Best and worst storyline game

[Sasha Fierce]

Trevor ruined V for me

SA had the worst story imo

[Pottatto]

I have to defend San Andreas. For me it's the perfect family between story, map and gameplay.

 

I thought it lacked direction the first one or two times I played it. It can be argued that it doesn't. I'm not going to blame the player as a good story should be cohesive and easy to follow along. By easy to follow along, I'm not insulting the intelligence of the player, nor condemning Rockstar's writing. But if you put the game down for a time then picked it back up somewhere around the Toreno missions, you could be forgiven to think "what the f*ck am I doing here and what is going on?" Even if you start a mission stream when you all ready have started missions for someone else it can mess up the cohesion of the thing.

 

There is some responsibility on the players part to make the story work, in my opinion and that isn't a bad thing. Some of the best writing in TV shows like The Wire require a level of following and concentration that might seem like "work" but in return makes beautiful payoff's. Unlike, say, Breaking Bad where you could pretty much switch it on at any point through a season and follow what's going on with no issues. No, San Andreas is more long-form storytelling that really makes use of the map. The map, for me is intrinsic to the story and the story is intrinsic to the map.

 

So when CJ gets exiled, that's a new chapter in the story and also a new part of the map to which you belong. At this point, I ditched CJ's gang-banging attire and went for the woodland camo look to blend in like someone laying low. As Colonel Cortez mentioned above, the story remains the same. Sweet is locked up and you need to get him out. The motivation for CJ and the potential he unlocks working to take down Big Smoke and Ryders drug network takes him to San Fierro. He's following the supply lines which also sees a side-mission objective taking out the drug couriers that go between San Fierro and Los Santos. You have the usual missions of working for people to get 'X' and 'Y' like in every GTA story the over-arching story remains the same. You wind-up working for Toreno because it turns out your very competent in what you do.

 

Anyway back to the story..

 

It's the Godfather part 1 story. CJ is Michel Corleone. He left the family to pursue another life in Liberty City similar to how Michael left the family to join the Air Force. He returns back to find the family in disarray. His family either don't think he's competent/don't trust his abilities and/or don't want him mixing in the families business. Sweet gets locked up which can be likened to when Don Coreleone's life is nearly taken and he ends up in hospital. This means someone needs to step up and take leadership. In the Godfather, Michael steps up by going to the sit-down in the Italian restaurant and then pulls off the hit. He gets indoctrinated in the the life of crime at that point. CJ's brother Sweet gets locked up and CJ steps up to the plate. And like Michael in The Godfather, it just turns out that CJ is really good at what he does. He's a pragmatist, we see this when he becomes an ally with Cesar Viallpando. The latinos and the blacks shouldn't get along but CJ overcomes this, mostly for the sake of his sister but he heard Cesar out and that was a conflict avoided and an ally gained. As we progress in the story, CJ's pragmatic approach to forging deals and relationships with people had him do work for as a man or associate for the Triads in San Fierro and Las Venturas. On the flip side he had to do dirty work for law enforcement. In fact the running theme is like CJ is the guy you get when you can't hire your own to do it.

 

When CJ works for for Wu Zi Mu, he's fighting against the Vietnamese gangs. CJ was the perfect guy for it because he's black. At least racially he's not connected to the Triads. Also meeting Toreno was perfect because you meet him while infiltrating and taking down Ryder and BS's drug network, the Loco Syndicate. The Triads are like the enemy of your enemy is your friend situation and the Loco Syndicate were rivals of the Triads.

 

 

Toreno makes Carl an offer: if Carl works for him, taking down enemy agents and sabotaging rival agencies, no harm will come to Carl's now-incarcerated brother, Sweet. If Carl does enough work for Toreno, Sweet will be granted an early release.

 

CJ freed Toreno from the Vietnamese drug gang. He proved that CJ can handle himself. This was also his key to getting Sweet back. So by CJ following the drugs of his snake friends Ryder and BS, he comes across he Loco Syndicate which had the agent Toreno involved. By working with Toreno, as far as the chain of command goes, Toreno is miles at the top of the chain compared to Tenpenny. Unlocking the Toreno connection through chasing down the BS and Ryder's drug connections is the sweetness of the story. You get to secure Sweets safety and because you're in bed with a secret service agent you can pretty much act with impunity to carry out taking Tenpenny and his associates and also take down Big Smoke.

 

I just think traversing city to city going back then going back to LS after being exiled is beautiful. Coming to LS was really felt like coming home after a long adventure. Like I said, the story and the map compliment each other so well. Leaving LS for San Fierro as starting fresh in a new city almost felt like starting a new GTA. Then having Las Venturas in there gave me that feeling again. Unlocking huge new chunks of map with new chapters of story was perfect. I think San Andreas shares a similarity to Red Dead Redemption in terms of using the map with the story which I think GTA V lacked.

