With all of Grand Theft Auto V's re-releases with the only new content being exclusive to the online mode as well as the long wait for the sequel, there's certainly some fatigue setting in with this game. A decade later though, the game is still a lot of fun to play.
It's GTA so most of the game will be shooting and driving. They do keep a decent amount of variety among the missions, especially with the Strangers and Freaks side missions, ranging from robbing a jewelery store to driving out the back of a plane on a ATV to riding a dirtbike on a train. There are some probelms with the mission design with them feeling railroaded and not allowing much room for player creativity. I don't always mind the linear missions since Rockstar can craft a good setpiece but it does sometimes feel like they spend more time coming up with ways for players to fail missions instead of passing them. It's not as bad as Red Dead Redemption 2 but it is noticeable. Outside of missions, there's a lot of side activities which, while not all well developed, provide a fun distraction. I particularly enjoyed the skydiving activity. The character switching provides an extra spice to the gameplay. This has been greatly improved by the SSD but it really feels like wizardry that they got this working so well on the PS3 and 360. Each character has a unique ability with Franklin activating slow motion while driving, Michael having slow motion when shooting and Trevor having a rage mode that increases damage while taking none. This does affect who I want to play as while performing a certain action. The best missions usually are the one where you can play as all three. The main selling point for the missions in GTAV where the heists. They aren't amazing since I only really like the first and last one and there could be more variations in the different approaches. Doing the small setup missions and having the plan come together is satisfying though.
The writing had some problems when it originally released but it has aged even worse. With the protagonists, I do like Michael because him being essentially a past GTA character that got out of the business and retired provides an interesting perspective for the series. Franklin is likeable but his development gets the short shrift once the other two protagonists take over. Trevor is the main problem. Sure, his insane anger can be enjoyable but he can get tiresome very quickly. I don't mind a hypocritical character but Trevor feels like a way for Rockstar to have their cake and eat it too. This is evident with the mission involving torture. You have to play Trevor as he enjoys torturing some poor guy and then have him deliver a speech afterwards about how torture is wrong. They may as well have plastered "DO YOU GET IT!?" over the screen during that segment. That feels like a common refrain for a lot of the game. GTA's brand of in your face satire has only gotten worse. Most of the satire is them just explaining the joke to you loudly. I'm not saying I didn't have some laughs and there is some genuinely great dialogue in there. I do enjoy the relationship between Michael and Trevor despite my problems with the latter. There are some great side characters too like Lamar although I feel that's more on the actor than the writing. There's just a lot of bad stuff in there, especially with the game's treatment of women. The villains are also really awful and just annoying. The final mission deals with a lot of the villains and try to remember who the Franklin specific villain is.
The star of the show for a Rockstar game is often the setting due to their attention to detail. Los Santos and the adjoining Blaine County have a lot to see and do. The city gives us suburban areas, downtown, commercial zones, industrial zones, docklands, an airport, a marina and many landmarks that are reminiscent of those in Los Angelos. The county offers a desert, an inland sea, countryside, mountains and rural towns. The various areas do feel distinct and the Rockstar detail does make them feel real with the NPCs you see populating the areas and the sounds you here. There has always been something I've found lacking with the map that I've never been able to put my finger on. It could be because the main urban area is in the south with the large swath of land north of it not having much of significance since the rural towns aren't that interesting. I'm not sure another large city at the other end of the map would necessarily improve the game as it may feel unfocused. Even with Los Santos being so impressive, it might be how the areas are laid out or how they're connected that puts me off. Despite it probably being the biggest city in a GTA game, it feels somewhat small which was never a problem with any of the other games despite the PS2 cities being much, much smaller. I've never really been able to qualify what it is that bothers me about the map so it's possibly pointless for me to even write about it but it is always in the back of my mind when I play the game. I can at least say that the detail that was put into the underwater areas was a waste as the missions and activities that bring you there are some of the worst. For the most part, the map is used quite well as the missions bring you to almost every major area which adds to their character.
At this point, you can't talk about GTAV without discussing its online mode. GTA Online is probably the more important part of the game now which was very much not the case at launch as well as a couple years afterwards. People often hate on it because they think it took DLC away from the single player which is partly true and also because they think it's why GTAVI is taking so long which is probably more due to the realities of modern game development. They really have added an incredible amount of stuff to Online over the decade since release. I really do enjoy buy businesses and working to make them profitable. I do very much play it as a single player game which has been made easier with invite only sessions. The heists are cool too but most need at least two players and playing with other people is hell. Although there some stinkers, the missions are generally pretty good and often allow more player creativity than the single player. Some of these missions do feel like a continuation of Los Santos' story after the main campaign with it generally following real time. The Contract DLC showing what Franklin and Lamar were up to nine years later is definitely a favourite of mine. Although I've never felt the need to buy a shark card because I find making money easy in the game, I can't begrudge anyone criticising them as they are manipulative microtransactions.
It has flaws but I've returned to the game many times over the years so it clearly is doing something right. It's the highest grossing piece of media ever created so I'm not sure much more can be said about it at this point. I don't think Rockstar did much to justify another re-release although the higher framerate, ray tracing and SSD loading is nice. If you're one of the few people who hasn't played it at this point, it's probably worth a playthrough.
