GTA IV is ten next month. It's still my favourite game, so here's a thread for everyone to raise a glass and tell me how wrong I am.

It's flawed, for sure. The story is over-long, many of the missions are rubbish and even the good ones are repetitive. Drive here, kill that. The characters are more human and memorable than most games but are mostly still unlikeable idiots. Niko is an idiot too, his moments of dignity undermined by him being a wise-cracking, murderous psychopath.

None of that matters though and it never really did. The city is the achievement, beautifully designed and a joy to explore, it easily overcomes all the flaws. I've not played a mission in years, I've just driven, explored and relaxed. The architectural variety is amazing, from ruined tenements to immaculate skyscrapers, industrial chimneys, shipwrecks, parks, outdoor pools and urban beaches, burnt-out buildings and art galleries. The city feels lived-in and there is detail everywhere, litter, graffiti, posters, abandoned sofas and chests of drawers. After ten years I still occasionally find new roads or landmarks. One of the biggest achievements is that despite its vast size, you never get stuck, there's a way through every alley and side street, or planks in a skip that allow you to jump a wall. This allows the chases to flow beautifully.

The soundtrack is great, complementing the world perfectly, with tracks that I'd now count among my favourites. But for me, the physics are the star of the show, everything feels weighty and satisfying and things are never the same twice. There's always a great deal of satisfaction in driving, riding a motorbike or accidentally pushing somebody down a long flight of stairs.

The handling has real depth and every car handles differently, from super cars to wallowing 70's bangers. There's a tension to driving, a sense of being on a knife-edge. Clip another car and the impact feels massive, do it at speed and you'll pirouette across the street, leaving skid marks in your wake. Vehicles crumple and bend satisfyingly until black smoke is billowing and flames lick the engine. Then the rear tyres burst into flames, a great visual way to tell you to prepare for a large and satisfying explosion.

Sadly, much was lost with GTA V, the wonderful Euphoria physics and weighty handling were toned down in favour of fancier graphics and a reduced difficulty curve. Cars are much hardier and the damage less satisfying, pieces just fall off and it's almost impossible to make them blow up. When you finally do the explosions don't even have the decency to chain nicely, just an instant bang.

The motorbikes and the helicopters have become a twitchy joke and gone too are the fantastic physics when you bail from a car or exit through the windscreen. The countryside and lighting are beautiful and the flowing roads could be incredible to drive if the handling was more nuanced, but it's too grippy and shallow. Also, the world is far more hostile, so you can no longer observe or eavesdrop because standing beside anybody provokes a fight.

All of which means I enjoyed playing it but seldom return, whereas GTA IV has drawn me back year after year. I'm probably thinking about this too much, maybe it’s just the last big game I had time to immerse myself in, but I don't think so. It feels like lightning in a bottle, a vast, beautiful, reactive world. It's a shame even Rockstar failed to build upon it and that all anyone remembers these days is the calls to go bowling.