I thought chapter 6 and the ending particularly were a bit underwhelming.
I've got two main problems with it ; the first one is the writing regarding Arthur's disease.
The introspection side of it, and how it changes Arthur's whole perspective on life, is obviously fantastic (although putting the most meaningful scenes behind optional content is a bit of an odd choice). However when it comes to how other characters react to Arthur's desease, I feel like so many potential character moments were ignored.
Arthur's disease is pretty much never acknowledged by the other gang members. Some of them treat him like he has the flu or something, and others seem to be completely oblivious.
It's just super weird to not see anybody react to Arthur's terrible state, especially Dutch. Does he realize Arthur is dying by the end ? It didn't feel like it.
The entirety of chapter 6 Arthur is doing his thing and Dutch is in his little bubble of craziness, which negatively affects mission structure as the writing feels a bit repetitive (Dutch has crazy plan, Arthur complains but still goes with it, again and again). The ending felt unsatisfying to me as there's no real confrontation between Arthur and Dutch, mostly because of that annoying character in the middle, Micah.
And that guy is my second problem.
Now I commend the writers for never really going down the "Dutch ends up being a complete villain" path. However it's clear Micah was only created as a balance to that, to push Dutch over the edge and give Arthur a reason to stop all this, and it shows.
Micah is a one-dimensional, underdeveloped cunt. The only thing that one can discuss about him is how much of an constant pain in the butt he his.
Compelling villains are great. Micah isn't one. He has no motivation, no background, he isn't funny or impressive-looking, he has zero qualities that would make me say "man that dude's an asshole but I still like him !". He is by far the shittiest character in the game, and unfortunately ends up being the main antagonist. If that wasn't bad enough, having him be the traitor (in a cliché as hell scene where the bad guy reveals his secrets to the good guy right before dying) is the weakest, most unsurprising shit ever.
That's why fighting HIM as you're controlling Arthur for the last time is woefully unsatisfying. That fight had no symbolic value, there's no emotion here, because Micah and Arthur have nothing in common and not a shred of emotional connection, and the guy is nothing but a lazily written plot device. At that point I was just punching my frustrations with the game's writing.
And you don't even get to fucking kill him. I don't care about watching him "lose" when Dutch abandons him, or that you get to kill him in the epilogue (haven't gotten to that part yet). The only confrontation that made sense was with Dutch.
To me the game peaks at the end of chapter 5 (after you get back from Guarma obviously)/beginning of chapter 6. After that it feels rushed imo.
Also what was up with the super low-res textures on Arthur's face after his fight with Micah. That was really distracting, and right when he was dying too. I wonder if it looks better on X.
