Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition Reviews
Near-perfect at everything it does, but wisely limits its remit. A great conversion.
The nostalgic value of this collection is beyond doubt, they are three masterpieces that today are still very funny (and with a sensational script), but this remastering has fallen short in many aspects, and has technical flaws.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Despite the complaints and all, the reality is that Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is a pretty good remastered of three great PS2 classics. Something important to understand is that this are just remastered with few changes, not remakes.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
There’s some legitimacy to all of the gripes, and that’s why I can’t give The Trilogy the perfect score that these titles would have merited individually when they were first released. Though the teenager in me might balk at giving any of these games less than 5/5, the 35-year-old me can’t deny that they are a bit janky and dated in parts, and much of the work done to update the gameplay has been insufficient or uneven. It definitely seems a big ask to expect folks to pay £55/$60 USD for these more minimal remasters when the Mafia trilogy, for example, was recently given a much more thorough root-and-branch remake of the first game along with the remastering of the other two titles. Still, even though a new coat of paint can’t cover every imperfection (and creates a couple new ugly streaks in the process), Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy is still a serviceable update for three absolute classics. With the quality of life improvements and visual upgrades, it’s still a fine way to enjoy three amazing games beloved by so many.
GTA Trilogy on Nintendo Switch has problems like the rest of the versions, from an unstable frame rate to a noticeable popping or blurrier graphics playing in the dock, but they are still three great adventures like the cup of a pine, with slight improvements, which are highly enjoyable in portable mode.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The compilation isn't the most beautiful or detailed addition to the series, but it plays the smoothest. If you're prepared to overlook, or at least work around, the faults, GTA The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is well worth considering.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition, at the end of the day, is three well-regarded games bundled together, with some modernizations to help keep them relevant, nearly 20 years after their original release. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I’m new to GTA that prevents me from finding many issues with this collection, as I’m absolutely taken with the fun gameplay and more than content with both the graphics and performance. But that also goes to show how this collection helps introduce these games to the current generation, allowing new fans to understand the hype behind three classic industry-defining titles.
While it has its rough edges, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is a worthwhile remaster of three classic titles. Its visual overhaul prevents these games from feeling overly dated, and the quality-of-life improvements modernize the experience in a way that meets today’s standards. Sure, its new art style and character models won’t mesh well with everyone, but it may grow on gamers as time goes by. And sure, while these aren’t the “definitive” editions we expected, this is an admirable attempt to introduce three groundbreaking games to a new generation, and I’m glad it exists.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Definitive Edition isn't exactly the disaster it's been made out to be, but it is still a frustrating, underwhelming attempt to modernize three very important games. The quality of life improvements are generally welcome, and in many places, there's a faithful upgrading of the iconic visual style of the PS2 era titles. Unfortunately, not every change is welcome, and in the case of San Andreas, perhaps a little less of it might have done it a few favours.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition is kinda rough and kinda janky, but it isn't quite the disaster that the dogpile claims it is. Sure, the character design looks rough in high resolution and there are a fair number of bugs, but the games largely function as they did three generations back when they released. It ain't great, but we've certainly seen worse.
This trilogy oscillates between moving nostalgia and the disappointment of remembering the weight of the years.
Review in French | Read full review
Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Definitive Edition is a good way to (re)discover three legendary titles of the PS2 era. They're the same and yet very different in terms of visuals. But it's not really 100% good and even on PS5, it struggles to deliver a totally smooth experience. Not to mention that they feel a bit old if you talk about gameplay. Still effective, but be prepared.
Review in French | Read full review
I am not going to pretend I didn’t have a lot of fun with this remastered Grand Theft Auto trilogy. At the end of the day, they’re still the PS2 classics, and I have loved them for the past two decades. I also won’t deny that, yes, there ARE some good quality of life improvements in each of the games, such as an improvement aiming system, camera controls, checkpoints, and much more. But man, these visuals, this framerate, these glitches, all of those are unacceptable.
I'm a diehard fan of the GTA series, but I'm of two minds about this up and down port to the Unreal 4 Engine. The initial wow-factor of the visual upgrade is undeniable, but the more you play it, the more cracks appear in that pretty veneer. Some of those are legacy fissures that have not been repaired. Others are eyesore imperfections wrought by a new team of less-than-master craftspeople.
In the end, you'll hate that you can't love GTA Trilogy Remastered, at least at its current state, as tons of bugs and performance issues really ruin the fun. That said, if you grew up playing these titles and you can't wait to get back into the good old days, the game is still playable, although we recommend to wait for future updates to iron out the issues. As for new generation gamers who are used to modern gameplay and design, there is probably not much to look for here as the core gameplay mechanisms of this package are really old.
Review in Persian | Read full review
This comeback of the three GTA classics feels superficial and poorly optimized, although some improvements are clearly visible. It's not the remaster we were hoping for, but these are still immortal classics that can still entertain and sometimes even amaze. And sometimes that's all we need.
Review in Italian | Read full review
While it isn't without merits, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Definitive Edition is also plagued by many technical problems. You might relive some nostalgia if you're a fan of the classics, but new players should wait for Rockstar to release some patches before diving in.
Review in Italian | Read full review
If you're coming into Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy expecting each game to look and play like GTA V, prepare for disappointment at a passionless upscaling effort. On the flipside, if you fancy reliving these open world wonders with some of their rougher gameplay edges sanded down, prepare to lose yourself for sixty hours or more.
While certainly there's some new enhancement in the remaster that might encourage completely new players to taste these icons of video games for the first time, it's certainly not their best choice as well, the remaster enhancements are unbalanced and leave out many old models the same which makes things feel weirdly divided into two layers, the AI is terrible and there's no real enhancement for character movement or shooting mechanics, there's an absence of small details and a lot of bugs that make this a disappointment especially from an awarded dev such as Rockstar
Review in Arabic | Read full review
If these games shaped or changed you, you might find the notion of their being shaped and changed, in turn, an unwelcome one.