User blog comment:Monkeypolice188/GTA VI Ideas/@comment-25171506-20150215140308/@comment-558050-20150215164659

The major problem with GTA IV was not that the game was "realistic", the major problem was that the game took himself and his characters way too serious. All the goofiness of the previous games was left out in order to tell a more dark and tragic storyline. It pleased some of the players, but not the majoryti of them, because let's face it, the majoryti of the GTA players don't play GTA for the storyline.

That's was Rockstar biggest mistake with that game, they sacrificed all the silly and over the top nature of the franchise in favor of the storyline, a mistake that they, thankfully, have already started to fix with GTA V.