Rockstar continues to expand on its brand of open-world storytelling with each new entry in the Grand Theft Auto 6 somewhere on the horizon, there are a number of things Rockstar could incorporate from its impressive Red Dead Redemption 2 world. The level of realism and attention to detail is still staggering years after launch, but even more impressive is the game's plethora of missions that breathe life into each of the astounding characters.
Rockstar's western epic is a deep character drama set in an immersive space, and the various missions within Red Dead Redemption 2's frontier are what help bring it to life. GTA 5 is similar, with its multiple-character story that features numerous missions, but where RDR2 excels - and what GTA 6 can most learn from - is how to do so much with so little. There are roughly half as many missions in the western frontier as there are on the island of San Andreas, but the in-depth narratives and interesting characters Red Dead Redemption 2 is known for make each mission more than worth the time.
Of the nearly sixty side missions in GTA 5, most of them are comparatively quick and usually lifeless. While GTA 5's stranger missions are fun at times, few of them leave any lasting impressions like helping Margaret round up escaped circus animals. On top of the characters and activities in Red Dead Redemption 2's missions adding to the world is the clever way they're woven into the game's frontier setting. The subtleties of simply finding the missions can add dividends to their overall charm.
How GTA 6 Can Do Less With More
GTA 5 certainly delivers some entertaining gameplay in its stranger missions, particularly the Grass Roots set, that help bring the world of San Andreas to life. Red Dead Redemption 2's often brutal story needs side missions to include fun moments that offer players a break, and they manage this - without breaking the mood - through nuance. Simple things like a character at a bar asking players to buy him a drink, or randomly stumbling upon a naive photographer trying to get photos of wildlife, eventually evolve into elaborate narratives that stretch across the campaign.
The nature of how the missions are spread across the game's world, hidden in plain sight, fosters an even greater appreciation of the moments they include. The stories within Red Dead Redemption 2's stranger missions only further their charm as players get to see brotherly squabbles put to rest or befriend a grizzled veteran and him for his final days. Each of the stranger missions offers a wide array of stories from endearing to tragic, all of which are elements GTA 6's missions could utilize.
The Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto franchises differ greatly in tone and playstyle, but the one thing they both strive to do is immerse players in an incredibly deep open-world experience. Red Dead Redemption 2 built upon the success of GTA 5 and developed an even more engaging setting. That is a trend Grand Theft Auto 6 would do well to continue.
