Now I agree, I was among the critics of this game and the state they launched it in. Took them 3 years to fix this mess but here we are and the way it is right now, I can recommend it. I'll break it down why:


- The original game albeit has better "nostalgic feels" but it could be somewhat of a minor inconvenience modding it to look to modern standard. If you're someone like me who doesn't like the hassle, I can say after the latest update, this game is almost there.

- Most of the animations are fixed now, the classic lighting option brought back the OG games feels and I'm all for it.

- The performance is also good enough after a minor fix (mentioned at the last) and almost 0 crashes.


- Most character models are fine but some of them look absolutely cursed (for example: the fat ballas gang member, denise, some NPCs, etc.). I don't think rockstar is gonna fix it at this point but it does look ugly at times.

- The latest update fixed many broken animations (CJ crouching, swimming, etc.) but some weird animations still exist.

VERDICT:

This game (the entire trilogy) is a recommend from me on a sale as I feel it is now at a point where you can just install it and play it (with the classic lighting option enabled) and it feels like the right mix of modern and OG game feels. Rating - 8/10.

Here's my suggested settings to get the best experience;
- use the command "-dx12" (without the quotes) in steam's additional command space
- run the game on high preset but turn off DLSS and turn down any sorta reflections to medium (ignore this if you have a beefy system)
- by default, the game sets the contrast at 50%. turn it down to 30%. it fixes the dark character models appearing too dark.

[h1] THE DEFINITIVE WAY TO PLAY GTA SA IF YOU DON'T WANT THE HASSLE OF MODDING THE OG GAME [/h1] Now I agree, I was among the critics of this game and the state they launched it in. Took them 3 years to fix this mess but here we are and the way it is right now, I can recommend it. I'll break it down why: [h2] WHAT'S GOOD: [/h2] - The original game albeit has better "nostalgic feels" but it could be somewhat of a minor inconvenience modding it to look to modern standard. If you're someone like me who doesn't like the hassle, I can say after the latest update, this game is almost there. - Most of the animations are fixed now, the classic lighting option brought back the OG games feels and I'm all for it. - The performance is also good enough after a minor fix (mentioned at the last) and almost 0 crashes. [h3] MINOR NITPICKS: [/h3] - Most character models are fine but some of them look absolutely cursed (for example: the fat ballas gang member, denise, some NPCs, etc.). I don't think rockstar is gonna fix it at this point but it does look ugly at times. - The latest update fixed many broken animations (CJ crouching, swimming, etc.) but some weird animations still exist. [b] VERDICT: [/b] This game (the entire trilogy) is a recommend from me on a sale as I feel it is now at a point where you can just install it and play it (with the classic lighting option enabled) and it feels like the right mix of modern and OG game feels. Rating - 8/10. Here's my suggested settings to get the best experience; - use the command "-dx12" (without the quotes) in steam's additional command space - run the game on high preset but turn off DLSS and turn down any sorta reflections to medium (ignore this if you have a beefy system) - by default, the game sets the contrast at 50%. turn it down to 30%. it fixes the dark character models appearing too dark.