How GTA: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition Plays in 2025

According to many players, the official remaster of GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas turned out to be a failure. However, in the three years that have passed since the release date, Rockstar has released many patches aimed at fixing the errors of the re-release. In this article, we will analyze the latest version of Definitive Edition and try to understand whether it deserves your attention.

Important point: the latest patch we are reviewing was released on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series. Versions for Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One did not receive it, so our material does not reflect the current state of the collection on these platforms.

Initially, the Definitive Edition was worked on by Grove Street Games. Previously, it was engaged in porting GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas, as well as Max Payne and Bully to various platforms, including mobile phones. After the release of the remaster of the trilogy, Rockstar executives decided that the team had failed in its task. The last patches for it were handled by Video Games Deluxe. It was founded by former Team Bondi, known for L.A. Noire. It was Brendan McNamara and his people who fixed numerous errors of Grove Street Games.

The main problems of the GTA trilogy remaster:

Also worth noting is the high price of the collection and the absence of many songs on local radio stations, but these problems are not so serious. We will go over all the main complaints about the remaster and see how it has changed by 2025.

The "Classic Lighting" option has appeared in the settings. It essentially returns the atmosphere of the original games to GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas. For example, after turning it on, the world of Vice City becomes warm and sunny, and not gray and faceless, as in the remaster release.

With "San Andreas", the situation has become even more interesting — now each of the three cities has its own color scheme, like in the PS2 version. Nothing like this has ever been in the Definitive Edition. Plus, the thick fog has returned, hiding the size of the game world. Thanks to it, again, like 20 years ago, it feels like there is a whole state in front of us. This effect is especially noticeable during airplane flights.

With the third Grand Theft Auto, everything is not so clear-cut, because the classic lighting makes it closer to Liberty City Stories. The 2001 original is colder and more contrasting.

As a bonus, we can note the appearance of thick clouds. And in general, the picture seems deeper and richer. It resembles the PS2 version of the trilogy, which only benefited it.

In our opinion, it is worth playing only with the new lighting. Thanks to him, there is that very feeling of nostalgia that motivates you to replay all three parts again.

A large-scale work on errors was carried out. We have collected the most striking examples:

Thanks to these fixes, the remasters have really become better.

Here I would like to note one innovation — now you can move and fire from heavy weapons at the same time. Thanks to this, shootouts really feel better than before. True, the combat cannot be called modern, because for this it would be necessary to add a full-fledged cover system.

Here the developers only went over the most noticeable moments, in the spirit of nincorrect display of San Andreas characters while squatting and riding a bike. Previously, it felt like the characters had a serious form of scoliosis. Now they look natural.

But their faces are as weird as before. Tommy Vercetti was especially unlucky, looking more like a burger lover than an Italian gangster.

On modern PCs and the current generation of consoles, we managed to achieve a stable frame rate. Drops, if they occur, are rare. Compared to what was on release, this is an excellent result.

The most obvious and noticeable bugs in the game were indeed fixed, for example, problems with collision and sound. But the developers clearly did not delve into the serious problems of the remaster. This is especially noticeable in GTA: San Andreas. If Los Santos, in general, has been fixed, then in other cities of the state everything is the same. The thick black wires in the countryside are especially annoying.

Now, after installing fresh patches, GTA: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition has really been brought to a decent appearance. This is exactly how it should have been on release. If you've been putting off playing until everything is fixed, you can stop waiting.

However, despite all the innovations, the trilogy still feels like a guest from the past, at best — a pleasant old school. For example, the recent modification GTA: Vice City — Nextgen Edition turned out to be much closer to modern standards. If you are not embarrassed by the realistic physics of the fourth part, it is better to choose the modification, not the official remaster.

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Will you play the remaster of the GTA trilogy after all the patches? Or are you not interested in it? Share your opinions in the comments!