5 reasons to play GTA San Andreas in 2023

GTA San Andreas is a classic that's largely stood the test of time. Unsurprisingly, it's still a ton of fun to play in 2023. This timeless masterpiece will be fun for a wide variety of players, but the reasons to play it might differ from one person to another.

This short listicle will highlight a few reasons for those undecided about whether they should play this legendary game. There are obviously more than five entries for a list like this one, yet this article will focus on five distinctly different aspects of the game and why it might appeal to you.

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Five reasons to play GTA San Andreas in 2023

1) Unquestionably the best experience from the PS2 era

All three titles are fun, but the rightmost one is often considered to be the best one of the bunch (Image via PK)

When thinking of great 3D Universe Grand Theft Auto titles, GTA San Andreas is usually the first to pop into a person's mind. It's often considered by the fanbase today to be the best game from the PS2 era. Its competition includes:

• III
• Vice City
• Liberty City Stories
• Vice City Stories

GTA San Andreas has the most extensive list of new features absent from the aforementioned games. Stuff like swimming, arcade games, and stat skills are absent in Vice City, Liberty City Stories, etc.

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2) Best modding scene

There genuinely aren't many video games with a better modding scene than GTA San Andreas. This game has everything, including mods like the following:

• Ragdoll physics
• Graphical overhauls
• Multiple pedestrian models rather than the same old one over and over again
• Various 3rd party character mods
• New maps
• New vehicles
• New features absent in the original game
• DYOM, where you can make your own missions

The above list is just a brief overview of some new ways to play the game. Everybody has different tastes regarding what they like, but the good news is that there is almost always a mod for somebody out there.

On a related note, there are several amazing cheat codes that are absent from even the modern games like Grand Theft Auto V.

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3) Nostalgia

There's a lot of charm in recalling fond nostalgia (Image via Rockstar Games)

Some gamers love video games because it reminds them of the good ole days. While not all games age gracefully, GTA San Andreas is thankfully one of those titles that is still brilliant to play several decades later. If you choose to play this title in 2023, you will find that:

• Its character cast is still quite memorable
• Voice acting is top-notch
• Music is awesome to listen to
• General gameplay is quite good for an old video game
• You have a lot of freedom to choose to do whatever you'd like
• It's still the Grand Theft Auto experience you won't find in other video game franchises

It's definitely aged better than the other 3D Universe games. Of course, this reason is only relevant to those who have already played GTA San Andreas before, since a young gamer who started with Grand Theft Auto V won't feel the same sentiment.

It is worth noting that there is an impressive amount of attention to detail put into this game that you might have missed when you first played it several years ago. Who knows, you might discover something new that you haven't seen before.

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4) Easy and accessible to play

The Definitive Edition does have some merits over the original, such as a few quality-of-life improvements (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA San Andreas has been playable on a wide variety of platforms, which include:

• Android
• Fire OS
• iOS
• PC
• PS2
• PS3
• PS4
• PS5
• Xbox
• Xbox 360
• Xbox One
• Xbox Series X|S

Some of those platforms include the Definitive Edition. While that remaster is not everybody's cup of tea, it's still a decent alternative that some players might enjoy. Either way, you have plenty of physical and digital options to consider.

GTA San Andreas is good enough to warrant buying a physical copy, especially if you enjoy the other older titles within the franchise.

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5) The original title was critically acclaimed

Many gamers used to think this was the best video game ever made (Image via Rockstar Games)

Generally speaking, video games with as much critical acclaim as GTA San Andreas tend to be still quite enjoyable today. While they might lack some nice quality-of-life features, there are aspects to these titles that even modern games lack.

In this case, gamers have justifiably praised CJ's adventure in Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas throughout the past two decades. This title was even the best-selling PS2 game of all time, something that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't fun for millions of gamers back then.

Keep in mind that mods can easily fix many of the problems that modern players might have with this game. GTA San Andreas is still genuinely good to play in 2023.

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Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective.