TL;DR - I found GTA V disappointing due to several technical and personal factors, and my faith in the franchise has been shaken. Please share your thoughts as well.
I have to admit.. being a lifelong fan of GTA, I was a little disappointed by V. I could never put my finger on what it was exactly, but something about this game never made me feel the same sense of immersion and enjoyment as VC, SA, or even III. I've identified a few factors:
1) V is the first GTA I've played on a console. In the past I've only played on PC, always with max settings. Now on Xbox, I've got a different distance between me and the screen, a different controller, and a different acoustic environment. Even after a year I'm still not really used to it. Everything just seems foreign and detached. I'm not trying to start a PC/console war, I'm just saying that a change in platform really can interfere with one's gaming experience (a long-time console player might find PC to be weird and uncomfortable too). What I'm hoping for right now is that when I play the PC version in January, some of that familiarity will come back and I'll feel more at home.
2) Related to 1, V is a huge game packed into what is basically an obsolete platform. They stretched the generation to the limit and made a lot of compromises in the process. For example the map is the biggest in GTA history, but half the area is mountain slopes, which are practically-speaking useless and graphically-speaking nothing but grainy textures. Of course I am still impressed with what a great game they've made given the technology, but it really makes me realize how much I've been taking for granted all this time.
3) Immersion-wise, the city itself feels less engaging. I understand that they've really made LS as close to LA as possible, and that in itself a remarkable feat. Unfortunately in my opinion LA/LS as a city is a lot less interesting that LC/NY. The neighborhoods feel a lot more generic and indistinct, whereas in LC or even SA-era LS, I could very easily get into the personality of the area I was in. The difference, to me, seems to be that in past games R* used a lot of exaggeration to get their point across, while in V they've made a conscious decision move away from tradition, and towards realism and subtlety.
4) Since the launch of V, R* has been following gaming business trends more closely. Shark Cards for GTA Online, DLC items being part of the special editions, and although it hasn't happened yet, microtransactions are edging ever so slightly closer to the game. Don't get me wrong, I really love and appreciate all the free DLC and improvements to V and Online that R* has given us. But I can't shake the feeling that the franchise is moving uncomfortably close to the subscription-based model that is common nowadays. No one can fault R* for doing whatever it takes to make more money, and they've been the 'cool' developer and stayed away from it for so long, but now I guess that era is coming to a close.
5) I have more reasons, but the post is getting pretty long, if I haven't lost you already. One thing I've kept in mind, though, is that GTA V really seems to be "post-GTA GTA". Michael is described as 'the GTA character who's won the game'; Franklin is 'a gangbanger in a post-gangbanger world'. The whole game is a speculation on what comes after the chaotic life of crime that past games portrayed. The world is more serene, the characters are more human, the story is (arguably) more mature. It's hard to say at this point in time if this new GTA is here to stay, since IV's TBOGT showed R* is willing to inject some silliness back into the franchise. And yet, with what I've seen so far, GTA as whole is evolving from its energetic arcade roots and becoming more serious with each generation. Although I found a lot of things to like about this realistic direction, I'm kind of hoping for a return to the chaos, if even just for one game.
After following the V hype train and having the game not live up to my probably-excessive expectations, I'm a lot more cautious with my feelings towards games as a whole. That being said, GTA remains my favorite game series of all time and I love V, even if it's not as much as I thought I would.
What did you think of V? Let me know if you agree or disagree with any of my points, I'd love to have a discussion.
Submitted November 02, 2014 at 02:16AM by MNREDR http://ift.tt/1wTmjWZ
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