-mk5bp]

@@airboruto23 Those games come out for the ps2 and ps3 gen of course they were able to add more stuff to do when everything only took a few thousand polygons to make it's a lot harder to make a game that looks as good as gta v and has as much stuff to do as San Andreas without cutting corners somewhere.

[@KevenIdiotII]

​​@@airboruto23 ah yes the fact that at a very specific time at night you can find a ghost on a mountain or that you can find a bunker door in the middle of the ocean that you would never find on a regular playthrough OR the fact that you can find the outline of a kraken in the ocean which again you would NEVER FIND on a regular playthrough, all that and hundreds of things more really make this game rushed

[@Dr.Anarchy97]

I was seven years old when I first played GTA SA. It blew my mind because before then the only type of games I ever got to play were Super Mario and Sonic.

[@nightwolf9375]

This review encompasses everything that I felt while playing through the game for the first time and when I revisited it earlier this year. Very rarely do I find a review/critique on a game that shares my same exact sentiments, so well done!

[@AlChestBreachFan7]

Couldn’t agree more. GTA V in a vacuum is one of the prime examples of what kind of ceiling video games as a medium can have. But GTA online has held our dear Rockstar hostage for far too long. How can you blame them when it still rakes in billions a year?

[@santosarr]

They gotta be funding for the next big game.

[@TheKingOfJordan1]

@@santosarr why bother making a new one when the whales still pay for the old one?

[@AlChestBreachFan7]

@@TheKingOfJordan1 it’s like Valve having no incentive to make Half-Life 3 (although that looks to be changing) except x1000

[@AlChestBreachFan7]

@@santosarr I think they’ve funded the next 3 at this point.

[@trianglemoebius]

@@AlChestBreachFan7 In fall fairness, by this point Valve is presumably not making HL3 because there's simply no way it'll live up to the hype. They could release the actual best game ever to be made, like perfect 10/10 by every single conceivable metric, and it still wouldn't be enough, simply because they're contending with 16 years of hype and expectation. As much as it sucks to say it, Valve should never release HL3. Or, if they do, they should first remaster the entire HL series for Source2, so that people can get the hype out of their system and the inevitability of HL3 at the end will set things back to level.

[@valx7586]

You forgot to mention something about the microtransactions (probably because you didn't play it on release) but they pulled a very scummy switcharoo, at first there were no shark cards or micros, money from completing jobs were much higher and everything was cheaper to buy with that ingame money, after most people were hooked they switched it to a micro based economy, lowered job payout and increased ingame prices

[@VikingPoodle]

Spot on. And this is exactly why I tell people to be wary of gta VI and not to get lost in hype. But I'm usually shouted down for that opinion.

[@k.23_02]

Once GTA 6 is out everybody will probably go back to liking GTA 5 again. The main reason I see why so many people hate GTA 5 now is because of how many years it's been without GTA 6 so it's just got boring for them. Also I don't understand why people always talk about GTA 5 and GTA Online like they're the same game when they aren't. Yes they're both set in Los Santos but they're completely separate games that's why GTA Online is sold separately to GTA 5. So don't let what Rockstar have done to GTA Online ruin the reputation of GTA 5.

[@cammywhite]

I can never really hate gtav (yes including online with all its issues) same way i just can't hate the rest of the series but take twos/rockstars greed and milking of the game has made me grow such a strong bitterness for both companies and what they represent and make more specifically there treatment of online and v in general

[@limemaster4942]

Ngl i played gta v like 3 different times and i still dont fully understand the story

[@boredbitch666]

dame especially during quarantine and will never replay it.

[@ErickRicardo]

9:28 OMFG! This is so accurate, the story of GTA V is so weirdly shaped. Looks like "chapters" I'd say.

