After the latest update, GTA: San Andreas — Definitive Edition has finally received some of the improvements fans have been waiting for. Rockstar introduced a "classic lighting" option, bringing back the warm tones and atmosphere of the original 2004 version. This fixed the previously criticized "cold" and "muddy" visuals, restoring the aesthetic charm that made the game iconic. Now, the game looks much closer to the original, which will surely please longtime fans.

However, despite numerous fixes, several issues remain. Black seams between texture layers are still visible, breaking immersion. Grass often doesn’t blend correctly with the terrain, and grass textures can even appear on asphalt. Water splashes look outdated and unnatural. Lighting also changes abruptly at times, especially during storms, which can feel jarring.

The game is plagued by ugly text and textures where the use of AI upscaling is far too obvious. LODs for objects like grass, bushes, cars, and pedestrians load in too quickly, ruining the sense of immersion.

Some features from the original game that added to its charm are also missing. For instance, there’s no visual indicator of a car’s condition, such as white or black smoke from under the hood, making it difficult to tell how much damage the vehicle can take. Objects like streetlights and signs that could be knocked over by cars used to have physics and would disappear over time, but now they simply sink into the ground.

Gunshot sounds are another sore point, as they’re too loud and sharp compared to the rest of the audio balance.

While the improvements make the Definitive Edition more stable and closer to the original, the game still feels unfinished. For those willing to overlook these shortcomings, it’s a decent opportunity to revisit Los Santos. However, Rockstar still has a long way to go to make this remaster truly definitive.

GTA: Definitive Edition, a wave of nostalgia turned into a storm of a rushed product.

The initial idea of giving the trilogy a second life was great, but unfortunately for Rockstar Games, it would have been easier to entrust this task to mobile game developers rather than handling it themselves.

In the end, we’re left with a graphically subpar trilogy. The characters look very plastic, and the environment is overly bright (which was corrected in the latest patch, first released on Netflix, then much later on Steam, by the way).

We also regret that the atmosphere of the original games was not faithfully recreated.

So, who should be blamed? Rockstar for delegating to Grove Street Games, or the latter for not putting more effort into their work?

Anyway, there are still plenty of issues to fix. That said, playing the games is still possible, but you should approach them with caution if you're playing for specific reasons.

Added ♥♥♥ flags;
Asked for firewall exception;
Not a true remaster