The GTA Series

[CJD]

I was very mixed on Trevor. He kept going back and forth from likable nut to psychopath. Like Monk said, one second he'd do something funny, and then the next he'd do something batshit fucking insane (in a bad way).

AND the best character in the game. Don´t forget it.

That's not how you spell Franklin.

[Blue Monday]

"Grove Street Families for life, homie..."
—Carl Johnson, 1991

SPOILER: Show

[Monk Ed]

I'm at what seems to be the final choice point of Grand Theft Auto 4.

...And they both suck. What the hell? I don't like either of these options!

Good thing I saved right beforehand. Guess I'll do Deal first next time I play.

[Blue Monday]

Only about 30% through story on V having just finished that 'By the Books' mission, which I'll add was really, really gruesome and uncomfortable. Can't bring myself to dislike Trevor though - He's just too much fun. The fact that I have him all styled up probably doesn't help. He rocks the shit out of a beard, bowling shirt, aviators, work pants and desert boots ensemble.

Best moment easily so far...

'Did Somebody Say Yoga?'  SPOILER: Show

Michael's Big Lebowski-style acid trip over LS.
Brilliant!



Was just missing the right song is all.

Also got to watch my girlfriend start her file this evening, wandering around for about two or three hours just exploring. It's cool to see her really getting into it, as her enjoyment/appreciation of games is only usually cursory at best.

...And they both suck. What the hell?

I know, right?

Incredibly disappointing too after having made the effort to finish the game before buying V.

[Monk Ed]

I know, right?

Do you recommend any order? I assume these lead to different endings. If one of them is at least arguably better I'd rather save it for last.

[Blue Monday]

Honestly both endpoints are equally sad but 'Deal' is probably the most harrowing.
Maybe roll with that?

I went with 'Revenge' first time around myself and only tried the other after seeing how much of a down-note it finished on.[/spoiler]


Anyway, I've pretty much spent up most of the money I earned from the first big heist in V - All blown on guns, a customised Buffalo and Sentinel for Franklin, souped-up 801RR motorcycle for Mikey (Thing is a fucking beast, yo), clothes and strippers. Lots and lots of strippers.

In addition to the faster, grittier, brutal, more realistic engine; I also like how pay-days are fewer and further between - But said payout is all the much more. Like, six figures and upwards.


Addendum: Lamar is comedy.




Best reaction ever.

[Monk Ed]

I finally beat GTA4, which I started (well, picked back up after several years after quitting shortly into it) almost exactly a month ago. I did first Deal then Revenge.

GTA4 ending  SPOILER: Show

Is it just me, or is one of these endings way, way better than the other?

I did Deal first, and it feels to me like the "true" ending. It was more difficult, more epic, way better written (I mean c'mon, the alternative has Kate vastly over-foreshadowing her own death (the convo as you take her to the wedding) and has Roman being mood-breakingly funny all throughout the final mission, even to the final moment), and, most importantly, more thematic. Having Dimitri as the final antagonist makes vastly more sense than Pegorino, and having Roman be the one who gets killed was vastly more thematic than having it be Kate, whom I did not care about nearly as much as I did Roman. Niko will get over Kate; Roman was family. Niko and Kate didn't even have anything real and serious going on, at least not in my playthrough. Nothing even close to an admission of love or anything like that. More importantly, Roman's death was the logical outcome and what so much foreshadowing had led up to. It also did the excellent service of underscoring his true value, making me appreciate him far more than I did during the actual course of the game.

Was it really by pure chance that in my game it started raining during the chase of Dimitri? It was the most perfect weather it could have been for what was going on. It was overcast and becoming night when Niko finally killed Dimitri, and was fully night after the credits. By contrast, in the Revenge ending, it was sunny for me.

One last thing that amplified my experience with the Deal ending was that I had forgotten to turn the music volume back on, so after that experience and killing Dimitri to avenge Roman, the credits were completely silent. I talk a lot in my game reviews and other reviews about the effective use of silence, and I swear, nothing like silent credits really drives a character death home. So I accidentally made my experience of the ending even more awesome than the designers apparently intended (judging by the presence of music that I experienced in the second ending, for which I remembered to turn the music volume back on).

And then the call from Mallorie afterwards, revealing that she was pregnant? Ouch!

This is one of those rare games where I actually prefer the sadder ending.

Now, as for my reactions to the game as a whole:

* I enjoyed the car physics compared to GTA5 which I'd also been playing recently (but not as much as this). That might change in the future, but I feel right now like GTA4's is better, if only because it feels like it takes more skill because you can't stop on a dime like you can in GTA5 and because you lose traction so easily and it feels cool and skillful to regain it.

* The lack of aircraft is a serious negative. The helicopter doesn't count because it's not part of normal play. I remember having lots of fun with aircraft in Vice City and San Andreas that I could not have in GTA4.