[@j-skullz]

RDR2's chapter structure felt almost like an apology for this. That game feels more like playing through a novel while this game feels more like a episodic TV show so maybe it depends on the tone they were going for

[@cjlowder7089]

I like this game - the story and the characters - but after learning what could have been, I do indeed have issues. You said it yourself: there's so much dead space in the map. As it turns out, they had plans for EIGHT single-player DLCs: secret agent Trevor, zombies, aliens, Liberty City, North Yankton, etc. All of them would have fleshed out the world, and all of them got canceled in favor of GTA Online.

[@alex-q8-q9]

2:58 you showing that clip of sly raccoon brought back so many good memories. Thank you.

[@dusterpl6093]

For me GTA V has a fundamental flaw in it's design. You're having fun as long as you're progressing with the story, trying to do literally ANYTHING fun in freeroam ends up being chased by the police, which was not really the case in previous games. Crashing into other cars using a buldozer or some other heavy machinery gets you wanted level. Beating up random parked cars with blunt weapons gets you wanted level. Killing some random npc in the middle of nowhere, even with a silenced weapon immediately gets you wanted level with police magically spawning everywhere around you. Exploding melee attack cheat is basically pointless because each and every hit immediately gives you wanted level, It's so bad that at some point I had to type in clear wanted level cheat each and every hit. This game is literally the "no fun allowed" sign of video games...

[@BUCKBREAKING69]

Have you never heard of Director Mode dude? Jesus Christ, if you went deeper into it rather than go on a surface level you’d learn that you can do all that PLUS with no wanted levels

[@dusterpl6093]

@@BUCKBREAKING69 i'm pretty sure it's most likely a pc only thing, or at least something they've added on the 8th gen of consoles. there was no such thing on the 7th gen, and it's not an excuse for making the original game so annoying

[@the_motherfucker]

@@BUCKBREAKING69 Ah yes, it doesn't matter if there is a major flaw in the game because you can just disable the flawed feature in a mode where there's no story, no side activities, where nothing you do has any effect on stats or anything, etc. That's like saying "Stop complaining about getting underpaid and just embezzle more money". Also, "Plus" isn't an acronym

[@BUCKBREAKING69]

@@the_motherfucker I'm not gonna argue with some moron who doesnt know that people capitalize words for emphasis lmfao

[@RedRiverChannel]

When GTA V was released animals could become witnesses and therefore report crimes. So if you fired a bullet in the middle of nowhere a bird could report it to the cops. But this was fixed 3 years after initial release.

[@Dahomeyian]

