Can you all explain why GTA 5 doesn't feel as outdated in 2026 yet like San Andreas felt in 2016-2017?

So here's something I am curious about. GTA 5 is a 2013 game we all know. It's an amazing game and was groundbreaking when it comes to graphics and it looked super realistic to me when I used to watch its gameplay videos on YouTube in 2014-2017 as a teenager whereas GTA San Andreas looked quite outdated and cartoonish in 2016-2017. San Andreas is a 2004 game(even though the game itself was set in 1992) so it was 12-13 years old in 2016-2017. Now GTA 5 is also 12-13 years old in 2026 but why GTA 5 still looks so modern and cool and very playable whereas San Andreas started looking so classic already in the mid 2010s?

Like yeah I wasn't even playing GTA 5 as my PC didn't have enough RAM and the sufficient graphic card so I was just watching YouTube videos but was already playing GTA 4 and only started playing GTA 5 for the first time in mid 2024 at 23 on my laptop as it finally had 8 GB RAM and AMD graphics card which is more than enough to run the game. It feels so cool and smooth. It doesn't feel dated at all. Yeah the enhanced PC version was released in 2015 but even that's over a decade old now. Even the vehicles look very modern even though they are over a decade old but San Andreas vehicles and graphics and everything looked so outdated in 2016 itself. I am 25 now and enjoy GTA 5 and it would be super super hard to go back to San Andreas now for real. I can still go back to GTA 4 tho but San Andreas feels even more outdated now. I enjoyed playing it for the first time in 2013 tho especially as the switch from Vice City to San Andreas felt massive but now after playing GTA 5 it's hard. Please explain why it's happening?

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Redstar · 36-40, M

Why does a newer game look more modern? Because it's a newer game that was only released one console generation ago. When GTA 5 came out GTA SA was already 2 gens old and there was a massive improvement in graphics during that time. So obviously even in 2016 SA would look outdated, because it was. And as for the "cartoonish" thing, well that's because the old GTA gameplay wasn't anywhere near as realistic as they are now, so the games didn't require as much realism in their look.
I agree it's hard to get back into those games now, though. I tried that with Vice City but the controls stop me from enjoying it fully, even though I didn't have a problem with them when the games first came out.

Heroisthebest25 · 22-25, M

@Redstar Yeah when I played GTA SA for the first time in 2013(I was only like 12-13), it felt mind-blowing tho as it felt like a huge upgrade from Vice City which was good too and my first GTA but felt small in map whereas GTA SA had so many features which made me love it but yeah after seeing GTA 5, honestly GTA SA started looking outdated. But I only started playing GTA 5 as an adult in 2024 when I was 23 so for some reason I don't get that novelty or crazy feeling in GTA 5 at 25 now or even at 23 when I played it first time which I got at 12 or 13 while exploring the GTA SA map for the first time and discovering so much whereas as an adult idk why I don't get that fun feeling. Maybe because I am seeing the real-life world more whereas back then my only world was school.

Globetrotter927 · 31-35, M

San Andreas clears in my opinion 🤷🏻‍♂

Heroisthebest25 · 22-25, M

@Globetrotter927 What do you mean?

Globetrotter927 · 31-35, M

@Heroisthebest25 I'm being biased but I think GTA 3 and San Andreas are better than GTA 5 lol. They're more fun to play but that could be the nostalgia talking.

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