There are arguably only two other GTAs that will feel similar to this, and even those two can feel quite different from one another. GTA3, Vice City, and San Andreas are so much more arcadey than 4 and 5.

It’s a gameplay formula many people like (including mainstream crowds), a new GTA only comes out every few years which gives space to prevent that formula getting stale, and other AAA games are rarely able to implement that formula to the same scale and degree of detail. They tend to set a new standard from a technical standpoint.

I don’t much care for the series, but it’s not that surprising that it’s a big deal.

What happened to the GTA killer games? Theres no more saints row, no more sleeping dogs, can the Yakuza games be considered contemporaries? GTA is the only one to stand the test of time, so if you want a game like that you're going to have to play it.