I appreciate your channel so much man, I have a hard time falling asleep without audio playing and I usually play video game reviews, and yours are always lengthy and very detailed and captivating. Thank you for all your effort and hard work 🤘
Personally, I['m a fan of 4th grade humor and fart jokes. Also, I'm not sure the point of GTA is to lay out a narrative that improves society in any way. It kind of highlights the worst without prescribing a solution, which leaves the user to realize what they're seeing and maybe advocate for their own changes. Or not. I'm ok with this. And I don't see how Trevor waking up in a dress is transphobic: the humor is that Trevor is the height of toxic masculinity, who would never be seen in a dress, yet he gets drunk and wakes up in one anyway. That's just funny. But otherwise, this was a fantastic review. Well done, sir. Well done.
Performance complaints are valid but the game has a very robust graphics settings menu specifically for this reason in addition to a benchmark tool. Fine tuning is a fact of life for pc gaming. I think there's an option to change the default radio behavior too but personally I kinda liked letting the chosen track set the tone. Like, I don't generally cruise around with Trevor's punk rock on but when doing one of his missions it just fits the mood. Heck I'm an alt rock guy but back in the Day San Andreas got me to appreciate NWA. And I dunno what you'd have the devs do about the car name situation. I'll take learning fake cars over the comprises that come with licensing in a game like this any day. Save that for Forza.
also licensing only lasts for a few years, must be shit for business to unlist games after every 3 years, especially if rockstar doesn't release a new game every 3-4 years
THIS this is exactly the video you want to come home to after a 12 hour shift from hell. Thanks for the massive amount of work that goes into something like this.
Having completed the three hour journey that was this documentary I gotta say that I admire the dedication and effort you put into your videos, take this from a fellow content creator: I know how much you work in this and believe me it’s appreciated. Having said that I do have some comments about the video, the parts about the setting, the gameplay, the technical analysis were great, this being a 2013 game (even though rockstar will keep releasing the game until the end of times) it’s a great achievement in the video game media. The one thing I did not agree it’s the story analysis. GTA it’s a satire, a hyperbolically, edgy, and dark satire about the defects, hypocrisy and contradictions of the American society and the late stage capitalism, it’s not a story to be taken seriously, it has flawed characters and many times their decisions doesn’t make sense at all (much like many people and philosophies irl), sure the humor sometimes it relies on being mean with others but the whole point of this is that we are on a criminal world, where much like irl all those terrible hate crimes/speeches happens, it’s not a story for you to look up to the characters, actually you would be missing the point in doing that, that’s why one of the Housers said that ending C wasn’t cannon (this was before gta online blew out of proportion and include stories with the characters of the main story) it was to show you that in the end being a criminal doesn’t pay and the fact that Franklin gets to choose who to get rid of is proof of his character grow as he is no longer a protégée of Michael. I do gotta admit that some points of this review were right and the lack of strong female characters is major step back considering the advances we previously had in GTA 4 with characters like Michelle, Elizabeta, Kate to some extent, Ashley for naming a few. My point here is that GTA and Rockstar in general have a cynical way of telling their stories, even if sometimes there’s a hypocrisy in it. To sum it all up I’m gonna quote on of the last phrases of the protagonists in ending C “… Then we can get back on the kind of capitalism we practice Sh1t. I don’t know how much better that is Devin’s kind Ohhh hypocrisy Franklin Civilization’s greatest virtue” Other than this I think that you have made a great documentary on the game and I enjoyed every moment of it! By the way I’m very excited about the next project. Prey is one of my favorite games and knowing your way to make analysis I’m excited to see what you have in store for us.
Thank you for the kind words! I want to believe that Rockstar were taking the piss in making such a slipshod, mean, even cruel story with bad characters and I know that is realistic that these things can exist, I just don't think they pulled it off anywhere near convincingly. I want to believe that you "don't attribute to malice what can be adequately attributed to stupidity", but the story seems both malicious and stupid lol. The whole thing is just a fucking mess. Cheers!
@@NthReview Rockstar are taking the piss in many things over the last few years, I wouldn't be surprised if GTA V was the beginning of that way of doing things. Cheers!
it's not exactly about capitalism, it's just a game about criminals that also criticizes the american government. anyone that is to the left or right of liberal criticizes the american government. in fact lester sort of reminds me of your typical right wing conspiracy theorist, but he never mentions his political views.
Can't believe you don't have more views! I feel like I'm here before you blow up. Thank you for your insightful review of one of my favorite game (definitely more of a guilty pleasure in retrospect). P.S. You might be delighted to find more 3 dimensional and stronger female characters in Red Dead 2. It also had a better story that took itself a bit more seriously and managed to move me more than any Rockstar game ever did. Kind of like The Sopranos set in a western setting.
You know something that really ticked me off about GTAV? There is a Scrapyard you can buy and it will give you some money for every vehicle you destroy, i though that would be perfect to both get money and have fun fighting the Army or the Police. I would go nuts but my money didn't go as high as i thought it would given how many things i blew up. Well turns out there is a cap, it's like 20 vehicles i think? Per day, you can't increase it, you can't cheese, it's there. I beated the Main quest and a bunch of side missions btw. Between that and the surprisingly passive police during engagements really rubs me the wrong way. Imagine my surprise when i try GTAIV and the police is actually really hard to fight, can be easy to shake off on the first star but even one or two stars police are relentless in cars and on foot, they will flank you and throw grenades, and that was just like mid game. It was just as i remember back in Vice City.
The lack of robust vehicle saving drove me nuts. Even the far less "refined" (made on a vastly smaller budget) Saints Row games had it figured out better.
Very late to this, but in part 3 you commented on the ridiculousness of country roads leading directly into the freeway. As someone who has lived in the country, I can tell you that it *does* happen. It is very ridiculous and can be a pain to get on but it does happen
Hey dude, good video, although, i don't agree on many of your points. GTA is just simply South Park of video games, insulting everything and everybody just for the fuck of it, and showing that there is nothing sacred in this world which cannot be ridiculed with, there's no need to underline that with some profound philosophy, you just do it for it's own sake. Yes, it's infantile and stupid, but it's also not supposed to be taken seriously as well.
I disagree. That's a cop out. Rockstar DO mean something here, as I point out, they DO have a philosophy here, they just go about it the shittiest way possible. It's not like the anarcho-Libertarian perspectives of Parker and Stone, where they've had to face some come-uppance over the fact that the opinions they had before "not giving a shit" and "ridiculing everyone" steered a lot of their fanbase wrong for a lot of years. There's a reason why Rockstar is changing directions for their next game. So yes, it's absolutely worth underlining with "profound philosophy", even though this is some real simple shit that the Housers couldn't fucking pull off.
I watched this assuming it was another one of those huge recommended UA-cam videos with a million views / subscribers after a day that appears on my feed, and then only after watching I realised that you had appeared on my UA-cam page because I had subscribed to you some time ago - probably because of your immersive sim vids (I'm a sucker for long analyses of Deus Ex). I guess that means you've hooked me more than once with the quality of your videos, so I just wanted to say that you have a viewer here in the UK who hopes you get the millions of views you deserve! Nice work. :)
Thank you for the support across the pond! I'm not sure which video you saw last or when you saw it, but I've covered Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the System Shock series in the past year, plus some other games. I've been busy!
I have a hunch that your channel blew up because a little while back all of your videos were added to a massive "long form analysis" playlist that currently has over 1000 videos in it. I mean that's how I found this one.
Yeah, the playlist and its curator are amazing and he's a big fan, but it kinda happened as the Algorithm hit with a gust. It's a small but passionate slice of traffic!
Really well done video. Big fan of your ImSim vids and this was refreshing to watch. Quick nitpick: your Euphoria section is incorrect. RAGE's animation system is not Euphoria driven. Natural Motion Euphoria is a physicalised animation system that 'kicks in' when the characters are hit (by car, bullet, etc). Basically they're 'active ragdolls'. Euphoria isn't active when the character is just walking or anything else. That 'heavy feeling' is because of R*'s strict use of animation priority and tweaking variables to make it feel heavy. Table Tennis didn't include Euphoria, GTA IV was it's first use. There is a Eurogamer article on the whole thing and why it's rarely used. (I'm a big fan of the tech since it early reveal in 2006/2007, and hoped it would end up in a ImSim style game, which it never did). Keep up the good work!
I used to play a lot of GTA when I was younger but I tried 5 and didn't make it very far. Some of it is really well done, but Rockstar loves to constantly take control away from the player, and they also rely way to much on cinematics, instead of letting you actually play the game/story, and to be fair lots of game devs do this but games aren't movies, they can be so much more, but devs literally just regurgitate stuff they've seen in movies instead of innovating and learning how to tell a story in an interactive medium. I did really enjoy driving around and they've done a really good job on the city and CA hills, and the basic simulation of life. But the character movement feels so sluggish, probably because of what you mentioned. GTA really excels as a open world simulation and exploration, but everything else I guess I've just grown out off, and the story and characters are just cringe, and they've been beating that dead horse for a really long time now. The thing that really scares me about Rockstar is they've suckered so many people into the online/shark card ecosystem. Rockstar #1 priority is in-game monetization now, and that doesn't result in better games. I mean you go look at the last 5 years financials for GTA 5 and it will blow your mind, that game came out in 2013 and it's absolutely insane how much money they are still making on that game, it sets a very dangerous precedent.
What the actual fuck, I thought you were a 250k channel bro, your content is so consistently fire!! I've been binging your content for the last week and wasn't bothered with you being interwoven between the joseph Anderson's and Charlatan wonder's I'm usually listening too!!!! Dedication is the hardest resource to mine and you've done it
Greetings from Brazil! I found your channel not too long ago and it's de second time I'm watching your video. Right after beating gta 3 for the first time. I'm mesmerized by your take on immersive sims which are maybe my favorite type of games. I totally agree with what you call " the houser schtick" and at my recent second playthrough some of that was just bad. From what I remember of my first playthrough I really was expecting some kind of joke or commentary from the game about inequality, misogyny, etc. That just never came up, it felt very uncomfortable... like they were so close to start some meaningful conversations about these topics. But thanks to your commentary I finally understand why I felt that way.
I use to play GTA 3 with an episcopal priest. I was working at a summer camp and one of my roommates in the shared house was the camp chaplain, an episcopal priest, an older gentleman in his 50s or 60s. In the evening we would play video games, especially GTA 3, it would make for some interesting conversations. Vice City and GTA IV gave me motion sickness. San Andreas is the only game I've fully played the campaign for.
I dont understand why voice actors asks or demand for payment when the games starts to have sucess. As far as I understand they were Pay to make a very clear task and it done. If the company use that same voice recording on other game or for anything else then I can understand they demand an extra gratification but on this case is the same product. Just me wondering I dont understand thay guys.
If you build royalties into the equation from the start, like other entertainment industries do, it doesn’t seem so absurd. It’s not so much about him not getting extra money as the game got big as it is NO ONE is getting extra money as games get big except the owners and executives.
