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

[vertexwindi]

Would you argue that it would perfectly replicates the atmosphere it aimed to capture with satirizing Southern California?

I wouldn't argue that because the writing is still garbage. "Satire" is a piss-poor excuse for poor writing anyway.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

GTA IV did its story and characters right. The change of tone that IV brought to the table was welcoming in maturing the series forward. Hanging with your friends had bonuses too, which encouraged you to hang with them. Even get to know them on a personal level. Writing was spectacular and reached its peak with satirizing post 9/11 America.

And this is what pisses me off the most about the horrid audio glitches. IV's story is legit good, probably the best in the series. One of my favorite moments was early on when Niko and Roman were captured after murdering Vlad, especially since it highlighted the differences between Niko and Roman. Niko doesn't fear death and even insults one of his captors by saying his dad likes it up the ass while Roman panics and faints after receiving minor injuries. It also provides an excellent introduction to Mikhail and his insanity.

The problem? Every time and I mean every time this cutscene plays, the audio cuts out. And it's always in the same spot too, when Mikhail kills one of his own men. The scene is directed so well that the abrupt audio glitch just ruins the immersion.

This is honestly why I haven't beaten IV because I'm paranoid it's going to happen again during an especially important moment and completely ruin it. I don't even know if it's specific to the PS3 version because there are a few people on the Internet who have complained about it but it's been so pervasive to me; no joke, this has happened on two different copies across two different PS3s in the exact same spots. I have no clue what the problem is and I'm shocked no one ever talks about it.

 

[JM 590]

GTA 5 might as well have been Trevor's Wacky Adventures for me. The game really drags on and on anytime you're not playing as Trevor, or watching him interact with other characters. Michael is a cuck (why the fuck doesn't he kill the yoga instructor?) and Franklin has Lamar, one of the most annoying fictional characters I've ever seen in my life. But then Trevor and his posse consisting of a juggalo and other assorted methheads makes it all not quite worth uninstalling.

I wanna play a mod where Trevor hunts down Lamar and the yoga instructor, kidnaps them, deep fries them alive, chops them up, and serves little chunks of them on toothpicks at a food stand at the San Andreas State Fair

And this is what pisses me off the most about the horrid audio glitches. IV's story is legit good, probably the best in the series. One of my favorite moments was early on when Niko and Roman were captured after murdering Vlad, especially since it highlighted the differences between Niko and Roman. Niko doesn't fear death and even insults one of his captors by saying his dad likes it up the ass while Roman panics and faints after receiving minor injuries. It also provides an excellent introduction to Mikhail and his insanity.

The problem? Every time and I mean every time this cutscene plays, the audio cuts out. And it's always in the same spot too, when Mikhail kills one of his own men. The scene is directed so well that the abrupt audio glitch just ruins the immersion.

This is honestly why I haven't beaten IV because I'm paranoid it's going to happen again during an especially important moment and completely ruin it. I don't even know if it's specific to the PS3 version because there are a few people on the Internet who have complained about it but it's been so pervasive to me; no joke, this has happened on two different copies across two different PS3s in the exact same spots. I have no clue what the problem is and I'm shocked no one ever talks about it.

Did you play it on an early-model PS3? The one where Playstation 3 is written across the top in the Spider-Man font? Those have trouble running some big games, I know Twisted Metal and Fallout 3 have various problems running on them.

Though I do remember hearing about GTA4 having problems on just about everything other than Xbox 360.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Did you play it on an early-model PS3? The one where Playstation 3 is written across the top in the Spider-Man font? Those have trouble running some big games, I know Twisted Metal and Fallout 3 have various problems running on them.

Though I do remember hearing about GTA4 having problems on just about everything other than Xbox 360.

For the first one, yes. Then it broke down around the time GTA V came out so I got a super slim. Same audio problems, same spots.

 

[The Last Stand]

IV's story is legit good, probably the best in the series. One of my favorite moments was early on when Niko and Roman were captured after murdering Vlad, especially since it highlighted the differences between Niko and Roman.