It's GTA so most of the game will be shooting and driving. They do keep a decent amount of variety among the missions, especially with the Strangers and Freaks side missions, ranging from robbing a jewelery store to driving out the back of a plane on a ATV to riding a dirtbike on a train. There are some probelms with the mission design with them feeling railroaded and not allowing much room for player creativity. I don't always mind the linear missions since Rockstar can craft a good setpiece but it does sometimes feel like they spend more time coming up with ways for players to fail missions instead of passing them. It's not as bad as Red Dead Redemption 2 but it is noticeable. Outside of missions, there's a lot of side activities which, while not all well developed, provide a fun distraction. I particularly enjoyed the skydiving activity. The character switching provides an extra spice to the gameplay. This has been greatly improved by the SSD but it really feels like wizardry that they got this working so well on the PS3 and 360. Each character has a unique ability with Franklin activating slow motion while driving, Michael having slow motion when shooting and Trevor having a rage mode that increases damage while taking none. This does affect who I want to play as while performing a certain action. The best missions usually are the one where you can play as all three. The main selling point for the missions in GTAV where the heists. They aren't amazing since I only really like the first and last one and there could be more variations in the different approaches. Doing the small setup missions and having the plan come together is satisfying though.
The writing had some problems when it originally released but it has aged even worse. With the protagonists, I do like Michael because him being essentially a past GTA character that got out of the business and retired provides an interesting perspective for the series. Franklin is likeable but his development gets the short shrift once the other two protagonists take over. Trevor is the main problem. Sure, his insane anger can be enjoyable but he can get tiresome very quickly. I don't mind a hypocritical character but Trevor feels like a way for Rockstar to have their cake and eat it too. This is evident with the mission involving torture. You have to play Trevor as he enjoys torturing some poor guy and then have him deliver a speech afterwards about how torture is wrong. They may as well have plastered "DO YOU GET IT!?" over the screen during that segment. That feels like a common refrain for a lot of the game. GTA's brand of in your face satire has only gotten worse. Most of the satire is them just explaining the joke to you loudly. I'm not saying I didn't have some laughs and there is some genuinely great dialogue in there. I do enjoy the relationship between Michael and Trevor despite my problems with the latter. There are some great side characters too like Lamar although I feel that's more on the actor than the writing. There's just a lot of bad stuff in there, especially with the game's treatment of women. The villains are also really awful and just annoying. The final mission deals with a lot of the villains and try to remember who the Franklin specific villain is.
The star of the show for a Rockstar game is often the setting due to their attention to detail. Los Santos and the adjoining Blaine County have a lot to see and do. The city gives us suburban areas, downtown, commercial zones, industrial zones, docklands, an airport, a marina and many landmarks that are reminiscent of those in Los Angelos. The county offers a desert, an inland sea, countryside, mountains and rural towns. The various areas do feel distinct and the Rockstar detail does make them feel real with the NPCs you see populating the areas and the sounds you here. There has always been something I've found lacking with the map that I've never been able to put my finger on. It could be because the main urban area is in the south with the large swath of land north of it not having much of significance since the rural towns aren't that interesting. I'm not sure another large city at the other end of the map would necessarily improve the game as it may feel unfocused. Even with Los Santos being so impressive, it might be how the areas are laid out or how they're connected that puts me off. Despite it probably being the biggest city in a GTA game, it feels somewhat small which was never a problem with any of the other games despite the PS2 cities being much, much smaller. I've never really been able to qualify what it is that bothers me about the map so it's possibly pointless for me to even write about it but it is always in the back of my mind when I play the game. I can at least say that the detail that was put into the underwater areas was a waste as the missions and activities that bring you there are some of the worst. For the most part, the map is used quite well as the missions bring you to almost every major area which adds to their character.
At this point, you can't talk about GTAV without discussing its online mode. GTA Online is probably the more important part of the game now which was very much not the case at launch as well as a couple years afterwards. People often hate on it because they think it took DLC away from the single player which is partly true and also because they think it's why GTAVI is taking so long which is probably more due to the realities of modern game development. They really have added an incredible amount of stuff to Online over the decade since release. I really do enjoy buy businesses and working to make them profitable. I do very much play it as a single player game which has been made easier with invite only sessions. The heists are cool too but most need at least two players and playing with other people is hell. Although there some stinkers, the missions are generally pretty good and often allow more player creativity than the single player. Some of these missions do feel like a continuation of Los Santos' story after the main campaign with it generally following real time. The Contract DLC showing what Franklin and Lamar were up to nine years later is definitely a favourite of mine. Although I've never felt the need to buy a shark card because I find making money easy in the game, I can't begrudge anyone criticising them as they are manipulative microtransactions.
It has flaws but I've returned to the game many times over the years so it clearly is doing something right. It's the highest grossing piece of media ever created so I'm not sure much more can be said about it at this point. I don't think Rockstar did much to justify another re-release although the higher framerate, ray tracing and SSD loading is nice. If you're one of the few people who hasn't played it at this point, it's probably worth a playthrough.