I liked mostly all of the video, the only part I didn't really follow along on is the choice part, GTA V wasn't really presented as having a narrative with a ton of story choices or anything like that beyond very superficial things like heist plans or what vehicles you drive, and it's more in line for GTA to not feel like you're putting yourself in the characters shoes, it's more like watching a movie, the reason Michael doesn't open the door is because Trevor in that moment has no reason to go back, and we are playing as him, not as ourselves, so our choice is meaningless in that part of the narrative. I would also agree that Franklin is the character that's supposed to be the most relatable to the players in this story, and that's why he's given the most choice out of all three main characters and it makes sense imo. Just wanted to give my two cents, great video, and I was in love with the editing throughout. My one last thing I have to say is about the story being too mean is kind of the point. It's a really subjective thing and I really don't think GTA V went too far or too mean, the whole point is making fun of the dredges of American society, like how Filthy Frank was ironically portraying the average edgy person at the time. I'd argue it actually aged well with how the social climate has evolved since 2013.
The "othering" of American culture has been a thing for years and its very fitting for GTA to make jokes on how some people make fun or don't take groups of people seriously while sounding completely dumb. It's an American satire and IMO it makes sense especially with the experiences I've had.
When it comes to mechanics, GTA V gives the vibe that it was shipped out without being finished. The heits missions are a perfect example of that: they always tease you about the freedom, intricate planning and design they offer... but when you play the story a couple times, you realize that truly, all the gameplay those heists promise (both directly and indirectly), just isn't there. It's basically a glorified cutscene. When online mode started taking off, it all became clear: heists became a hook to keep player base coming back to GTA online, like breadcrumbs that Rockstar kept throwing every once in a while... "here's the new heist! Isn't it epic??", but eventually it all felt... samey. It's a wasted mechanic that becomes even more painful when you realize that the modding scene for GTA can't even interact with it. I searched for mods to see if people had reverse-engineered the way heists work and started creating heists of their own, and... nothing. You even get banned from GTA online if you install mods, as far as I've read? Overall the heists are one of the prime examples of GTA V's technical shortcomings: it's a sandbox, it looks like a sandbox... but eventually, they didn't have the script, nor the time and/or money to truly make it a sandbox. When you think about it, even San Andreas had a bigger sense of freedom and emergent gameplay.To this day, I still fondly remember running from a four-star police game on a bike, unarmed... even jumping over a SWAT van and zig-zagging away while they shot at me. The closest I've felt to that in V was when I ended the story, and would get into the game to begin shootouts and car chases on my own... but it just didn't feel the same. The driving is so tight that as soon as I got a decent car I could run away from almost anything. The shooting's cover mechanics made me able to mow down legions of law enforcement without breaking a sweat. I even got to mod a car and search for gang hideouts in an attempt at feeling like some sort of Punisher-like hero... but even that became stale after a day or two. Overall, GTA V is graphical fidelity, modern QoL improvements... but no real "playfulness" in my opinion.
I'm hooked on your channel. I have MANY thoughts for the late 90s immesive sim games and i will come back with notes and critisisms, but not before i consume what you have made here. Incredible and informed work!
I always feel like GTA for the immersive Sam equation ends up being the mile wide, maybe a few.. and about 3 and 1/2 in deep.. deep enough to drown in, but as far as swimming goes it feels like you're going through the motions.
Loved this vid dude, super great in-depth analysis. Im always watching videos for this game to see if there's any new perspectives to be gleamed, and your's certainly sits at the top of the pile. But what actually got me to comment?...have to say, I LOVE the Aesop chapter titles! 😂
I definitely have some major disagreements with some of your opinions and statements (nothing as much as when you said you didn't like New Vegas), but you are definitely punching above your weight (in views lol) in terms of production value and script writing. I don't have to agree with you to enjoy your content though.
Despite never playing story and GTA online being trash I still find the core gameplay enjoyable and I come back to just drive around every once and a while
Love the Kirby message. And all the development trivia as always. Also, your thoughts on this game as a time capsule from before the gig economy, and the way it portrays American society, were very interesting. I never played GTA V. Got tired of Rockstar's cynical writing and tedious mission design after GTA4. All the stuff that felt like it was 'looking backwards' as you put it. But I would definitely play this just for the detailed, living environments and all the random activities. Even if the simulations aren't that complex. I never knew the game had golf and floor mopping simulators. Good video! Any idea if the Houserness of the writing has improved or changed with the decade of new GTA Online heists?
I love the video man, great review and I truly appreciate all the work that goes into these. You are one of the most underrated channels in this niche. 21Kiloton and TheNThReview are the best video game review channels on UA-cam hands down. Keep up the great work man 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Listen here Unc, great video. And great retrospective on gta 5 and the franchise as a whole. But I can’t let you get away with one glaring mistake. GTA4 physics are 100x better than 5’s. The driving may not be for everyone in 4 (even though prefer it over the arcadey 5 driving) but the physics in 4 are to this day imo the best gaming has ever seen.
Totally agree with all of your critiques about the juvenile "humor" and "commentary" in this game. Honestly I never got through it all the way, partially because EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER is just so completely loathsome in every possible way. Most misanthropic piece of media I've ever seen.
not every character has to be likable, and character development exists you're the type of person to drop breaking bad in the first 3 episodes cause the characters aren't being nice a game where everyone is a criminal in some sort of way doesn't have likable people, wow!
@Mickey Mouse There is a MASSIVE gulf between "likeable" and "utterly loathsome in every possible way". Previous GTA protags like Nico and CJ weren't totally irredeemable shit stains. GTA's writing and characters have always been cynical and satirical. In 5 it's just antisocial and misanthropic. You said "not every character has to be likeable," and obviously I agree with that. But we're not talking about just one or two characters in an otherwise well-rounded cast. Not every character has to be likeable, but that doesn't mean every character should be the complete opposite. I'm glad you brought up Breaking Bad too, because those characters aren't even close to the same level of unlikeability. If GTA5's writers wrote BB, Walt wouldn't have even hesitated with killing Krazy 8. He would have just laughed and drowned him in a bucket of human waste, then dragged his body behind a car through the desert.
Also regardless of all the external audio design cars etc.. the guns sound about as bad as I've heard in a game.. I remember just having the thought burned into my brain that somebody was shuffling playing cards for one of the SMGs.. which is also not the first time that's been the case for a GTA game.. but given the presentation elsewhere this was kind of almost impressively bad, fortunately it's an easy fix unfortunately it's a fix that I have to apply every time the game auto updates LOL because it overrides the archive files.. which is well once every two or three days LOL.. had to learn that the hard way when I was just setting up my mods and in no way thought that I was going to have to just replace the archive file over and over again so I had to do everything over again LOL....
Considering how many games are out there, dedicating 50 hours to any one in particular IS a lot of hours. And this means I've put 150 hours into GTAV in the past decade. I get there are stans who can brag about how many thousands of hours they put into individual games, I've definitely done it for Minecraft, but that's exceptional, not the norm.
@@NthReview I mean honestly in Rainbow 6 seige, i put 3500 hours in it and am livid with it today. Broke my heart. And every other game I like on the way, payday, smite gta, I will invest heavily in from 200 to 1300 hours. You gotta get good and then you see these games differently, when youve breathed the same air as the characters, the mechanics feel different. Ive played maybe 6 different games this year. Thats just the kinda gamer I am, League of Legends, huge mechanical improvements and strategy to grasp. I enjoy getting my shit kicked in until I learn how to play the game. Literally to large to just look it at for me. Cant dip my toe, I plunge myself in these worlds out of comfort and finding new depth consistently within core or ever expanding gameplay. Ask a league gamer what other games they play, theyll tell yo u some things, but we all drop it to go back to league. Every match is different and anyone can be a carry and anyone can usurp.
Hey everyone! I want to clear the air on something that has been irritatingly racking up in this video's comment section: "I was with you until the politics stuff." And I gotta tell you, this is perhaps the dumbest comment I see on this video. I'm all for good faith arguments about this and that, sure, but this is a game and a series whose story and satire has lived by commenting on contemporary politics. Grand Theft Auto games always have a lot to say about society and politics. That's a huge chunk of their appeal versus other open-world games. The violence and the sexual exploitation and racism and stuff is supposed to be commentary. When I talk about this stuff in the review, it's to talk about how poorly they go about it and how fangless their satire is. But to come in here and say ?I don't like this because I don't like engaging with politics" is pure privilege. A huge problem here in America is that people think they can just turn off their concern for what's going on around them, which is why we build apathy for other people and we ignore the truly terrible things that terrible people do while in charge of our country. People should not be disengaging with politics and the world around them. If you have a problem with talking politics, that is absolutely a "you" problem. And considering that my politics would align with the politics of Rockstar and the Housers if they weren't such limousine liberals, the real problem seems to probably be "I'm a conservative and discussion of this offends me," which loops back to not wanting to discuss politics at all. I'm gonna talk about politics because games aren't built in a vacuum and games engage with political content. That's just how it is. Get over it. N Original question: What's a must have feature that Grand Theft Auto 6 needs?
Well, for starters, definitely more buildings and stores with actual interiors that can be walked into; and also a good meaty DLC that expands further on story characters.
More life sim, less crime? More likeable characters? Red Dead is better about both of those things. Herding cows in Red Dead, or walking around historic cities in Assassin's Creed, is always my favourite part of these games. I'd like to see a massive budget open world game that is just about the regular humans living their lives, with regular human drama, slice of life stories, or comedy. You know, all the genres in TV/movies that aren't explored much in games. It's probably not realistic to want that from a Grand Theft Auto game though.
@@RobinOttens Mission 1: The grocery store. Find: Cheerios Meatballs Milk Eggs CocaCola Plot twist: you have a flat tire when you leave the store with a full cart. Mission 2: Collect 139,377 brown rocks Mission 3: Your girlfriend dumped you. Learn how to deal and be emotionally vulnerable. If Mission 3 failure then, Mission 4a: get drunk If Mission 3 success then, Mission 4b: Sign up for Tinder.
I appreciate the effort that goes in to making a project like this, and I think the video is well made even if I don’t personally agree with everything you have to say on humor and punching down. Even if the humor is juvenile and stupid most of the time, i still think it’s good that the game has a bit of an edge to it.
No matter how good, or how much stuff you can do in gta5. It has nothing on red dead redemption 2. Just fishing in rdr2 keeps me entertained for weeks.
"four was also a miserable sack of a game..." Glad somebody else said it finally.. especially coming out of San Andreas which had an expansive interesting plot, interesting characters that dotted it, jokes that worked with the cliches to validate them.. and then.. someone tried to gamify Goodfellas and somehow make the characters even whinier and more despicable but with game logic so that you couldn't even rely on the fact that they were despicable for how completely shallow and pointless everything that you were doing and everything that was doing and being done was in that entire dumpster fire.... definitely one of those moments where I realized the things that I liked about things turns out.. might not have been the things that everybody else liked about things LOL.
I loved your system shock review and all the other ones I've seen, but I don't understand how you can acknowledge that the game was designed with 3 story threads in mind, and then end that same sentence with "well it would have been awful with just one character". There are a number of other things here that I disagree with and feel you are missing the point of, but most people consider them subjective so there isn't much point in bringing them up in the UA-cam comments of all places.
