The year is almost over, but there are still a healthy handful of quality video game releases on the way. Most notably is theGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition, the hotly anticpated collection ofthree classic GTA gamesremade for the modern era.Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, andGrand Theft Auto: San Andreasare all beloved classics in the open world genre, and they can soon be experienced by older fans and new players alike when the collection hits all current platforms next month.
WhileGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Editionwill be available for all major platforms, there is one console that is arguably the preferred choice for experiencing this new collection. There is no doubt that the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions will be great, taking advantage of the hardware to deliver a polished technical experience. However, the Nintendo Switch brings another element to the table that can give it an edge over the alternatives.
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The Nintendo Switch’s Portability
It’s not news at this point that theNintendo Switch is a hybrid console, capable of being played both at home on a big TV as well as on the go. This dual functionality was a big part of the marketing for the platform from the beginning, and continues to remain a major selling point. This is for good reason, as the ability to be able to seamlessly continue a game that was started at home while on the go is hugely compelling. Grand scale adventures likeThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which require numerous hours to complete, can be played in smaller chunks throughout a day thanks to the Switch’s design.
Because of this console accessibility, the Switch is a great console for the concept of “pick up and play”. A gamer can turn on the console for a few minutes in between other tasks, make as much progress as desired, then put the console to sleep and continue later. This can make otherwise dauntingly huge gaming experiences seem more digestible, as they can be chipped away at in a pace that’s comfortable for each particular player. Theopen world genreis known for this feeling of being daunting, which is why the aformentionedBreath of the Wildand other titles likeThe Witcher 3: Wild Huntare a good fit on the platform.
Classic GTA Mission Structure
With the Nintendo Switch’s easy accessibility in mind, it makes it all the more evident whyGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Editionis a good fit on the platform. These threeclassic GTA games, while similar in some ways toGrand Theft Auto 5, play differently in terms of mission structure, moment to moment goals, and overall open world mayhem. These older titles are clearly from a different time, an earlier era when open world games were still in their infancy. This isn’t a negative, however, and actually works to this particular collection’s strength on the Nintendo Switch.
Grand Theft Auto 5is often considered a benchmark inopen world game design, and to this day is still a massive adventure to undertake. The heists are detailed and epic, shootouts are viscerally violent and the overall plot is a gripping crime drama. By comparison, these three olderGTAtitles are much more simple and straightforward. Brief cutscenes play before and after a mission setup, and payoff the action the player takes on. The missions themselves can also be completed in a matter of minutes, give or take, making them much more approachable for a portable experience. With the remasters not as demanding from a graphical standpoint as something likeGTA 5, the collection should also run well on the Nintendo Switch, giving fans good reason to consider picking it up on the platform.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Editionreleases on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S digitally on November 11th. The physical version will release on December 7th 2021.
