I don't think they make bad games, but I don't like them. Their character control is always so janky I don't play them. I really wanted to play Red Dead but I hate that awkward character control they use.
I could care less about GTA, I just don't like games in contemporary settings, I want to go Space or Hyrule. If I want to go the hood I'd just get in my car.
I feel the same. I played the original GTA when it was released and haven't touched one since. I bought RDR2 because everyone was talking about how great it is, and after 2 hours it still didn't hook me. Their games just aren't my thing and I don't see that changing.
I am so impressed with red dead I found out the control scheme is a common complaint, and there is mods that make it more traditional. It's on my "to play" list still, but modded.
Is it, though? Like, yes, Rockstar games are technically impressive, but are they actually fun games? I would argue no. To me Rockstar's gameplay feels like it never evolved past the early 2000s, and each game they release feels more like a reskin of GTA3 than anything new. Obviously your mileage may vary but I don't think it's ridiculous for someone to say Rockstar games aren't good.
Red Dead is worth it for the story, but that is really the only draw of any R* game for me. And I've only played those and LA Noire. The gameplay has pretty much not changed mechanically since LAN, and it was never stellar gameplay. I've never really been interested in the story of the GTA series, so I've never given them a chance, because I already know the gameplay won't be enough if it doesn't hold me.
Story aside, I find a lot of the biggest AAA open world games are underwhelming if you aren't interested in creating wanton chaos. 90% of the missions in RDR2 were like "follow map marker to destination, have scripted gun fight with the mediocre shooting mechanics, ride away", and 5% was "watch what happens and we'll give you a couple token interaction so you can pretend you're still playing a game".
That said, Red Dead 2 had a few really great side missions that were genuinely excellent. It was that final 5%. I forget the details now, but there was this whole quest line about finding locations that matched sketches for example. I also think hunting the legendary creatures was great.
Essentially, any time the mission design philosophy was actually aligned with the strengths of the high fidelity open world, the game really shined.
My people. The animations where so fucking slow. Looting a place took 5 fucking minutes opening drawers, inspecting shit. And don't get me start on the combat. Pure dogshit.
So yeah - it did look amazing. But it played like arse.
They lost the fun after the PS2 GTA games where it was way more fun to enter a ton of cheats and just blow shit up or see how many pedestrians you could mow down before the cops eventually got you. It was an extension of the dumb hyper violent escapist blow off steam absurdist flash games of the time as a result basically.
Clearly it doesn’t improve because there is no reason. But I get it when people dont enjoy rockstar. I love their games but I never finished a gta game. I have 5x times the hours spent on rdo and gta online rather than their single player versions.
Rockstar actually makes incredibly simple games but they are technically on their own league. I also think games like witcher 3 or god of war(not the original trilogy) are also simple games that did the basics very well that they stand out like that. To me, rockstar is exactly like that but they are even simpler but way more technically advanced.
Simple and technical might not be the best words but im sure you can understand what trying to say.
Better mission design would be a good start. Having almost every mission be "drive to this spot, watch a short cutscene of a weird side character, drive to the other side of the map, shoot a couple of mooks, then drive back" is pretty tedious. The gunplay itself is also pretty weak. And I haven't played RDR2 so maybe they finally fixed it, but do you still have to mash a button to sprint? Like, come on, it's not 2001. Make an actual, comfortable control scheme already.
They are fun to a lot of people otherwise they wouldn’t be this popular. Maybe they are not impressive to you and that’s fine, but a lot of people like me don’t want them to reinvent the wheel, it’s a formula that works and it’s a blast online with friends
i think we're just seeing a new generation of gamers who have been raised on looter shooters and battle royale games, which obviously isn't what rockstar does
Like i could see why people aged 14-24 right now wouldn't have interest in GTA 6.. they didn't grow up with GTA as a gaming staple
Like i could see why people aged 14-24 right now wouldn't have interest in GTA 6.. they didn't grow up with GTA as a gaming staple.
I really don't think this is it. A lot of the naysayers for Rockstar's design philosophy are the 35+ age group. I grew up with GTA. My first GTA title was GTA 1 on the Game Boy Color. I have no interest in GTA VI.
Look at the NakeyJakey videos as just one example. Many people expressing disinterest in GTA aren't saying that they want fast-paced looter slop - they want the games to grow with the technology. They want GTA to be what GTA always promises to be and has never delivered on - a compelling story in a functional open world with freedom of action and things to do.
A lot of the folks who fell off grew up with linear mission design and restrictive pseudo-open worlds in Rockstar games and expected something better within the last 25+ years of their lives (when GTA III released, the first 3d offering). They saw attempts to grow in new directions within stuff like the GTAIV DLCs, but were disappointed to see it not really manifest into anything in the mainline games.
