I’ve been living in Red Dead Redemption 2’s saloons like it’s my second job while glancing at my calendar every few months. It’s 2026, Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming back to Vice City, and frankly I’m thrilled. But if Rockstar wants me to trade my horse for a sports car, they’d better smuggle some cowboy magic into the neon streets.
Let me be honest: previous Grand Theft Auto games did open worlds well, but they also had gaps. GTA 5’s Los Santos looked enormous, yet half the buildings felt like cardboard movie props. Red Dead Redemption 2 changed my brain chemistry about what a game world should feel like. The environment reacts, remembers, and occasionally tries to kill you with a surprise cougar. If GTA 6 wants to make Vice City feel like a real, sweat-soaked Florida fever dream, it needs to steal some ideas from its cowboy cousin.
More Interiors Like RDR2 (My Character Is Tired of Staring at Fake Doors)
One of the biggest reasons Red Dead Redemption 2 still feels alive is that you can actually walk into places. Saloons, stores, cabins, run-down shacks, even the occasional cursed basement. Yes, the long animation of Arthur slowly opening every drawer made me age five years, but at least the world felt explorable.
GTA 5 had the opposite problem. Too many doors were permanently locked, and too many skyscrapers were just shiny wallpaper. It made Los Santos feel like a theme park where the rides are closed. Vice City is too beloved for that treatment again. I don’t need to open every single beachfront condo in GTA 6, but give me enough interiors that I stop trying to shoulder-barge random doors like a caffeinated burglar.
Public Transport That Doesn’t Feel Like a Loading Screen
In Red Dead Redemption 2, I could hop on a train or trolley and actually feel like a passenger rather than a floating camera. Better yet, Arthur could occasionally drive the train himself. Did I spend an embarrassing amount of time doing that? Absolutely. Was it immersive? You bet.
GTA has offered buses, subways, and trams before, but they mostly felt like afterthoughts. The Liberty City subway was functional, sure, but I never once thought, “Wow, this is a memorable part of my criminal day.” If GTA 6 gives Vice City a proper transit system with more interaction, I promise to occasionally leave my stolen sports car behind. Occasionally.
NPCs With Actual Memory (Yes, I Robbed You, Greg)
Here’s where RDR2 absolutely flexed on everyone. If I lassoed a random farmer, robbed a store, or caused general mayhem in Valentine, the locals remembered it. Shopkeepers I previously robbed would show up later wearing bandages based on the injuries I gave them. That is simultaneously horrifying and brilliant.
Meanwhile in GTA 5, I could run over the same pedestrian’s bike, leave, come back, and he’d greet me like I was a friendly neighbor. It broke the illusion. If GTA 6 lets NPCs hold grudges, remember my face, or react to my growing reputation, my rise as a chaotic Florida criminal would feel so much more meaningful. I want to walk into a convenience store and see the clerk’s eye twitch because he remembers the last time I “borrowed” his register.
A Few Unhinged Animals (Alligators, Please)
I’m not asking GTA 6 to become a hunting sim. Dressing up in camo and tracking deer would feel a little off when I’m carrying an RPG through a strip mall. But GTA’s near-total lack of meaningful wildlife has always bugged me. Animals in RDR2 made the world feel unpredictable and alive, whether it was a grizzly bear ruining my camping trip or a pack of wolves turning me into lunch.
Vice City is inspired by Miami, and real-life Florida is a biological circus. We should get alligators in the swampy outskirts, maybe some invasive iguanas falling out of trees, or a dolphin occasionally photobombing the ocean. If a future GTA 6 leak mentioned a place called Port Gellhorn, then suburban and rural areas are likely coming too. Those zones are begging for dangerous reptilian jump scares. Nothing says “welcome to Florida” like stepping out of your car and getting chased by a gator with unresolved anger issues.
What RDR2 Does vs. What GTA 6 Should Steal
| Feature | RDR2 Delivered | GTA 6 Should Copy |
|---|---|---|
| Interiors | Saloons, shops, cabins, shacks | More explorable Vice City buildings |
| Public transit | Rideable trains, drivable trolleys | Interactive buses, trams, maybe a party boat |
| NPC memory | Townsfolk remember crimes | Shopkeepers and locals hold grudges |
| Animals | Wolves, bears, gators, deer | Florida alligators, iguanas, swamp chaos |
| Consequences | Bandages on robbed NPCs | Visible aftermath in the city |
Final Thoughts: Steal Smart, Not Everything
Grand Theft Auto 6 doesn’t need to become Red Dead Redemption 2 with Wi-Fi and designer jeans. A slow-motion horse ride through Ocean Drive would be weird. But the open-world philosophy of RDR2—more interactivity, more memory, more surprise—should absolutely carry over. I’m not asking Rockstar to turn Vice City into a nature documentary. I’m asking them to make it feel less like a backdrop and more like a place where my terrible decisions leave a mark.
At the end of the day, if I want to rob a store, take a trolley home, and then get glared at by the clerk I wronged six months later while a gator waits outside, is that really too much to ask? I don’t think so.