Grand Theft Auto V was first released back in 2013 and has had a solid player base ever since. The game has thrived from the addition of an online multiplayer platform that has received constant updates, along with the game being re-released for two different console generations. Now, after nearly nine years since it was first released, Grand Theft Auto VI has officially been confirmed by Rockstar Games. The company confirmed the title through a social media post, stating that development was underway.
With this confirmation, fans have obviously gone insane on social media, speculating what will feature in GTAVI. With the power of next-generation consoles and a number of years of planning, Rockstar Games could incorporate a number of ideas into this latest installment. There are obviously numerous gameplay mechanics fans want to see in the game, so it will be intriguing to see which suggestions Rockstar takes on board.
Multiple Protagonists
GTAV had a lot of differences from its predecessors, with the main gameplay difference being the ability to switch between multiple protagonists. This allowed for the game to tell stories from the perspectives of three different characters, making the game feel much larger.
The characters of Michael De Santa, Franklin Clinton, and Trevor Phillips were vastly different in personalities, lifestyles, and abilities, making for a very diverse gaming experience. Three protagonists also allowed for a variety of different missions, along with the ability to switch characters during certain missions.
Ultimately, the move to establish three different characters and develop their own stories, along with the main narrative, was something fans love. This is a gameplay feature that should continue to be a mainstay in GTAVI and all future Grand Theft Auto titles.
Female Protagonist
This is a feature the fanbase has been craving for a while, with all GTA protagonists being male characters thus far. With the addition of Grand Theft Auto Online to GTAV, fans were able to play the game as a female character for the first time. As mentioned earlier, GTAV incorporated multiple protagonists in the storyline, so GTAVI could potentially do the same.
With presumably three protagonists in the upcoming game, there is no reason why Rockstar Games could not create a female protagonist. Having a playable female character with a backstory and main part of the story would be groundbreaking for GTAVI. The move would please a lot of fans and would help bring diversity to the lineup.
A female protagonist could also open up a number of story opportunities that may not be possible with the male characters. This could be accomplished quite easily while keeping to the true nature of the Grand Theft Auto series.
Narrative Choices
The ending of GTAV sees the player faced with three different choices. Playing as Franklin, the player can either choose to kill Michael, kill Trevor or take on all the enemies together in an attempt to have all three live. Depending on what choice the player makes changes the outcome of the story incredibly, with the choice to kill Trevor or Michael removing them as a playable character.
While this was the only major storyline choice in the game, it is a mechanic that Rockstar should explore further. Games such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Detroit: Become Human have used narratives choices well for their games and it would be interesting to see GTAVI take a similar approach. Narrative choices could help enrich the story mode and make each player’s gaming experience different. It is something worth considering, with the potential to have players play through different missions based on their choices.
Multiple Locations
With the power of the next generation consoles, it would be amazing to see GTAVI’s map expand further than its predecessor. GTAV expanded the games map immensely over previous entries, with GTAVI having the advantage of releasing on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. This would allow the game to expand its playable area even further, with the chance to add multiple cities in the same game.
This would allow players to transverse to multiple locations such as Vice City, Los Santos and other locations in the one game. The ability to do this makes the world feel a lot bigger and would give players the opportunity to explore for hours. It would also allow the game to explore a story across multi locations and make GTA feel bigger than it has ever been.
GTAVI could utilise airports to fast travel between the locations or even have players fly between cities in aircraft to make for a more engaging experience. This is something the fanbase would love to see implemented.
Single Player DLC
Something that has been a main complaint of the fanbase is the focus on GTA Online. While GTA Online is fantastic and has one of the most active player bases from a nearly decade old game, the studio has not focused on bringing any single player DLC. This is something that needs to change in GTAVI.
Bringing in additional storylines and extra content for the single player gamers is a great idea. Not only does it expand the story and give it more content, but it will keep the gamers who do not play online playing the game after finishing the main content.
DLC could involve new missions, vehicles, and other content like the studio has been doing for the online mode. Many games have incorporated single player DLC with great success, GTAVI should follow suit.