My point was despite having the 3 characters and writing them up mechanically, even narratively, this story sucks and there are a ton of filler missions and non-sequitors that try to justify having 3 separate protagonists that don't work. To then convert this game into a narrative for just 1 character would then lose what advantages they did take with the 3, especially mechanically. The story sucks.
I think Rockstar’s recent behavior with GTA live, RDR2 live and the definitive editions was a pitiful display of corporate carelessness that is ironically of the type they’ve been lampooning for 20 years. BUT they were hot artists once, in tune with their muses and groundbreaking in the day. GTA 3 showed me a vision of the future that was totally exciting and 4 was their pinnacle for me though I totally get your complaints and think they’re fair. But I’m a simple man and it did enough to charm and dazzle me. I hope for the best for 6, I’ll be buying it, I bet it will be super impressive and fun and it will definitely be a huge financial success but I can’t find much of the enormous respect I used to have for them. They’re clearly what they themselves would have described 10 years ago as “anti-consumer corporate bitches” now. They can’t even be bothered giving RDR2 60hz on backwards compatible until they can get millions of dollars for it in a lazy re-release. They may still be able to make a good game but they’re morally total punks.
After watching this video, you might be under the impression that people with center-right political views enjoy the commentary/humor in GTA 5. Not the case, I'm center right and even I recognize the writing and jokes as low brow. 20 years ago, I didn't think twice and had a lot of fun with these games. Now, they've gotten exactly $60 dollars from me with GTAV. Once. In 2013. No online shark spending or re purchasing etc etc. This leads me to the greater point of my comment here. One of my favorite quotes in Alpha Centauri is "Human behavior is economic behavior. The particulars may vary, but need as well as greed have followed us to the stars." And that's the problem with your criticisms, as far as "THE POLITICS!!!" go. Have you ever went down the rabbit hole of GTA youtubers? They're not the type of people who think about this type of thing. A significant portion of them have never even played the story. They just come home after work and mess around with online and throw cash as shark cards every now and then. The mantle of a more nuanced narrative has long been taken up by the Red Dead franchise at Rockstar. (By video game standards, as far as westerns go it's not an interactive Blood Meridian). Why? Because 15 year olds and mentally exhausted after work gamers don't throw money at Red Dead. The online audience doesn't play Red Dead (RDR2 online flopped if you weren't tracking.) The whole time when I was watching I thought to myself: "Who is nth review to Rockstar and why do they care? Who am I to Rockstar and why do they care?" The answer is nobody, and they don't. I truly don't believe the uninspired political or societal commentary in this game was a failed attempt to be insightful, rather, they just really do not and will not care and spend the writing process fucking around with some office chuckles, considering what they need to actually accomplish to move the needle. I do not believe it can be compared to the writing process of the early Simpsons, which you mentioned, which famously WAS an attempt to say something but could also be enjoyed as low brow. To put dressing on this word salad In a trendy way mimicking the supposed "target market", you might say "It's not that deep, bro."
I don’t think a lot of people are taking Rockstar narratives that seriously, but it’s apparent that Rockstar is. And the fact that their views are inconsistent and their satire is bad does not excuse them because “it’s not that deep, bro.”
How can either of us prove that Rockstar is taking it seriously? I think you could make an argument for GTAIV which, notably, was mocked a bit for the transition to a more somber tone. I don't think half assed movie references and lame societal jokes is definitive proof that they're trying to be nuanced. And you used the word excused there - maybe I'm just bitter but I don't think theyre interested in the business of seeking approval from people like you or I who consider these things. Why should they bother while their product prints money? Edit: That isn't to say an attitude like that is correct or moral, it's not, especially in the context of artistic value, but I do think it's the reality.
@@StarsAndSticks you can tell from the effort in the execution and how sincere the end result was. This was definitely not some half assed effort like Family Guy. I mean, compare it to GTA and GTA2 where they were clearly just slapping it on and you can see they were trying for some awards here
@@NthReview Perhaps. I guess you could also say that the Red Dead franchise is indicative of an effort to be serious that just failed in GTAV. Hopefully the new game will be different.
Thanks for reminding me how impactful L.A. Noire was and that it's so overlooked. I thought that whole thing was huge and invested you into the story that much more.
@@NthReview I will recommend this game in the highest esteem because of this uniquness. That whole facial thing really, really changes things when you're trying to catch someone in a lie as this aspect gets harder. I won't blow the ending either but the way it bookends everything speaks for the whole story.
I'm kinda shocked my new favorite immersive sim enthusiast didn't enjoy GTA 4's minutia. I can hardly remember the story but I remember loving ambling around doing a whole lot of just "existing" in the world.
Or maybe it's a more personal thing... GTA 4 doesn't lag nearly as far behind mechanically as you make it out to. The euphoria animation and visceral melee are a toss up imo. Physics in general is pretty contentious and some have said 5s driving is much more floaty like how you mention the cars seeming rotating around a central point. The was far, FAR greater damage deformation in 4 and 4 didn't force every car to ave ABS on so if you were looking for it you could grab an older car and name it work for you. Everyone's seen Crowbcat's comparison. I think it puts into words (lol) a lot of people's reactions when making the transition between games. It definitely wasn't a step up on all fronts. I think this video either required a lot less comparison between five and its predecessors or more time spent actually playing the predecessors... This option would be discussing the points on their own merit instead of pushing 5 up by putting previous games in the series down.
Ha, fam, this was a 3 hour video as it was and it didn't do as well enough to explore the other games, at least not yet. The problem of GTA4s minutiae is that unlike an actual immersive sim, it often felt bolted on and didn't cohere as a whole. It is the Rockstar curse, to have so many toppings and few of them would work on a pizza.
I enjoyed how many places you drew from to discuss this series as well as the zeitgeist that GTA V draws from so holistically. From urban planning to prejudice to analysis of the authors' potential intent and working conditions, it's really all-encompassing. GTA V was such a disappointment in so many ways. However, I do think GTA IV has a lot of heart and is worth revisiting, even if it is a miserable experience very often.
@@NthReview I see. I think that you can get the gist of it from "a lot of it", to be fair - it doesn't say anything new with the ending chapters. Like, what, killing people is unfulfilling? a life well lived is the best revenge? an old dog can learn new tricks (despite not demonstrating any tricks but violence)? GTA V generally does cover more ground, even if it undermines its own messaging with humor where GTA IV at least tries to take itself more seriously. Not that much worth a revisit if you've seen beyond its opening chapters.
I always needed a second Joseph Anderson in my life. Thank you for this, and for introducing me to the American Castle Doctrine. I think I'll take a walk in my neighborhood tomorrow.
I usually watch videos till the end before i write any comments but i think ill just write and edit this one as i go cuz i reckon ill have a lot to say,i want to say ahead of time im not hating on you,if i dont comment on something,i probobly either agree with you or have no opinion,if you wanna chat outside of the hellhole that youtube comments are i would love to do so. First off,i dont rly understand why you dislike 4,yes its gloomy and dark and hardly a game that fits in the rest of the series crazy shenanigans,but thats literally what makes it so good,although,i have to agree that keeping up good relationships and stuff is annoying more then anything. The characters,the story and the missions however were the best overall in the series imo,and the driving is,bad,but in a good way,like yeah your car feels like shit,but also it feels better then in any other GTA game,in the 3D era every car was a toy,and GTA5 cars either go fast and turn like shit,go at a good pace and turn pretty well,or are a piece of shit you never want to touch. In GTA4,i never felt like skipping a car on the road and trying to find a better one,any car will get you where you need,some better then others,but at the end of the day,after you get used to the driving,all of them become S tier. Also personally i liked that you had tons of freedom in missions,like i can go on a date with a girl i met online before the mission and during it i can call het to get rid of cops,or another girl that will heal you to full hp,or i can call a bro and ask him for some backup,you cant even do anything except get drunk and play golf (Which admitadly does sound pretty good) in GTA5. Thats my take at least. Oh also the DLCs were great. Edit number 1: GTA5 DOES have a blind fire,and you CAN change sides while in cover + idk if this is just me but ive literally never had a problem with flying,unless your character has 0 flying skill which is easy to fix anyway due to the flying school,you will never have a problem in planes or helis,im not trying to say they are bad,just saying they arnt this big mechanic you described them to be,they are simple and enjoyable. Melee does suck tho and Stealth is pretty useless. And as a side note,i dont rly get why you would cripple your shooting with a controller,when you could just use both it and Mouse+Keyboard at the same time just switching between one and the other. Edit number 2: There are many radio stations bcuz there are many tastes,me personally i dont listen to half the shit thats on them and default to Channel X,but i do check some of the other ones cuz most of them have 1 or 2 songs i like as well. When you get into a car the radio station you hear playing depends on where you are,in the hood its prolly gonna be rap,in the city,itll be pop,in the county its country music and sometimes Channel X as well,sometimes its the talk show stations. All 3 characters have their own favorite stations,thats why their OWN cars have those stations,do you expect a retro guy like Mike to just keep country music he dosnt care for playing in his car when you arnt there,or Frank listening to electronic music,Trevor listening to POP ? No,they are characters with preferences and tastes,they even change to their favorite stations if you change to another character and back while they are in a car. The credits do take like,way too freaking long tho. I dont think judging the game for not having custom playlists is justified,tho i cant say i wouldnt love it in 6,and as for 6,maybe theyll make some app thats a parody of spotify and give you a choice between playlists instead of stations,maybe let you make custom ones,maybe this,maybe that,i rly dont know and i dont think anyone else does either. Edit number 3: While i do agree about how some missions are full to the brim of uniteresting and pointless things like "You HAVE to drive there in THIS car" and stuff,i think its unreasonable to believe that Trevor would just go back and talk to Miky about life after finding out about Brad,and besides,Mike storms out SECONDS after Trevor and starts driving to the airport while talking to him on the phone. I think a MUCH better example of this is how in several heists you need to go and get "Getaway cars" and then you dont get away from anything. For example in the Heat knock off one you need to go and destroy the garbage truck so the game can justify you switching to Mike whos now suddenly in the middle of the mountains,fine,why the hell do i need a getaway car,why cant i just get the truck to a car crushing machine and see a quick cutscene where it gets turned into a cube of trash while Frank calls up Mike and says he got rid of the truck,in the FIB job,if you choose to do the route with the firetruck,you have to get rid of it and use a getaway car to get to a checkpoint,again,why ? You dont get seen by the authorities so they dont even know youre fake firefighters,even if they did,your face was hidden the whole time,why not just get rid of it and play a cutscene that ends the mission. The big score plan B is the only time they do anything with the getaway care,namely they use it to GET AWAY FROM COPS WOW WHAT GENIUS THOUGHT OF THAT IDEA. Edit number 4: There are very many things i want to agree and disagree about in both the Houser part of the video and the rest of the story chapter. But,i just dont want to talk about it,cuz youll just think of me as some Uncle Tim who wants to be edgy. We live in 2 opposite worlds,and i mean that literally,you live in the land of opportunity,i live in a shithole in the middle of nowhere. Our opinions can not get through to each other,whats offensive to you and many ppl,is just a joke to me,not bcuz im racist,but bcuz i see as nothing more,a thing said or done to make you laugh with no negative intention,whats honorable to me,is hypocritical to you,not bcuz youre dishonorable but bcuz America is as you said,a land of I's,a lot of ppl think of themselves first and foremost,to put it all in one small package,i would love to talk and debate about all these things with you,but i wont for several reasons,the main one being this is a year long video and you probably wont even notice or care about this comment.
