When Grand Theft Auto V released in 2013, it established itself as the standard for open-world games. Seven years later, there has yet to be a game that goes beyond what GTA V did for the genre as a whole. Cyberpunk 2077, through its rocky launch and underwhelming depiction of an open-world, makes this incredibly apparent with its similar setting and gameplay.
GTA V created an open-world environment that felt alive and dynamic to the player's action. Significant games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and even Rockstar's own Red Dead Redemption II would only be able to capture a few of the elements that made GTA V such a great standard for open-world games. With GTA V set to re-release on the PS5 and Xbox Series X, let's take a look back at one of the best open-world games ever designed.
One of the more significant things that GTA V's open-world environment does well is how alive it feels. Very rarely does something happen that tears the player out of the world. Pedestrians aren't on planned paths; they can be standing around with other pedestrians, sitting on the curve, chat on the phone and even react dynamically to the events around them.
NPCs in Cyberpunk have been found to cower in place whenever a gunfight or car chase breaks out nearby, remaining in that position until the player leaves the area. Townspeople in Skyrim have an almost opposite response. No matter if the threat's a dragon or a single bandit, they'll more often than not pull out a weapon and put their lives on the line. While it's certainly funny and could potentially be a testament to Nord culture, seeing a band of sword-wielding farmers banding together to slay a dragon tends to be fairly immersion breaking.
GTA V takes a straightforward approach to how Los Santos' citizens would react to danger: they run for the hills. This does a lot for the idea of Los Santos being a living, breathing open-world whilst also complimenting the general gameplay of a GTA game. Normal citizens would probably flee if someone were mowing down police officers with a minigun, and seeing the crowds of pedestrians flee helps to add to the game's chaotic nature.
However, it's not just a canned response for civilians to flee if there's danger. If the player is posing some kind of minor threat, like bashing their car or punching them, GTA V's NPCs will often actually defend themselves. It's only when a weapon bigger than their own gets pulled out that they decide to flee. On top of that, certain NPCs will actually have different reactions to different types of threats, with some fleeing no matter the kind of danger and others standing their ground more often than not.
That simple variance level is perfectly realistic and helps Los Santos feel much more alive than other open-world environments. NPC behavior isn't the only thing to point out with GTA V's open-world design. One of the most important aspects of GTA V is that the world continues to exist, even after the main story is completed. This goes beyond having post-game side-quests or DLC content, as many open-world games have a problem where they end up feeling empty and void, lacking the little things that were introduced through story missions that kept everything alive.
Skyrim illustrates how easy it is for an open-world to become empty with its limited amount of interactions. There's a finite amount of side-quests, dialogue options and random events that can occur. Once these all happen, NPCs will simply repeat the same phrases, and the world stops changing to match the player's actions. Granted, Skyrim has so much content that a normal player will more than likely never actually hit this level of emptiness.
However, GTA V gives players things to do in the open-world that don't require a questline. At any point, players can call up other characters to hang out at the bar or see a movie. They can ride rollercoasters or go golfing. There are tons to do in Los Santos that may get repetitive after a while, but allows the characters to continue to exist, event after the main story concludes. Cyberpunk 2077 could've benefited immensely from the ability to call up certain characters to hang out or grab a drink rather than tying all of that to one-time completable missions.
Another way that GTA V set the standard for open-world games was with how missions are presented. In-game, some missions are certainly given a sense of urgency that makes them feel as though they're on a timer. However, Rockstar also knows when to provide the player with less important story missions that allow the player to explore the world.
Skyrim also does this really well, even though the overarching story is about the end of the world. Missions are often given vaguely explained "due-dates" that allow the player to interpret when they need to complete them. This encourages exploration that allows players to get the most out of the game's open-world and prevents players from feeling rushed to complete the main story.
In short, Rockstar knew how to use the open-world environment to the benefit of their gameplay. With many other open-world games, certain aspects end up conflicting with the exploration-focused nature of the genre. Perhaps the standard that GTA V set prioritized designing a game that worked within the limitations of an open-world, rather than one that happened to include an open-world.