 

Like I said, I thought the story was a bit scrappy the first couple of times. But like a great album, you know the ones that grow on you over time? Each time you play it starts making more sense, you hear something new. It just gets better and better.

I have to agree with you there. Each time I watched/played San Andreas I learned something new about the story which I didn't notice earlier.

[thalilmythos]

I was reading the topic, and was coming here to defend San Andreas narrative prowess, but the guy that just has been quoted above me did the job, however i want to complement what he said by adding that like every 3D gta game you can't see SA with only the "gangbanging story" mentality, this is rockstar EXPLORING the 90s movie era because as we all know the people in rockstar are movie buffs, as they explored the 80s in Vice city, while at the same time mantaining a coherent story (YES COHERENT, HEAR ME OUT ON THIS) that works with the map, aaand also gameplay, you all are failing to recognize the genius on all of this.

The LS part is the introduction to the most important characters and all the conflicts on the story, which are:

 

1: Pendelburry's death being blamed on cj, which allowed Tenpenny to make him his bitch throughout all the game.

2: Big Smoke's and Ryders betrayall, which lead to the revenge story arc that starts in San Fierro.

3: Sweet getting caught, which leads to the "getting sweet out of jail" motivation for Cj's Character.

4: Madd Doggs situation with the rhyme book, which leads to Cj knowing him in LV and making him the reason he goes back home (this one was really the only stretch i find over here in the whole thing)

 

So, if you pay attention you'll realize, there are several motives that keep the story going, is not all about getting sweet out of jail.

 

Anyway to be on topic.

 

I believe the worst story is V, feels rushed, like there is something missing on it, there is no build up, no climax at all, no structure in the narrative whatsoever, is a damn mess, however the heist, are really entertaining, so there's that.

Edited November 10, 2017 by thalilmythos

[universetwisters]

Vice City Stories was the worst for me.

 

"Wah wah wah I don't wanna be a criminal but okay I'll be a criminal"

[The-Ghost]

Vice City Stories was the worst for me.

 

"Wah wah wah I don't wanna be a criminal but okay I'll be a criminal"

it's usually the case with GTA, I don't wanna be a criminal but I end up being a criminal.

[ChengizVlad09]

Of course, HD Universe games tend to have stronger storytelling structure, but for me that seems to be their weak spot, ironically.

 

I, for one, am finding hard time liking HD Universe storytelling, no game in particular, but rather the whole universe. Mostly because of that - exaggeratedly serious storytelling. I'd always find a way to immerse myself into story of 3D Universe games after so many years have passed, 'cause unlike their inheritors, they have these goofy-cliched stories that aren't taking themselves seriously, which is still perfect for that. After so many years.

Despite their weaker story structure they feel broader, ofc not in the sense of linearity, they gonna end the same no matter what you do of course, but in the sense of letting you feel how ever you want about it while playing.

 

GTA IV's ' movie nature ' is the most prominent in the series. Focus was shifted towards storytelling so much, that developers forgot to add anything interesting to actually do in order to catch a brake from that.

Feels like watching 5 seasson of your favorite TV series in 2 days, and after that experience, no matter how much you love that show, you just gonna tell yourself " 'kin 'ell, never again ".

 

To be honest GTA V is far away from that, luckily, but it is still more or less empty world that seems to revolvs around its characters. Unnecessary serious storytelling that creates discrepancy in general gameplay for the sake of telling characters stories. I felt like being Michaels physiologist all of the time and I'm definitely not into that.

 

I don't know, of course it all comes down to personal liking and it's pretty hard to be completely objective, but I'd take role of a ghetto James Bond any time of the day instead of the male damsel in distress in his 40's.

 

For anyone that might be reading this essay, please note that I'm not implying that GTA needs to become Saints Row, god forbid. Those games are goofy in their basis, not just in some particular part, their entire nature is based on that, unlike GTA in general.

Edited November 10, 2017 by ChengizVlad09

[ChengizVlad09]

One more thing to add:

the main games of 3D Universe have a collosal amount of utterly awesome popular culture references as a sum of their parts, whether it was movies, music, lifestyle, general setting or anything else from where the inspiration was drained, and in the end it made the storytelling above and beyond, no matter how average it might be in technical sense of things.

 

Entanglement of these references in one totality resulted in amazing storytelling. You were not just shere bystander or viewer - like in the games of HD Universe - you were re-living them.

