Grand Theft Auto Grieving Thread - Yep, I've been drinkin' again...

[The Last Stand]

IV is great too, but it really lacks the depth of San Andreas. (Call me a gay melodramatic, but I feel IV also had the best story of the series and I liked the muted pallette.)

But then again that's just how things are, people hated IV when it came out for it's more serious story and driving mechanics but now it's considered one of the best GTA games.

Just know so far that it starts with him starting from GTA V, so the "clunky gameplay" point makes sense.

 

[Jungle Jim Jones]

Still largely dislike IV. It's visually dreadful (I don't care that it's playing into the depressing and dramatic tone of the story, it's just very ugly and unecessary), the driving isn't realistic as everyone parrots (unless you think every car having the speed and handling of a 1950s limousine is realism) and the open world and its activities are a massive downgrade from everything that San Andreas had to offer. It's unquestionably a huge step for the franchise much like GTA III was in its time, but it has more issues than people like to admit.

As for the diamonds, it's still nonsense that TBOGT basically provides a new ending for them, they should have just been lost forever in the dump truck. It makes no sense for the hobo to find them and I don't think they'll even bother to actually feature the gun store he opened up in Vice City as claimed in the radio news.

 

[LightDragonman1]

GTA IV btw is the second highest rated game of all time on Metacritic.

Wonder why that is.

 

[Jungle Jim Jones]

GTA IV btw is the second highest rated game of all time on Metacritic.

Wonder why that is.

Just saying, popularity and quality are not the same thing. Any intelligent person understands this. There's a McDonalds restaurant in every corner of the world, does that make it healthy food? Everything Rockstar makes has a high rating regardless of quality.

 

[LightDragonman1]

Gamespot in particular originally gave it a 9.5, after talking it over with the other staff members, bumped it up to a 10. Heck, at one point, it had the same score as OOT on Metacritic.

Any explanations as to why the critics adored it so much, even though most fans seem to prefer SA and V?

 

[The Last Stand]

Any explanations as to why the critics adored it so much, even though most fans seem to prefer SA and V?

The common consensuses being its deep, engaging, dramatic story, innovations to gameplay, beautiful open world and visuals afforded by next-gen technology, and it being the latest mainline GTA since San Andreas. Basically, the leaps in gameplay and storytelling Rockstar provided with IV outweighs its flaws from critics and consumers alike.

 

[GeorgeFloydFentanylStash]

GTA IV btw is the second highest rated game of all time on Metacritic.

Wonder why that is.

Tied with SoulCalibur and sandwiched between OoT and Mario Galaxy

 

[TheHarbinger]

Any explanations as to why the critics adored it so much, even though most fans seem to prefer SA and V?

Video games journalists' jobs depend on "liking" the big new games. They serve to promote big releases. That is the entire existence of game journalism. Even games are that are purely awful, microtransaction saturated, and bug laden, will get fair or high scores. And to promote only positivity they have to keep increasing the review scores so that new games have higher scores than older games. And remasters and remakes have significantly higher scores than the original games.

Unless GTA6 is a complete disaster it will probably get 9/10 or 10/10 scores just about everywhere. The entire entertainment industry is like this not just games. Movies, comics, television shows, music, and books. Whatever new slop of the month is being pushed by major publishers or developers will get promoted no matter how dire the quality.

 

[Jungle Jim Jones]

Unless GTA6 is a complete disaster it will probably get 9/10 or 10/10 scores just about everywhere. The entire entertainment industry is like this not just games. Movies, comics, television shows, music, and books. Whatever new slop of the month is being pushed by major publishers or developers will get promoted no matter how dire the quality.

Absolutely. It's bribery without direct exchange. The price of having early access, exclusive interviews and a direct line of communication is having to write favorable reviews regardless of quality. It's long been a part of journalism and it has managed to infect independents over the past few years as well.

 

[The Last Stand]

I wish I knew how to video edit, but I imagine this scene with GTA IV fans vs. San Andreas fans.

---

Digital versions of GTA V on PS4/XB1 will be eligible for free upgrades to its E&E port available for PS5/XS starting tomorrow. Most interesting is that any PS4 version, disk or digital, are eligible for that upgrade. Physical Xbox copies do not have that luxury.

 

[GeorgeFloydFentanylStash]

I want everyone to take a moment to comprehend that the New York Knicks, Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Blues have all somehow managed to win championships before Rockstar managed to get GTA VI out.

Don’t forget that Indiana football and OKC Thunder won titles too before GTAVI

 

[TheArtilleryman]

Guess it's time I replay GTA 4.

Is Niko Bellic the best GTA main character, followed by CJ and Toni Cipriani? Discuss.

Definitely Tommy Vercetti. No moral lessons or tragic backstory, just a bad motherfucker who can't stop winning. He's like a force a nature. He's the only one for whom it's believable that in between missions he bumped a cop car which then escalated to a city wide rampage in which 400 people died, and he then proceeded to not acknowledge it whatsoever in the next cutscene. He just had to deal with some pricks, that's all he'd say.

I remember somebody saying Trevor was meant to represent a realistic personality for a GTA protagonist, given what the players will make him do, but nah that's bullshit, it's Tommy Vercetti.

 

[The Last Stand]

I remember somebody saying Trevor was meant to represent a realistic personality for a GTA protagonist, given what the players will make him do, but nah that's bullshit, it's Tommy Vercetti.

Now, I'd say he represents the current GTA Online playerbase and a surface level depiction of what GTA players like. He's an emotional, destructive criminal with abandonment issues. His whole personality is supposed to be "ironic." IMO, over time, Trevor comes off as "trying too hard" to be EDGY or typecasting the GTA player.

