Will Red Dead Redemption 2 Impact How Grand Theft Auto 6 is Created?
When it came out, Red Dead Redemption 2 was widely celebrated as one of the most innovatively massive games to come out in recent years. Rockstar Games made every effort, seemingly with little compromise on production quality, to make the prequel an incredibly immersive recreation of the American West. But now that the game has settled with fans, and Rockstar Games has another Grand Theft Auto game on the horizon, Red Dead Redemption 2 could have a profound impact on Grand Theft Auto 6.
For Rockstar's most popular franchise, each game has always been an exercise in ridiculous satire. Grand Theft Auto games always tackle pop culture and political issues of the time in a way that's endearingly hilarious but also subtly poignant. On the other hand, the Red Dead Redemption series has done so in a much more mature manner, at least for the most part. One game is the pursuit and ultimate dissolution of the American Dream, and the other is the unrealistic and ironic realization of the American Dream. With Grand Theft Auto coming off its most successful releases in history, there's a slight possibility the franchise could shapeshift thanks to Red Dead Redemption 2.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was an exercise in encapsulating the culture and lifestyle shift of the Wild West at the turn of the century. If that's not made immediately obvious by the marketing tagline "The Wild West is Dying," then the rest of the game slowly but steadily hammers that theme into players. The life of Arthur Morgan, John Marston, and the rest of Dutch Van der Linde's gang is rarely a peaceful one. The crew faces constant turmoil as they attempt to run from this inevitability, and it slowly but surely kills them. Especially in the context of the first Red Dead Redemption, the slow death of the Van der Linde gang and the folly of Dutch's ego hurts to experience as Arthur.
While Red Dead Redemption 2's greatest praises come from its simulation of the classic American West, the narrative is easily the most impactful part of the experience. Conversely Grand Theft Auto's narrative often never has this impact on players because of its constant levity. Sure, games like Grand Theft Auto 4 have tried tackling this ludonarrative dissonance as much as possible, but never to the level of Red Dead Redemption's storytelling. It would be interesting to see a different perspective from Rockstar Games' simulation of American excess, a story that's a more punishing satire of the United States' modern American Dream. Of course, things become much more complex when trying to adapt Red Dead Redemption's narrative themes into Grand Theft Auto.
Lots of fans sincerely enjoyed Grand Theft Auto 4's narrative, especially as the story progressed further into the usual crime-filled absurdity of the franchise. What's interesting about Niko Bellic's story is that the game tried it's best to tell a mature story in a world where maturity is either subtle or overshadowed. Memes and jokes about the game always picked up on the fact that Niko was always trying to be a better person, in the same game where Niko could casually walk down the street with a rocket launcher. Of course that could've been the purpose of the narrative, but that impact never truly lands with the player. It's why Grand Theft Auto 5's story largely emulates 80s movies in a modern setting, focusing on grand bank heists and caricatures of violence and crime.
Theoretically more interaction and relatability with the in-game world could potentially shift Grand Theft Auto in a more directly mature direction. Because of the intentional gameplay loop in Grand Theft Auto games, very rarely are characters made likeable in the same regard as Red Dead Redemption. Where characters like Arthur Morgan and John Marston are endearing protagonists with motivations and emotional moments, characters like Trevor Phillips and Michael De Santa are caricatures of modern society that emphasize excess and naivety. Players aren't meant to feel bad or fear for their lives when they visit the hospital after blowing themselves up. Sure the action set pieces and missions are fun, but at the end of the day, the same question would present itself: Does Grand Theft Auto need to borrow the same dramatic tone of Red Dead Redemption 2?
There's a possibility that Grand Theft Auto in the far future could potentially adapt more serious overtones and leverage that with the gameplay, but it truthfully isn't likely. The reason why these games are so overtly different is that they both accomplish a different type of game. The dynamic between Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption games isn't that it's the ideal vs. the real, it's more like emotional levity vs. emotional significance. Gameplay in Grand Theft Auto, at least as it's typically known, isn't conducive for that kind of character and world-building seen in Red Dead Redemption 2. Every interaction is haphazard, inconsequential, and that's the point.
For Grand Theft Auto 6 to adopt a much more serious overall tone would be a significant detriment to the series in its current state. Concept development for Grand Theft Auto 6 would have to significantly shift perspective in order to do so, and while Rockstar Games would certainly be capable of doing so, it doesn't mean that Grand Theft Auto 6 should. The Red Dead overall series could make that change and it would feel thematically appropriate given the lineage of the franchise thus far. Grand Theft Auto, however, would have a lot of explaining to do if such a dramatic change in tone was made to the series.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is reportedly in development.
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