I loved Vlad and his interactions with Niko and Roman. Always acted like a bigshot and player when Roman owed Vlad money and giving missions to Niko. Vlad's accent and dialogue were always humorous, and Niko's comebacks were priceless. Funny thing about the whole thing was that Mikhail couldn't care less that Vlad was killed. Vlad was nothing to Mikhail, irony as how Vlad treated Roman and Niko.

The problem? Every time and I mean every time this cutscene plays, the audio cuts out. And it's always in the same spot too, when Mikhail kills one of his own men. The scene is directed so well that the abrupt audio glitch just ruins the immersion.
snip
this has happened on two different copies across two different PS3s in the exact same spots. I have no clue what the problem is and I'm shocked no one ever talks about it.

So sorry to hear that. Not to put salt to the wound, but multiplat games on PS3 were known for having issues such as sound skipping, frame rates dropping and glitches. Likely because the PS3 was so "complex" to develop for compared to the 360 and PC. @Piss already asked you what kind of PS3 you had as I was typing, so I won't reiterate the question.

If it's any consolation, I had GTA IV for the Xbox 360 on my S model and for some reason, there was severe graphical pop in as I progressed in the story. Like the contrast was very dark and textures would load so late. Only way to fix it was to install the disc on my 360. GTA IV wasn't very optimized when it came out, especially on PS3 and PC. Bully had similar issues on the 360 and PC, another first generation R* title at its launch. (That probably explains why they didn't port Bully: SE on the PS3.)

 

[Gravityqueen4life]

years later and i still have not replayed GTV. i remember when online came out and it was a broken mess. i was living at a friends house for the summer and day in and day out he would try and get online mode working for a short while but start all over again a few hours later since you could not save the game for days before he finally gave up. i hate online since it was rockstars excuse for not making anymore signal player content or dlc stories. one of the things i liked GTA IV so much for.

 

[XYZpdq]

My circle of friends had GTA1 in circulation but nobody gave any fucks about 2. Then three came out and it was the hottest shit using the cheats and taking turns driving around and smashing a bunch of stuff and setting up stuff so things crashed into things and you shot everything.

 

[Vault Boy]

Right off the bat, I can tell you that I hate it when Rockstar makes patches that remove songs when their licenses expire. With all the money they've made from the games and those horrid Shark Cards, you can't tell me that they can't afford to renew them. Every time this happens, all it does is make the games worse experiences, with The Lost and Damned in particular getting neutered.

As for the games that I've played, III & VC have such horrible combat that I couldn't be assed enough to finish them (although I do like the latter's vibes). San Andreas was the "sweet spot" of the series for me, with a decent story, great mission variety, awesome soundtrack, and fun side activities, it's just a shame that the only reliable way for me to play it is that lousy X360 port. IV's more repetitive, but it has the best story of the series and an amazing city, plus the expansions were just phenomenal.

V is sort of a mixed bag for me. It probably has the best feeling gameplay and it's my second favorite, but they really dropped the ball with side activity variety (why the fuck did YOGA make the cut but Vigilante didn't?), the countryside (too many boring mountains and too little activities), and the story. It also felt like the writers really hated TLAD when nearly the entire cast were wiped out within minutes of introducing Trevor, which always rubbed me the wrong way. There's also the matter that Rockstar more or less abandoned the single player mode in favor of Online (it gave me such a horrible first impression that I never touched it again), which kinda soured my opinion of the game and them.

 

[The Last Stand]

Right off the bat, I can tell you that I hate it when Rockstar makes patches that remove songs when their licenses expire. With all the money they've made from the games and those horrid Shark Cards, you can't tell me that they can't afford to renew them. Every time this happens, all it does is make the games worse experiences, with The Lost and Damned in particular getting neutered.

THIS. Which brings me to another discussion. Ports.

