Before I get flamed, hear me out. At first before I made headways into GTA 5, I disagreed with Greg's review because I believed despicable characters should be the norm in GTA 5 games, you never had a choice of being a good guy in GTA games, you simply controlled them to advance the story as they gain wealth and power.
HOWEVER, now that I've beaten the game, Greg has gotten it WRONG, oh so wrong, but not in the way I thought he was wrong before I played the game.
Greg's review now annoys me in the same way people who read and disagree about evolution argue with "How come monkeys in the zoo don't ever turn into humans?"... he just didn't get it.
Let's examine Michael. Have you ever wondered how life would be after being a successful criminal and making it and settle down? Well Michael is an almost depressing take, with a dysfunctional family. I feel myself pulling for him, and hoping it gets better, because one of the worst nightmares for any parent is having kids that turn out useless, and that's exactly how his kids are. Michael is the father who cares about his kids but do not know how to express it properly, however his kids are the most unlikable and frustrating characters I've met, in the sense that they can't be ditched since they are his kids after all.
And then there is Franklin. If you ever wondered how it would be like to make it rich as a criminal, then he is as likeable and relatable as a character can get. However if you expect main characters to be JRPG pre puberty idealistic high pitched voiced kid, then yes he is despicable. Franklin keeps things in perspective (as a low profile criminal), and those of you complain about the use of "nigga" when black people are talking to each other on screen... its obvious you've never hung out with black people from the hood before. Hell just watch videos on worldstarhiphop, some of the videos of real interactions of black people make GTA 5's writing look tame. It's kind of funny... people complain about GTA 5 use of cuss words and nigga thinking its unrealistic when it's actually as realistic as ever... just shows how disconnected some gamers are from reality. Don't believe me, just go to the hood and listen in on some convos.
Finally Trevor... the character Greg complains so much about. He complains Trevor is unrelatable... well YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO RELATE TO TREVOR. Trevor is CRAZY, or as he put it "chemically imbalanced", his motivations and thought process cannot be simply classified as "evil", you just can't, he is fascinating and ridiculous at the same time. The more I played as Trevor, the more I realized how much Greg "didn't get it", and I fear that Greg's misrepresentation of Trevor has put off a lot of gamers from experiencing one of the most interesting and "different" main characters to be ever introduced in recent gaming.
All three of these characters are vastly different, and the times when they are in the same room interacting with each other are some of the best writing and dialogue I've seen in video games yet. You can feel the tension sometimes, and the interaction dynamics are fascinating.
I'm used to watching shows like Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones, so none of these characters seem despicable to me, and the writing for them is excellent. It just frustrates me that Greg's review has probably put off some people from experiencing some of the best dialogue and character interactions in a GTA game yet due to him "not getting it". As I kept progressing further in the game, it kept creeping into my mind "How could that guy Greg miss the point by so much", which was annoying because all I wanted to do was keep experiencing the story and not worry about some other guys inability to grasp the story.
HOWEVER, now that I've beaten the game, Greg has gotten it WRONG, oh so wrong, but not in the way I thought he was wrong before I played the game.
Greg's review now annoys me in the same way people who read and disagree about evolution argue with "How come monkeys in the zoo don't ever turn into humans?"... he just didn't get it.
Let's examine Michael. Have you ever wondered how life would be after being a successful criminal and making it and settle down? Well Michael is an almost depressing take, with a dysfunctional family. I feel myself pulling for him, and hoping it gets better, because one of the worst nightmares for any parent is having kids that turn out useless, and that's exactly how his kids are. Michael is the father who cares about his kids but do not know how to express it properly, however his kids are the most unlikable and frustrating characters I've met, in the sense that they can't be ditched since they are his kids after all.
And then there is Franklin. If you ever wondered how it would be like to make it rich as a criminal, then he is as likeable and relatable as a character can get. However if you expect main characters to be JRPG pre puberty idealistic high pitched voiced kid, then yes he is despicable. Franklin keeps things in perspective (as a low profile criminal), and those of you complain about the use of "nigga" when black people are talking to each other on screen... its obvious you've never hung out with black people from the hood before. Hell just watch videos on worldstarhiphop, some of the videos of real interactions of black people make GTA 5's writing look tame. It's kind of funny... people complain about GTA 5 use of cuss words and nigga thinking its unrealistic when it's actually as realistic as ever... just shows how disconnected some gamers are from reality. Don't believe me, just go to the hood and listen in on some convos.
Finally Trevor... the character Greg complains so much about. He complains Trevor is unrelatable... well YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO RELATE TO TREVOR. Trevor is CRAZY, or as he put it "chemically imbalanced", his motivations and thought process cannot be simply classified as "evil", you just can't, he is fascinating and ridiculous at the same time. The more I played as Trevor, the more I realized how much Greg "didn't get it", and I fear that Greg's misrepresentation of Trevor has put off a lot of gamers from experiencing one of the most interesting and "different" main characters to be ever introduced in recent gaming.
All three of these characters are vastly different, and the times when they are in the same room interacting with each other are some of the best writing and dialogue I've seen in video games yet. You can feel the tension sometimes, and the interaction dynamics are fascinating.
I'm used to watching shows like Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones, so none of these characters seem despicable to me, and the writing for them is excellent. It just frustrates me that Greg's review has probably put off some people from experiencing some of the best dialogue and character interactions in a GTA game yet due to him "not getting it". As I kept progressing further in the game, it kept creeping into my mind "How could that guy Greg miss the point by so much", which was annoying because all I wanted to do was keep experiencing the story and not worry about some other guys inability to grasp the story.
