Rockstar Games' vice president of writing leaves after 16 years
Rockstar Games' vice president of writing leaves after 16 years
Rockstar Games' vice president of writing, Mike Unsworth, has departed the company. Unsworth had been at Rockstar for 1…
That’s troubling. I’ve been playing the shit out of both GTA V and RDR 2 because they have the two best campaigns I’ve ever played. Especially RDR2. It was unique in its trajectory, in its beats…I really hope the follow ups, (however many years down the road those might be) won’t be affected too much by this. The writing made those games what they are.
I haven’t played baldurs gate, but I’ve been seeing a lot about it, mostly positive. Interesting, the news about that company. Being successful doesn’t usually call for a massive shakeup. But that’s capitalism for you. Fuck the workers, squeeze more out of those you keep. Classic.
RDR2 straight up fucked me up. I've never had such an emotional response to a game as that one.
And (maybe foolishly), I didn't expect it. I walked right into the end of that storyline and got my ass handed to me.
When you walk into the drunk guys home for his money and kill him, but his son goes “pa, pa, pa…” I know it’s a video game, but I wasn’t expecting that. It was one of those moments where i can never forget. I felt like I actually hurt a person in my mind and kept thinking about it, still do. Absolutely the best game that brings you into the fold as a player.
Same here. The bit at the end where (spoilers) Arthur puts his hat on John had me hand-over-my-mouth-ugly-crying. (/spoilers)
I didn't think any game could be good enough to swing with RDR1 (not even the sequel, at first) but holy moly did RDR2 step up and do just that.
GTA V? Really? I absolutely hated the story in that, and I hated the characters. Here are some of my issues with it:
Trevor:
- interesting epilogue, but otherwise pretty much no character arc
- really wanted to see him try to take on the Los Santos gangs (DLC!)
Franklin:
- largely just does whatever Michael says
- wanted to start a dealership, but he kinda gives up once he makes it big (DLC!)
Michael:
- arc was okay, but he didn't seem like a good fit for main character, especially when Franklin gets the ending
All in all, I felt like the three character perspective was largely a distraction from the lack of actual storytelling. SA and IV didn't have that, so they actually had a meandering plot with some character development to round it all out.
I haven't finished RDR2 (it's so long!), but I really loved RDR and heard that story for RDR2 is even better.
I mean, I’d argue that GTA V didn’t have the most emotional storytelling, but it wasn’t a character driven game like RDR2. The characters had the stories they did because they each opened up different avenues into different types of crimes. They didn’t focus on it. The characters were all insufferable. But that doesn’t mean the writing for the story itself wasn’t good. Yeah, the characters all kinda sucked, but the storytelling propelled the tension and wasn’t just some lame bullshit that felt like it needed to be there. The characters don’t develop that much, but the backstory was great, the intrigue and the vastness of the word made it great. That’s all writing. But you’re right, it couldn’t stand alone as a character driven story.
RDR2 on the other hand is a character driven story at its heart. You definitely need to play it because it’s incredibly well done. If you’re looking for good storytelling, emotional connections to the characters’ trajectories, and a great fuckin game, RDR2 is where you wanna be.
Speculating but they’ve probably already wrapped up all the writing for GTA VI and planned to move on after that. Imagine with Houser leaving we’ll see a few more vets as they finish up their roles for VI.
What about Larian?
I dunno, I’m not a huge gamer. I’ve had just FIFA and gta v on my console for years happily. Rdr2 is a newer purchase for me and I love it. But I don’t really like fantasy games, so I’m not really larian’s audience.
I like shooting and driving and open worlds. And soccer. I put off getting rdr2 for so long because I couldn’t drive. I regret writing it off because I was definitely wrong about it
So, I don't really have high hopes for GTA VI and absolutely none for RDR3.
If you were okay with "man, after getting away from a life of crime, is immediately pulled back in by people who don't have his best interests at heart and will use him to betray others before eventually getting betrayed themselves" for over two decades, I don't think you need to worry. Took until RDR2 to break that mold.
GTA VI is probably already written, so should be fine.
Yes, when good people leave, you know there is no problem.
Reminds me of Jeff Kaplan, everything went down the drain after that, and people called me negative thinking.