* Although I enjoyed the story, I noticed that it had a negative impact on my actual gameplay experience, because the more serious tone and the particular characterization of Niko was not conducive to the kind of mayhem you're "supposed" to commit in a GTA game. I adopted a very utilitarian mindset and disappeared into Niko's attitude, which meant no (well, okay, few) killing sprees just for funsies. The only time I earned police stars on purpose (and my first time getting more than 4) was at the very end of my play experience, in which to end my personal story as Niko Bellic I had him suicide-by-cop.

* I don't know why it took me so long but once I started using taxis I used them as much as possible to cut down on all the extra driving this game would otherwise require. Really, far too much of this game is just driving... which I never felt about previous GTAs for some reason, not even GTA3 which was nothing but cars (no motorcycles, no aircraft except the Dodo).

[Monk Ed]

It's weird, but GTA5's map actually feels way smaller than I remember GTA:SA's feeling. Also when I look at the maps, I don't see how GTA5's San Andreas is supposed to be a bigger picture of the same place. Where's San Fierro? Tierra Robada? And since when was the state of San Andreas a tiny island, with only one city, and divided into only two counties?

[Blue Monday]

GTAV's take is specifically just the southern portion of the state, i.e. Los Santos and surrounds. SA's map did feel much larger though (feels like it took forever to get anywhere), even if Rockstar are saying GTAV's world area could easily encompass it, GTAIV and Red Dead Redemption altogether.

Continuinty is also a really tricky thing here because GTAIV was a reboot of the franchise.
Hence why they've only given nods to minor elements of San Andreas and ignored the rest.


Where I'm currently at...

SPOILER: Show

Just about to begin setting up for the Union Depository heist. And seeing as it's getting towards the end of the main story, I'm going to do all the other stuff and side missions before progressing - I don't want this gravy train to end just yet!


Paleto Bay heist was phenomenal too.
Fucking Trevor man, haha.

But yeah; the detail in this game is just insane - I'm noticing something new every time I play.

[Monk Ed]

Continuinty is also a really tricky thing here because GTAIV was a reboot of the franchise.

Did not know that. In that case, such complaints are out the window. However...

GTAV's take is specifically just the southern portion of the state, i.e. Los Santos and surrounds.

You sure about this? Every now and then the characters will say something that makes me think the island must represent the entire state, such as when someone says something about traveling across "half the state" or whatever. What's your source?

SA's map did feel much larger though

I haven't played SA in a long, long time, and I have half a mind to boot it up again after all this time just to compare. But if I had to guess, I think what contributes to GTA5 feeling so much smaller is

* I'm older and better able to grasp the big picture of things and areas, especially unintentionally. When I was a younger gamer I was much more immediate, never really putting the entire experience of a game or its map together as a single concatenated whole, which allowed them -- all games -- to feel much, much bigger. But now, my memory, contrary to what they say about getting older, is sharper, albeit less for details and more for the big picture. I am able to conceptually recall the experiences of entire games and their maps, which I could not do when I was younger, even just as young as the age at which I played SA which I believe was still in my 20s. Games that I played when I was younger but have not replayed recently still have that sense of hugeness to me; those same games, after being replayed, definitely lose it. (Which, I should add, I'm fine with, because it allows me to move on to bigger and better things.)

* It is possible to contain nearly the entire map in your view if you fly high enough. Nothing makes a place feel small like seeing the entirety of it in the span of a single turn-around, you know?

* The geography is pretty simple. South to north, it's more or less city, forest, desert, mountains. SA's map looks more complicated at a glance, even if that's probably not actually true. Again, haven't played it in a long time.

Where I'm currently at...

Wha-- That's where I am! I had no idea the game was this ... short! Which is weird to say, because so much more has happened compared to GTA4, which was a long samey slog.

[Blue Monday]

Spent my time with this game this week doing the submersible and scuba missions out of Paleto Bay docks. Took a few hours to do the nuclear waste barrel collection and was a little bothersome that a couple were a little below pressure crushing depth. Payout is crazy good though!

The scuba diving for the submarine pieces on the other hand was a horrid experience. See, I have an irrational fear of sharks - And the paranoia/fear just got too much every time I was swimming in an open or vulnerable area, haha (i.e. Heading back to the dinghy when it's drifted miles out back up surface). Whenever I saw one, I'd swim back down quickly, shitting myself, hide in the wreckage and wait for it to become uninterested and leave.

Lots of cash hidden in those wrecks though when combed thoroughly.
Crazy how much development has gone into the underwater world alone.

What's your source?

Ah, some article pre-release - FWIW, from the Wikipedia article:
"The game is set mainly within the fictional state of San Andreas (based on Southern California) and affords the player the ability to freely roam the world's countryside and the fictional city of Los Santos (based on Los Angeles)."

I'm adamant I've heard San Fierro referenced in the game dialogue too.