I appreciate the amount of work this took, I appreciate the quality, could do without the “woke” section as the point of the humor was how ridiculous both sides are. These are bad people, some are going to have bad takes. The leftism in the review was off putting, it punches down, up and sideways, it’s funny when Trevor wakes up with a dress because Trevor doesn’t wear dresses but he’s a crazy alcoholic so you can think of how he ended up in that situation. I hope the next gta is more of the same.
I appreciate most of your thoughts, but any time someone dives immediately complaining about "woke"-ness, or even says the word "woke" because it's only ever used as a barb, they're clearly not interested in understanding the actual problem(s) at-hand because it offends some critical belief they have that they're not interested in addressing or changing or even exploring because it's more convenient and comfortable to be ignorant. So, as long as I need to address political realities, especially with a game that has so much to poorly say about politics, I will do so. If that pisses off people who whine about "wokeness", I have no issue with that.
@@NthReview I could be mistaken, as it was hours' long ago and ive watched a ton of other things and slept and otherwise since then, but i think you were the one that used that word in your video were you not? Besides the point and avoiding the (very lite) criticism regardless, you attacked the game politically from the left which is boring as it reads like a tumbler post of yore, in an in-depth analysis if politics must come up at all, I for one anyway would like to see the politics discussed neutrally or given some thought as to how it isnt just rightwing, or misguided leftwing or whatever. GTA is like South Park, its not afraid to quip at both of the ridiculous sides of America. Anyway, keep on keeping on.
I really wish Rockstar would put it like an amalgamation of effort into the actual gameplay design and mission structure as they do into their simulation and background passive systems.. and to be fair like, well it may not be centralized at one place the gameplay for Max Payne 3 is almost like they did that for the shooting mechanics.. but I mean, level design mission structure etc.. not so much, set pieces are nice but set pieces are set pieces and they're kind of boring and they've been boring for a while...
This review is absolutely amazing and its obvious you burned through many hours of Daylight and plenty of cups of Coffee during its creation. But what I think I appreciate the most about this video by far is the sections titles being Aesop Rock references lol
I mean I'm a Maoist but it's wild to think or want the trio to distribute wealth or have any part of this game a a real relation to labor. Which it almost feels like you're going for at 2:30:00
I think it's weird that the game establishes its devils and then has no issues when the game concludes with the characters becoming their own devils unironically in a city/world where everyone hates each other's guts.
I have a comment about your opinions on humor/jokes, and this thought was specifically brought about by your comment on little people being used as the butt of jokes too much. Brad Williams is a comedian who is a little person, and like most good comedians he blends his personal life experiences into comedy. He has been told by people who aren't affected by or personally know anyone with a dwarfism condition that he can't make jokes about little people or use the word "midget". Imagine the gall for a person who's never known what life is like as a little person to ORDER a little person not to make jokes about their condition or life experiences? So, I feel like everyone with a valid voice to raise should be trusted to raise their own voice when it comes to what is or is not "offensive", and we should be free to stand beside them. We should NEVER feel the need to stand as a vanguard ahead of them without their consent or input on the subject, as that merely infantilizes and rebukes their opinions and voices, especially if they're the ones laughing the hardest at the jokes.
Telling a little person to not make jokes about little people because they speak from experience is very different than a normal able-bodied person using little people as the butt of their jokes because they’re just perpetuating bad stereotypes, as they do here. I hope you understand the huge difference between those two.
@@NthReview So only amputees get to crack jokes about amputees? Only autistic people get to laugh at autism jokes? Limiting who can be part of the fun based on the person doing the routine is needlessly exclusive and in of itself problematic. Inclusion is a good thing. Telling a performer that they can't include others is implying that those who would be included don't deserve it. Context and intent matter, and even if jokes are made in a crass or vulgar manner, they're still just jokes. Ill intent is clearly definable wherever it is present, and arbitrarily deciding that certain subjects are off-limits despite a clear lack of ill intent is pointless and infantilizing to people who feel appreciated when they're included. No one wants to be invisible or off-limits.
@@Foxxie0kun to your initial questions: yeah, because otherwise you’re just an asshole using something out of people’s control or simply who they are to make fun of them. And then the rest of what you say is just saying “you can be an asshole without consequences with comedy and no one can critique you because it’s jUsT jOkEs, Yo!1!1” which isn’t true. The question you actually have to ask is “why would I make fun of the autistic or physically disabled” except to be an asshole? And why would you find that funny?
Gta4 was a product of its time and anything but a misfire, the single campaign from just niko was better than all 3 in gta5, and it was brown cause that was the style in 2008.
Honesty Im curious how they’ll handle an actual female protagonist for 6. Rockstar managed to create some amazing female characters for Red Dead so it’ll be pretty exciting to see.
@@NthReview Just a bad joke about the outro. The smoke looking thing. Hope you're having a pleasant day. *edit I also don't know the name of the game in the outro.
I hope you get around to reviewing GTA Online at some point, at least while taking the best shortcuts to see the best content instead of getting blown up by griefers as it somewhat addresses some of your criticisms, but also messes up at some of the things you were complimenting them over, so I think it'd be interesting, if probably a very annoying start. Getting the heist that basically gives you millions is really the only way to unlock the rest, and then the other heists feel like they pay too little compared, sadly.
A point is to be made to the fact that this game is about a decade old now and during development the developers and story writers probably already knew that 70% of their audience were people 15 and under (despite the game being 18+.) I’m not saying this as an excuse for the dry and disputably “discriminatory” humor but I do believe there’s a reason it’s there. Again, not defending the messages it’s trying to send and the discriminations it implements
Eh, nah. 15 years don't know most of what Rockstar is joking about in here, they're just doing it in such a low brow fashion that kids can go "hehe, yeah, I guess that makes sense in a perverted way" but they have no clue what it actually means.
@@NthReview The “humor” shown in the game definitely shows it’s age, same type of stuff popped up in gta 4 (though to a much less frequent extent) but I do feel like things such as trevor wearing a dress were just done for “random = funny”. Though a lot of the things like advertisements and the name of the moped in the game were purposeful. I really enjoy your content and hope you keep up the good work.
@@NthReview padding in video games and also parts don’t advance the story are different from padding in a movie or a novel because in video games the gameplay is the story or is the primary part of the story. You playing and you discovering different mechanics and different ways to solve a problem is the story of video games, so no, it’s completely different.
@Ahmed Aghour And yet, as my video highlights, the gameplay portion is fantastic. The story is not good, for reasons I explain at great length. Just because the story is structured differently than a movie, and the Housers are notorious for structuring them like movies, doesn't give them a pass to make a bad game story that is so inconsistent and cringe-y.
@@NthReview I agree with you and Nakey Jakey, I just approach stories in Videogames from a big picture perspective, as long as the gameplay works and I have the tools to freely play as I like I’m happy, the problem is, like you and Nakey Jakey highlighted, the gameplay is very restrictive, and this problem is extremely annoying in RDR2. Great work by the way.
Going through all of the reviews and...Bravo! These are incredible. Wonderful & deep analysis with award-winning commentary on the context & scope of the game(s). Much love for making these.
Is nobody concerned with the fact that the second biggest game in the world is about the worst kind of people in the world? Kinda makes me wonder about society. No, I know the argument that it causes irl violence is silly. But it still says something about society. (Yes, I've watched through the entire game. Im not speaking blind.)
Yoooo, thanks for the shout! Can’t wait to watch your vid!
I appreciate your channel so much man, I have a hard time falling asleep without audio playing and I usually play video game reviews, and yours are always lengthy and very detailed and captivating. Thank you for all your effort and hard work 🤘
Thank you so much!
Personally, I['m a fan of 4th grade humor and fart jokes.
Also, I'm not sure the point of GTA is to lay out a narrative that improves society in any way. It kind of highlights the worst without prescribing a solution, which leaves the user to realize what they're seeing and maybe advocate for their own changes. Or not. I'm ok with this.
And I don't see how Trevor waking up in a dress is transphobic: the humor is that Trevor is the height of toxic masculinity, who would never be seen in a dress, yet he gets drunk and wakes up in one anyway. That's just funny.
But otherwise, this was a fantastic review. Well done, sir. Well done.
I know you're a fan of fourth grade humor, lol. Thank you!
everything is offensive to people now that's why
they want reasons to be upset
I mean it's 3 hours long
@@MickeyMouse-lm6zj Clearly you haven't watched the hour long defense of Fallout 3, or the 11 hour long response to the defense of Fallout 3.
It feels criminal to be this early, but its more criminal that you don't have 100× the subs that you do. Love your content ❤❤❤
We'll get there :) thank you!
Yo wtf. I've been following for a couple months now and I didn't realize this wasn't some 100,000+ sub channel. It's actually crazy.
glad to have discovered your channel! hope your growth continues, because the quality is definitely worth a higher sub count
ooh stoked for #17
Yesss!
Performance complaints are valid but the game has a very robust graphics settings menu specifically for this reason in addition to a benchmark tool. Fine tuning is a fact of life for pc gaming.
I think there's an option to change the default radio behavior too but personally I kinda liked letting the chosen track set the tone. Like, I don't generally cruise around with Trevor's punk rock on but when doing one of his missions it just fits the mood. Heck I'm an alt rock guy but back in the Day San Andreas got me to appreciate NWA.
And I dunno what you'd have the devs do about the car name situation. I'll take learning fake cars over the comprises that come with licensing in a game like this any day. Save that for Forza.
also licensing only lasts for a few years, must be shit for business to unlist games after every 3 years, especially if rockstar doesn't release a new game every 3-4 years
THIS this is exactly the video you want to come home to after a 12 hour shift from hell.
Thanks for the massive amount of work that goes into something like this.
You are so very welcome. Glad I could give you something to swirl whiskey to!
36:00 you know I don't think I ever consciously realized the screen flashed monochrome when you killed an enemy.
It's a fun little detail, isn't it? The combat in this game is truly visceral. I love it.
@@NthReview 100% agree!
Having completed the three hour journey that was this documentary I gotta say that I admire the dedication and effort you put into your videos, take this from a fellow content creator: I know how much you work in this and believe me it’s appreciated. Having said that I do have some comments about the video, the parts about the setting, the gameplay, the technical analysis were great, this being a 2013 game (even though rockstar will keep releasing the game until the end of times) it’s a great achievement in the video game media.