 

To go one step futher, but at the same time just to digress a bit, many of the ingame characters were voiced by the very same actors that were participants and that made those iconic references in the first place. Doesn't get any better than that honestly.

 

Of course, it takes really dedicated touch of an artist to make that kind of storytelling not to seem like plagiarism and furthermore to make it seems authentic.

 

That's why ' goofy ' cliched and casul storytelling and narrative of 3D games seems to be ironically unique and above all manages to immerse player to keep playing it after more than decade, and that's why, from my point of view at least, manages to beat formal, stuffy movie alike driven-to-perfection storytelling of HD Universe games.

 

I'm daring to say those games were pinnacle of the Grand Theft Auto franchise - in every sense, let alone this one - and we'll never again come close to that kind of perfection-ever again, especially taking into account certain trends that started taking place as of lately in general, inside the gaming industry, and not only within Rockstar games.

Edited November 10, 2017 by ChengizVlad09

[t3h PeNgU1N oF d00m]

GTA San Andreas. It's a great game, but the storyline is all over the place, and the dialogue is often one-dimensional and incoherent (though hilarious).

 

Fight your way through four floors of SWAT and pump dozens of bullets into Big Smoke.

"Hey Smoke, what made you flip out like that, man?"

[ViceBoy69]

have to agree SA and V have the worst storylines, EFLC isnt brilliant but at least i can sit and laugh at Luis putting up with Tonys silly sh*t, at least it was fun to play.

Whereas V starts off great and i mean that but it simply goes down the toilet a few missions in and SA is just confusing it doesnt really make a lot of sense, although last time i said that i got told i was wrong Ive been playing the games since gta3 was released and i got (like a lot of people) a PS2 and i still do have.

[GrudgefromSanAndreas]

 

Vice City Stories was the worst for me.

 

"Wah wah wah I don't wanna be a criminal but okay I'll be a criminal"

it's usually the case with GTA, I don't wanna be a criminal but I end up being a criminal.

 

Only Claude doesnt give 2 fuqs, even Trevor seems more normal than him

[Son of Zeus]

V and Tbogt. Both had characters trying too hard to be funny and sarcastic.

[simond1986]

gta 3 its fun game but claude not speaking loses me

[jeanrjm]

San Andreas.

 

But to be fair, i really enjoyed the missions, characters and the 90s vibe.

[The Rockstar Gamer 108]

GTA III & V have the worst storylines. V's better, but III's was disgusting. The main focus of Claude was to work for the boss, and kill or get killed the boss. V resulted a lot of disappointment to all-rounder gamers. It raised all unnecessary stuff and gave a downfall to the main game including the storyline.

Edited November 16, 2017 by The American Army 1775

[.Ryan.]

GTA III & V have the worst storylines. V's better, but III's was disgusting. The main focus of Claude was to work for the boss, and kill or get killed the boss. V resulted a lot of disappointment to all-rounder gamers. It raised all unnecessary stuff and gave a downfall to the main game including the storyline.

 

GTA III's story by today's standards might be a bit average and cheesy, but for 2001 it was a major breakthrough coming off the top down GTAs that didn't even have a story to speak of. Whereas GTA V comes off looking worse in this regard IMO when GTA IV set the bar to great heights for storytelling in GTA games.

[jaljax]

 

GTA III & V have the worst storylines. V's better, but III's was disgusting. The main focus of Claude was to work for the boss, and kill or get killed the boss. V resulted a lot of disappointment to all-rounder gamers. It raised all unnecessary stuff and gave a downfall to the main game including the storyline.

 

GTA III's story by today's standards might be a bit average and cheesy, but for 2001 it was a major breakthrough coming off the top down GTAs that didn't even have a story to speak of. Whereas GTA V comes off looking worse in this regard IMO when GTA IV set the bar to great heights for storytelling in GTA games.

 

It was a huge impact back in 2001 , yes he doesn't talk , yes it's aged horribly , but if it wasn't for that game then i don't even know where we would be today in the series... Gta V is just another story lmao i can't even call that a Grand Theft Auto title to be completely honest lol

[.Ryan.]

In some ways I think Claude not talking isn't necessarily a bad thing. I mean I suppose compared to such rich characters with intricate backstories like Niko it seems archaic, but when I think about it GTA III's story whilst is just a simple revenge plot isn't tied down with the melodrama/life lessons of the later titles.

 

Claude's just a straight up killer. He's actually kinda creepy. Like Michael Myers kind of creepy lol.

[Danilchek]

I think GTA Advance has bad storyline. Although, it is fun to play.

[Vice City criminal]

Probably GTA LCS. even though I still play it to this day sometimes.

