I think what this highlights, and i'm not sure how to say it without it sounding corny, is a fundamental difference in approach, when designing game.
R*'s is one that is very peculiar and seems to follow the lead team's (Housers, Garbut, Benzies, etc) vision, no matter what.
They clearly have a very different idea when it comes to creating games than most other people, and they have the will and freedom to follow it, despite a lot of controversy.
They would sooner add physics to a dog's piss, dripping down the street into a sewer, than focus on responsiveness and other factors that (most) would consider a priority.
This leads to some of the most detailed and peculiar world building you can find, but also to some really weird game design decision and problems that were already solved in the industry, years ago.
You just have to look at GTAIV, which is probably the apex of this mentality, to see it:
You can deviate rockets with your bullets, all physics based (and so can the enemy):
yet the game doesn't have a competent shooting mechanic which, even by that time, was pretty much a nailed down issue.
This however leads to often incredible details, like the accuracy of procedural animations, or the fact that if you shoot an enemy on his bulltproof vest, you won't do much damage, but still get him off his feet:
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This is visible in all their last gen projects, but i think it was one of the key factors even prior to then, something that made them come up with elements like the Radio Stations system in GTA 1.
Watch Dogs on the other hand feels like a much more traditionally designed game, for better or worse; doesn't help, of course, that it has those Ubisoft bucketlist priorities, but in general those kind of very weird details will be the first thing to get lost, exactly because they don't come from straight game design logic, but from a personal vision that drives R*, who can maintain their total independence and do whatever the fuck they want.
R*'s games, bottomline, will always have a more authorial feeling, which means if you don't like their quirks, makes it very hard to see improvements from one title to the other.
Much like, if you didn't like a Lynch movie, you probably won't like the next.
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