Rank the GTAs from best story to worst.

[The Jungz]

From what I've played:

 

1) GTA IV - Self explanatory. A story Rockstar wanted to tell and it shows with how well everything is interlaced together (later complemented with the DLC). 

2) GTA TLAD - Gave us a completely new branch of the criminal underworld and made me fall in love with the style and aesthetic the game was trying to accomplish. 
3) GTA SA - Unpopular opinion but San Andreas is the first GTA that really had me involved in the story. I'm not sure why either. I just really rooted for the GSF
4) GTA III - I was too young to truly understand the story or care for it but having looked up playthroughs of the game, some of the dialogue in this story is Resident Evil 2 level.

5) GTA LCS - Never particularly liked any of the characters in the story. A very punctuated "meh." from me.
6) GTA TBOGT - While it did add a lot of cool and needed stuff in freeroam, the story is a bunch of mishmash of tacky and shiny bullsh*t designed to make 12 year old piss their knickers in excitement. Also why in the f*ck does Luis kill Bulgarin and not Niko?

7) GTA V - Speaking of the devil. The game that has as many missions as GTA III but split between three unlikable protagonists: Franklin "Cardboard" Clinton, Michael "Rat" De Santa and Trevor "Deus Ex Machina" Philips. Yeah, no thanks.

[Limefong]

1. GTA Vice City

2. GTA IV

3. GTA VCS

4. GTA TLaD

5. GTA LCS

6. GTA San Andreas

7. GTA III

8. GTA Chinatown Wars

9. GTA TBoGT

10. GTA V

[VenusianDream]

Best Story: IV

TLaD

VCS

SA

CTW

VC

V

LCS

Advance

III

TBoGT

Worst Story: Online

Edited June 24, 2020 by VenusianDream

[Guest]

I'm only certain about my top two, the rest of them are tentative rankings

 

From best down to worst

IV

V (yup) 

San Andreas

VCS

TLaD

Vice City

TBoGT

LCS 

III

[chainedwarhead9]

1. gta IV (for the incredible story being the first to take a dark and gloom story and being down to earth criminal, kinda like blue collar crime and how the eflc all crossover)

2. Tlad (very unique and a first for GTA exploring motorcycles clubs and my favorite protagonist Johnny Klebitz with a similar style of story to IV)

3. Vice City (A great 80s scarface esque story)

4. San Andreas ( its an awesome gangsta story how CJ freed his brother and dealt with tempenny, just a tad superficial but nothing to make it wholly unbelievable and the stories across the other cities are unique and awesome!)

5. Tbogt (Although Luis was kinda two dimensional it was sort of interesting to see the personal body guard of a "legitimate" business man going through questionablly illegal things with his boss. Still thought it could've been better and is definitely worth revisiting the story type [maybe GTA 6 could have a Luis type working for a casino owner in las ventures competing with other owners in illegal activities, maybe have two other protagonists like EFLC])

6. GTA V (I mean it was just meh overall, Franklin cardboard carl Johnson was just that, Michael was sort of interesting being a career white collar criminal coming out of retirement and Trevor was just a one sided guy who's personality relies on his drug addicted mental insanity coming across as a comedic relief side character. The story was fine but the lack of a memorable villain, lack of meaningful character development, the fact that everyone in Liberty City moved to San Andreas in 5 years for no better reason but they couldn't make any more original characters etc.

7. Online (we can't expect MMOs to have any great stories [maybe excluding swtor] but its continuity issues and over the top stories like doomsday heist to justify the over the top vehicles and what not are ehh, wouldve rated it a tad higher if this was heists or bikers dlc)

 

Never played LCS or VCS, are they worth it?

[VenusianDream]

4 hours ago, chainedwarhead9 said:

Never played LCS or VCS, are they worth it?

Definitely worth it. VCS is chronologically the first game in the series and the story is pretty good, if you liked Vice City then you'll enjoy playing this one. I didn't care much for LCS' story, but the gameplay is fun as there are plenty of side missions to do and Liberty City looks more colorful. If you enjoyed working for the the Leone family in III, then you'll probably like LCS.

[Fusky89]

Best story: Gta IV

Vice city

San andreas

Gta V

TLaD

TBoGT

Vice city stories

Liberty city stories

Gta III

[Reizov]

1. GTA IV

2. GTA VCS

3. GTA VC

4. GTA SA

5. GTA TLAD

6. GTA LCS

7. GTA TBOGT

8. GTA 3

9. GTA V

[jaylenpizarro12]

1 gta 4

2 gta tlad

3 gta 3

4 gta 5

5 gta lcs

 

Edited July 26, 2020 by jaylenpizarro12

[Guest]

1. GTA Vice City (Love the rise of Tommy Vercetti)

2. GTA IV (Love Niko's way of dealing with things, very nice game)

3. GTA San Andreas (Grove Street 4 Life)

4. GTA TLAD (The biker gang)

5. GTA TBOGT (Luis f*cking Lopez)

6. GTA 3 (Silent killer)

7. GTA LCS (Just politics)

8. GTA VCS (its okay)

9. GTA V (lame story and mission design)

[Limefong]

