I technically started the Series with IV, it was because for the first time a GTA game had impressed me, but this was the Trailer for V that impressed me and I knew I wanted to play it but with IV complete being cheap I decided to see what all the fuss was about, It was an ok experience, I liked the story in the main game and the episodes, but I did not get the fuss about the freedom it felt useless because nothing mattered in the end.
I did get in to saints row as well and because I liked 3 first I can only see SR2 as a stepping stone in to what SR really became which is 3 and 4, ascending from GTA Clone to its own cartoonishly fun world. And what I liked about all 3 (never played SR1) is that everything felt like it mattered. I liked the Story, and could get in to the freeroaming becasue it was all enabled, and in support of progression. You could keep cars, your weapons were permanent and ever expanding, the more activities you did not only gained money, but enabled income to constantly fund the mayhem.
GTA 3 and vice city, I could not get past the ancient controls, I tried my dad's old copies, did not have fun even with cheats, too late and too old for me. (This was in 2015)
GTAV, I loved it, Favorite story, Favorite characters, Gameplay was more Red Dead like (A game I absolutely loved). BUT it was missing something. Again I wish i had the millions/billions earlier in the game because afterword it feels meaning less because you are done, no more missions, no more major income so you cant go too crazy, and the only permanent cars are the character vehicles. And depending on who has what the locations of big vehicles, planes, tanks makes it prohibitive if you want to use them mainly in a certain area. Also even though when you have millions 5000$ for deaths are a drop in the bucket, It makes random mayhem feel wasteful since even if you own something like the scrapyard, or do Treavors missions, your bit of cash is wiped out because outside of heists and stock market there is no good money maker, the buy able businesses feel like another completion thing than a decent income. Infact I have a head cannon that the businesses you can buy, are actually the real win of the game because you set all the characters for life after a life of crime, they are good money for a real person not a player who has 5000 dollar medical bills and thousands of dollars in ammo to buy, its more like implicit story instead of gameplay help.
GTA Online is my favorite, and what I think is the best GTA Game. The random mayhem and freedom that everyone I have heard praise the game for is finally fun with my friends to play. The slow progression in order to fund your collection of cars and military vehicles feels like I am rewarded with the tools to make my unofficial fun, It feels earned, it feels permanent. It adds in to GTA what i like about saints row, actuall ownership. You amass a collection of guns, clothes, Cars, military vehicles, Now even a Yacht, for a created character, through various activites and missions, then use these tools/toys to make some well earned fun with your firends, It is very Saints row, but because new GTA is more grounded in reality, themeing and gameplay wise, compared to Old GTA and Saints Row, everything feels more extraordinary. Its actually amazing, because GTA Online is a buggy, slow, and wierdly designed PIECE OF CRAP on the best of days yet the fun shines through overwhelmingly that of the 800 hours i have on GTAV, Only ~50 is single player. It makes me want to know what would happen if a full effort was put in to developing a pure MP GTA, instead of in addition and attached to GTAV, or any GTA sp game.
Curently playing through GTA San Andreas though from what I know, It may be one of the better ones, but it will be a complete and forget, not an obsession.
Sorry for the dissertation but I do feel like my reasoning needed my full experience with the GTA series.
I did get in to saints row as well and because I liked 3 first I can only see SR2 as a stepping stone in to what SR really became which is 3 and 4, ascending from GTA Clone to its own cartoonishly fun world. And what I liked about all 3 (never played SR1) is that everything felt like it mattered. I liked the Story, and could get in to the freeroaming becasue it was all enabled, and in support of progression. You could keep cars, your weapons were permanent and ever expanding, the more activities you did not only gained money, but enabled income to constantly fund the mayhem.
GTA 3 and vice city, I could not get past the ancient controls, I tried my dad's old copies, did not have fun even with cheats, too late and too old for me. (This was in 2015)
GTAV, I loved it, Favorite story, Favorite characters, Gameplay was more Red Dead like (A game I absolutely loved). BUT it was missing something. Again I wish i had the millions/billions earlier in the game because afterword it feels meaning less because you are done, no more missions, no more major income so you cant go too crazy, and the only permanent cars are the character vehicles. And depending on who has what the locations of big vehicles, planes, tanks makes it prohibitive if you want to use them mainly in a certain area. Also even though when you have millions 5000$ for deaths are a drop in the bucket, It makes random mayhem feel wasteful since even if you own something like the scrapyard, or do Treavors missions, your bit of cash is wiped out because outside of heists and stock market there is no good money maker, the buy able businesses feel like another completion thing than a decent income. Infact I have a head cannon that the businesses you can buy, are actually the real win of the game because you set all the characters for life after a life of crime, they are good money for a real person not a player who has 5000 dollar medical bills and thousands of dollars in ammo to buy, its more like implicit story instead of gameplay help.
GTA Online is my favorite, and what I think is the best GTA Game. The random mayhem and freedom that everyone I have heard praise the game for is finally fun with my friends to play. The slow progression in order to fund your collection of cars and military vehicles feels like I am rewarded with the tools to make my unofficial fun, It feels earned, it feels permanent. It adds in to GTA what i like about saints row, actuall ownership. You amass a collection of guns, clothes, Cars, military vehicles, Now even a Yacht, for a created character, through various activites and missions, then use these tools/toys to make some well earned fun with your firends, It is very Saints row, but because new GTA is more grounded in reality, themeing and gameplay wise, compared to Old GTA and Saints Row, everything feels more extraordinary. Its actually amazing, because GTA Online is a buggy, slow, and wierdly designed PIECE OF CRAP on the best of days yet the fun shines through overwhelmingly that of the 800 hours i have on GTAV, Only ~50 is single player. It makes me want to know what would happen if a full effort was put in to developing a pure MP GTA, instead of in addition and attached to GTAV, or any GTA sp game.
Curently playing through GTA San Andreas though from what I know, It may be one of the better ones, but it will be a complete and forget, not an obsession.
Sorry for the dissertation but I do feel like my reasoning needed my full experience with the GTA series.