[Monk Ed]

Spent my time with this game this week doing the submersible and scuba missions out of Paleto Bay docks. Took a few hours to do the nuclear waste barrel collection and was a little bothersome that a couple were a little below pressure crushing depth. Payout is crazy good though!

The scuba diving for the submarine pieces on the other hand was a horrid experience. See, I have an irrational fear of sharks - And the paranoia/fear just got too much every time I was swimming in an open or vulnerable area, haha (i.e. Heading back to the dinghy when it's drifted miles out back up surface). Whenever I saw one, I'd swim back down quickly, shitting myself, hide in the wreckage and wait for it to become uninterested and leave.

There are sharks in this game? There really are sharks?!

I share the irrational fear. My fear is so bad I could not finish the Dreamcast version of Ecco the Dolphin for many years because of one particular shark section. (Somehow, I eventually got past it.) More than that, I'm afraid of large bodies of water period, especially when you can see only so far. I was very uneasy with the game's first submersible section alone (where you first steal it); I fought dearly to keep the camera above-water . I did way better with the second one though (where you first use Trackify), which is weird, but I think it can be explained by the fact that it was daytime in-game and I could also just stare at the Trackify and not think about the watery void and what enormous things could be lurking in it just out of sight.

This fear is completely absent in games where you can see everything under the water, though. Mario games come to mind as the perfect examples. In fact, I find those to be spectacularly beautiful and endlessly enjoyable: sunshine patterns dancing on the ocean/lake/etc floor, etc. I love the Press Start screen of Chrono Cross. Even a fog effect alone doesn't bother me, it is specifically the combination of limited viewing distance and being underwater.

Lots of cash hidden in those wrecks though when combed thoroughly.
Crazy how much development has gone into the underwater world alone.

...Dammit! So tempting... This had to be the one GTA game where you actually have things to spend large amounts of money on!

I'm adamant I've heard San Fierro referenced in the game dialogue too.

In fact, me too, so I guess that proves it.

EDIT: And wouldn't you know it, the very next time I played I got eaten by a shark.

[Blue Monday]

'The Wrap Up'  SPOILER: Show

Hahaha~holy shit, I think I just killed that ULP agent dude from GTAIV in the shoot-out!
Game officially rules.

[Monk Ed]

'The Wrap Up'  SPOILER: Show

Hahaha~holy shit, I think I just killed that ULP agent dude from GTAIV in the shoot-out!
Game officially rules.

What? Where? When?

[Blue Monday]

@Monk:

SPOILER: Show

He's the IAA guy that shows up in the cutscene and the first I killed as soon as I started shooting. Try replaying the mission to scope it out.

Update: Finished the main story last night.
Fucking awesome.

'The Big One'  SPOILER: Show

Went with the first option of the cars for the Union Depository heist and pulled it off perfectly - Got max take ($200,000,000). Actually, it was much easier than I expected. I saw my brother do his a few weeks earlier, him having gone with the helicopters, and he lost nearly half the gold; the other chopper kept getting shot down. So I was wary that maybe it was unavoidable half the cut is lost or something.

Also, testament to how awesome the Gauntlet is as a car.
I guess this mission is a nod to The Italian Job?

Finale/'The Third Way'  SPOILER: Show

When it came down to Franklin's decisions at the end I went with 'Deathwish'. There is no way Frank would kill either T or Mike having established such relationships with both. Realising Trevor has his back ("Cuz we tight man, we all good.") and having bonded with Michael, his mentor; "Nah, nah, that's my boy, homie!" It just felt like the most logical and in-character choice, even though I thought for sure I was damning Frank himself in the process.

Shoot-out at the foundry was a cakewalk using the grenade launcher, assault shotgun and machine guns. The best thing was easily Lamar's dialogue though. So fucking hilarious and is genuinely touching when Frank tells him "I love you, homie. You family" on the phone afterwards
D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwww~



I got shivers thinking it was some heavy foreshadowing as well à la GTAIV.

That's another thing this instalment in the series improves upon too. Interactions and relationships between its characters. Franklin and Lamar are awesomely kick-ass and hilarious together even if a little reluctant, and I find myself really hoping Trevor and Michael can reconcile after these events. Hell, I even finally started liking Michael's family towards the end there - And that is a caveat, truly!

Anyway, getting revenge and killing off all the marks was incredibly satisfying. The three characters together rolling Devin off of the cliff at the end (with that sunset in the background) just felt like the perfect ending to this play-through.

Now I get to sit along with my partner and she how she plays her endgame out.

[Kaminoyouni]

I don't think I'll ever go back to the story mode since I've been playing gta online ever time i decide to start the game up again. Btw had anyone started the evageeks crew yet?

[CJD]

Couldn't agree more re: the ending, Blue. Whole final mission was just pure awesome, and when the music started playing at the end? Felt so good.

I don't think I'll ever go back to the story mode since I've been playing gta online ever time i decide to start the game up again. Btw had anyone started the evageeks crew yet?

Tfw no Xbox Live gold