Loved GTA3, Vice City, and of course the amazing San Andreas. Hated the downgrade that was GTA4... dropped it after a couple of hours and never played a GTA since (even though GTA5 looked like a massive improvement). But I'm super excited for GTA6! About time I revisit the series.

Vice City on PS2 was my first game in the series - 2004

San Andreas on PS2 was my second game I played in the series back in 2006.

I did play GTA Liberty City Stories on PSP during the late 2000s but never finished it.

I played GTA4 on Steam back in 2014, finished it but hated the gameplay, the missions were not as memorable/fun as the previous games I played and I just didnt like the color/visuals of the overall game.

I played GTA3 on Steam in late 2017 and finished it in 2018.

So its been 6 years since I last played a GTA game.

I'm 4 hours into GTA5 on PS5 and really enjoying it. I'm thinking about revisiting VC and SA again on Steam in the future but the next GTA game I'll likely be playing will be GTA6 when it comes out on PS5 next year (hopefully next year and no more delays lol)

Gaming update!

I finished The King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match (Non-Final edition) for PS4 on my PS5 before the weekend.

Took me 14 hours to finish.

Scored it a 75 out of 100

+Large roster of characters to play
-AI is annoying, especially the last boss.

The King of Fighters 94 (NGO): N/A
The King of Fighters 95 (NGO): N/A
The King of Fighters 96 (NGO): N/A
The King of Fighters 97 (NGO): N/A
The King Of Fighters '97 Global Match (PC): 72
The King of Fighters 98 (NGO): N/A
The King of Fighters 98 Ultimate Match (PS4): 75
The King of Fighters 99 (NGO): N/A
The King of Fighters 2000 (NGO): N/A
The King of Fighters 2001 (NGO): N/A
The King of Fighters 2002 (NGO): N/A
The King of Fighters 2003 (NGO): N/A
The King of Fighters XIII Steam Edition (PC): 90

--

As for what I am playing now....

Grand Theft Auto V (PS5) - started over the weekend, 4 hours in, been doing some side missions but noticed cant really do them well due to not having the high stats for running (and poor cars for racing lol).

Driveclub (PS4) - Finished the base game, doing the DLC expansions, loving the weather effects. 98 hours in.

I had a reunion with a childhood friend who brought FF6 and a 2D GTA (don't remember if it was 1 or 2), I was playing through FFX and GTA3, and on the same day I tried my first 2D GTA and 2D Final Fantasy! 2001 was loaded with gaming greatness. I swear that single year felt like a whole damn generation.

The freedom in GTA3 was unbelievable for its time, but I never actually finished it because school work + ridiculous amount of games + my brother being a gamer too meant that I couldn't beat every game. We shared one PS2 and didn't have enough free time.

I got all 4 mainline 3D GTA's at launch, but skipped GTA5 after GTA4 killed my interest for the reasons you mentioned and then some (GTA5 didn't give a fuck though, looking at how much it sold lol. Am I like the only Playstation dude here that never played it?)

I'm glad you're enjoying GTA5, I'm definitely getting 6 at launch, and yes hopefully in 2025!

Ive never had a game I tried to "get into" more than GTA4. Insanely good reviews, and, I admit, a technical marvel. But playing it was so....un fun. The constant cell phone calls, often in the middle of missions, and the fact that you got dinged in your personal relationships for not answerinig/going to meet them. Then the minigames were so painful when I just wanted to advance the main story.

I also have a very weird pet-peeve when it comes to driving in games. Games that create these great real-world modern worlds....then when you go drive you are constantly bumping into things, running over people, etc. And of course you dont follow stoplights/etc...nobody wants to take 20 minutes just to drive to the next location. It just takes me out of the realism the game is trying to create. I know its stupid, and maybe if it was my only complaint I could get over it, but it does exist for me. Its part of why I much prefer the Red Dead games to GTA.

Anyway, I was so annoyed with GTA4 I never even tried GTA 5. I heard the cell phone thing was largey rectified, though still there in some way, maybe? I dunno.

Since people are only mentioning GTA3 or above, GTA2 is still the most fun game in the series.
Both GTA1 and 2 were once freeware but sadly they are not even available anymore outside physical copies.
Playing GTA2 on my PS1 was so much fun.

After the Metaphor demo, I got in an SMTV mood. My save was in post-game. So I set out to find for all 200 Minmans. I did. I set out to beat Satan superboss. I did. Then said do I have it in me to beat Demifriend again? (first was on vanilla SMTV on Switch) I did and now he is in my party. Nahobino is level 113. One day might get to 150.

Similar stories. i picked up III on a whim and loved it but mostly just did the cheats and rampages. Only did the story to unlock the other areas/islands. 

GTA Vice City and San Andreas remain on my favourite game list for good reason since they had actual soul and characters and vast gameplay improvements. VERY impressive for their time. 

But GTA IV just pissed me off. IT lacked the colour or personality of Vice City or San Andreas. It lacked the world building or fun characters of any of the prior games. I genuinely HATED like 95% of the cast, like, beyond just 'oh, these guys are silly' and straight into 'if I have to hear Brucie say one more fucking word I'm going to punch a hole in the wall'. It was like...what if EVERY character in Legend of Zelda was as annoying as Navi or Fi with an added layer of wannabe edgy M-rated humour. I hated the driving mechanics that felt like you were driving on ice throughout. I hated the removal of all the fun RPG mechanics that were introduced in San Andreas. I know I'm in the minority here but I personally hated that they ditched the pop culture references and did something original. yeah, I respect them for it but without the anchor of the existing IP they were lampooning the story felt bland, empty, and mean-spirited. They didn't get good at storytelling, in my opinion, until 2010 with Red Dead Redemption (That and RDR2 are two of the best video game stories ever). GTA IV just sorta settled into this middle ground where they weren't parodying movies but hadn't found their feet for original storytelling yet. 

I almost skipped GTAV because of how much I loathed GTA IV and I'm glad I didn't. The world was more interesting, the characters were more interesting, the gameplay mechanics were more interesting. The game was more fun, had a better sense of scale and scope than ever before, was serious while still retaining the goofy elements I came to love in the PS2 era. I personally didn't care for the heists (too complicated, personally, always felt like if i made one wrong move I'd end up fucking everything up and that anxiety kept me from enjoying them).

and once again I'm eager to play GTA VI. I loved Vice City the best in terms of locale. I like the male/female dynamic so I can actually play as a woman for once. Their storytelling has gotten exponentially better. I'm still mildly resentful over how much I hated IV (it holds a special place on my list of games I hate from franchises I love alongside Final Fantasy XIII and Dark Souls II), but everything they've done since 2010...all three games...have been stone cold classics. 

Is PSN down for anyone else?

I have GTA1 and GTA2 on Steam.

I just cant get into it. Top down view ruins the experience for me - I might try it again but who knows lol