For me it had a bad storyline, not in the sense of the story itself. I didn't think it was that bad overall, all thing considered.
what ruined a lot of it for me was that Character-wise I felt like some of the characters had their roles played half-assedly or even exchanged if you will.
(I.e. Main antagonist Massimo Torini having a smaller role than first antagonist Vincenzo Cilli)


TL;DR:the premise of LCS doesn't sound bad at all, but the execution from some characters leaves a lot to be desired.

[Liver Buster]

I, too, have to stand up for GTA III as well. This is my personal opinion but GTA III is still a precious gem for me and the game wasn't even new when I first played it (around 2007 or so). You find it hard to get into the game after playing Vice City and San Andreas because of limited content, but once you warm up to it, III becomes to be like that platonic childhood love you always feel sweet nostalgic about for some reason. While I agree on that Claude not speaking may be a restricting issue for a more sophisticated story (like what makes IV the best GTA story is that Niko is intriguingly interactive with the crowd he's surrounded by), I guess it's the perspective that really determines if III is a story of your kind or not. I perceive III as a bitter, noir-ish story, watered down with dark humor about a mysterious drifter gunning down his way into a crime-ridden city full of sleazy figure... and that guy damn sure pledges loyalty to none but cold, hard cash. In my opinion, GTA III has been unique in taking the series' core to the darkest, and somehow divinely comedic... and then GTA IV came around with the same kind of spirit, just with a little bit of different approach and wider perspective. Honestly, it's up to the player to assume what GTA III is all about because that game is like a shell.

[Journey_95]

 

San Andreas.

 

It starts off strong up until the moment CJ gets exiled from Los Santos. After that it becomes sh*t shambles with no direction or focus at all despite CJ trying to break Sweet out of prison yet he has time to be a spy for hire and messing with the mob.

 

Crappy story. 4/10.

Agreed

 

After Green Sabre, I have no clue about what CJ are trying to achieve

 

I wish Ryder and Smoke never betrayed the GSF so the story could've make sense. And doing more gangster activites rather than stealing jetpack, then use it to steal green goo

 

The problem with SA is that it was supposed to have multiple protagonists but then Rockstar abandoned that idea and still wanted to keep the huge open world with three cities.

So they basically slapped everything on CJ even though it makes no sense for his character which leads to a complete trainwreck of a story.

GTA V's story is very flawed as well but at least it stays true to how it started, it never jumps the shark.

 

Still the worst story is either GTA 3 or LCS, GTA 3 I can excuse since it was such a groundbreaking game in every other area but LCS was just lazy as f*ck.

Edited December 9, 2017 by Journey_95

[Aromatic_Fedora]

GTA Advance and GTA Libery City Stories cuz when i played it i felt the storyline had no sense in some parts of the game and i got boring sometimes but in my opinion GTA Advance is better than GTA Liberty City Stories

[The Deadite]

CJ is a mediocre character with a personality that changes according to the mission and the storymode it's a salad of wacky objectives designed to squeeze every inch of the map... but my god, gta V is so f*cking bad.

 

Three protagonists that range from completely unlikable to mind numbingly boring to randomly disgusting, the worst supporting cast in gta history, restrictive and boring missions, three endings that suck... i can't find much to like about gta V.

 

The whole thing just falls apart the moment Trevor steps inside Michael's mansion.

[jaljax]

 

CJ is a mediocre character with a personality that changes according to the mission and the storymode it's a salad of wacky objectives designed to squeeze every inch of the map...

 

I'm curious to know which human stays consistent w/o changing according to what the situation, or circumstances are in life?

CJ's character is supposed to grow with experience by going through the challenges as you progress into the story. He is very young, and not some "veteran" person who has already seen evrything in his life. We experience a large part of his life, from his past as a childhood, his return in Ls and the situations he comes across after realizing the current situation, how officer tenpenny forces him to do his work for his brother's safety, to tasting the life for the first time as a rich, and powerful person in LV which brings in him a bit of arrogance, taking him away from his roots, which is again nicely explained after his return to LS again through the confrontation between Sweet and CJ.

So human like, and such a believable character that I could easily relate.

 

I'd like to know the views of any knowledgeable person, who understands how characters are written, and developed in a story, fictional or not, by quoting some examples where the characters never shows any change, absolutely zero, no matter the circumstances?

 

CJ simply didn't have control over his life early on because of the tough challenges life throws at him, but the player learns along side CJ, and the moment CJ gains control, he puts those responsible in the right place.

 

He's still a busta & always will be

[.Ryan.]

This is another one of those threads I wish was a poll.

 

 

 

CJ is a mediocre character with a personality that changes according to the mission and the storymode it's a salad of wacky objectives designed to squeeze every inch of the map...

