Beamer wrote on Jun 29, 2021, 08:51:

VaranDragon wrote on Jun 29, 2021, 07:16:
Clearly this is a matter of subjective opinion. I hated all of the main characters, and all of their interactions too. The difference is, that it made sense to me to hate them and their miserable lives and companions. They were criminals and bad people. All of them. It was a deliberate choice to make them unlikable. In my case the choice to make them unlikable worked. In yours, well it obviously didn't.

Because Michael, Franklin, and Trevor weren't unlikable relative to the rest of the world. The game took great efforts to show that Michael was driven to this by being henpecked by an adulterous wife, slutty daughter, and worthless son. That a life of crime was the only way to get some control back in his life.

The protagonists may have been unlikable, but far less so than the side characters, which hinders that point. Not to mention, Trevor became kind of beloved and a regular sight at PAX.