The one thing I did not agree it’s the story analysis. GTA it’s a satire, a hyperbolically, edgy, and dark satire about the defects, hypocrisy and contradictions of the American society and the late stage capitalism, it’s not a story to be taken seriously, it has flawed characters and many times their decisions doesn’t make sense at all (much like many people and philosophies irl), sure the humor sometimes it relies on being mean with others but the whole point of this is that we are on a criminal world, where much like irl all those terrible hate crimes/speeches happens, it’s not a story for you to look up to the characters, actually you would be missing the point in doing that, that’s why one of the Housers said that ending C wasn’t cannon (this was before gta online blew out of proportion and include stories with the characters of the main story) it was to show you that in the end being a criminal doesn’t pay and the fact that Franklin gets to choose who to get rid of is proof of his character grow as he is no longer a protégée of Michael. I do gotta admit that some points of this review were right and the lack of strong female characters is major step back considering the advances we previously had in GTA 4 with characters like Michelle, Elizabeta, Kate to some extent, Ashley for naming a few. My point here is that GTA and Rockstar in general have a cynical way of telling their stories, even if sometimes there’s a hypocrisy in it. To sum it all up I’m gonna quote on of the last phrases of the protagonists in ending C
“… Then we can get back on the kind of capitalism we practice
Sh1t. I don’t know how much better that is Devin’s kind
Ohhh hypocrisy Franklin
Civilization’s greatest virtue”
Other than this I think that you have made a great documentary on the game and I enjoyed every moment of it! By the way I’m very excited about the next project. Prey is one of my favorite games and knowing your way to make analysis I’m excited to see what you have in store for us.
Thank you for the kind words!
I want to believe that Rockstar were taking the piss in making such a slipshod, mean, even cruel story with bad characters and I know that is realistic that these things can exist, I just don't think they pulled it off anywhere near convincingly. I want to believe that you "don't attribute to malice what can be adequately attributed to stupidity", but the story seems both malicious and stupid lol. The whole thing is just a fucking mess.
Cheers!
@@NthReview Rockstar are taking the piss in many things over the last few years, I wouldn't be surprised if GTA V was the beginning of that way of doing things. Cheers!
it's not exactly about capitalism, it's just a game about criminals that also criticizes the american government. anyone that is to the left or right of liberal criticizes the american government. in fact lester sort of reminds me of your typical right wing conspiracy theorist, but he never mentions his political views.
agreed
Can't believe you don't have more views! I feel like I'm here before you blow up. Thank you for your insightful review of one of my favorite game (definitely more of a guilty pleasure in retrospect). P.S. You might be delighted to find more 3 dimensional and stronger female characters in Red Dead 2. It also had a better story that took itself a bit more seriously and managed to move me more than any Rockstar game ever did. Kind of like The Sopranos set in a western setting.
Thank you! And yeah, I do suppose they get more "serious" in RDR2, so maybe in the future?
You know something that really ticked me off about GTAV? There is a Scrapyard you can buy and it will give you some money for every vehicle you destroy, i though that would be perfect to both get money and have fun fighting the Army or the Police. I would go nuts but my money didn't go as high as i thought it would given how many things i blew up.
Well turns out there is a cap, it's like 20 vehicles i think? Per day, you can't increase it, you can't cheese, it's there.
I beated the Main quest and a bunch of side missions btw.
Between that and the surprisingly passive police during engagements really rubs me the wrong way.
Imagine my surprise when i try GTAIV and the police is actually really hard to fight, can be easy to shake off on the first star but even one or two stars police are relentless in cars and on foot, they will flank you and throw grenades, and that was just like mid game.
It was just as i remember back in Vice City.
The lack of robust vehicle saving drove me nuts. Even the far less "refined" (made on a vastly smaller budget) Saints Row games had it figured out better.
Very late to this, but in part 3 you commented on the ridiculousness of country roads leading directly into the freeway. As someone who has lived in the country, I can tell you that it *does* happen. It is very ridiculous and can be a pain to get on but it does happen
Oh, yeah, I'm sure it does happen!
Hey dude, good video, although, i don't agree on many of your points. GTA is just simply South Park of video games, insulting everything and everybody just for the fuck of it, and showing that there is nothing sacred in this world which cannot be ridiculed with, there's no need to underline that with some profound philosophy, you just do it for it's own sake. Yes, it's infantile and stupid, but it's also not supposed to be taken seriously as well.
I disagree. That's a cop out. Rockstar DO mean something here, as I point out, they DO have a philosophy here, they just go about it the shittiest way possible. It's not like the anarcho-Libertarian perspectives of Parker and Stone, where they've had to face some come-uppance over the fact that the opinions they had before "not giving a shit" and "ridiculing everyone" steered a lot of their fanbase wrong for a lot of years. There's a reason why Rockstar is changing directions for their next game. So yes, it's absolutely worth underlining with "profound philosophy", even though this is some real simple shit that the Housers couldn't fucking pull off.
Thanks for the shoutout! Looking forward to sitting down with this one!
Hope you enjoy it!
I watched this assuming it was another one of those huge recommended UA-cam videos with a million views / subscribers after a day that appears on my feed, and then only after watching I realised that you had appeared on my UA-cam page because I had subscribed to you some time ago - probably because of your immersive sim vids (I'm a sucker for long analyses of Deus Ex). I guess that means you've hooked me more than once with the quality of your videos, so I just wanted to say that you have a viewer here in the UK who hopes you get the millions of views you deserve! Nice work. :)
Thank you for the support across the pond! I'm not sure which video you saw last or when you saw it, but I've covered Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the System Shock series in the past year, plus some other games. I've been busy!
I have a hunch that your channel blew up because a little while back all of your videos were added to a massive "long form analysis" playlist that currently has over 1000 videos in it. I mean that's how I found this one.
Yeah, the playlist and its curator are amazing and he's a big fan, but it kinda happened as the Algorithm hit with a gust. It's a small but passionate slice of traffic!
Really well done video. Big fan of your ImSim vids and this was refreshing to watch. Quick nitpick: your Euphoria section is incorrect. RAGE's animation system is not Euphoria driven. Natural Motion Euphoria is a physicalised animation system that 'kicks in' when the characters are hit (by car, bullet, etc). Basically they're 'active ragdolls'. Euphoria isn't active when the character is just walking or anything else. That 'heavy feeling' is because of R*'s strict use of animation priority and tweaking variables to make it feel heavy. Table Tennis didn't include Euphoria, GTA IV was it's first use. There is a Eurogamer article on the whole thing and why it's rarely used. (I'm a big fan of the tech since it early reveal in 2006/2007, and hoped it would end up in a ImSim style game, which it never did). Keep up the good work!
I too loved how they loaded Vice City and San Andreas with songs from my childhood.
I used to play a lot of GTA when I was younger but I tried 5 and didn't make it very far. Some of it is really well done, but Rockstar loves to constantly take control away from the player, and they also rely way to much on cinematics, instead of letting you actually play the game/story, and to be fair lots of game devs do this but games aren't movies, they can be so much more, but devs literally just regurgitate stuff they've seen in movies instead of innovating and learning how to tell a story in an interactive medium. I did really enjoy driving around and they've done a really good job on the city and CA hills, and the basic simulation of life. But the character movement feels so sluggish, probably because of what you mentioned. GTA really excels as a open world simulation and exploration, but everything else I guess I've just grown out off, and the story and characters are just cringe, and they've been beating that dead horse for a really long time now. The thing that really scares me about Rockstar is they've suckered so many people into the online/shark card ecosystem. Rockstar #1 priority is in-game monetization now, and that doesn't result in better games. I mean you go look at the last 5 years financials for GTA 5 and it will blow your mind, that game came out in 2013 and it's absolutely insane how much money they are still making on that game, it sets a very dangerous precedent.
What the actual fuck, I thought you were a 250k channel bro, your content is so consistently fire!! I've been binging your content for the last week and wasn't bothered with you being interwoven between the joseph Anderson's and Charlatan wonder's I'm usually listening too!!!!
Dedication is the hardest resource to mine and you've done it
Greetings from Brazil! I found your channel not too long ago and it's de second time I'm watching your video. Right after beating gta 3 for the first time.
I'm mesmerized by your take on immersive sims which are maybe my favorite type of games.
I totally agree with what you call " the houser schtick" and at my recent second playthrough some of that was just bad. From what I remember of my first playthrough I really was expecting some kind of joke or commentary from the game about inequality, misogyny, etc. That just never came up, it felt very uncomfortable... like they were so close to start some meaningful conversations about these topics.
But thanks to your commentary I finally understand why I felt that way.
I use to play GTA 3 with an episcopal priest. I was working at a summer camp and one of my roommates in the shared house was the camp chaplain, an episcopal priest, an older gentleman in his 50s or 60s. In the evening we would play video games, especially GTA 3, it would make for some interesting conversations. Vice City and GTA IV gave me motion sickness. San Andreas is the only game I've fully played the campaign for.
That is absolutely interesting! How did you avoid getting motion sick in San Andreas?
Excited for this one!!
Might take me a few days to get through it, but if your previous reviews are to be believed, it will be 100% worth it!
I dont understand why voice actors asks or demand for payment when the games starts to have sucess. As far as I understand they were Pay to make a very clear task and it done.
If the company use that same voice recording on other game or for anything else then I can understand they demand an extra gratification but on this case is the same product. Just me wondering I dont understand thay guys.
If you build royalties into the equation from the start, like other entertainment industries do, it doesn’t seem so absurd. It’s not so much about him not getting extra money as the game got big as it is NO ONE is getting extra money as games get big except the owners and executives.
I liked mostly all of the video, the only part I didn't really follow along on is the choice part, GTA V wasn't really presented as having a narrative with a ton of story choices or anything like that beyond very superficial things like heist plans or what vehicles you drive, and it's more in line for GTA to not feel like you're putting yourself in the characters shoes, it's more like watching a movie, the reason Michael doesn't open the door is because Trevor in that moment has no reason to go back, and we are playing as him, not as ourselves, so our choice is meaningless in that part of the narrative. I would also agree that Franklin is the character that's supposed to be the most relatable to the players in this story, and that's why he's given the most choice out of all three main characters and it makes sense imo. Just wanted to give my two cents, great video, and I was in love with the editing throughout. My one last thing I have to say is about the story being too mean is kind of the point. It's a really subjective thing and I really don't think GTA V went too far or too mean, the whole point is making fun of the dredges of American society, like how Filthy Frank was ironically portraying the average edgy person at the time. I'd argue it actually aged well with how the social climate has evolved since 2013.
The "othering" of American culture has been a thing for years and its very fitting for GTA to make jokes on how some people make fun or don't take groups of people seriously while sounding completely dumb. It's an American satire and IMO it makes sense especially with the experiences I've had.
When it comes to mechanics, GTA V gives the vibe that it was shipped out without being finished. The heits missions are a perfect example of that: they always tease you about the freedom, intricate planning and design they offer... but when you play the story a couple times, you realize that truly, all the gameplay those heists promise (both directly and indirectly), just isn't there. It's basically a glorified cutscene.
