Should You Play Grand Theft Auto V in 2026? (Review) — Transcript

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1. 0:00Grand Theft Auto V, the game that feels
2. 0:01like it's been around forever. As of the
3. 0:03making of this video, it's been 13 years
4. 0:05since the game released, and after a
5. 0:07couple of re-releases, the next game is
6. 0:08finally on the horizon. So, I thought
7. 0:10this was a great time to finish my GTA
8. 0:12series replay and end it off with the
9. 0:14most successful GTA game we've ever
10. 0:16gotten. So, let's talk about Grand Theft
11. 0:17Auto V and see if it's still worth
12. 0:19playing in 2026. In this video, I'll
13. 0:21just be covering the story mode because
14. 0:23I never was into the online. Regarding
15. 0:25the story mode, the gameplay for this is
16. 0:27just as it's always been. You're still
17. 0:28playing from a third-person perspective,
18. 0:30but this time you're able to switch
19. 0:31between three main protagonists. This
20. 0:33isn't the first time we've been able to
21. 0:34play with other characters in GTA games,
22. 0:36but most of the time in those
23. 0:38situations, it was just equipping a skin
24. 0:40onto your character, not being an
25. 0:41entirely new character altogether.
26. 0:43However, in this game, playing with
27. 0:44three characters gave a different
28. 0:46dynamic that made this game stand out on
29. 0:48its own. Playing as Franklin for a
30. 0:49mission, then switching to Michael for a
31. 0:51bit, and then to Trevor always gave you
32. 0:53the freedom to play with who you like
33. 0:54the most. For the majority of the game,
34. 0:56you were never stuck playing as just one
35. 0:57character. In the beginning when things
36. 0:59are just getting started, you kind of
37. 1:00are, but as the game goes on, the
38. 1:02ability to switch is almost always
39. 1:04there. Now, even though the characters
40. 1:05are different, I thought there wasn't
41. 1:07quite enough variance in how they played
42. 1:08when you pit them against each other.
43. 1:10Similar to other GTAs, the stat system
44. 1:12returns with you having a various number
45. 1:14of stats like stamina, driving skill,
46. 1:16shooting skill, etc. These stats vary
47. 1:18depending on which character you're
48. 1:20using. I liked how if you're playing
49. 1:21with Trevor, he has a better flying
50. 1:23skill versus when you're using Franklin.
51. 1:24This same concept applies across the
52. 1:26board and makes you have to think before
53. 1:28deciding to do anything. If you want to
54. 1:30commit a certain crime, it might be
55. 1:31easier to pull it off when you use one
56. 1:33of the characters over the other due to
57. 1:34them having higher stats in a desired
58. 1:36area. Even still, that's about as far as
59. 1:38it goes with how different they play.
60. 1:40You still run around and shoot and kill
61. 1:41everything. The way they drive, take
62. 1:43cover, shoot their guns, and other
63. 1:45things are pretty much the same. I
64. 1:46thought it would have been really cool
65. 1:48if they went granular with the details
66. 1:49and made their mannerisms and movements
67. 1:51differ between each character. Not a
68. 1:53huge deal, but just something I noticed.
69. 1:55At its core though, this game is still
70. 1:56just as fun as the others. Running
71. 1:58around in a giant sandbox city, being
72. 2:00able to do anything you want really
73. 2:02never gets old. There's a bunch of
74. 2:03different things to do when I go into
75. 2:05the story missions, too. You can play
76. 2:06sports like tennis with various
77. 2:08difficulties being available if you get
78. 2:10really good. You could do triathlons and
79. 2:12race against other people performing
80. 2:13various movements like swimming,
81. 2:15running, and biking to win first place.
