GTA 6: 10 Things It Must Do BETTER Than 5

3. Return Of The Mute Protagonist

There's a case to be made, that the only way GTA can "work", is if you don't have a main character that's voicing anything of a personality.

Case in point: GTA IV - the more nuanced and rounded off Niko was, discussing how he didn't want to lead a life of crime, contrasted entirely with every action he then took. The same went for John Marston in Red Dead, as routinely he would acknowledge the stupidity of any task at hand... only to complete it anyway.

GTA V's answer was to make Trevor a complete psychopath from moment one - but even he didn't work because that approach is entirely one-dimensional, and no one wants to control an actual piece of sh*t - that's how you get games like 2015's Hatred.

No, overall we need another Claude. Another character who... isn't a character at all - they're someone we can project a response onto; someone who goes along with what's being asked for all sorts of reasons and personality quirks we never find out.

GTA is wish fulfilment, it's escapism, nihilism and the exploration of just how twisted your own mind can be. It can't be any of those things, if the guiding hand is anything other than your own.