 

[Spud]

Now, I'd say he represents the current GTA Online playerbase and a surface level depiction of what GTA players like. He's an emotional, destructive criminal with abandonment issues. His whole personality is supposed to be "ironic." IMO, over time, Trevor comes off as "trying too hard" to be EDGY or typecasting the GTA player.

Give him an oppressor mk2 and they'd be half right.

 

[William Murderface]

Now, I'd say he represents the current GTA Online playerbase and a surface level depiction of what GTA players like. He's an emotional, destructive criminal with abandonment issues. His whole personality is supposed to be "ironic." IMO, over time, Trevor comes off as "trying too hard" to be EDGY or typecasting the GTA player.

I never saw Trevor as trying to be edgy. He's just one end of a spectrum where he has no filter or self-imposed limits, so anything goes. At the other end is someone like Tony Montana from Scarface with his "I never fuck anyone who didn't fuck me first" moral restrictions. In Scarface: The World Is Yours, the player could drive on sidewalks and run over people, but you couldn't target pedestrians with guns. Basically you couldn't take out civilians just because. GTA games allow you to do that, but how the character would handle that is that spectrum. Tommy might cause 400 casualties and say he had to deal with some pricks. Michael might say something about how he did what he had to, but they shouldn't have been there in the first place. CJ might say something about the game on the streets. Niko might say something about just another day in America. But Trevor is the only character that actively delights in the chaos he creates. It' why he's the perfect avatar for the player, more so that someone like Tommy or Michael. Plus, Trevor is self aware enough to know he does it because he enjoys the chaos. The other characters will cause those 400 casualties, but it's just a normal part of their world. They don't drive on sidewalks with malice. But Trevor drives on sidewalks because it's fun. It's not the bloodshed, it's the chaos. Trevor is that chaos personified.

At least that's how I saw it.

 

[The Last Stand]

Digital versions of GTA V on PS4/XB1 will be eligible for free upgrades to its E&E port available for PS5/XS starting tomorrow. Most interesting is that any PS4 version, disk or digital, are eligible for that upgrade. Physical Xbox copies do not have that luxury.

It should've been like this from the beginning.

GTA games allow you to do that, but how the character would handle that is that spectrum. Tommy might cause 400 casualties and say he had to deal with some pricks.

What about Claude? He doesn't say a word.

But Trevor drives on sidewalks because it's fun. It's not the bloodshed, it's the chaos. Trevor is that chaos personified.

I see what you mean. I call Trevor an "edgy" character now because his view on chaos seems too on the nose. I believe if you pay attention within the story or his interactions, everything he does is for an act. Two examples that come up on my head: Trevor eating rancid food with an eyelid, then throwing up afterwards when everybody left the room. Another example during the Paleto Score setup where Michael says that Trevor is a hipster because he goes out his way TO be menacing, contrary, and filthy.

 

[William Murderface]

That may very well be the case, but there's also the scenes when you cut between characters that shows Trevor doing stuff just because it's the thing he would do. Burying a body in the middle of the desert. He's clearly just killed someone. Maybe it was a biker, maybe it was just some unlucky soul he ran across. Or tossing a Lost biker off the bridge in Los Santos. Or Trevor jacking it in his trailer and wiping his hand on the wall. He might be putting on an act to be seen as the most unpredictable guy around, or it may not be an act. Or somewhere in between.

And with Michael, they are always at each other's throats the whole game. I think Michael says stuff like Trevor is a hipster just to get under Trevor's skin. Meanwhile, Trevor keeps calling out Michael for being the hypocrite he is. A great example is when Michael is stuck in the trailer and Franklin is tracking down the last members of the brothers Trevor was killing earlier, Trevor flat tells Michael that he doesn't appreciate Franklin despite Franklin risking his life out there for Michael and Michael supposedly taking Franklin under his wing. Even Michael has to take his in and says "that's fair." I mean, what else is he going to say? That Trevor's wrong?

I think Trevor is one of the most interesting R* protagonists simply because he doesn't fit into a solid category and maybe/maybe not is a posturing wannabe psychopath. Here we are still discussing him almost 15 years after GTA5 was released, so R* did something right with him. It isn't like we're discussing Claude or Johnny K very often.

 

[Star Classic]

Johnny K very often.

who at this point is more remembered for being the guy Trevor curb-stomps at the beginning of his mission chain. I still never understood why people hated this beyond it being "disrespectful" to his character, which sure I guess. This is coming from a guy who really liked TLAD too. I think there was point to be made about how the life Johnny was in was always going to end the way it did, a shame GTA V never did much that with theme. Still think they should've forced you to choose ending A or B first

 

[Cod of War]

who at this point is more remembered for being the guy Trevor curb-stomps at the beginning of his mission chain. I still never understood why people hated this beyond it being "disrespectful" to his character, which sure I guess. This is coming from a guy who really liked TLAD too. I think there was point to be made about how the life Johnny was in was always going to end the way it did, a shame GTA V never did much that with theme. Still think they should've forced you to choose ending A or B first

He was liked and afar as I can tell has the most pathetic death in the series, getting stomped to death after apologizing to the guy that was fucking his girlfriend. I bet the anger would be less if he actually fought back.

 

[LightDragonman1]

Decided to play a bit more of Vice City. I gotta say, it is a major improvement on many areas of GTA III, and the world is even more interesting to interact with as well.

Once again though, I'm dreading several of the upcoming missions, as I've heard just how frustrating they are. Any tips for ones like Dead Zone, Cop Land, and The Driver?