I recently got through GTA V's story mode, and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The mechanics are great, the characters are fun and likeable, but I would be lying if I said I had absolutely no gripes with this game.
One of the main issues I had with GTA V is with how convoluted the story itself is. There are dozens of characters to keep track of over the course of the story. Of course, many of these characters don't appear in more than one or a few missions, but that's where the game falls short. It doesn't feel like there are many antagonists in the game that don't get killed off immediately or overstay their welcome. In fact, I had a difficult time recalling many of the names of the characters a few days later after I put it down, aside from the 3 protagonists and their close friends and family.
Many of the missions boil down to "you see this person? Kill him" or "we need this list of things for this heist we're doing, and you need to do fetch quests." The story behind these missions obviously go deeper than that, but seeing as every mission feels like it's forcing me to recall which one of the million sub plots it's talking about, it doesn't give you much time to formulate what's going on.
If the final mission didn't just chalk up to the protagonists killing their enemies like you'd think they'd try to do first chance they got, then I might be willing to give this game a pass. However, the last mission does just that. It felt like the writers of the story finished the final heist and realized "oh wait, we still have loose ends we need to tie up," and crammed it all into one mission. Devin showing up at Franklin's house was so abrupt, I didn't even realize I was playing the final mission until the 3 main characters went to kill the antagonists.
I had fun at the end of the day, though. I found that I had more fun if I just turned my brain off and let the game take me where it wanted to. I really did enjoy the gameplay, especially the parts where you're driving around in the helicopter for example. The graphics and animation are phenomenal, and the visual immersion the game provides is a nice treat from time to time. But I think it's safe to say that even those fans who are in love with GTA 5 can't say that the story is a masterpiece, or even very compelling, even if you ignore the copious amounts of cliches thrown your way.
I don't think I'd recommend this game to anyone looking for a long, heavily involved story with plenty of fully fledged-out characters. It just didn't interest me, and the plot is so convoluted that I'm not sure I would have even cared if the game didn't kill off all the characters in the final act. But if you're looking for a lighter, more fast paced experience, and you like the idea of exploring a vast open world for fun, I can't imagine a better game for you.
A Good Concept, but Missed the Mark
I recently got through GTA V's story mode, and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The mechanics are great, the characters are fun and likeable, but I would be lying if I said I had absolutely no gripes with this game.
One of the main issues I had with GTA V is with how convoluted the story itself is. There are dozens of characters to keep track of over the course of the story. Of course, many of these characters don't appear in more than one or a few missions, but that's where the game falls short. It doesn't feel like there are many antagonists in the game that don't get killed off immediately or overstay their welcome. In fact, I had a difficult time recalling many of the names of the characters a few days later after I put it down, aside from the 3 protagonists and their close friends and family.
Many of the missions boil down to "you see this person? Kill him" or "we need this list of things for this heist we're doing, and you need to do fetch quests." The story behind these missions obviously go deeper than that, but seeing as every mission feels like it's forcing me to recall which one of the million sub plots it's talking about, it doesn't give you much time to formulate what's going on.
If the final mission didn't just chalk up to the protagonists killing their enemies like you'd think they'd try to do first chance they got, then I might be willing to give this game a pass. However, the last mission does just that. It felt like the writers of the story finished the final heist and realized "oh wait, we still have loose ends we need to tie up," and crammed it all into one mission. Devin showing up at Franklin's house was so abrupt, I didn't even realize I was playing the final mission until the 3 main characters went to kill the antagonists.
I had fun at the end of the day, though. I found that I had more fun if I just turned my brain off and let the game take me where it wanted to. I really did enjoy the gameplay, especially the parts where you're driving around in the helicopter for example. The graphics and animation are phenomenal, and the visual immersion the game provides is a nice treat from time to time. But I think it's safe to say that even those fans who are in love with GTA 5 can't say that the story is a masterpiece, or even very compelling, even if you ignore the copious amounts of cliches thrown your way.
I don't think I'd recommend this game to anyone looking for a long, heavily involved story with plenty of fully fledged-out characters. It just didn't interest me, and the plot is so convoluted that I'm not sure I would have even cared if the game didn't kill off all the characters in the final act. But if you're looking for a lighter, more fast paced experience, and you like the idea of exploring a vast open world for fun, I can't imagine a better game for you.