By The scenes I remember from Red Dead Redemption 2 aren’t the shootouts. They’re Arthur by the campfire, Arthur writing in his journal, Arthur saying nothing at all. Rob Nelson says that was the plan for GTA 6 too: the quieter moments “were some of the most compelling aspects of Red Dead Redemption 2 and we wanted to see if we could bring some of those elements into GTA 6”.
Two leads instead of GTA 5’s trio is part of the same call. Nelson’s logic: the more protagonists you have, the less time you spend with each one, and the less time you spend, the harder it is to care. Jason and Lucia are also close in a way Michael, Franklin and Trevor never were. The previews show them simply getting ready for a night out — a scene that quiet would have looked alien in GTA 5.
The best example from the interviews is the stairs. Lucia gets thrown down a flight of them, and the game switches you to Jason. You can’t hear her. You don’t know what’s happening to her. That worry is the whole point — and it only works because the calm scenes earned it. Quiet is what makes the loud parts loud.
I laughed with the GTA 5 trio for a hundred hours and never once worried about them. Arthur I worried about constantly. If Rockstar really has moved that feeling to Vice City, then in November I’ll have someone I’m genuinely afraid to lose. Both of them, probably.