This series has a reputation as "spree killer simulator" among older folk who don't play games for a reason, it's very shocking visually and I feel the only reason people act like it's not is just normalization (both of video game violence and shocking internet videos)

@Devixicus I'm not sure if normalization is the full explanation. At least, not from other video games and videos. Maybe a big-picture kind of "ludo-narrative dissonance" sure but.

Also, not sure if I followed your comment about the "spree killer simulator". What do you mean by "older folk who don't play games for a reason"?

I mean the types of people who don't play games can often be shocked seeing stuff like what you can do in GTA. I meant "older folk who don't play games" to be a separate thought from "for a reason" (which was following up "this series has a reputation"), my bad on the poor sentence structure

@Devixicus Ah I understand now. I've always been aware of that reputation but always shrugged it off as the same reactionary stuff from the 90s that was the scapegoat for Colombine, etc. I think the way video game violence was initially portrayed by the media was so over-the-top and fearmonger-y that it made me channel out any commentary about it. Not like I've seen any good critique about video game violence though.

I had roughly the same reaction when I used the feature in GTA:VC that let you make your own radio station out of your own MP3s.

I want to think that most people are actually drawn to Rockstar’s games for their wildly authentic-feeling recreations of recognizable places. Imagine if they ever had the confidence to re-use the map from one of these for a game that was focused on interacting with the world in some way that wasn’t mass murder.

Even in this game, some of my best memories are aimlessly riding a bicycle around the city, unarmed and accomplishing nothing beyond existing in the world they’d created.

@Patteca here here, I loved the possibility of just going anywhere with different modes of transportation. It doesn't have to be a violent experience, but unless you play it ultra safe it's somewhat inevitable. Doing sweet jumps in an empty harbor or dirt park was cool though