Grand Theft Auto V is a great game. I thought that when I first played it on my Xbox 360 back in September of 2013. I enjoyed it again when I played it in 2015 on my first PS4, although to a lesser extent and mostly just to see all of the graphical improvements and added content. And then there was the magic of being able to bring my online character from the 360 version over to my PS4; cross-gen and cross-plat at the same time? Too right!
Although I didn’t have a rig powerful enough to really give the PC version its due, I’m pretty sure that if I did, I would’ve bought it a third time.
There are very few modern games (outside of Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) that have continued their relevancy for so long, being ported to subsequent gaming platforms without even a moment’s break, spanning the generations. So when we got the inevitable announcement that GTA V would indeed also be re-released on the current generation of consoles (I speak of Xbox Series X|S and PS5), believe you me, I was operating under the assumption that I would be ponying up to get my hands on yet another copy.
But now I’m sitting here, ruminating on the general idea of Grand Theft Auto V, thinking back on how little of the campaign felt notable, other than some heists that I thought were cool, and how unappealing all three of the protagonists were. I’m also forced to reckon with the fact that Grand Theft Online has morphed into a beast that no longer speaks to my tastes. As it turns out, I don’t actually find myself looking forward to the PS5 version of Grand Theft Auto V.
Much as I grappled with the idea of buying yet another iteration of Skyrim when I got a Nintendo Switch (which ended up being one of the games I would spend the most time with on that platform), I find myself again grappling with the idea of putting down more of my hard-earned cash to play a better version of a game I used to really enjoy. And I know that isn’t an apt comparison, because the Switch version of Skyrim is pretty objectively not a better version, at least outside of its portability. But even so, I think the sentiment remains the same: Exactly how many times can one continue to rebuy the same product with a different package?
I know Rockstar is going to do their Rockstar thing and deliver not only a graphically superior version of GTA V, but also one with a whole slew of improvements and added content. That’s what they did the last time they made a generational jump (with the generation-less PC release getting all the bells and whistles). I’m sure there will be a bunch of new songs — and maybe even entirely new radio stations — as well as new vehicles and clothing options (on top of the vehicle upgrade options that were already announced). I think it’s far to speculate that we’ll probably also see an increase to the number of simultaneous players allowed in a server in GTA Online.
Rockstar doesn’t skimp on presentation or added value when they make generational upgrades, is what I’m getting at here.
But Grand Theft Auto V is now older than most of the foul-mouthed miscreants that inhabit its online component, spewing vitriol to any and all foolish enough to not disable proximity chat. Personally, I think my days of running roughshod in Los Santos have come to an end. Instead, I’ll be running roughshod in Red Dead Online, hoping for the upgraded version of that game to land on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S so I can donate another handsome sum to Rockstar’s deep, deep pockets.
