No. I haven't tried those games...but GTA is pretty darn fun anyway.

I haven't bought any businesses or properties yet...but eventually I will. I'm just going through the missions. I finally beat that damn mission with the RC Helicopter...

OMG yeah, that one is the most annoying an fiddly in the whole game!
I'm on a similar RC helicopter one in SA at the moment too - its slightly more interesting but just as annoying!

*shrug*

The open-world driving, probably.

It's impossible to take seriously, so I don't; though I remember being quite invested in the story of GTA IV.

I'm currently replaying San Andreas, and really anything but the driving seems phoned in; really, REALLY don't like the gunplay, the story or the characters (alright, so I like Big Smoke, admittedly) or really all the crime (there's no context for it, really).

I like that, having already played it about 7-8 years ago, and thus knowing where the plot goes, I'm going to role-play CJ as going off the rails, getting really fat and running around in a leopardskin cowboy hat, cowboy boots and boxer shorts, or wear one of those pairs of joke Groucho Marx glasses for the entire game.

I like about 40% of the game, I suppose.

I much prefer Red Dead Redemption and LA Noire, if we're going for Rockstar. Bully's pretty decent as well, it's much funnier than GTA for sure.

This is my song these days:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt3PcA4UvPA

Okay, after having tried GTA V at a friend's place, I now must say that I find Saints Row IV many times more fun. Saints Row is just crazy action - over the top and hillarious in many aspects. GTA V STILL doesn't seem to know whether it wants to be taken seriously or not. GTA Vice City at least realised it was to be an 80's parody but GTA IV and GTA V both seem to be sitting on the fence. With Saints Row, it's clear it's over-the-top silliness and because of that, it shines. I've had more laughing out loud moments in SR4 so far (6 hours in) than in all of GTA IV and SA combined. Having some bimbo come up to me to hit me because I accidentally parked on top of her friend is funny. When I then proceed to try and hit her only for my super-powered character to kick her in the crotch causing her to fly some 500 feet in the air, falling down on the opposite side of the street on top of a car causing it to explode? Now that's side-splitting material!

Yes, but when stuff like that happens all the time in a game, it loses its impact and becomes tired and meaningless. That's where Saint's Row fails horribly. Saint's Row is like the guy in class who just has to joke about everything and is impossible to have a normal conversation with. Yes, his jokes are funny once in a while, but when your basically being stabbed to death with them constantly, it's not really funny anymore.

A good comedy knows when to be funny and when to be serious. Saint's Row doesn't. GTA does. IMO.

GTA San Andreas was the best imo, i loved the voice acting in that game.

Me too. Officer Tenpenny is still one of my favorite video game villains. Very over-the-top and even goofy at times, but still believable enough to be frightening when he needs to be.

And who could ever forget James Woods as Agent Toreno? He was simply brilliant in that role. San Andreas is filled to the brim with fun and memorable characters.

I like that you're calling GTA a saga.

Now, I'm really really stuck on the level where you work for Diaz. He tells me to go investigate a thief's house...which ends up a car chase. He always shoots my tires out and the moment I try to get another car, he gets away.

Stuff like that doesn't happen all the time - which is why it stood out for me. You have a point in that SR4 never lets up - it's very over the top and because of that, it has less contrast meaning less stuff stands out. On the other hand, the GTA series has always suffered from the same problems namely frustrating trial & error missions and a general failure of deciding whether it wants to be a parody or a serious game.

You say SR4 isn't a good comedy - neither is GTA. Where SR4 is over the top (think Naked Gun as a movie), at least over the top games work for some like me. GTA is not even really a comedy (think You Got Mail) and fails to decide what it wants to be which I find a much bigger problem. Give me SR4 any time - at least it doesn't have an identity crisis.

Look here for a little background info on GTA:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/30/technology/grand-theft-auto-franchise-playfully-flings-mud-at-its-birthplace-scotland.html?ref=technology