When online mode started taking off, it all became clear: heists became a hook to keep player base coming back to GTA online, like breadcrumbs that Rockstar kept throwing every once in a while... "here's the new heist! Isn't it epic??", but eventually it all felt... samey. It's a wasted mechanic that becomes even more painful when you realize that the modding scene for GTA can't even interact with it. I searched for mods to see if people had reverse-engineered the way heists work and started creating heists of their own, and... nothing. You even get banned from GTA online if you install mods, as far as I've read?
Overall the heists are one of the prime examples of GTA V's technical shortcomings: it's a sandbox, it looks like a sandbox... but eventually, they didn't have the script, nor the time and/or money to truly make it a sandbox. When you think about it, even San Andreas had a bigger sense of freedom and emergent gameplay.To this day, I still fondly remember running from a four-star police game on a bike, unarmed... even jumping over a SWAT van and zig-zagging away while they shot at me. The closest I've felt to that in V was when I ended the story, and would get into the game to begin shootouts and car chases on my own... but it just didn't feel the same. The driving is so tight that as soon as I got a decent car I could run away from almost anything. The shooting's cover mechanics made me able to mow down legions of law enforcement without breaking a sweat. I even got to mod a car and search for gang hideouts in an attempt at feeling like some sort of Punisher-like hero... but even that became stale after a day or two. Overall, GTA V is graphical fidelity, modern QoL improvements... but no real "playfulness" in my opinion.
I'm hooked on your channel. I have MANY thoughts for the late 90s immesive sim games and i will come back with notes and critisisms, but not before i consume what you have made here. Incredible and informed work!
Welcome aboard!
I always feel like GTA for the immersive Sam equation ends up being the mile wide, maybe a few.. and about 3 and 1/2 in deep.. deep enough to drown in, but as far as swimming goes it feels like you're going through the motions.
Loved this vid dude, super great in-depth analysis. Im always watching videos for this game to see if there's any new perspectives to be gleamed, and your's certainly sits at the top of the pile. But what actually got me to comment?...have to say, I LOVE the Aesop chapter titles! 😂
Yessss! Thank you!
I definitely have some major disagreements with some of your opinions and statements (nothing as much as when you said you didn't like New Vegas), but you are definitely punching above your weight (in views lol) in terms of production value and script writing.
I don't have to agree with you to enjoy your content though.
Despite never playing story and GTA online being trash I still find the core gameplay enjoyable and I come back to just drive around every once and a while
Love the Kirby message. And all the development trivia as always.
Also, your thoughts on this game as a time capsule from before the gig economy, and the way it portrays American society, were very interesting.
I never played GTA V. Got tired of Rockstar's cynical writing and tedious mission design after GTA4. All the stuff that felt like it was 'looking backwards' as you put it. But I would definitely play this just for the detailed, living environments and all the random activities. Even if the simulations aren't that complex. I never knew the game had golf and floor mopping simulators.
Good video!
Any idea if the Houserness of the writing has improved or changed with the decade of new GTA Online heists?
Thank you! Regarding that last bit I couldn't tell you. Everything about GTA Online has been a black hole
I love the video man, great review and I truly appreciate all the work that goes into these. You are one of the most underrated channels in this niche. 21Kiloton and TheNThReview are the best video game review channels on UA-cam hands down. Keep up the great work man 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Thank you!
did not expect to see gmanlives here 😂. great video mate, subbed
Haha, thanks!
Listen here Unc, great video. And great retrospective on gta 5 and the franchise as a whole. But I can’t let you get away with one glaring mistake. GTA4 physics are 100x better than 5’s. The driving may not be for everyone in 4 (even though prefer it over the arcadey 5 driving) but the physics in 4 are to this day imo the best gaming has ever seen.
Totally agree with all of your critiques about the juvenile "humor" and "commentary" in this game. Honestly I never got through it all the way, partially because EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER is just so completely loathsome in every possible way. Most misanthropic piece of media I've ever seen.
not every character has to be likable, and character development exists
you're the type of person to drop breaking bad in the first 3 episodes cause the characters aren't being nice
a game where everyone is a criminal in some sort of way doesn't have likable people, wow!
@Mickey Mouse There is a MASSIVE gulf between "likeable" and "utterly loathsome in every possible way". Previous GTA protags like Nico and CJ weren't totally irredeemable shit stains. GTA's writing and characters have always been cynical and satirical. In 5 it's just antisocial and misanthropic.
You said "not every character has to be likeable," and obviously I agree with that. But we're not talking about just one or two characters in an otherwise well-rounded cast. Not every character has to be likeable, but that doesn't mean every character should be the complete opposite.
I'm glad you brought up Breaking Bad too, because those characters aren't even close to the same level of unlikeability. If GTA5's writers wrote BB, Walt wouldn't have even hesitated with killing Krazy 8. He would have just laughed and drowned him in a bucket of human waste, then dragged his body behind a car through the desert.
Also regardless of all the external audio design cars etc.. the guns sound about as bad as I've heard in a game.. I remember just having the thought burned into my brain that somebody was shuffling playing cards for one of the SMGs.. which is also not the first time that's been the case for a GTA game.. but given the presentation elsewhere this was kind of almost impressively bad, fortunately it's an easy fix unfortunately it's a fix that I have to apply every time the game auto updates LOL because it overrides the archive files.. which is well once every two or three days LOL.. had to learn that the hard way when I was just setting up my mods and in no way thought that I was going to have to just replace the archive file over and over again so I had to do everything over again LOL....
Dude seriously you deserve so much more exposure your channel is fantastic!
Thank you so much! Every little bit helps!
27:30 Actually the new house’s garage fits 2 cars, so it is a bit of an upgrade.
Until you get to the problems the game has with saving cars later in the review. It's truly shitty.
Awesome stuff dude, really made my day, even though I gave up on this game years ago! Also - that creator corner seems like a great idea!
Thanks! Hope I get some submissions for future creators.
y
Mfw a journalist thinks 50 is a lot of hours
Considering how many games are out there, dedicating 50 hours to any one in particular IS a lot of hours. And this means I've put 150 hours into GTAV in the past decade. I get there are stans who can brag about how many thousands of hours they put into individual games, I've definitely done it for Minecraft, but that's exceptional, not the norm.
@@NthReview I mean honestly in Rainbow 6 seige, i put 3500 hours in it and am livid with it today. Broke my heart. And every other game I like on the way, payday, smite gta, I will invest heavily in from 200 to 1300 hours. You gotta get good and then you see these games differently, when youve breathed the same air as the characters, the mechanics feel different. Ive played maybe 6 different games this year. Thats just the kinda gamer I am, League of Legends, huge mechanical improvements and strategy to grasp. I enjoy getting my shit kicked in until I learn how to play the game. Literally to large to just look it at for me. Cant dip my toe, I plunge myself in these worlds out of comfort and finding new depth consistently within core or ever expanding gameplay.
Ask a league gamer what other games they play, theyll tell yo u some things, but we all drop it to go back to league. Every match is different and anyone can be a carry and anyone can usurp.
IV is AMAZING. I Play it to this day. Lotta fun.
Hey everyone! I want to clear the air on something that has been irritatingly racking up in this video's comment section: "I was with you until the politics stuff." And I gotta tell you, this is perhaps the dumbest comment I see on this video.
I'm all for good faith arguments about this and that, sure, but this is a game and a series whose story and satire has lived by commenting on contemporary politics. Grand Theft Auto games always have a lot to say about society and politics. That's a huge chunk of their appeal versus other open-world games. The violence and the sexual exploitation and racism and stuff is supposed to be commentary. When I talk about this stuff in the review, it's to talk about how poorly they go about it and how fangless their satire is.
But to come in here and say ?I don't like this because I don't like engaging with politics" is pure privilege. A huge problem here in America is that people think they can just turn off their concern for what's going on around them, which is why we build apathy for other people and we ignore the truly terrible things that terrible people do while in charge of our country.
People should not be disengaging with politics and the world around them. If you have a problem with talking politics, that is absolutely a "you" problem. And considering that my politics would align with the politics of Rockstar and the Housers if they weren't such limousine liberals, the real problem seems to probably be "I'm a conservative and discussion of this offends me," which loops back to not wanting to discuss politics at all.
I'm gonna talk about politics because games aren't built in a vacuum and games engage with political content. That's just how it is.
Get over it.
N
Original question: What's a must have feature that Grand Theft Auto 6 needs?
Well, for starters, definitely more buildings and stores with actual interiors that can be walked into; and also a good meaty DLC that expands further on story characters.
More life sim, less crime? More likeable characters? Red Dead is better about both of those things. Herding cows in Red Dead, or walking around historic cities in Assassin's Creed, is always my favourite part of these games. I'd like to see a massive budget open world game that is just about the regular humans living their lives, with regular human drama, slice of life stories, or comedy. You know, all the genres in TV/movies that aren't explored much in games. It's probably not realistic to want that from a Grand Theft Auto game though.
@@RobinOttens
Mission 1: The grocery store.
Find:
Cheerios
Meatballs
Milk
Eggs
CocaCola
Plot twist: you have a flat tire when you leave the store with a full cart.
Mission 2: Collect 139,377 brown rocks
Mission 3: Your girlfriend dumped you. Learn how to deal and be emotionally vulnerable.
If Mission 3 failure then,
Mission 4a: get drunk
If Mission 3 success then,
Mission 4b: Sign up for Tinder.
I definitely wanted more stores/buildings/whatevs or a point to what you do get to go into.
...or a reason to.
A release date
I appreciate the effort that goes in to making a project like this, and I think the video is well made even if I don’t personally agree with everything you have to say on humor and punching down. Even if the humor is juvenile and stupid most of the time, i still think it’s good that the game has a bit of an edge to it.
Edginess is fine, and you can be edgy without making fun of people because of disadvantages out of their control.
No matter how good, or how much stuff you can do in gta5. It has nothing on red dead redemption 2. Just fishing in rdr2 keeps me entertained for weeks.
I’ll play them some day!
Thank you for all your long form videos. Very insightful, covers many games I'd wanted an in-depth on, and great quality.
Thank you!
"four was also a miserable sack of a game..." Glad somebody else said it finally.. especially coming out of San Andreas which had an expansive interesting plot, interesting characters that dotted it, jokes that worked with the cliches to validate them.. and then.. someone tried to gamify Goodfellas and somehow make the characters even whinier and more despicable but with game logic so that you couldn't even rely on the fact that they were despicable for how completely shallow and pointless everything that you were doing and everything that was doing and being done was in that entire dumpster fire....
definitely one of those moments where I realized the things that I liked about things turns out.. might not have been the things that everybody else liked about things LOL.
I barely played the single player, online was where all the action was, make your own story in Los Santos.
Actually Nico is from Yugoslavia which is in Balkan Peninsula which does makes a him from the Balkans
You actually can blindfire
I loved your system shock review and all the other ones I've seen, but I don't understand how you can acknowledge that the game was designed with 3 story threads in mind, and then end that same sentence with "well it would have been awful with just one character". There are a number of other things here that I disagree with and feel you are missing the point of, but most people consider them subjective so there isn't much point in bringing them up in the UA-cam comments of all places.
