1. The Storytelling
In the early days following the release of GTA V, the hyperbole attached to the story-telling element of the game was almost comically overblown, but now that the honeymoon period has somewhat cooled, it is patently obvious that the story, and its delivery in GTA V does not surpass the quality or success of its counterpart in GTA IV. Despite all of the criticisms levelled at GTA IV, the general consensus still states that the game's story-telling is its chief success, and the reason it is rightly considered a genre-defining achievement. It is that success beyond all others that drove the hype that came attached to the announcement of GTA V, and rightly so, it is the element of GTA V that has been criticised the most as a result. Though the individual story elements are great and entertaining, the strands are not interwoven completely successfully, and there is a general lack of deep character development that is part and parcel of sharing focus between three protagonists that didn't happen in GTA IV. The make-up of the inter-weaved story elements was also far from completely successful, as important character events are frequently paused to allow another character to tackle something in their portion of the game, making key elements feel slightly tacked on in a reactionary way to add set-pieces. All-in-all GTA IV's story-telling is far smarter, and more engaging as a whole, even if the mission variation is a problem, and individual missions aren't necessarily as well-conceived or executed as in GTA V. At the end of the day, GTA V will still be crowned Game Of The Year, and probably the biggest selling game of the year by some distance, and neither of those achievements will find any argument here, but every game released has room for improvement, and blindly accepting anything as perfect, despite noticeable shortcomings, or a lack of progression in key areas, as outlined here is entirely reductive. Do you think GTA V should have improved on GTA IV more? Do you believe the game to be perfect? Share your opinions in the comment thread below.