- Joined
- Feb 1, 2023
I think it comes down to R* not knowing which story it wanted to tell in GTA V so it tried to tell them all at one time. The ability to switch between the three protagonists is a neat mechanic, but it's just kind of there except in the middle of missions and the last mission where Franklin has to decide to save both the other two or let one of them die.And Niko is a far more interesting character imo than all 3 of the GTA V protagonists combined. Franklin was just too dull and boring, Michael is a faggot and Trevor is.... well, Trevor. He's a one note character where his entire gimmick is he's a psycho which gets old kind of fast.
But beyond that, the three characters are just so radically different that is pulls the tone of the game in different directions. Franklin wants off the streets and to be successful in a semi-legit way. Michael wants to protect his family and relive his glory days of being a successful bank robber because he's bored. Trevor is the character that we all play between missions as a complete chaotic force of nature. The game just doesn't know what to do with all three of them so it can't be written in such a way that it makes for a satisfying game. Had the developers picked one character and gone with him, that would have been one thing, but allowing the player to jump in and out of characters doesn't give the player that touchstone needed to stick with the story. It ends up being a slog at points.
I think Michael has the story closest to the 3D games. He's bored with his life, he has to come up with the money to fix the mansion he wrecked because he's more pissed at himself than his wife's infidelity, he ends up back in the game which pisses her off so he ends up alone, his old buddy Trevor shows up, kidnaps the Madrazo's wife so he has to hide in the desert for a while, then it's on to the final big score. That would have worked great. Franklin is just kind of there and is basically the sidekick to the sidekick with an uninteresting story and Trevor is just a psycho for the sake of being a psycho so there really isn't a story. Franklin's biggest problem as a concept is it would be very, very easy to fall into making him a clone of CJ from San Andreas as a gang banger just doing gang banging things.
The one great thing about Trevor is he really is a tongue-in-cheek joke from R* to us since he is what we always play him as. Unlicensed pilot? Check. Rage filled? Check. Drives on the sidewalk and tells bad jokes as he plows down peds? Check. Guns galore? Check. Solves every single problem with violence? Check. Trevor is us whenever we have the chance to just be the bad guy. It was a funny joke, but I don't think it works as a long term character.