82. 2:17But, if you're looking for more of a
83. 2:18mission-like side activity, then you can
84. 2:20do the strangers and freaks for each
85. 2:21character. These strangers and freaks
86. 2:23are a great way to break up the story
87. 2:25and have the characters experience
88. 2:26different things as they go through
89. 2:27their time in San Andreas. The
90. 2:28interactions our trio of characters go
91. 2:30through makes things interesting because
92. 2:32you truly never know what's going to
93. 2:33happen when encountering one of these. A
94. 2:35small thing worth mentioning is the icon
95. 2:36of these missions as even though it's
96. 2:38just a question mark, it being a
97. 2:39question mark makes you want to go check
98. 2:41it out. It makes you wonder like, "What
99. 2:42the hell is this? What could be over
100. 2:44here? Let me go see." What really
101. 2:45impressed me was the amount of
102. 2:46customizable options you had available
103. 2:48when you entered the Paint Spray. Having
104. 2:50played the older GTA games, you went
105. 2:52from just adding a different color to
106. 2:53your car to being able to customize the
107. 2:55whole damn thing. Once you pulled up to
108. 2:57Los Santos Customs, it's like you
109. 2:58started watching an episode of Pimp My
110. 3:00Ride. After upgrading your car, I
111. 3:02actually felt some incentive to not
112. 3:03crash it or mess it up. Pouring all that
113. 3:05money into your car and then immediately
114. 3:07destroying it was not an option this
115. 3:09time around. Regarding the actual
116. 3:10missions, I really enjoyed my time with
117. 3:12these. I think the biggest challenge
118. 3:13with making a GTA game is that the
119. 3:15formula at its core is really basic. You
120. 3:17enter a place, watch a cut scene, and
121. 3:19then play through a mission. Rinse and
122. 3:21repeat till you beat the game. So,
123. 3:22because of this system, you need to make
124. 3:24sure your missions are entertaining and
125. 3:25fun. And GTA V's is definitely both. One
126. 3:27of my problems with the previous GTA
127. 3:29games is that some of the missions felt
128. 3:31like filler or they were really, really
129. 3:32basic. Like, it would involve you doing
130. 3:34the most simplest of things. Things so
131. 3:36simple that it made me wonder why this
132. 3:38was even thought of in the first place.
133. 3:39In my opinion, I thought this was never
134. 3:41the case with GTA V. Not every mission
135. 3:43is the greatest thing ever, but all of
136. 3:45them are fun to go through for various
137. 3:46reasons. I was never bored or hated any
138. 3:48of the missions except the the where
139. 3:50you're using the crane as Trevor because
140. 3:52that mission was ass. But, for the most
141. 3:54part, the missions definitely held my
142. 3:55attention and never had me wanting some
143. 3:57sort of shake-up because it was always
144. 3:59fun. I do think that if you played a
145. 4:00Rockstar game before, then you may still
146. 4:02hate the way you move in the controller
147. 4:04layout. A lot of the button commands
148. 4:05were still similar to the old titles and
149. 4:07the fluidity of the characters is still
150. 4:09an issue. Rockstar's movement has always
151. 4:11been a bit stiff and clunky, so if you
152. 4:12didn't like that from the other games,
153. 4:14then you're not going to like it in
154. 4:15this. For me, it doesn't bother me as
155. 4:17much, but I can't make a review without
156. 4:19bringing this up. One thing worth
157. 4:20mentioning is that for the PC version,
158. 4:22which is what I played, you're able to
159. 4:24upload custom music to the radio, which
160. 4:26actually enhances the overall
161. 4:27experience. It's not to say that the
162. 4:29music for GTA V is bad, but these songs
163. 4:31have been out for at least 13 years. So,
164. 4:33it's been a minute. Then, on top of
165. 4:35that, some of the songs are way older
166. 4:37than that. So, uploading the up-to-date
167. 4:38songs from my phone helped to create an
168. 4:40even more immersive experience. If you
169. 4:42played the GTA games before, then you
170. 4:44know how this gameplay is. The skeleton
171. 4:46from the older games is there and this
172. 4:48one enhances everything more than ever
173. 4:50before. Even if you're a newcomer, I
174. 4:51don't see why anybody would hate playing
175. 4:53this game because of the gameplay. It's
176. 4:55still just fun. Moving on to the story,
177. 4:57I thought this was pretty good, but not
178. 4:58great. Coming off of GTA IV, which I
179. 5:01still think is by far the best story in
180. 5:03the series, you start out years later
181. 5:05after a heist gone wrong as Michael is
182. 5:06forced back into the life after making
183. 5:08some mistakes and Trevor reappearing and
184. 5:10then Michael just trying to make some
185. 5:12money to change his situation. I think
186. 5:13the best thing about the story is the
187. 5:15dynamic between the three characters.
