Friendships?

[GratuitousViolets]

Just wondering, because I haven't noticed anything particularly stand-out about this. Are the "Hang out" options simply just for the in-car conversations and storytelling?

 

Some of the activities are enjoyable but there seems to be no challenge anymore? (Like finding what activity a friend likes best, what radio station, and eventually a 'perk' they offer the player IF the friendship meter is high enough). Just not sure what to make of the friendships anymore, and for the most part, I've not found much reason to take friends to hang out in game...perhaps I'm missing something.

The friendships part of GTA IV was always a nice challenging (albeit vaguely annoying at times) feature, and came in handy when you had Dwayne Forge's goons at hand, or the Rich Lawyer (I can't remember her name off hand) ability to lose wanted levels, etc.

 

I definitely miss some things.

[cksiz]

I miss this feature as well. Of course it was annoying (like looking for pigeons) but I love the element it added to the game.
That being said, I don't find any of the benefits you got from the relationships in IV would be as useful in V.

[GratuitousViolets]

I miss this feature as well. Of course it was annoying (like looking for pigeons) but I love the element it added to the game.

That being said, I don't find any of the benefits you got from the relationships in IV would be as useful in V.

 

Not the same benefits, it'd have to be different perks, but for instance, having Lester as a friend (if they made him hang-outable) - stock market advice/tips (that may or may not pan out).

Franklin as a friend? Discount auto-repairs and customizations?

Michael as a friend? I don't know, maybe discount at all the best clothing stores or something.

Trevor as a friend? On the run from the cops, he flies in via chopper and starts shooting like mad which diverts the heat from you? I don't know, there are possibilities, LMAO.

 

I do miss it. There was some potential there. Friendship seems a little moot here, other than some very minor skill increases and interesting conversations.

[Markf44.4]

Well in some ways the game lacked depth in some areas but....the story line and voice acting was just so damned captivating......... The lack of depth just didn't matter so much. The attention to detail and all the random events made this game the best GTA I've ever played so much so I played the story twice already

[Vicious244]

These people aren't friends lol, they're just acquaintances. Michael and Trevor hate each other. Why would they want to hang out?

[Pitch~Black]

I'm incredibly relieved they didn't revisit the friends pestering you and the "like-meter" as well as the whole girlfriend thing which is similar. It always felt very forced to me and in IV it was straight up annoying. However, the up side of these things is they did give IV a more well-rounded look at Niko and his life, something 5 doesn't do quite as well despite (or maybe because of) having 3 main characters. Sometimes I feel 5 couldn't deside if it wanted to be more random or story driven. Put it this way: I often felt the need to use "sleep mode" if I really wanted to explore or whatever. In 5 I actually forgot that I could do that simply because I never felt I needed to use it. The story was forced on you far less in 5 and I prefered it that way.

[seanforever]

These people aren't friends lol, they're just acquaintances. Michael and Trevor hate each other. Why would they want to hang out?

Have you ever tried hanging out with Michael and Trevor? Their relationship is quite amicable. The last time we hung out, Michael offered Trevor his share of the Big Heist.

 

Good banter in between the Protags in the friendship mode. Although I agree, without a perks system its totally redundant. I only did it to get 100%.

Edited October 1, 2013 by seanforever