Why was GTA 4 universally overrated?

[VGPolyglot]

Conina said:

GTA IV also had a much more interesting main character than any GTA before that. Vice City had that cool '80s Miami Vice scenario, but the main character was bland.

And CJ in San Andreas was such a cliché character. But the most boring one always will be Claude of GTA 2 + 3.

Is it even supposed to be the same Claude in both games?