188. 5:16Each one of them have different
189. 5:18personalities and that can be easily
190. 5:19seen within each cutscene. During just
191. 5:21one of the scenes, you'll see Michael
192. 5:23explaining the situation, Franklin
193. 5:25trying to speak reason to the group, and
194. 5:26Trevor just yelling. It's hilarious.
195. 5:28Personally, I thought the funniest
196. 5:29scenes was everything going on with
197. 5:31Michael's family. Seeing the stuff he
198. 5:32goes through with his kids was actually
199. 5:34cinema. Whether it's his son being a
200. 5:36complete dumbass making stupid
201. 5:37decisions, his daughter doing everything
202. 5:39possible to make herself a fool online,
203. 5:41or his wife sleeping around with all her
204. 5:43instructors, Michael's situation was
205. 5:44just too funny. I think the biggest
206. 5:46difference between four and five story
207. 5:48is the tone. The tone and setting in
208. 5:50four is very dark and gritty, where in
209. 5:52five it's very bright and kind of full
210. 5:54of sunshine, if that makes sense. Yes,
211. 5:56crime is still being committed and
212. 5:58people are getting dropped throughout
213. 5:59the entire story, but it just feels
214. 6:01different. If you're more of a fan of
215. 6:02the Grammy and dark stories like me,
216. 6:04then this may not resonate as much with
217. 6:06you. Regardless, this story still sets
218. 6:08out to do what it's supposed to. It
219. 6:09takes you back to San Andreas and tells
220. 6:11a solid story surrounding three very
221. 6:13different characters who work together
222. 6:15to achieve a common goal. Even with that
223. 6:16in mind, the consequences to the
224. 6:18decisions are always apparent and at the
225. 6:20forefront of the game. If you enjoyed
226. 6:21any of the other stories for GTA, then
227. 6:23I'm sure you'll enjoy this one. Whether
228. 6:25it's your favorite or not, that's unique
229. 6:27to the individual, but if you're going
230. 6:28to go through this for the first time,
231. 6:30then I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I wanted
232. 6:32to talk about the graphics briefly
233. 6:33because playing the enhanced version on
234. 6:35PC was a treat. Considering this game
235. 6:37originally came out on PS3, it seems
236. 6:39some visual upgrades after all these
237. 6:41years. Going around Los Santos and
238. 6:43visiting the beaches, deserts, and other
239. 6:45locations never looked dull for a
240. 6:46second. Now, maybe because I was on PC,
241. 6:49but seeing the water reflections on the
242. 6:50ground and the wall textures made
243. 6:52everything look great. Playing at 120
244. 6:54FPS made the graphics a bit crispier,
245. 6:56too, as the character models' movements
246. 6:58were buttery smooth. It's not to say
247. 7:00that this game didn't look good on PS3
248. 7:02and PS4. When this game first came out,
249. 7:04the graphics were still top-notch. It's
250. 7:05just the fact that it's been 13 years,
251. 7:07so they're only going to improve so
252. 7:09much. But, where I was impressed was
253. 7:10just the amount of polish this game had.
254. 7:12This very well could be due to the place
255. 7:14I was playing it on, but man, the game
256. 7:16looked good. I think if you're playing
257. 7:17on PS5 or Series X, then you should have
258. 7:19a similar experience as those consoles
259. 7:21should be able to run this game easily.
260. 7:23So, after looking at the gameplay,
261. 7:24story, and graphics, should you play
262. 7:26Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2026? I would say,
263. 7:29>> Give a hell yeah.
264. 7:32>> This game is really fun and is a solid
265. 7:35installment in the GTA franchise. Sure,
266. 7:37I think it's missing a couple things,
267. 7:38but in its entirety, the game is just
268. 7:40fun, like many of the other ones. With
269. 7:42GTA 6 on the horizon, if you haven't
270. 7:44played this before, then now is the
271. 7:46perfect time. You could easily finish
272. 7:48this with plenty of time to spare before
273. 7:49GTA 6, so that game feels fresh when you
274. 7:52go to play it this fall. Hopefully, that
275. 7:54game raises the bar and sets a new
276. 7:55precedent for the series going forward.
277. 7:57If you played this, what did you think
278. 7:59about Grand Theft Auto 5? What would you
279. 8:00rank as your favorite GTA of all time?
280. 8:02Let me know in the comments section
281. 8:04below, and if you enjoyed this video,
282. 8:05feel free to watch one of my other
283. 8:07reviews right here.