This video is a legit criticism, but its not a good criticism so let me go through it. STORY: Franklin is probably the weakest charcter in the story completley, hes just suppoed to be a neutral to keep trevor and michael from killing each other. But I will say I think this is because 1. rockstar wanted to get that san andreas audience in by making it seem like there was going to be a gang story, and 2. Lamar's irl voice actor was arrested during game development which pretty much paused Franklins story, I believe there was at least one mission cut with lamar and franklin so yeah I think its just a mid charcter + unfortuante timing. You really don't understand Michael and Trevor. Michael doesn't just "throw his friends under the bus for his own gain" he does that to an extent, but if you paid attention to the story its because he really saw it all as survival. Even within ending A which was really just a choice by rockstar to allowing players to make their own ending, he reluctantly takes part in it and refuses to talk to you after the mission is done. So yeah hes clearly upset by it, only seeing it as a way to survive that he will regret like what he did in the prologue. Trevor isn't just a character that is a maniac that has a soft spot. Hes just fed up with the world hes in and sees it all as a sham, hence why he hates hipsters so much (so much so he went on a rampage on them) and said YESS when Debra put down the persona "cursed" at floyd. Trevor's soft spot is that he just wants to be around real people and wants to have someone to connect with, and that someone is Michael. Once again, you focus on a side character thats purpose is to once again yes show that Trevor has a soft spot, instead of the real connection Trevor has and wants with Michael. The games main focus is on nihilism and being haunted/stuck in the past. The game is set in L.A lmao, everything is a sham, the radio, the tv's, the pedestrians are people who don't care about everyone else. Michael is a nihlist and haunted/trapped by his past, he has everything he could ever want, but he feels unfufilled and hates the life/family he lives, and the only way he stops being it so much is by escaping that life by returning to the one he left and being real. Trevor is a nihilist who only sees the world as a sham, everyone is fake and only he is real, and the only he stops being it to an extent is by reconnecting with the only person he sees as real. And Franklin is a nihilist who sees everything as stupid and is unfufilled, he doesn't have any real connections to anyone, is stuck in the past, and is unfuffiled with him having a giant empty home. I feel you didn't really pick up on any of that, since if you did you would see that GTA 5's story actually has a lot of depth. The side characters even further prove this, Lester sees everything as a sham but knows his way around. Devon Weston is the definition of a sham and a fraud, but hes the head of nearly every aspect of the world, which should show you that Michael does care about the people around him to some extent since he turns on Devon instead of keep working for him. Dave does actually like michael, and sees him as friend, but is split between that and trying to keep his sham career from going under. And the reason why you don't see agent haines as a bad guy till the end is because hes the one keeping things together lmao. he takes a bullet to keep the operation going, and his using the protagonists to keep his sham tv/fib career afloat, but eventually he turns bad since he wants all the glory, something literally said in the story. It goes on, and on, but once you look past the characters/setting at a surface level it shows its true message. As for GTA 4, I think the story is not as good as GTA 5's since it really is just all face value, there is a little depth but the story tells you everything and it pretty much leads you to into how your supposed to think/feel. And I do think you are right about random gangs/factions being thrown in but thats just them trying to keep the story going, your not really supposed to focus on it that much. ONLINE: If I had a dollar for everytime I heard "Shark card bad" I would be able to afford a single one. This is an argument that is as old as gta 5 online itself, and yeah its true but idk how to tell you this, but they got to keep money coming in somehow. It can be really bad at times and I think it deserves to be called out, but GTA Online is probably one of the most activley updated games, and this is how they are able to do it. I don't really get why you don't credit GTA Online for still being activley updated to this day, and it actually is in a better state now than it was from 2013-2015 with tons of stuff to do, and still has updates with community feedback. "The only thing you can do with your money is grief" I mean that can be true for any game to be completley honest. GTA 4 multiplayer didnt focus on money, but it had weapons everywhere which you can see as just a easy way to grief. You can do anything you want with your money, and you can do anything you want with the vehicles you get, is there some incentive to grief, yes, but youll make more money from not griefing then wasting your time doing so. Theres so much more to gta online then just making money and buying weapons lol. No GTA Online did not start microtransactions lmao, it really started all the way back in 2006 with the horse armor for oblivion, then the mann co store update in 2010, the call of duty skins in 2012/2013 and then finally this. It did start part of the microtransaction trend, specifically the pay for in game currency, but thats only one type, so please do more research. As for it killing red dead online, I don't know for sure. It's probably true, but I do think you have to be honest and say that trying to constantly update and add new stuff to a game thats locked in the year and setting of 1899 is only going to last so long before you just completley change what the purpose of the online is. If rockstar really wanted to make red dead online as extensive and as supported as gta online was/is then it probably will come at the cost of ruining the setting. And yes gta online did kill story DLC, thats pretty much true. GAME DEVELOPMENT: The fact you said "look at how many games rockstar released before gta 5, why don't they do that again" really shows how much you don't understand what it takes to make games these days. To make red dead 2 it took over 5 years, at least 370 million dollars, at least 500,000 lines of dialogue, and went through many rewrites and cuts. If you don't believe it takes that long to make a game these days, look at cdprojectred. They released witcher 3 in 2015, and only 5 years later they released cyberpunk 2077 and we all know how much of a mess that was, it probably needed another 2 years of development. Even call of duty games which used to take like a year and a half to make are now taking at least 2-4 years. So yeah no wonder why their taking so long make a next game, they have to/have been actively supporting gta online for nearly 10 years, and have to make a game bigger than both gta 5 and red dead 2. CONCLUSION: GTA 5 was an incredible game at launch with just how unique its atmosphere and style was, today it is a bit dated, but unlike most games released from 2011-2014 it is still being activley updated and added onto. It's story is a lot more subtle and complex then the gta's before it (there are hour+ long videos just clearing up some big misconceptions) and because of that it can get easily overlooked and misundestood. As for your criticism, its fair in a few points, but its mostly wrong. I don't think you really understand the story/message of the game, you say comparison is the lowest form of criticsm, but you compare the story to gta 4's which is entirley face value. You don't understand the character dynamics/interpersonal thoughts, and you don't even bring up story/game development moments that challenge your arguments. As for the online, you say arguments that have been said since 2013, but don't see that its a way to keep money coming to afford these massive budgets, and you don't really explore the online past a "lets get money to buy weapons" type thing. And lastly you don't understand that game development now takes a monumentous amount of time, money and manpower, with nearly every game, even those in a broken state taking at least 2-3 years to release. So yeah thats really all I have to say, I personally used to really hate gta 5 from 2016-2019 before realizing that it is actually a really good game. And I hope you learn to make better crticism since this was just very surface level stuff, hopefully darkviperau responds to this, and I am not a huge rockstar fanboy, they messed up san andreas/vice city/3 by removing it from steam, and completley ruined gta 4 on pc.