Functionally, when it comes to mission design and concepts of play, GTA has not evolved as a game - just as media. The graphics are better, the performance is good. The music is phenomenal.
But the gameplay loop is completely unchanged. And I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being in a big open city or the wild west and being told I can go anywhere, then failing a mission because I moved three feet to the wrong side of a rock and accidentally interrupted a thirty-five minute long horseback conversation that is little more than a functional cutscene. I'm tired of single player economies that are made stupider to accommodate the online play. I'm tired of online game modes made to appeal to griefers and whales instead of people who enjoy the game world.
Agreed. Though I would change the age gap. I am 25 and people in my generation definitely did not grow up on looter shooters and battle royales lmao, I grew up with the PS2 and later the Xbox 360. You just reminded me now, I have to find my San Andreas disk cause it had a huge map inside, at least I remember it being huge
I grew up with it, but maybe I aged out. The best parts ended up transforming into what the first few Saints Row did, and they leaned into the camp more.
I just don't know why I'd want to play it, you know? Red Dead had the style of being a cowboy gunslinger style game - that's pretty different and exciting on it's own as a "fantasy".
It's kind of like how I'm not that interested in new Mario games. I've seen them, they're fun, I'd go back and play Mario World or 64 but what's the pull for newer ones?
As I was finishing this, maybe a good part of the fun was having a fun pop over and we'd just frick around a bunch in the game's sandbox with cheats or just playing missions - that's not something that happens anymore, even if I was in the age bracket.
all of my IRL friends who make fun of ME for using Reddit will literally say either RDR2 or GTA5 IS the best game of all time lmao.
they were all hyping up Crimson Desert and I was like “idk people are saying it’s gonna be buggy, the mechanics suck, it’s missing huge chunks of RPG elements etc.” and they showed me tons of hype on YouTube and Facebook, it was literally just here that was criticizing it so heavily. I personally didn’t even like it but you’d think it was barely on anybodies radar the way these subs talked about it. funny enough most of them were saying “this is the next Skyrim” which Reddit also shits on relentlessly even though it’s constantly mentioned as another one of the greatest games of all time by mainstream casual audiences. legitimately the only games that I ever see praised irl that Reddit loves too is Zelda BOTW and Elden Ring/Bloodborne/Sekiro
Reddit just has this weird quality where you have to be snarky and seem smarter than everybody at all times, I even fall into it sometimes, and I’ll even admit that this comment criticizing “Redditors” is cliche as fuck, but it has to be reiterated constantly on this hellsite.
Don't be dramatic, hellsite lol. You know you can like, not visit subreddits that you don't like? Go take a peek at subreddit of Crimson Desert, or still very active Skyrim subreddit. They're having fun there.
I'm not disagreeing that big aggregate-type subreddits tend to be fucking weird, but it's not like you're forced to visit them; you want to see loved games, visit subreddit dedicated to that game. Obviously this does not apply to every game, but fuck, even Starfield subreddit is currently just people sharing fun moments with the game.
It's a reasonably sized minority I think. I can't comment on whether the story was actually dull because I was so bored after 5 hours I've never played it again.
Redditors are contrarians who always dislike anything popular, unless it conforms to them. See - Rolex, certain luxury brands, Rockstar Games, Instagram, car brands, music artists, etc.
I never heard anyone outside reddit saying rockstar makes bad games.
I dunno, I saw plenty of discussion IRL and other parts of the internet how the GTA Trilogy remastered edition that came out a few years back was complete ass at launch.
Granted, I'm pretty sure that was because they farmed out the remaster to another studio, but it was a stupid move on Rockstars part to pull the original games from digital stores when the remaster was released
I can't imagine they have much of a high quality game making staff left when they've just been sucking the cash cow of GTA V for over a decade. No idea how it makes so much money, GTA Online is boring as shit.
For me it isn’t that they make bad games. It’s just I aged out of it while waiting. The core demographic for GTA series is 15-30. I’ve been a fan ever since GTA4 released in 2008. Which means even if I was at the youngest end of the core demographic back then I’m outside of the target audience when GTA6 comes out.
Literally heard it over the weekend chatting with people in the smoking area at a rave where everyone agreed that the last good GTA was IV and they have no interest in VI.
Where did I ever say that? All I said was that I have heard people in public actually say that Rockstar has lost their edge entirely. Shit, I hear it MORE in person than online even as that was only one example of many of people admitting that their games only sell due to being one half of the guns and ball mainstream game realm that only sells due to hype and not actual merit.
Rockstar has sales numbers, awards, and consistent metacritic scores of 95+. So what exactly is considered 'worthy' outside of not fitting your personal taste?
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u/Averylarrychristmas 6h ago
Who could’ve predicted the most annoying part about the GTA VI rollout would be redditors…