My point was despite having the 3 characters and writing them up mechanically, even narratively, this story sucks and there are a ton of filler missions and non-sequitors that try to justify having 3 separate protagonists that don't work. To then convert this game into a narrative for just 1 character would then lose what advantages they did take with the 3, especially mechanically.
The story sucks.
I think Rockstar’s recent behavior with GTA live, RDR2 live and the definitive editions was a pitiful display of corporate carelessness that is ironically of the type they’ve been lampooning for 20 years.
BUT they were hot artists once, in tune with their muses and groundbreaking in the day. GTA 3 showed me a vision of the future that was totally exciting and 4 was their pinnacle for me though I totally get your complaints and think they’re fair.
But I’m a simple man and it did enough to charm and dazzle me.
I hope for the best for 6, I’ll be buying it, I bet it will be super impressive and fun and it will definitely be a huge financial success but I can’t find much of the enormous respect I used to have for them.
They’re clearly what they themselves would have described 10 years ago as “anti-consumer corporate bitches” now.
They can’t even be bothered giving RDR2 60hz on backwards compatible until they can get millions of dollars for it in a lazy re-release. They may still be able to make a good game but they’re morally total punks.
After watching this video, you might be under the impression that people with center-right political views enjoy the commentary/humor in GTA 5. Not the case, I'm center right and even I recognize the writing and jokes as low brow.
20 years ago, I didn't think twice and had a lot of fun with these games. Now, they've gotten exactly $60 dollars from me with GTAV.
Once.
In 2013. No online shark spending or re purchasing etc etc.
This leads me to the greater point of my comment here. One of my favorite quotes in Alpha Centauri is "Human behavior is economic behavior. The particulars may vary, but need as well as greed have followed us to the stars."
And that's the problem with your criticisms, as far as "THE POLITICS!!!" go. Have you ever went down the rabbit hole of GTA youtubers? They're not the type of people who think about this type of thing. A significant portion of them have never even played the story. They just come home after work and mess around with online and throw cash as shark cards every now and then.
The mantle of a more nuanced narrative has long been taken up by the Red Dead franchise at Rockstar. (By video game standards, as far as westerns go it's not an interactive Blood Meridian). Why? Because 15 year olds and mentally exhausted after work gamers don't throw money at Red Dead. The online audience doesn't play Red Dead (RDR2 online flopped if you weren't tracking.)
The whole time when I was watching I thought to myself: "Who is nth review to Rockstar and why do they care? Who am I to Rockstar and why do they care?" The answer is nobody, and they don't. I truly don't believe the uninspired political or societal commentary in this game was a failed attempt to be insightful, rather, they just really do not and will not care and spend the writing process fucking around with some office chuckles, considering what they need to actually accomplish to move the needle. I do not believe it can be compared to the writing process of the early Simpsons, which you mentioned, which famously WAS an attempt to say something but could also be enjoyed as low brow.
To put dressing on this word salad In a trendy way mimicking the supposed "target market", you might say "It's not that deep, bro."
I don’t think a lot of people are taking Rockstar narratives that seriously, but it’s apparent that Rockstar is. And the fact that their views are inconsistent and their satire is bad does not excuse them because “it’s not that deep, bro.”
How can either of us prove that Rockstar is taking it seriously? I think you could make an argument for GTAIV which, notably, was mocked a bit for the transition to a more somber tone. I don't think half assed movie references and lame societal jokes is definitive proof that they're trying to be nuanced.
And you used the word excused there - maybe I'm just bitter but I don't think theyre interested in the business of seeking approval from people like you or I who consider these things. Why should they bother while their product prints money? Edit: That isn't to say an attitude like that is correct or moral, it's not, especially in the context of artistic value, but I do think it's the reality.
@@StarsAndSticks you can tell from the effort in the execution and how sincere the end result was. This was definitely not some half assed effort like Family Guy. I mean, compare it to GTA and GTA2 where they were clearly just slapping it on and you can see they were trying for some awards here
@@NthReview Perhaps. I guess you could also say that the Red Dead franchise is indicative of an effort to be serious that just failed in GTAV. Hopefully the new game will be different.
@@StarsAndSticks hopefully! Especially now that Dan Houser is out
funny thing I remembered: ever seen the Keep? Tangerine Dream scored that and it is awfullly mixed
I have not
@@NthReview its not good but it does have glorious 80s sci fi sets and fog machines. Looks sweet
Thanks for reminding me how impactful L.A. Noire was and that it's so overlooked. I thought that whole thing was huge and invested you into the story that much more.
I’d kinda like to play it…
@@NthReview I will recommend this game in the highest esteem because of this uniquness. That whole facial thing really, really changes things when you're trying to catch someone in a lie as this aspect gets harder. I won't blow the ending either but the way it bookends everything speaks for the whole story.
Actually the driving with WASD is shockingly good!
yup
V story is inferior to 4 tbh
That is an argument I can see, but I also didn't like 4s story
I don't think I've seen someone steer into another car so many times
Good editing
Man you did not give any credit to GTA IV.
*shrug*
Roads do T directly to the freeway in the country. Except in the country, those are called highways.
Kills me how you have such a low sub count. Keep it up and I am sure it will boom.
Thank you!
40:20 im frrom spain and i'm an addict to your videos, im enjoying it !
Gracias!
I'm kinda shocked my new favorite immersive sim enthusiast didn't enjoy GTA 4's minutia. I can hardly remember the story but I remember loving ambling around doing a whole lot of just "existing" in the world.
Or maybe it's a more personal thing... GTA 4 doesn't lag nearly as far behind mechanically as you make it out to. The euphoria animation and visceral melee are a toss up imo. Physics in general is pretty contentious and some have said 5s driving is much more floaty like how you mention the cars seeming rotating around a central point. The was far, FAR greater damage deformation in 4 and 4 didn't force every car to ave ABS on so if you were looking for it you could grab an older car and name it work for you.
Everyone's seen Crowbcat's comparison. I think it puts into words (lol) a lot of people's reactions when making the transition between games. It definitely wasn't a step up on all fronts.
I think this video either required a lot less comparison between five and its predecessors or more time spent actually playing the predecessors... This option would be discussing the points on their own merit instead of pushing 5 up by putting previous games in the series down.
Ha, fam, this was a 3 hour video as it was and it didn't do as well enough to explore the other games, at least not yet.
The problem of GTA4s minutiae is that unlike an actual immersive sim, it often felt bolted on and didn't cohere as a whole. It is the Rockstar curse, to have so many toppings and few of them would work on a pizza.
I enjoyed how many places you drew from to discuss this series as well as the zeitgeist that GTA V draws from so holistically. From urban planning to prejudice to analysis of the authors' potential intent and working conditions, it's really all-encompassing. GTA V was such a disappointment in so many ways. However, I do think GTA IV has a lot of heart and is worth revisiting, even if it is a miserable experience very often.
Maybe! Some day! I worked through a lot of 4, but never finished it back in the day.
@@NthReview I see. I think that you can get the gist of it from "a lot of it", to be fair - it doesn't say anything new with the ending chapters. Like, what, killing people is unfulfilling? a life well lived is the best revenge? an old dog can learn new tricks (despite not demonstrating any tricks but violence)? GTA V generally does cover more ground, even if it undermines its own messaging with humor where GTA IV at least tries to take itself more seriously. Not that much worth a revisit if you've seen beyond its opening chapters.
I always needed a second Joseph Anderson in my life. Thank you for this, and for introducing me to the American Castle Doctrine. I think I'll take a walk in my neighborhood tomorrow.
Cheers!
"unman or unwoman it" had my dumbass giggling, love this video, honestly makes me want to replay for the simple joys of fucking around
I usually watch videos till the end before i write any comments but i think ill just write and edit this one as i go cuz i reckon ill have a lot to say,i want to say ahead of time im not hating on you,if i dont comment on something,i probobly either agree with you or have no opinion,if you wanna chat outside of the hellhole that youtube comments are i would love to do so.
First off,i dont rly understand why you dislike 4,yes its gloomy and dark and hardly a game that fits in the rest of the series crazy shenanigans,but thats literally what makes it so good,although,i have to agree that keeping up good relationships and stuff is annoying more then anything. The characters,the story and the missions however were the best overall in the series imo,and the driving is,bad,but in a good way,like yeah your car feels like shit,but also it feels better then in any other GTA game,in the 3D era every car was a toy,and GTA5 cars either go fast and turn like shit,go at a good pace and turn pretty well,or are a piece of shit you never want to touch. In GTA4,i never felt like skipping a car on the road and trying to find a better one,any car will get you where you need,some better then others,but at the end of the day,after you get used to the driving,all of them become S tier. Also personally i liked that you had tons of freedom in missions,like i can go on a date with a girl i met online before the mission and during it i can call het to get rid of cops,or another girl that will heal you to full hp,or i can call a bro and ask him for some backup,you cant even do anything except get drunk and play golf (Which admitadly does sound pretty good) in GTA5. Thats my take at least. Oh also the DLCs were great.
Edit number 1: GTA5 DOES have a blind fire,and you CAN change sides while in cover + idk if this is just me but ive literally never had a problem with flying,unless your character has 0 flying skill which is easy to fix anyway due to the flying school,you will never have a problem in planes or helis,im not trying to say they are bad,just saying they arnt this big mechanic you described them to be,they are simple and enjoyable. Melee does suck tho and Stealth is pretty useless. And as a side note,i dont rly get why you would cripple your shooting with a controller,when you could just use both it and Mouse+Keyboard at the same time just switching between one and the other.
Edit number 2: There are many radio stations bcuz there are many tastes,me personally i dont listen to half the shit thats on them and default to Channel X,but i do check some of the other ones cuz most of them have 1 or 2 songs i like as well. When you get into a car the radio station you hear playing depends on where you are,in the hood its prolly gonna be rap,in the city,itll be pop,in the county its country music and sometimes Channel X as well,sometimes its the talk show stations. All 3 characters have their own favorite stations,thats why their OWN cars have those stations,do you expect a retro guy like Mike to just keep country music he dosnt care for playing in his car when you arnt there,or Frank listening to electronic music,Trevor listening to POP ? No,they are characters with preferences and tastes,they even change to their favorite stations if you change to another character and back while they are in a car. The credits do take like,way too freaking long tho. I dont think judging the game for not having custom playlists is justified,tho i cant say i wouldnt love it in 6,and as for 6,maybe theyll make some app thats a parody of spotify and give you a choice between playlists instead of stations,maybe let you make custom ones,maybe this,maybe that,i rly dont know and i dont think anyone else does either.
