Beat these games a few weeks ago. Went into it with zero nostalgia, only beat GTA 5 before and played around
with GTA 1 for a few hours

Here’s my take on the 3 games

GTA 3
This was a difficult game and I had to look up the guide on a handful of missions. The only time I actually noped out was when that Japanese guy made me drive around really fast. I wanted to come back to it later but I ended up killing him as part of the story. Gotta be honest, I don’t feel like I missed out on it. A lot of the missions seem a little dated but they’re still a lot of fun to play today. I did use the only one cheat code in this trilogy at the end to get some extra cash to unlock the final mission. Saving up became such a daunting task and I had wasted a lot of money on bullshit. The final mission for GTA 3 to me is the best final mission of the trilogy. Overall so like the gritty atmosphere. Relentless gangs that shoot at you were annoying, and really annoying in 1 particular part. Interesting to experience the origin DNA of modern games and where it started, kind of like Mario 64. An unexpectedly very memorable game that I keep thinking about. Took me 16 hours to roll credits.

GTA Vice City
Absolutely love the music, the setting and the atmosphere. As much as I loved GTA 3 there was a sense of relief when I got on the moped for the first time in Vice City, couldn’t stop grinning. Missions seem a bit more fleshed out compared to GTA 3 but the main thing was indeed the atmosphere and the music that just bolstered the experience of everything else. I was confused about how long this game is, as some people said 6 hours while others said 15z I was at 5 hours when I realized I had to do the asset missions to unlock the final mission and I spent a lot of time saving up because I had wasted a lot of money on rocket launchers and save point real estates not knowing I needed the money later. An immensely enjoyable game, took me 15 hours to roll credits.

GTA San Andreas
As far as the story and mission design goes it’s far the most advanced of the three. The atmosphere and the music felt like a step backwards compared to Vice City. Huge map but the game did a good job at on-boarding you to each section of the map with great pacing. Never felt like you were dropped on a pin of a huge map for you to figure it out on your own. I did enjoy the customization and I spent a few hours going to the gym and trying to find the resources to look the best to my liking. For me the highlights were the arcade shooting sequences that made me realize San Andreas had a deep impact on modern games such as Uncharted. Somehow I beat the nefarious supply lines mission on one go, but I literally just drove the RC by crawling around at ground level instead of flying it. Still an infuriating experience. The schools for driving and flying weren’t exactly fun but they served a purpose in training you, like a school should I suppose. But even with these sore points, San Andreas was overall the easiest game for me. And probably my fav of the trilogy when it’s all said and done. Took me 31 hours to roll credits

>>11802785
>Somehow I beat the nefarious supply lines mission on one go, but I literally just drove the RC by crawling around at ground level instead of flying it. Still an infuriating experience.
Supply Lines was apparently only an issue for the original black label PS2 release. For Greatest Hits releases and later like your picrel, and for ports to other platforms, they used a patched version of the game which fixed an apparent bug that caused way more fuel to be burned than intended.

>>11802774 (OP)

I love all three but I think my ranking is 3 > VC > SA. Maybe VC would be my favorite but the more I've played it, the less staying power it has had for some reason, while 3 just never gets old to me. It's weird. I find myself have the least fun with San Andreas overall. It has very high highs but some pretty boring lows.

>>11802790

It's still not an easy mission, even with the balance change. But yeah, on PS2 it completely boils down to the vans taking good routes since gas cannot be managed and instead works as sort of a timer until the mission ends. Most of the time, the vans do not take routes that make the mission possible but you have to waste a bunch of time each attempt to see if they did or not. Mission is broken as hell and deserves it's infamous reputation.

>>11802774 (OP)
Frankly I think your opinion is the closest to the general "consensus". VC wins in atmosphere, SA is the most "advanced" and most open one

>>11802790
>>11802826
It was an optional mission even tho the game doesn't tell you which missions are optional. Iirc every Zero, CV car import/export and Venturas heist mission is completely optional.

>>11802785
>The atmosphere and the music felt like a step backwards compared to Vice City
I strongly disagree.

>>11802785
SA's soundtrack is god tier. Music wise it mogs the other games so hard it's not even funny.

What game had the best talk radio?
I liked VCPR

>>11802782
The music of Vice CIty still stays with me to this day. Never came across the rocker launcher location next to the hotel?

>>11803497
San Andreas has the most variety of music, But Vice City has the most legendary tracks.

>>11802826
I agree that gta3 is the funnest to replay. I never could get into SA that much and as you say, vice city just doesn’t have the staying power. I might give San Andreas another shot

>>11802774 (OP)
Good reviews, agree with most of it, especially the part about GTA III's gritty atmosphere and how it's the one you keep thinking about

>>11803918
What tracks in VC are better than anything on Radio Los Santos? I can't think of any.

>>11802860
I always found VC to have the least atmosphere. It just feels like a boring florida beach city. Liberty city and san andreas are much more interesting areas.

>>11804190
Can't remember any tracks from that station, always skipped it. Maybe because I'm not black and subpar rhymes over boring instrumentals never got me excited.

>>11802774 (OP)
Now play the stories games. LCS is kinda meh but VCS is good.

>>11804476
I like the Stories games but I remember VCS had some really tough missions. Definitely the hardest GTA game imo, and Light My Pyre may be the hardest mission in the series

>>11804190
All of them. Video kills the radio star beats any song in sa. Then there's the fact that SA stands for sexual assault, fitting considering that's what blacks are best known for these days

>>11804190
The entire V-rock station, Flash FM and Emotion. That shit is peak nostalgia.

>>11802774 (OP)
Yeah that's about right. Question: which versions did you play? PS2, Xbox, PC? And if PC did you play it modded or with the reverse engineered source ports or what? I only ask cause legit the on-foot controls (and especially the aiming Jesus fucking Christ) was notoriously shit in the original releases of 3 and Vice City. Got mostly fixed in the PC port though - was just wondering which version you played since you didn't mention it.

>>11802826
>>11802860
>>11802790
iirc the fuel rate was a frame-based issue, and the PS2 unexpectedly ran the game better when you were flying than intended? it ends up sitting on 30 when you're flying that little thing and they were expecting an average of 21-25fps, right?

GTA 3 is the best GTA
Vice City is a better 3
San Andreas is for gays and losers