Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

A solid evolution from the past game, for sure. However, there are some flaws that made this game not that appealing today.

First of all, the graphics are pretty good on the Definitive Edition - playing at 4K HDR. It's probably the best-looking GTA in terms of colors. I love the color palette and the overall theme. The acting has improved significantly, and the story is much more engaging compared to GTA III. Gameplay is objectively better, with great vehicle control and more responsive gunfights.

The only thing that got on my nerves here is how Rockstar made some missions specifically to increase the game's duration. Some are so boring that I honestly quit the game pretty close to the last mission. Basically, to unlock the game finale, you have to complete some assets, which involve buying six businesses and doing their missions. I didn't have the money, so all I could do was wait for the assets to generate money, so I could buy the remaining ones. I bought four out of six, and it was enough for me. I saw the last mission on YouTube, and since it's not a big deal, I feel like I saved my time.

Being forced to play side quests that don't add anything to the main story was a dumb decision. Also, I liked the references, but that was it. There's nothing so original here about the plot. I still recommend it, but with those caveats.

Completed as of writing this review: Base Game with some optional things.

After beating GTA III almost a year ago, I can see a major improvement in GTA: Vice City by being a better, more fun and more diverse game. The missions, the story, the gameplay, the characters, everything is better. However, what I think of GTA III, the same can be said for GTA: Vice City: you can look at it only in retrospect, because you can see it being an improvement of GTA III's gameplay, but each game after overcomes it in my opinion (with some exceptions). I can see how Rockstar tried to do the best they can with the technology they had back in the days, as the cutscenes look cinematic enough and cinematography really makes you feel like you're watching a movie, but the facial expressions are really hit-and-miss most of the time. Sometimes even the eyes were disappearing from the face and I could see through them. And that's not all. 40% of the base game I was solving a puzzle on what the game wants me to do to progress. It does a terrible job at telling what to do after you complete Love Fist missions. And you could say "Just look up a guide or google it.", but when the only way you can make a game perfect for you, is by looking up a guide on how to beat it without itself telling you or at least giving a hint - that's a bad game design. But still, that didn't kill my opinion about the game. Sure it was tedious as hell, but what's in the base story is what sells it. I can see why people liked it over the years, but it also has pills, that are hard to swallow.

I recommend it to everybody, who hasn't beaten it, but also likes other GTA games. Make sure to install a ton of mods though, as the PC port is bad for today's standards.