IMO almost every GTA has had derivative writing and set ups, but it's okay because of everything else taking the spotlight. 3 was just Claude doing random missions until one mission lets you get revenge on Catalina and then the game just ends. Vice City is a revenge plot sort of but it's just Tommy doing random jobs until Sonny's like "oh you fancy huh?". SA's story was just batshit crazy all over the place. 4 IMO had the actual good story and didn't seem derivative. Niko was a genuinely interesting character. V's story was just straight forward "criminals finding out who snitched", satisfying, but a bit scant. I just ask for a serviceable crime plot set in a vibrant and lived in world.

[–] Malfeasant@lemm.ee 1 points 11 months ago

IV was the one I spent the most time on, so that makes sense. But with V it's not a lack of depth, more a lack of continuity. Of course it's been so long since I played it I can't remember any specific examples, I just remember being disappointed, and thinking they spent so much time/money on the physics, they had nothing left for the story ..