Similar to Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned, and The Ballad of Gay Tony, Grand Theft Auto V features friends that the player can hang out with. However, the activities that can be done are far less diverse than that of the previous title.
Improving on the friendship mechanic in GTA IV and its episodes, which was widely criticized by fans for being annoying, the friends in GTA V will never call the player to hang out, and there is no consequence for never calling friends. Also, none of the friends offer the players a special ability like in GTA IV, as there are no statistics in GTA V for how much like and respect your friends give you. That said, friends may comment if it's been a long time since the previous outing, or if the player takes too long to pick the friend up from their location.
List of Activities
List of Friends
Each protagonist has their own set of friends to hang out with, and several are also shared with other protagonists. It is also possible to hang out with two common friends with the exception of Jimmy, who can only hang out with one protagonist at the same time. Different combinations of friends will generate differing exchanges of dialogue, depending in part on where the player is in the storyline.
The two possible combinations for three characters hanging out at one time include Michael, Franklin, and Trevor, and Franklin, Lamar, and Trevor.
| Friends and Activities | Cinema | Bar | Strip Club | Darts | Tennis | Golf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy De Santa | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Amanda De Santa | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Trevor Philips | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Franklin Clinton | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Friends and Activities | Cinema | Bar | Strip Club | Darts | Tennis | Golf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy De Santa | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Lamar Davis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Trevor Philips | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Michael De Santa | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Friends and Activities | Cinema | Bar | Strip Club | Darts | Tennis | Golf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy De Santa | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Lamar Davis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Franklin Clinton | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Michael De Santa | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Trivia
- Jimmy is the only character that all three protagonists can hang out with.
- Despite Amanda being a female "friend" that only Michael can hang out with, one would think that she may have unique qualities while hanging out with her (similar to that of girlfriends in GTA San Andreas and GTA IV). However, Amanda is treated the same as any other friend in the game, and does not have any exclusive activities. This may be due to Michael and Amanda's relationship being more strained and complicated rather than romantic.
- Michael and Trevor are the only friends who can do all activities: Franklin and Lamar cannot play tennis, Amanda won't go to the strip club or play darts, and the bar and strip club are off-limits to Jimmy unless he is with Franklin.
- Similar to GTA IV's episodes, there is no option on the player's phone in GTA V to choose a specific activity to do with a friend. Instead, there is simply one option to "Hang Out" with the friend.
- Also, the friends will never call the player to pick them up from the hospital if they are injured. However, they may choose to stay away from the player for a while and will not say yes when the player asks to hang out with them.
- In the GTA IV trinity while hanging out with a friend, only one set of dialogue will play, where the friend(s) and the protagonist converse with each other. After the conversation ends, they will no longer speak to each other. However in GTA V, as the player is out with a friend longer, the game will start cycling through the different dialogues, giving the characters many things to talk about while hanging out. This is due in part to the fact that going to some activities, such as the darts game in Sandy Shores or the bar in Paleto Bay, involve much longer drives than anything found in GTA IV.