History YMMV / GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars

* AntiClimaxBoss: The final battle against [[spoiler:Kenny]] can be ended with a single swing of the sword.

* JerkassWoobie: Huang Lee may be abrasive and sarcastic, but it's not hard to see why. To summarize, [[spoiler:he's an immigrant who works very hard to prove his loyalty to TheTriadsAndTheTongs, only to learn that he's been used as a tool by his EvilUncle to help the latter gain control of the gang. He becomes the new leader of the Liberty City Triads at the end, but that comes after he was manipulated into killing Zhou and Chan]]. He may have the most tragic story out of all the GTA protagonists, rivaling Niko Bellic.

* NightmareFuel: The mission “Flatliner” where Huang is sent by Zhou to steal an ambulance, containing Uri (an old friend of Zhou’s) and when he returns, Zhou cuts Uri’s heart out of his chest with a dagger. Although the viewer doesn’t see the kill happening, we hear cutting and screaming, and then we cut to see [[Main/OOCIsSeriousBusiness Huang’s horrified expression]] and Zhou’s face with blood over it. The music doesn’t make thing any better.
** The [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/gtawiki/images/5/5b/Flatliner-GTACW-NintendoDSCutscene1.png/revision/latest?cb=20230806034700 Nintendo DS version]] paints this in a more realistic (and horrifying) picture, due to Huang’s face looking more terrified and Zhou managing to look even scarier.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: When Hsin Jaoming calls out Kenny for incriminating Zhou and Chan, does he said it out of remorse for [[OffingTheOffspring ordering his own son's death]] or because he was really ashamed of falling for Kenny's deception? Also, when he asks Huang to grieve for all they have lost, was he referring to Chan as well?

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: When Hsin Jaoming calls out Kenny for incriminating Zhou and Chan, does he said it out of remorse for [[OffingTheOffspring ordering his own son's death]] or because he was really ashamed of Kenny's deception? Also, when he asks Huang to grieve for all they have lost, was he referring to Chan as well?

* EnsembleDarkhorse: [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Wade Heston]] had this charm, despite appearing late in the game. He even pulled a BigDamnHeroes moment in the final act by [[spoiler:helping Huang get away from FIB and IAD disputes in order to solve Kenny's treachery]].

* JerkassWoobie: Huang Lee may be abrasive and sarcastic, but it's not hard to see why. To summarize, [[spoiler:he's an immigrant who works very hard to prove his loyalty to TheTriadsAndTheTongs, only to learn that he's been used as a tool by his EvilUncle to help the latter gain control of the gang. He becomes the new leader of the Liberty City Triads at the end, but not before being manipulated into killing two of his comrades.]]. He may have the most tragic story out of all the GTA protagonists, rivaling Niko Bellic.

* SidetrackedByTheGoldenSaucer: In usual ''Grand Theft Auto'' tradition, the amount of secondary play elements (drug trading, taxi driving, ambulance rescue, rampages, scratch cards, etc.) make it all too easy to spend hours of time in ''Chinatown Wars'' while barely touching the main story.

* AnticlimaxBoss: The final battle against [[spoiler:Kenny]] can be ended with a single swing of the sword.

* IdiotPlot: The entire [[spoiler:Rudy D'Avanzo]] subplot could've been avoided if either [[spoiler:Huang put his foot down about the (nonexistent) recording of the rat, or Hsin informed him about Rudy's untrustworthiness earlier.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Ling Shan seemed to be set up as a possible LoveInterest for Huang Lee. She's abruptly shot and killed in an alley in her second mission appearance.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Wade Heston]] had this charm, despite appearing late in the game. He even pulled a BigDamnHeroes moment in the final act by [[spoiler:helping Huang on getting away from FIB and IAD disputes in order to solve Kenny's treachery]].

* JerkassWoobie: Huang Lee may be abrasive and sarcastic, but it's not hard to see why. To summarize, [[spoiler:he's just one immigrant who happened to be one of TheTriadsAndTheTongs in Liberty City, but enduring the deaths of many friends and his motivation to revenge on his EvilUncle who orchestrated the events behind this game would break him so much. He finally got to have Wade Heston for VitriolicBestBuds, and managed to be the new leader of the Triads, but still]]. He may have the most tragic story out of all the GTA protagonists, rivaling Niko Bellic.

* JerkassWoobie: Huang Lee may be grumpy and sarcastic, but it's not hard to see why. To summarize, [[spoiler:he's just one immigrant who happened to be one of TheTriadsAndTheTongs in Liberty City, but enduring the deaths of many friends and his motivation to revenge on his EvilUncle who orchestrated the events behind this game would break him so much. He finally got to have Wade Heston for VitriolicBestBuds, and managed to be the new leader of the Triads, but still]]. He may have the most tragic story out of all the GTA protagonists, rivaling Niko Bellic.
* MisattributedSong: One of the songs in Sinowav FM is called ''Caravan Bells on the Silk Road'', when its real name is ''A Hundred Birds Paying Tribute to the Phoenix''.

* JerkassWoobie: Huang Lee, ''full stop''. To summarize, [[spoiler:he's just one immigrant who happened to be one of TheTriadsAndTheTongs in Liberty City, but enduring the deaths of many friends and his motivation to revenge on his EvilUncle who orchestrated the events behind this game would break him so much. He finally got to have Wade Heston for VitriolicBestBuds, and managed to be the new leader of the Triads, but still]]. He may have the most tragic story out of all the GTA protagonists, rivaling Niko Bellic.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The game suffers from the same problems as ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'': the criminal lifestyle is portrayed as unglamourous and dangerous and all of Huang's superiors are shallow, smug dumbasses who constantly treat him with contempt even though he's the only thing keeping them from being killed or imprisoned. While Huang does end the game in a better position than he started, the amount of crap he went through to get there means that player will likely be as unsatisfied as he is.

* VindicatedByCable: It sold poorly upon its initial release, but when ported to [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames the iPhone]]...

* JerkassWoobie: Huang Lee, ''full stop''. To summarize, [[spoiler:he's just one immigrant who happened to be one of TheTriadsAndTheTongs in Liberty City, but enduring the deaths of many friends and his motivation to revenge on his EvilUncle who orchestrated the events behind this game would break him so much. He finally got to have Wade Heston for VitriolicBestBuds, and managed to be the new leader of the Triads, but still]]. He may have one the most tragic story out of all the GTA protagonists, rivaling Niko Bellic.

* JerkassWoobie: Huang Lee, ''full stop''. To summarize, [[spoiler:he's just one immigrant who happened to be one of TheTriadsAndTheTongs in Liberty City, but enduring the deaths of many friends and his motivation to revenge on his EvilUncle who orchestrated the events behind this game would break him so much. He finally got to have Wade Heston for VitriolicBestBuds, and managed to be the new leader of the Triads, but still]]. Possibly one of the protagonists with the most-tragic backstory ever, rivaling Niko Bellic.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: When Hsin Jaoming calls out Kenny for incriminating Zhou and Chan, does he said it out of remorse for [[OffingTheOffspring ordering his own son's death]] or because he was really ashamed of Kenny's deception?

* JerkassWoobie: Huang Lee, ''full stop''. To summarize, [[spoiler:he's just one immigrant who happened to be one of TheTriadsAndTheTongs in Liberty City, but enduring the deaths of many friends and his motivation to revenge on his EvilUncle who orchestrated the events behind this game would break him so much. He finally got to have Wade Heston for VitriolicBestBuds, and managed to be the new leader of the Triads, but still]]. Possibly one of the protagonists with the most-tragic backstoru ever, rivaling Niko Bellic.