GTA 6: 8 Current Gaming Trends Rockstar Must AVOID

2. Going With "Safe" Humour

Main characters quipping every few moments, others saying "We got this!", a generally weightless feel where peril or investment is removed for the sake of "enjoying the ride" - such things dog the worst entries in Marvel's otherwise hefty MCU, but this comedic sensibility is everywhere from Star Wars: The Last Jedi to Mass Effect: Andromeda, Gears of War 4 to Anthem.

It's a way to insert a base level of "safe" comedy that will guarantee audiences/players come out the other side saying "Yeah, it was fun!", but the knock-on effect is a complete lack of memorability.

GTA 5 released only a year after The Avengers, and essentially predates that film's impact on entertainment as a whole, but I'll maintain there was something about this game that felt so utterly toothless.

Things like the LifeInvader mission were fine, but "Lol, the tech elite are awkward nerds" isn't exactly the most biting or original satire. Obviously GTA has never been anything approaching high-brow wit or genuinely legendary comedic bits, but it exists as a black mirror to western society writ large.

GTAs 3, Vice City and San Andreas reflected a diversifying world linking up with one another online. The ability to parody established tropes and eras through post-modern lenses that retained a driven scriptwriting sensibility. Contrast Rockstar's lampooning of sexism, pompous hair rock bands and 80s glamour in Vice City, to the aforementioned social media stuff, or Michael's daughter showing that "reality TV stars will do anything!" in an early mission.

Hopefully going forward, Rockstar will use their position to reclaim a franchise identity that used to be so enjoyably self-aware and intelligent at the core, rather than relaxing into a more mainstream feel.