In relation to this, the mobile port of GTA: San Andreas that was released to 360, then PS3: below par of a quality R* product. Characters looked like they had a "shine" to them or had the contrast cranked up to 11. Colors looked too much on screen with little definition to them. And remember that "haze" you would see during dusk, especially on the PS2 version? Gone on later ports of the game, so it doesn't feel or look the same. I'd argue it looks worse when playing on a TV or monitor.

The sound was neutered on this re-release. Not just with the soundtrack with songs being missing, but during cutscenes and gameplay. Sometimes during a cutscene, audio would randomly cut off. You wouldn't hear anything for the rest of the cutscene. Really immersion breaking. And the radio too. Not only were songs removed (2Pac, Rage Against the Machine, to name a couple), but when playing radio stations, there would be splices of where the original song would play. Seconds of silence, followed by the DJ abruptly ending the already played song and moving on with the script. Not to mention sudden "crackling" and static in the radio. Even if you didn't know songs that were removed, the cuts they made were noticeable. Lazily done.

Not even the worse of this port. The game would stutter and lock up during high traffic areas. And even have the game does weird visual glitches during prolonged gameplay. I can't quite describe it, but here's a video of what I'm talking about. I bought this port during a sale for under $4, so I didn't lose too much money. Even so, this port was not properly done. Even if you never played SA before.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

So sorry to hear that. Not to put salt to the wound, but multiplat games on PS3 were known for having issues such as sound skipping, frame rates dropping and glitches. Likely because the PS3 was so "complex" to develop for compared to the 360 and PC. @Piss already asked you what kind of PS3 you had as I was typing, so I won't reiterate the question.

I'm aware of that, but GTA IV stands out as being particularly egregious, even among Rockstar's other games. I've had similar issues with Max Payne 3 but it's nowhere near as bad (it only happens in like 3 cutscenes as opposed to every other one) and at the very least the PC port is superior in every way. And it's infuriating because surely Rockstar could fix the issues somehow, like a patch that fixes up the audio glitches and smooths things out. Would it really be that hard? And if the PC port is as bad as people say, then they really dropped the ball with IV. It's shocking because IV was, for a while, one of the biggest games of the early seventh generation, but it's got one of the worst optimizations out there.

Unfortunately, a remaster's probably out of the question given Rockstar's feud with Niko's voice actor because it would likely mean giving him royalties. If any game needs a remaster, it's Grand Theft Auto IV.

 

[Vault Boy]

THIS. Which brings me to another discussion. Ports.

In relation to this, the mobile port of GTA: San Andreas that was released to 360, then PS3: below par of a quality R* product. Characters looked like they had a "shine" to them or had the contrast cranked up to 11. Colors looked too much on screen with little definition to them. And remember that "haze" you would see during dusk, especially on the PS2 version? Gone on later ports of the game, so it doesn't feel or look the same. I'd argue it looks worse when playing on a TV or monitor.

The sound was neutered on this re-release. Not just with the soundtrack with songs being missing, but during cutscenes and gameplay. Sometimes during a cutscene, audio would randomly cut off. You wouldn't hear anything for the rest of the cutscene. Really immersion breaking. And the radio too. Not only were songs removed (2Pac, Rage Against the Machine, to name a couple), but when playing radio stations, there would be splices of where the original song would play. Seconds of silence, followed by the DJ abruptly ending the already played song and moving on with the script. Not to mention sudden "crackling" and static in the radio. Even if you didn't know songs that were removed, the cuts they made were noticeable. Lazily done.

Not even the worse of this port. The game would stutter and lock up during high traffic areas. And even have the game does weird visual glitches during prolonged gameplay. I can't quite describe it, but here's a video of what I'm talking about. I bought this port during a sale for under $4, so I didn't lose too much money. Even so, this port was not properly done. Even if you never played SA before.

I know, the only good thing about the port is the low price, achievement support, and making it more easily available. San Andreas is still an amazing game in spite of those issues you brought up, but they just dropped the ball when they made that port for the 10th anniversary.

