4.5/5

I've rated the original game a 5/5, and I'm on the border here. Mechanically, the Definitive Edition is good, but certain visual aspects of this remaster bring it down for me. Don't get me wrong, the game looks really nice with the new lighting and textures, but you can't unnotice some of the things. I'll mention these issues further.

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So, San Andreas is kind of the pinnacle of the original 3D GTA formula. This game is so incredibly versatile in every aspect that it's impossible to not have fun. All of the ideas that were previously there in Vice City are here too, but upgraded, and they have decided to experiment with so many new features. They created a world that feels, not just populated, but fully alive.

The world is interconnected very well, with 3 major cities and rural areas between them, including a desert. But what really made this amazing is the sandbox nature of the game and the atmosphere these separate parts set. They artfully used different colors and textures to go with all of these areas which makes a very strong mental map. Many visually appealing landmarks are there and it's easy to orient yourself and remember the map. Los Santos especially is very detailed and intricate, with a ton of parks, backyards, back alleys and narrow streets. And they're not just there by gimmick, they're used in missions a lot, but it also offers the player a great amount of different escape routes for different occasions.
Then suddenly, out of Los Santos, you're thrown into this small rural area in the middle of nowhere. Hills and hillbilies. Forests of tall conifers and dirt roads all around. It's not even a three minute ride outside of Los Santos, but it feels like a completely different world.
"The emptiness of much outside of Los Santos is a testament to it's overambition", but at the same time it works incredibly well with the narrative, with everything falling apart and being far away from "home", because Los Santos and the "hood" as Sweet says is "where all their lives began, and will probably end". Surprisingly, these certain empty areas and their weird environments gave an incredible landscape to be filled with player's imaginations, creating community myths of ghosts, bigfoots and other cryptids.
San Fierro and Las Venturas feel very complete and their design and atmosphere makes them very distinct from other areas. They don't suffer from this game being as ambitious as it is.

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Now, onto the story. The story of San Andreas is iconic because of the way it grabs the player and holds him relatable at times. CJ feels real and the struggles he goes through with his family and his surrounding is personal and grounded. He is desperately trying to make it out of the "hood", but while doing so, he's abandoning his brother and the others that were there for him, which are now facing hard fights and even harder losses. "Grove Street slowly becomes a symbol for optimism in the face of decay and resistance in the face of oppression". Going back to Grove Street feels like coming back home. The sense of optimism and progression in the first part of the game makes the gut-punching betrayal plot twist so much stronger and effective. It's a realistically cruel reality check for the player as much as for CJ. That's what makes the come-up story of CJ so much more important and resonant within the player. However, while building his empire, CJ forgets his origins and leaves the "hood" behind, saying "What the hood done for me? Always dragging me down". Sweet confronts him on this and reminds him that he's once again leaving his work "half-assed". He has forgot who the oppressor is, what he has done, and left it as a loose end. This is a very strong moment in the story where CJ realizes that he has to snap his focus back and it makes the ending narrative so much more important.

San Andreas wouldn't be what it is if it wasn't accompanied by the series' most impactful characters. The greater emphasis here is on character relationships and interactions, which really feels like a two-way street. I've already mentioned Sweet, but this game wouldn't be what it is if there wasn't for Ryder and Big Smoke. Both incredibly well written, even though Ryder's death is a bit anticlimatic, they share very deep motives and are probably the franchise's most iconic side characters. Next to that we have officer Tennpeny, voiced by no one else than the legend Samuel L. Jackson, making not just a great performance, but which is also written very well and is of great essence to the story. And the list goes on, there is a ton of highly interesting characters, with great performances, and most importantly none of them lack personality in their portrayal.

Every mission in this game feels like a real accomplishment towards something meaningful within the narrative. Even the side missions, like the gang wars. It makes open roaming Los Santos feel like a dynamic conflict is going on at all times. The variety in mission types overall is just mind blowing. It's not just typical shootout missions, there are stealth missions, assassination missions, incredible car chases, then you go to school and learn how to fly planes so you can do plane/helicopter missions, then you do boat missions, car races... And it just goes on. Business asset missions, challenges, tagging and constantly growing stats, it all feels like it's there with a narrative point, besides developing the character. Now, some missions just break this "groundedness" and go all out, and I would mind it, if they weren't so damn iconic and so much fun. This game was just really good at making iconic missions. CJ kind of loses his grip and the game goes a bit too much comedic during this period, but I don't personally mind it too much because the overall narrative overpowers these weak points.

This soundtrack is the best one in the franchise by far, and probably one of the best in gaming generally. Incredible variety of genres, incredible selection of songs and amazing radio hosts with great humour that is completely out of today's comfort zones. These radio stations defined people's music tastes.

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Now, when it comes to my issues with the Definitive Edition, it's mostly the visual stuff.
First, the characters. CJ looks really good, but what the hell is up with his eyes? Also, his muscles still flex really weird in cutscenes (it was an issue in the original game too). When it comes to the other characters, it's really a mixed bag. Sweet's character is really low definition, so is Ryder's and Kendl's. So then why does OG Loc look way better than some of the most important characters in the game?
The UE4 anti-aliasing shows many artifacts when the player is in motion, like smudgy shadows, and the "ghosting" effect.
Some textures like grass etc. are completely out of place, floating in space or glitching through the roads. Sometimes textures do not physically match the model at all, so you clip into stuff. I once even got trapped within.

I like the new flying controls, but they are way too sensitive, especially if you're using the mouse, and there isn't really a way to change this sensitivity. Please bear in mind that you can fly a plane using WASD and arrow keys, which feels much better, but still too sensitive.
Game now automatically makes CJ jump over or climb upon obstacles when he runs into them, and it's really annoying at times.

I'm also kind of sad that some very iconic songs were removed due to licensing, like "Killing in the Name Of" and "Runnin' Down a Dream", but I get it.

GTA: SA is one of those colossal games where it makes no sense for it to be fully realized, yet it is. It's an achievement for gaming and it remains one of the favorites more than 20 years later.