Edit number 3: While i do agree about how some missions are full to the brim of uniteresting and pointless things like "You HAVE to drive there in THIS car" and stuff,i think its unreasonable to believe that Trevor would just go back and talk to Miky about life after finding out about Brad,and besides,Mike storms out SECONDS after Trevor and starts driving to the airport while talking to him on the phone. I think a MUCH better example of this is how in several heists you need to go and get "Getaway cars" and then you dont get away from anything. For example in the Heat knock off one you need to go and destroy the garbage truck so the game can justify you switching to Mike whos now suddenly in the middle of the mountains,fine,why the hell do i need a getaway car,why cant i just get the truck to a car crushing machine and see a quick cutscene where it gets turned into a cube of trash while Frank calls up Mike and says he got rid of the truck,in the FIB job,if you choose to do the route with the firetruck,you have to get rid of it and use a getaway car to get to a checkpoint,again,why ? You dont get seen by the authorities so they dont even know youre fake firefighters,even if they did,your face was hidden the whole time,why not just get rid of it and play a cutscene that ends the mission. The big score plan B is the only time they do anything with the getaway care,namely they use it to GET AWAY FROM COPS WOW WHAT GENIUS THOUGHT OF THAT IDEA.
Edit number 4: There are very many things i want to agree and disagree about in both the Houser part of the video and the rest of the story chapter. But,i just dont want to talk about it,cuz youll just think of me as some Uncle Tim who wants to be edgy. We live in 2 opposite worlds,and i mean that literally,you live in the land of opportunity,i live in a shithole in the middle of nowhere. Our opinions can not get through to each other,whats offensive to you and many ppl,is just a joke to me,not bcuz im racist,but bcuz i see as nothing more,a thing said or done to make you laugh with no negative intention,whats honorable to me,is hypocritical to you,not bcuz youre dishonorable but bcuz America is as you said,a land of I's,a lot of ppl think of themselves first and foremost,to put it all in one small package,i would love to talk and debate about all these things with you,but i wont for several reasons,the main one being this is a year long video and you probably wont even notice or care about this comment.
I appreciate the amount of work this took, I appreciate the quality, could do without the “woke” section as the point of the humor was how ridiculous both sides are. These are bad people, some are going to have bad takes. The leftism in the review was off putting, it punches down, up and sideways, it’s funny when Trevor wakes up with a dress because Trevor doesn’t wear dresses but he’s a crazy alcoholic so you can think of how he ended up in that situation. I hope the next gta is more of the same.
I appreciate most of your thoughts, but any time someone dives immediately complaining about "woke"-ness, or even says the word "woke" because it's only ever used as a barb, they're clearly not interested in understanding the actual problem(s) at-hand because it offends some critical belief they have that they're not interested in addressing or changing or even exploring because it's more convenient and comfortable to be ignorant. So, as long as I need to address political realities, especially with a game that has so much to poorly say about politics, I will do so. If that pisses off people who whine about "wokeness", I have no issue with that.
@@NthReview I could be mistaken, as it was hours' long ago and ive watched a ton of other things and slept and otherwise since then, but i think you were the one that used that word in your video were you not? Besides the point and avoiding the (very lite) criticism regardless, you attacked the game politically from the left which is boring as it reads like a tumbler post of yore, in an in-depth analysis if politics must come up at all, I for one anyway would like to see the politics discussed neutrally or given some thought as to how it isnt just rightwing, or misguided leftwing or whatever. GTA is like South Park, its not afraid to quip at both of the ridiculous sides of America. Anyway, keep on keeping on.
11:35 I really wasn't prepared for this 😂
I really wish Rockstar would put it like an amalgamation of effort into the actual gameplay design and mission structure as they do into their simulation and background passive systems.. and to be fair like, well it may not be centralized at one place the gameplay for Max Payne 3 is almost like they did that for the shooting mechanics.. but I mean, level design mission structure etc.. not so much, set pieces are nice but set pieces are set pieces and they're kind of boring and they've been boring for a while...
gta 5 story is great though
Perfect timing. I just finished my replay of the game since 2015
there’s no blind-fire? i almost entirely use blind-fire in every gunfight. also melee combat in V kinda sucks compared to The Trilogy or GTAIV
This review is absolutely amazing and its obvious you burned through many hours of Daylight and plenty of cups of Coffee during its creation. But what I think I appreciate the most about this video by far is the sections titles being Aesop Rock references lol
You're the first one to spot them!
An hour in and I’ve sat through 34 ads that’s fucking shocking.
That is. I monitor what I can do on my end based on feedback from viewers, but ultimately it's up to UA-cam to decide how to deploy them.
This is good! I wish people talked more about the gta 5 campaign instead of online
Thanks!
it's better
the Aesop Rock references made my day. Props to the king.
This video is amazing, you deserve a million views
Thank you!
A review of Hitman would be amazing in your style
I mean I'm a Maoist but it's wild to think or want the trio to distribute wealth or have any part of this game a a real relation to labor. Which it almost feels like you're going for at 2:30:00
I think it's weird that the game establishes its devils and then has no issues when the game concludes with the characters becoming their own devils unironically in a city/world where everyone hates each other's guts.
@@NthReview No, you're right man. Bit of a bad faith comment on my part, sorry.
I have a comment about your opinions on humor/jokes, and this thought was specifically brought about by your comment on little people being used as the butt of jokes too much.
Brad Williams is a comedian who is a little person, and like most good comedians he blends his personal life experiences into comedy. He has been told by people who aren't affected by or personally know anyone with a dwarfism condition that he can't make jokes about little people or use the word "midget". Imagine the gall for a person who's never known what life is like as a little person to ORDER a little person not to make jokes about their condition or life experiences?
So, I feel like everyone with a valid voice to raise should be trusted to raise their own voice when it comes to what is or is not "offensive", and we should be free to stand beside them. We should NEVER feel the need to stand as a vanguard ahead of them without their consent or input on the subject, as that merely infantilizes and rebukes their opinions and voices, especially if they're the ones laughing the hardest at the jokes.
Telling a little person to not make jokes about little people because they speak from experience is very different than a normal able-bodied person using little people as the butt of their jokes because they’re just perpetuating bad stereotypes, as they do here. I hope you understand the huge difference between those two.
@@NthReview So only amputees get to crack jokes about amputees? Only autistic people get to laugh at autism jokes?
Limiting who can be part of the fun based on the person doing the routine is needlessly exclusive and in of itself problematic. Inclusion is a good thing. Telling a performer that they can't include others is implying that those who would be included don't deserve it. Context and intent matter, and even if jokes are made in a crass or vulgar manner, they're still just jokes. Ill intent is clearly definable wherever it is present, and arbitrarily deciding that certain subjects are off-limits despite a clear lack of ill intent is pointless and infantilizing to people who feel appreciated when they're included. No one wants to be invisible or off-limits.
@@Foxxie0kun to your initial questions: yeah, because otherwise you’re just an asshole using something out of people’s control or simply who they are to make fun of them. And then the rest of what you say is just saying “you can be an asshole without consequences with comedy and no one can critique you because it’s jUsT jOkEs, Yo!1!1” which isn’t true.
The question you actually have to ask is “why would I make fun of the autistic or physically disabled” except to be an asshole? And why would you find that funny?
Gta4 was a product of its time and anything but a misfire, the single campaign from just niko was better than all 3 in gta5, and it was brown cause that was the style in 2008.
Nah, we felt a lot of that stuff when it came out, too.
Honesty Im curious how they’ll handle an actual female protagonist for 6. Rockstar managed to create some amazing female characters for Red Dead so it’ll be pretty exciting to see.
54:56 hah. this guy’s never been to middle of nowhere midwest great plains
I grew up in Bellevue, Nebraska, thankyouverymuch!
I entirely didn't plan to watch a nearly 3-hour long video. I enjoyed watching the entire nearly 3-hour long video. Kudus
That’s how I get ya! Thanks!
Yea Franklins new house sucks ass they should’ve just let him have 2 Safehouses
Love your work as always, keep it up :)
Thanks, will do!
Looking forward to the review of space ghost.
Space ghost?
@@NthReview Just a bad joke about the outro.
The smoke looking thing.
Hope you're having a pleasant day.
*edit
I also don't know the name of the game in the outro.
Do you work for rockstar or are they paying you in gta+ crypto tokens or something
Ha, did you see the things I said about Rockstar and their game?
Yeah I just like being incredibly cynical and use slippery slope logical fallacies. I think you’re alright my dude
I hope you get around to reviewing GTA Online at some point, at least while taking the best shortcuts to see the best content instead of getting blown up by griefers as it somewhat addresses some of your criticisms, but also messes up at some of the things you were complimenting them over, so I think it'd be interesting, if probably a very annoying start.
Getting the heist that basically gives you millions is really the only way to unlock the rest, and then the other heists feel like they pay too little compared, sadly.
A point is to be made to the fact that this game is about a decade old now and during development the developers and story writers probably already knew that 70% of their audience were people 15 and under (despite the game being 18+.) I’m not saying this as an excuse for the dry and disputably “discriminatory” humor but I do believe there’s a reason it’s there. Again, not defending the messages it’s trying to send and the discriminations it implements
Eh, nah. 15 years don't know most of what Rockstar is joking about in here, they're just doing it in such a low brow fashion that kids can go "hehe, yeah, I guess that makes sense in a perverted way" but they have no clue what it actually means.
@@NthReview The “humor” shown in the game definitely shows it’s age, same type of stuff popped up in gta 4 (though to a much less frequent extent) but I do feel like things such as trevor wearing a dress were just done for “random = funny”. Though a lot of the things like advertisements and the name of the moped in the game were purposeful. I really enjoy your content and hope you keep up the good work.
You approached the story as if it’s a movie’s story.
I approached it as a story not told very well as a movie or a game.
@@NthReview padding in video games and also parts don’t advance the story are different from padding in a movie or a novel because in video games the gameplay is the story or is the primary part of the story. You playing and you discovering different mechanics and different ways to solve a problem is the story of video games, so no, it’s completely different.
@Ahmed Aghour And yet, as my video highlights, the gameplay portion is fantastic. The story is not good, for reasons I explain at great length.
Just because the story is structured differently than a movie, and the Housers are notorious for structuring them like movies, doesn't give them a pass to make a bad game story that is so inconsistent and cringe-y.
@@NthReview I agree with you and Nakey Jakey, I just approach stories in Videogames from a big picture perspective, as long as the gameplay works and I have the tools to freely play as I like I’m happy, the problem is, like you and Nakey Jakey highlighted, the gameplay is very restrictive, and this problem is extremely annoying in RDR2. Great work by the way.
You didn’t mention it but you can actually call people all through out the game for dialogue about current events in the story .
I found it was very inconsistent and superfluous so yeah, I didn't mention it.
Going through all of the reviews and...Bravo! These are incredible. Wonderful & deep analysis with award-winning commentary on the context & scope of the game(s).
Much love for making these.
Glad you like them! Thanks!
You should REALLY try out Red Dead 2. It's a prequel to the first game, so that's where you should start.
Very good story!
Lots of interactivity!
Some day!
sometimes going by game order is better
I swear this video had a different title when I started watching it 😂
You caught a rare glimpse of SEO optimization in progress!
Amazing walkthrough 👍👌
Thank you!
Is nobody concerned with the fact that the second biggest game in the world is about the worst kind of people in the world? Kinda makes me wonder about society. No, I know the argument that it causes irl violence is silly. But it still says something about society. (Yes, I've watched through the entire game. Im not speaking blind.)
Love long form vids
Going to breathe this in later this evening. Thanks for your efforts man.
Hope you like it!