GTA V: Mourning Old Friends.

As a follower of the Grand Theft Auto series since the very first games I've been deeply in love with the franchise and I absolutely couldn't wait to get my hands on GTA V. September 17th was more of an event than a mere release date, I was particularly excited to be returning to my beloved San Andreas and even though I knew it wouldn't look the same, It would feel like I was still going to be driving down the same streets as my old buddies from Los Santos, for example, the one and only Carl "CJ" Johnson. In the build up to the release of GTA V my friends and I discussed who we would like to see return for even a quick cameo so we could see how they faired once the credits started to roll. One of my favourite things about San Andreas was the fact that I got overly excited when I got to race Claude and Catalina, or when Ken Rosenberg showed up with Kent Paul and Maccer.

I'd hoped that maybe along my travels with our 3 new protagonists there would be an encounter or two with some characters from the old days. But once I heard that Dan Houser had said in an interview that the new HD generation is set in a different universe from the older ones it actually really upset me to think that everyone I loved from the old games are now effectively...dead.

For me, Knowing that I will never get to see these great characters in future GTA titles is hugely depressing, And it felt so unnecessary for Rockstar to do it. I would have been fine if they had just said they didn't want any cameos because I could still let my imagination wander, while driving from Los Santos to Mount Chilliad I could think to myself " I wonder how Tommy Vercetti is getting on right now?" and even though I couldn't see or speak to them I knew they were out there doing something. But recently I was standing in Grove street surrounded by Ballas thinking to myself, "Sweet and Carl would be outraged by this" And then I remember that oh... they don't exist any more. And it's not like were stuck with bad characters I love Franklin, Michael and Trevor just as much as CJ, Tommy, Niko, or Claude. But I can't shake the feeling Rockstar didn't need to write them off entirely, It made the trip back to San Andreas a little less of a treat than it could've been.

I'll finish off by admitting it's a silly thing to get hung up on but it just nags at me whenever I think about it. And the Johnny Klebutz cameo from GTA IV was enough to blow my mind so maybe we don't need to keep reminiscing and we should move on. If anyone feels the same please say so as I don't know if I'm alone on this. But as for how the game was I don't have a bad word to say about GTA V it didn't disappoint for me at all, I think it's a masterpiece and I can't wait to see what more they can do with DLC, Until then I have plenty to do Online and Single player so I'm in no rush.