[@NewRetroLetsPlays]

All the eggs in the multiplayer basket is spot on. I hoped for single player DLC for a long time but we never got it. RS didn't even give us access to most of the DLC vehicles in single-player.

[@Mantis_Toboggan_TrashMan]

"Didn't finish it because my saves would get soft locked" This ALWAYS happend to me when I was a kid.

[@MyMomSaysImKeen]

Tactical Bacon is the closest thing to a father I've ever had.

[@Jaysin412]

Same here man, same here

[@degen7278]

No father crew les go

[@drvictorvondooooom103]

That’s beautiful

[@peakself9390]

I feel sorry for you.

[@ehsanghazavi470]

weirdo

[@gatewayofboredom]

Just putting it here since it extends to Online, but one of my biggest frustrations is that certain factions keep popping up when they really should have died out a long time ago. Merryweather canonically goes bust in 2013 after everything, but they linger on perpetually until 2023. The Lost have had several chapters (at least) be wiped out or destroyed (they're still around). The Altruists should have been snuffed out after Trevor wipes them out. Them being in Online made sense at first since it started off as a prequel to the events of V, but over the years it feels like they're a backup plan. Replace the Lost with the AOD, Merryweather with the Professionals or a new faction, just shake it up every once and a while.

[@dudemp4]

post 2014 gta online isnt canon

[@DUKEHadToDoItToEm]

GTA V never felt like a GTA game imo, too much unrealistic garbage in the story, even when compared to San Andreas which was whacky in its own right

[@beyond648]

You want realism in a gta game lol.

[@DUKEHadToDoItToEm]

@@beyond648 Not too much, but I don't want my game to feel like a parody of itself. GTA V was basically a Saints Row game.

[@Eirik_Bloodaxe]

I could see how people would feel like V was over correcting for IV. Bcuz the “gritty realistic” tone of IV was a massive criticism.

[@efitz1524]

That bit on GTA memes really makes me wonder what % of San Andreas players made it out of Los Santos 😂

[@playpal9950]

GTA 5 had too much going on. There were too many antagonists and B plots that were easily forgettable. They should have focused more on Michael and Trevor’s backstory and how it affects the current relationship between the three main characters in the present day. That idea alone could have made for more than enough content to fill the game.