Oh, and not to mention that they absolutely butchered Kendall's character model. Jesus Christ, how did that shit make it in?

 

[The Last Stand]

V is sort of a mixed bag for me.

GTA V. The beginning of the end of the GTA franchise in my opinion. It had potential to be so much more, but since R*'s focus shifted to Online, the game has been disappointing compared to their previous work. I was so looking forward to single player DLC, even considering buying shark cards just to support the "free model" GTA Online had.

Customization was a great improvement that GTA V had in spades. Weapons, vehicles, clothing, all welcome additions. However, silenced weapons and "stealth" was a gimmick in practice. Only a couple missions incorporated stealth, but they were scripted so it'd be almost impossible to fail or had room for error. You couldn't use stealth outside of those "missions". Even if you killed somebody with a silenced weapon with nobody around, the cops would be on your ass and know your exact location.

The cops, they had eagle vision. They would know where you are at all times. Having a two star wanted level was more difficult to lose, anything above that was a real challenge. Their AI was better than enemies on missions, even unfair at times. Shooting at you with pinpoint accuracy. They used this same principle with Hard in Online, having the enemies overpowered and accurate.

They did add some activities but removed some. Yoga, but no Vigilante. Buying properties did have a bit more depth to it, doing missions to increase your worth to them. And that brings up another omission: interiors. There were less accessible interior in free roam than IV. No Burger Shot, no clubs, no other safehouses, not even entering the movie activities you would do with friends.

Hanging out with friends made a return, but the dialogue together with them was neutered compared to IV. You would kinda know what they are like just by playing through the story. I'm glad that they didn't hound you as they did in IV so that was welcome. You could go to the bar, movies, eat, play sports. But again, you wouldn't be able to see the interiors.

GTA V could've been so much more in some aspects, but as it got older and R*'s practices changed, it's clear that even they didn't see much in V outside of Online.

 

[UE 558]

GTA V. The beginning of the end of the GTA franchise in my opinion. It had potential to be so much more, but since R*'s focus shifted to Online, the game has been disappointing compared to their previous work. I was so looking forward to single player DLC, even considering buying shark cards just to support the "free model" GTA Online had.

Customization was a great improvement that GTA V had in spades. Weapons, vehicles, clothing, all welcome additions. However, silenced weapons and "stealth" was a gimmick in practice. Only a couple missions incorporated stealth, but they were scripted so it'd be almost impossible to fail or had room for error. You couldn't use stealth outside of those "missions". Even if you killed somebody with a silenced weapon with nobody around, the cops would be on your ass and know your exact location.

The cops, they had eagle vision. They would know where you are at all times. Having a two star wanted level was more difficult to lose, anything above that was a real challenge. Their AI was better than enemies on missions, even unfair at times. Shooting at you with pinpoint accuracy. They used this same principle with Hard in Online, having the enemies overpowered and accurate.

They did add some activities but removed some. Yoga, but no Vigilante. Buying properties did have a bit more depth to it, doing missions to increase your worth to them. And that brings up another omission: interiors. There were less accessible interior in free roam than IV. No Burger Shot, no clubs, no other safehouses, not even entering the movie activities you would do with friends.

Hanging out with friends made a return, but the dialogue together with them was neutered compared to IV. You would kinda know what they are like just by playing through the story. I'm glad that they didn't hound you as they did in IV so that was welcome. You could go to the bar, movies, eat, play sports. But again, you wouldn't be able to see the interiors.

GTA V could've been so much more in some aspects, but as it got older and R*'s practices changed, it's clear that even they didn't see much in V outside of Online.

Would you say 5 is BAD or just underwealming (in terms of single player, fuck the paypiggy MMO mode)?

 

[The Last Stand]

Would you say 5 is BAD or just underwealming (in terms of single player, fuck the paypiggy MMO mode)?

Not a bad game. Just underwhelming in some areas.