 

I'm curious to know which human stays consistent w/o changing according to what the situation, or circumstances are in life?

CJ's character is supposed to grow with experience by going through the challenges as you progress into the story. He is very young, and not some "veteran" person who has already seen evrything in his life. We experience a large part of his life, from his past as a childhood, his return in Ls and the situations he comes across after realizing the current situation, how officer tenpenny forces him to do his work for his brother's safety, to tasting the life for the first time as a rich, and powerful person in LV which brings in him a bit of arrogance, taking him away from his roots, which is again nicely explained after his return to LS again through the confrontation between Sweet and CJ.

So human like, and such a believable character that I could easily relate.

 

I'd like to know the views of any knowledgeable person, who understands how characters are written, and developed in a story, fictional or not, by quoting some examples where the characters never shows any change, absolutely zero, no matter the circumstances?

 

CJ simply didn't have control over his life early on because of the tough challenges life throws at him, but the player learns along side CJ, and the moment CJ gains control, he puts those responsible in the right place.

 

He's still a busta & always will be

 

 

lol

 

Edited December 13, 2017 by Algonquin Assassin

[.Ryan.]

Nope. He definitely was/is which is why he’s referred to one in game.

[The Deadite]

is this dude osho

 

Im getting flashbacks

[Tycek]

I would say just another Osho wannabe.

[JRC99]

Out of the games in the series I've played:

 

TBOGT- It's a fun game to play, but it really did ruin Bulgarin. Like others have said, he seemed so menacing in IV, but in the Ballad, he's a joke. What the Hell? Niko definitely should have been the one to end him. Hell, Niko never even found out by the end of the game (Though he'd obviously find out afterwards, something like that would be all over the news.)

 

SA- The Los Santos parts are great, they're superb. Everything else is a bit of a mess.

 

V- Hoo boy, the big one. Franklin has no character. None. He mostly just stands in the background while Michael and Trevor bicker and carry on like a couple of teenage girls. He's as shallow as a puddle. Then you spend half of the game being the government's bitch. And the final bosses are really, really lame. IV has Pegorino and Dimitri, who, by the end, players have a real, legitimate reason to absolutely hate them. They're true antagonists, and getting revenge was great. V gives us...... Stretch, who was in like two missions at the beginning of the game and doesn't even get mentioned again until then. Wei Cheng, whose evil deed was.... not wanting to work with Trevor. He ambushed Trevor and Michael in Yankton, yes, but only after Trevor attacked his business, Steve Haines (Okay, he actually does make sense.), and Westin, who didn't even put up a f*cking fight other than his guards. I get that he's not supposed to be a fighting type guy, but it was way too easy to get to him (though I admit, sending Merryweather to Michael's house does make him a villain worth killing.) But even still, I found them more annoying than evil. I don't know, it's like there's a disconnect.

 

I guess it's like this: GTA IV is like personally going through Pegorino and Dimitri's betrayal. You feel it. V is like reading a news article. You think, "Oh, that's awful to hear." but it doesn't really resonate with you on a personal level. You feel empathy, but it's not really personal.

 

Michael's a decent character. He's the most rounded of the 3, and the one I most easily connected with, because it was actually remotely possible to, and it is nice to see his home situation improve, it really is.

 

Trevor. Trevor's a goddamned mess. There's zero consistency to be found. It's all just "LULZ HE'S CRAAAAAAAAAZY". He preaches loyalty, but treats everyone around him like trash. It's hypocrisy, but unlike, say, Niko's hypocrisy, it's not well written, at all. I could go on and on, but I'd just be repeating myself.

Edited January 31, 2018 by JRC99

[.Ryan.]

I guess it's like this: GTA IV is like personally going through Pegorino and DImitri's betrayal. You feel it. V is like reading a news article. You think, "Oh, that's awful to hear." but it doesn't really resonate with you on a personal level. You feel empathy, but it's not really personal.

 

I feel this way too. GTA IV's more personal driven story makes it far easier to relate to. In GTA V it feels like the protagonists' personal motivations don't even matter. Franklin wants to make money and leave the hood, but this comes to a screeching halt when the three of them come together and start doing the FIB's dirty work.

 

But regarding the antagonists there's no comparison. Whilst Pegorino came late into the story there was just development to make him an adversary and without any doubt way better than Stretch and Wei Cheng combined.

 

Even Haines and Weston didn't make me want to throttle them as much as Dimitri did because Dimitri befriended Niko so the betrayal felt a lot more personal whereas Haines and Weston are pretty much the cliche dicks you can find in most movies and tv shows. You always know they'll try and screw you over at some point.

Edited December 14, 2017 by Algonquin Assassin