[@octanesweat7065]

Nah they should have focused the characters doing there own things, just like how niko, johnny and luis were

[@ThommyofThenn]

I never played GTA 5 beyond going on a few mindless rampages when my roomate offered me the controller. This was a few years after I played VC on pc which I loved. I can understand the appeal of GTA V especially the multiplayer. However, I was absolutely rivited to RDR2 to the point that I even tried to get 100% completion on it. Very sad how RDO got so little love compared to GTA V's multiplayer. Thanks for this even-keeled retrospective

[@robertsmith4830]

I like Franklin because he's the most normal of the three, I feel like he's the most relatable to me.

[@mahfoudseraf5995]

You're a thug?

[@YateMarcos]

You got a yee yee ass haircut?

[@jackdawson5490]

I played through GTA 5 when it came out as a kid, and of course didn't digest the story much. Going back very recently, replaying it and watched videos about it, I don't find the story to be very good, it's pretty bad actually. However, I have to disagree heavily that Trevor is a bad or boring character, he's easily the best part of the game for me. You don't even have to look that closely to realize that Trevor is the most empathetic and least psychotic of the main characters, not that that's saying much. But I do find his character to be very well fleshed out and interesting, he has a strong set of beliefs backed by at best morally ambiguous motivations at best, which to me is a great hook for a character. His interactions with Floyd reveal him to be a very passionate person with great distain for those who are overly apathetic, which makes him the perfect foil for Michael.

[@Celisar1]

Trevor tramples a guy to death for being mad that Trevor slept with his girlfriend. The absolute definition of psychopathic. Oh, and he kills Floyd who has done nothing but help him in a maniacal bloodbath and uses a teddy bear for having sex with. Sick, sicker, Trevor.

[@jackdawson5490]

@@Celisar1 First of all, I stated already that the standards for morals are low when it comes to the main characters. The point is not that Trevor is a good guy, but a guy with complex morals and motivations, which is why i think hes a great character. Second, even under those pretenses, Johnny was not just some innocent bystander, he was the leader of a drug running rival biker gang. And third, if you actually pay attention to the cutscene, Trevor doesn't explicitly kill Floyd. Sounds like Debra kills Floyd, then Trevor kills Debra, although it's kind of up in the air.

[@andjusticeforall4201]

Give us a remake of Manhunt, Bully and Max Payne!

[@michaeliniga7958]

And a remaster/remake for The Warriors game

[@abo1199]

Remedy is remaking Max Payne 1 and 2.

[@lubbersinc]

Loved the video, but you only scratched the surface of the problems of GTA Online. There are so many things that have me worried for the next GTA game like:: - GTA+, the subscription service for GTA Online. - Making certain properties exclusive for GTA+ members, like The Vinewood Car Club. - The removal of 200+ cars from GTA Online, only to sell them at a later date FOMO style. - The horrible PC modders problem and R* refusing to do something about it. - Oppressor (including MKII), RC Tank, RC Bandito, Orbital cannon, Kosatka Guided Missiles and other weird stuff that doesn't belong in a semi-realistic open world game. - R* fixing money glitches within a couple of days, while leaving god mode glitches (like the Speedo Custom glitch) in the game for 4+ years. - The constant nudging to buy more expensive stuff that you don't need. For example: you can easily protect yourself from the Oppressor MKII, but you'll have to purchase a new car for 1.5 mil excluding 400.000+ lock-on jammer upgrade. - The awful customer support. I've got banned on PC like 5 times. R* wouldn't even listen or give me a specific reason for the ban. Despite having 1800+ hours on record in GTA Online since 2013 and completing the story 6 times, i'm worried about the future of this franchise. I'm afraid GTA IV will be the only entry with a dark and mature story, based on the leaks of the next GTA. I'm keeping my expectations really low with Rockstar nowadays, which is sad given the amazing games they have produced in the past. Rockstar is simply a shell of its former self.

[@H484R]

holy shit dude. takes alot of balls to flat out call out a game this popular and supported. "i dont like any of the characters". i LOVE it!!! great video my man