DTulpa
21d ago
My start was with GTA3 on PC, but Vice City is my favorite of the PS2-era trilogy. I played through all of them in the last few years, so I have a semi-fresh perspective. GTA3 can feel a little prototype-ish given what came after, and San Andreas is a wee bit overstuffed for its own good. I was ready for it to the end near the final stretch.
But each game has its own theme and flavor where YMMV. I like the flat geography of VC and the looping map design, whereas I found getting to far-out places a pain in the ass in the other two gamss. I dig the 80s beach look and the soundtrack is nothing but bangers. SA nails its own 90s vibe, but I don't find it as fun or resonant despite being a child of that decade.
VC has just enough fleshing out to be a meaningful update over its predecessor without going overboard with extraneous systems and doodads. It's the pure heroin version of GTA afaic. I can't remember if it needs to be downgraded like SA for an 'authentic experience', but I would stick to vanilla-friendly mods/patches. You don't need more than what's already on offer with the base game plus some fixes or QOL improvements (ie. save anywhere).
It's a small pond here at TheMotte. Don't need to worry about some wild take here swaying politics to any significant degree. You can safely drop your concerns and have some fun, bucko.
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