Revised list:

1. GTA Vice City, 10/10

2. GTA IV, 9.5/10

3. GTA Vice City Stories, 9/10

4. GTA TLaD, 8/10

5. GTA San Andreas. 7/10

6. GTA Liberty City Stories, 6.5/10

7. GTA III, 6/10

8. GTA Adv and CTW (Tied), 5/10

9. GTA TBoGT, 4/10

10. GTA V, 1.5/10

11. GTA Online, 1/10

[Chilllzyy]

1.Vice City

2.San Andreas

3.GTA 5

4.GTA 4

5.GTA 3

6.Vice City Stories

7.GTA The lost and damned

8.The Ballad of gay Tony

9.GTA Liberty City Stories

10.GTA Chinatown Wars

[billiejoearmstrong8]

1. IV (masterpiece)

2. V (despite too much focus on working for FIB etc the quality of the writing still keeps it up here)

3. TLAD (adds to the masterpiece of IV)

4. Vice City (classic rise to the top story, badass and satisfying to play through)

5. San Andreas (crazy and epic story, very entertaining)

6. TBOGT (also adds nicely to IV but gets a bit silly)

7. III (it's good but a bit basic compared to later games)

8. VCS (can't really take it seriously, a bit of fun)

9. LCS (also can't take it seriously and don't particularly like the protagonist)

Edited July 31, 2020 by billiejoearmstrong8

[E Revere]

I don't like putting the games on a rank list. I think there are too many games to cover by number unless it's a top 3 or top 5 list or something like that. I'd prefer putting them on a tier list. It seems more practical.

 

(I haven't played the 2D era games enough to know their stories so sadly I'll exclude them)

 

S tier: GTA IV

A tier: VC, TLaD, CTW

B tier: VCS, SA, Advance

C tier: LCS, III, TBoGT

 

 

 

 

T tier: GTA V (T stands for trash)

 

Also another note. I'm pretty terrible at keeping consistent opinions so this list may change in a few months or even weeks.

Cspan

Edited August 5, 2020 by E Revere

[Guest]

1. GTA VCS (greatly-done story)

2. GTA VC (a great story for the 80s)

3. GTA IV (has the darkest story which is fitting for the dark atmosphere)

4. GTA TLAD (love the gang style)

5. GTA SA (really fun, but i prefer the parts of LS)

6. GTA TBOGT (good but a bit too silly, and the protagonist sucks. IV and TLAD were better than this)

7. GTA III (meh. too short and the only goal is to get revenge on catalina)

8. GTA V (really boring, especially with all that FIB sh*t)

9. GTA LCS (toni just constantly kisses salvatore's ass which is infuriating that i wouldn't even count it as a story)

[FanEu7]

1. GTA IV (best story of the series by far, its more mature, the characters are more flawed and human and there are real consequences. its not a power fantasy like the rest of the franchise)

2. GTA VC (simple but executed well, Tommy is a badass and the perfect gangster. Love the 80s vibe)

3. GTA V (gets way too much hate. It's very fun, Michael and Trevor are interesting and it does "over the top" better than the rest)

4. GTA SA (it's a bit dragged and peaks early out but CJ's Journey through SA is iconic and Big Smoke & Tenpenny are the best antagonists of the series)

5. GTA TLAD (I like the serious tone but its overall to rushed and needed more missions)

6. GTA VCS (Vic is not nearly as badass as Tommy and Lance is too stupid)

7. GTA TBOGT (doesn't fit with the other two GTA IV stories and ruined Bulgarin)

8. GTA LCS (very average overall, Salvatore is the only good part)

9. GTA 3 (groundbreaking game but overall it has the worst story, don't give a sh*t about any character here)

 

[Guest]

Did some re-thinking:

1. VCS - A preparation for IV.

2. IV - Saddest story in the franchise. And also, the dark atmosphere really fits the dark story.

3. Vice City - Love the ending and 80s vibe. 

4. The Lost and Damned - Almost as dark as IV.

5. San Andreas - I loved the LS and SF arc. LV? Not that much.

6. III - Simple and predictable but it was released on 2001, so let's give it a pass.

7. The Ballad of Gay Tony - IMO, the characters were as annoying as V's. And the plot was too silly. Bulgarin turned into a f*cking joke.

8. V - Too much focus on the FIB and Merryweather crap. And I don't even get the plot.

9. LCS - Just some random storyline and terrible writing. Toni was just a lap-dog to everyone around him. The antagonist were also f*cking clowns.

[VCFanboi]

from what i've played:

1_ GTA Vice City

2_ GTA Vice City Stories

3_ GTA San Andreas

4_ GTA TBoGT

5_ GTA IV

6_ GTA Liberty City Stories

7_ GTA III

8_ GTA TLAD

9_ GTA Chinatown Wars

10_ GTA Advance