GTA VI: 10 Lessons It Must Learn From The Competition

8. A Unique Story - Red Dead Redemption

There's quite a few lessons that can be traded and learned between Rockstar's most lucrative franchise and one of the greatest standalone titles of all time, but one of the biggest takeaways we all had as the credits finally rolled on their Wild Western masterpiece was just how affecting and engaging the story was. It was due to a genius beat in the main narrative where following the death of main character John Marston, you then took control of his son after some time had passed - making him older, wiser and moulded in the gunslinging ways of his father. The game let you just carry on as you were, finishing off side-missions and hunting creatures as you pleased, but the real gem - and true ending of the game - required you to track down your father's killer of your own volition. It was a great way to capitalise on the open-world nature of the world itself along with the level of player agency we usually feel when playing any sandbox title i.e. that our actions are but one story in an ongoing surrounding world, and it also gave that game one of the most unique uses of a title card we've ever seen. In GTA - and especially GTA V - everything's given to you almost too easily, especially with that final mission that suddenly seemed to tie up the myriad of loose ends in one giant fell swoop, pinpointing and taking out all the necessary characters to provide something of a satisfying ending right out of the blue. Rockstar were onto a winner with the pace of Red Dead and its unique way of wrapping up, and although they're going to be less open to take risks with the biggest franchise of all time, that's all the more reason to take another shot at greatness.