I just replayed GTA V after the update and I forgot how bad I feel on the torture mission. But then I remembered what the guy looked like and only had to deal with two cutscenes worth. Also got a great line of dialogue if you shout the target early.
I absolutely hate that mission. Even for GTA it sticks out as especially mean-spirited. I always use the battery as few times as needed to get it over with, because it seems like the least horrible thing to do to him.
Trevor’s speech following the mission actually has a decent amount of meat to it for that exact reason. He makes a valid point and the mission is used to demonstrate his point.
He points out how the guy was completely willing to give info, but because everyone is so torture happy, they make a game out of it the whole time (yes, I’m aware), cracking jokes and totally enjoying the guy’s pain.
I really hope the social commentary that permeates Los Santos is still there in GTA VI. Based on what we got in RDR2, I have no reason to doubt this game is going to be scathing on the current political climate. Time will tell.
My favorite part about my Dark Urge playthrough is that they often phrase the option as something like, "think about hurting the cat," and that cat was just a dick to me so while I'd never actually hurt the cat, I can certainly think- oops, I just fucking tortured and murdered that cat.