I recently replayed GTA V and later GTA III for the Nth time. In my personal view, its use of satire is no longer valid, and modern USA has caught up with its United States of Absurdity. In fact, not only has it caught up, it's surpassed it. It just felt like it wasn't satirical anymore, but a gangster film glorifying crime.

I made a video here: https://youtu.be/mIBkVfv2v3w

Feel free to share it around if you like it.

GTA 2 was peak.
III - San Andreas was fine, liked Vice City probably the most.
Absolutely zero interest in IV and on.

They dropped the arcadiness and went for realism. Don't give a damn about the current political situation or whatever, it's just the focus of the games I no longer care about.

Vice City is my favorite in terms of pure fun.

As for GTA 2. All I remember is going to a specific area, getting the tank, and just wreaking havoc until I got bored. I don't remember any of the missions (doubt I did many actual ones). Any missions that stood out?

Liam Lynch: United States of Whatever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz7_3n7xyDg

Yeah…take your political views elsewhere because no one here wants to hear it. Your video is shallow, pedantic, and simple-minded.

Hot Dog Homicide:
Loading a bus with people and driving them to get processed in a meat factory.

Deconstruction Yard:
Just for the obvious reference to the Construction Yard from C&C games.

The couple doing crimes depicts, I guess, those famous gangsta' couples that give turn to some couples, and maybe instead of crime, they will play a video game.
There were also GTA London 1961 and GTA London 1969.

The best parody of: "voted the best most dangerous city to live in" was GTAIII, and I like the radio.
While Vice City 80's, was an exotic version of this. What I feel. While IV gettin' more realism with doses of humour.

Wait a minute, was it really ever going in the States or just in New York-like city, California-like-city, Florida-like city.....
I think this game is as much about the United States as Saints Row or XIII or Blur....
I consider the United States a police country, with total control over it's Citizens, nothing like in those games : )
pure abstraction! ^°

I feel like people keep forgetting that we've always had this absurdity in the real world, it was just gatekept at best and often underreported.

What is it with Rockstar and the cannibalism thing?! :P Oh, definitely. The radio stations are were it's at in regards to satire. Maybe I should have leaned in on that aspect. Eh, maybe. One thing's for sure, The Onion has run out of ideas.

FTFY :)

Oh, another touchy subject...

I'd argue the keyword here is self-irony, or rather the ability to see yourself from another perspective, no matter how embarrassing or shameful it is or might be.

Take any popular stand-up comedian and see how powerful their satire and entertaining show is via self-irony, i.e. making fun of themselves. Or ala South Park, American Dad, Allo Allo etc. And naturally, some people can't handle that kind of self-deprecating humour (especially the Brits).

The 90's and early 00's games was peak wit and sarcasm in games (especially point and click games), even the early GTA had it to some degree, but later it got lost on the way to perfection (i.e. a parody of realism).

Bottom line; times changes and GTA VI is no doubt going to be another intellectually challenged title.

I don't know. Having lived in both the US and the UK for many years, I think the British love self-deprecating humour. At least, that's my personal experience.

Regardless, GTA was satirical to a fault, but also childish, which would immediately remove it from the "touchy subject" category, since it wasn't taking itself seriously until the later entries.

However, the fact that Leslie Benzies, Dan Houser, and Lazlow Jones have since left Rockstar Games, is enough to be skeptical of the series' trajectory, seeing what GTA V was and what it became down the line.

Btw, in regards Dan Houser's comment here's a link from 2018:
https://www.pcgamer.com/rockstar-boss-thankful-not-to-be-releasing-gta-6-during-trumps-presidency/

And here's the follow-up 6 years later:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/11/06/rockstar-once-said-it-was-thankful-gta-6-wouldnt-release-during-a-trump-presidency/

I respectfully disagree with your point of view. I consider it wrongly based, mixing satire, sarcasm, american culture as the GTA games' subject matter, and chaos in a very strange way to force your argument, if any all those deviations could

I do not join the futile resignation of drinking the meaningless nihilism to passively accept the whole misery of nothingness, wildly applied to everything in culminating despair. I wonder what Sartre's existentialism would say about that.
In comparison, the GTA discrepancies I could list are insignificant. It's just a damn game series, not some ultimate truth of life

That's pretty much the gist here summed up perfectly.....lots of verbose nonsense and pseudointellectualism disguised as philosophical insight (BS)...through the lens of...VIdeo Games. It's a little sad to be honest....sad that people are this delusional about the real world and also sad because someone took (wasted) the time to create this content.

Nothing, and I repeat, nothing, comes even close to matching the glory of GTA 2 radio. Venus Ordelia's performance and the Heavenly RADIOOOOOO!!! alone is award worthy.

Not even mentioning gems like Lithium FM with Spaz Funbags or KGBH with Bomba Tomba. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BORIS!