Watch Dogs 2, which is set in Southern California but more accurate than GTA V's San Andreas, I'd argue is better than GTA V. Underrated open world game.

 

[UE 558]

Not a bad game. Just underwhelming in some areas.

Watch Dogs 2, which is set in Southern California but more accurate than GTA V's San Andreas, I'd argue is better than GTA V. Underrated open world game.

Fair enough, I was just thinking that while I could understand the frustration over the lack of GTA4 features, I did still find myself enjoying the previously mentioned customization and the usual GTA chaos found in 5

 

[TheWatcherofWatchers]

What are all your opinions on the heists in GTA V?

 

[RJ MacReady]

Another thing about V: Something interesting I've been aware of for a long time but didn't pay attention to until a few months back is that people have created realism mods and hosted them on private "roleplay" servers where instead of GTA Online, the idea is to create a character and essentially do improv using GTA's mechanics and map. This exact idea was actually very popular on Arma for years and second only to the DayZ mods in popularity.

I think what fascinated me how is how it naturally encouraged people to explore and use the more overlooked parts of GTA V's huge map (the game's most important asset by far) and actually use the series lore without even knowing because it's just built into the map. There's an entire dimension of detail that I feel R* never bothered to follow up in pursuit of making GTA V more cinematic and it's interesting that by stripping away the crazier shit and making players more fragile (almost pushing them to think of themselves more as NPCs than protagonists), the game suddenly feels much deeper.

 

[Billy_Sama]

I love the original trilogy and how each installment added more features to get such fulfillment to the game. San Andreas really fleshed a lot of content for a game of its generation but the 80s setting of Vice City awesome no matter what and has the best compiled soundtrack of its time. However those games don't age well like lack of mission checkpoints, controls, and other annoying stuff that GTA V improved on.

GTA IV is alright, story is more interesting and you have to understand that Rockstar was working on a new engine but you do miss the zaniness that Vice City and San Andreas had not to mention feeling like you were obligated to go on dates with characters that you just wanted to do crazy stuff.

 

[Foxxo]

People like Krogan’s video for the same reason why people sub to faggots like Sargoon of Applebees and TheQuartering, fat autistic men on the internet like having their autistic political opinions reaffirmed by other fat autistic men

And in AK’s defense, he at least admitted it was a WELL MADE game, so at least he isn’t as bad as say RazorFist who considers Dishonored 2 Big Rigs-tier shovelware for having some dumb pro-trans/pro-feminism shit that triggered his timbers

I'm really glad that I didn't watch any of these guys' videos on RDR2 before playing it. I did watch Dunkey's vid, and I respect that he didn't go at any of the themes too harshly. I also effing spoiled the entire game to myself while I was at college and unable to finish it, though, so that sucked.

It's definitely a lot better if you ignore some of the awkward "look how much history sucked" moments, and the NPCs you don't end up screwing are, at worst, only mildly annoying. If Mary Linton wasn't meant to be an insufferable drag trying to make Arthur her slave, though, then R* has fooled me.

As for GTA games, the only one I've played is the GBA one. It's alright.

 

[UE 558]

I'm really glad that I didn't watch any of these guys' videos on RDR2 before playing it. I did watch Dunkey's vid, and I respect that he didn't go at any of the themes too harshly. I also effing spoiled the entire game to myself while I was at college and unable to finish it, though, so that sucked.

It's definitely a lot better if you ignore some of the awkward "look how much history sucked" moments, and the NPCs you don't end up screwing are, at worst, only mildly annoying. If Mary Linton wasn't meant to be an insufferable drag trying to make Arthur her slave, though, then R* has fooled me.

As for GTA games, the only one I've played is the GBA one. It's alright.

You’re allowed to dislike whatever the fuck you want, I just hate the fanboy cults guys like Krogan, CrowbCat, and Joseph Anderson tend to accidentally spawn

And I’m gonna try to move away from that topic now...

Let’s talk about shitty GTA SA mods