The game is just about shooting, driving and stealing shit. It is not this out this world experience haha. The amount of "GTA coming out some day" content that I get is way too much.

People can enjoy things. Why gatekeep?

It's a fun game series. I love to replay 3, Vice City and San Andreas.

I played Vice City and San Andreas when they first came out and I was a teenager. At the time they appealed to me as just a big open world to explore and cause mayhem in. There wasn't really much like it at the time. The story wasn't all that interesting to me.

I got GTA5 for free from Epic games years after it came out, and played about 30 minutes before I got bored.

I've been spoiled by so many other open world game options that GTA just doesn't do much for me anymore. I like to have a more interesting environment, or story.

I could say the exact same about fighting, racing, or other arcade-y games.

People like what they like, why shit on them for it?

Reasonably good third person shooter? That's quite rare.

The game is just about…

You could be this reductive about any game or, really, any other form of media.

Games are often about much more than their core gameplay elements, and that is especially true here. The GTA games are crime dramas with excellent storylines - especially IV and V, whose stories rivaled those of the TV shows. They’re packed full social and political commentary, satirizing American culture.

Each game is like a slice of American life in a time capsule.

Maybe because we can live as criminals and do criminal stuff in it without real world consequences..

It's fun to play around in a fully open real (modern) world simulation. Where else can you do that?

@Theprogressivist@lemmy.world - was the OP gatekeeping though? Or simply asking a question to understand the reason behind GTA's popularity?

@Soapbox@lemmy.zip - can you please recommend some games which have great stories? I am looking for some games to play. I am planning to start Plague Tale next weekend, but open to options. Thanks!

A lot of the hype it's because it's Rockstar. There aren't many studios with their level of attention to detail and budget to make it come true.

I played Vice City and I enjoyed both the open world and the fantastic soundtrack. Most of my playing was just driving around while listening to the radio. So I guess what I really wanted was a super simplified driving simulator and Kate Bush mp3s.

Was kinda loaded, but yeah, not really gatekeeping imo.

i like driving or flying games and shooting games - so why not both? and gta is and has been the best in the genre, so probably the next one will continue that trend

what games spoiled open world games for you, if i may ask?

There are two ways to make a game that leads the industry in a genre: invent a new genre, or be the preeminent example of the genre. The GTA franchise has a reputation of consistently being in the latter category.

A pretty standard list of open world RPGs from the last 20 years really:

Morrowind (predates VC and SA of course but I will still count it,)
Oblivion,
Fallout 3,
New Vegas,
Skyrim,
Fallout 4,
Witcher 3,
No Mans Sky,
Cyberpunk 2077,
Valheim,
Starfield (maybe not as much, but I got my fun out of it,)
Baldurs Gate 3,

I'm obviously a sucker for bugthesda style exploration and loot hoarding. I'm less interested in driving vehicles around I guess comparing that list to GTA. I also like RPG elements, heavy lore, and if lacking in lore, I enjoy creative outlets like in NMS and Valheim.

Edit: Also, to be more specific. I know GTA games have alot of story going on that people love. Not saying its bad. I'm just not that interested in contemporary crime stories. I'm not into crime movies or tv all that much either.

For this reason Vice City is the only GTA I am tempted to replay. Its just a vibes machine.

I like it when my partner commits crimes and when the heat gets too high she let's me escape from the fuzz. Besides Mario party and mini golf it's one of the few games she has fun playing, and we can do it together

Open worldwith a lot of detail to explore. The traffic and pedestrians act real enough. I can drive around and chill or be destructive as I want. Its
fun to drive fast without crashing or do crazy jumps wherever you want.

What about the game though?

The story mode in San Andreas and GTA IV were incredible. GTA V's story was still pretty amazing too... Not sure how you could've played enough of it in 30 mins to even be able to judge it.

If I tried it again in the right mood, I might get more sucked in. But as I mentioned in another comment, contemporary crime stories dont interest me much.

It's a fun sandbox. Lots of different things to do

The story of V is beyond stupid in some aspects, padding out game time enough that you don't even realise the stuff you are doing makes very little sense. IV was written a lot better, and with better characters.

Never been a fan, but it's basically a modern day RPG. Roll it to the future and you get Cyberpunk 2077.

All these posts and no one mentions the comedy and story telling. It's better than any show or movie you've ever witnessed

Because you can do whatever you want to do that are illegal to do in the real life.

People like a sandbox I guess.

I'm not too excited for GTA6 and 5 isn't as good as what came before.

The games that put it on the map, though, are timeless. Try playing one and see for yourself, we just don't get games like that anymore.

Agreed. The writing is top-notch in the older GTAs and we really don't see much that's comparable in the modern age.

With the worst controls imaginable

Best one on PS4 and PS3: GTA IV

Best one on PS2: GTA: SA

Best 2D one: GTA Chinatown Wars

IV's characters are so memorable. "Let's go bowling!" and I remember it like yesterday. It's almost twenty years ago. Can you believe it?

Same with SA, VC, and III.

WASD to move, Shift/Ctrl to duck, Space to jump, and use mouse to look around and shoot. With other words, standard FPS/TPS controls. Or are you talking about GTA and GTA II? The controls in those games are quite outdated xD

Because it's the only Canadian region with decent rail transit /s

I think they mean more how the character responds to the controls not the binding of controls

GTA was never an RPG, it's an action game with shooting and driving things.

It really can't be compared to Cyberpunk which is really focused in the RPG elements, making choices in every single sidequest out there, making your own character build with skill trees, items, body mods etc.

They're completely different genres, which is also why so many people got infuriated when Cyberpunk came out because it was not the Next GTA™ game they were expecting, even though Cyberpunk never really marketed to be like that.

I do want to try Cyberpunk once I get a job and I have enough money to build a decent gaming PC, because I refuse to pay for shit on consoles.

Aha. The more realistic animations. Yeah, I can agree to a certain point.