Everything we’ve seen of GTA 6 ensures that it’s going to be a quality open-world game when it comes out next year. While it’s going to be great for fans of cars, guns, and working out at the gym, this style isn’t for everyone anymore. The sense of realism and American parody has its fans, but not players like me.
Rockstar Games is making something special, but open-world games like Zelda, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and more have ruined GTA 6 for me. Being able to steal cars and shoot random civilians in the street is a dark fantasy for many, but I’m looking for something more on the fantastical side. Thankfully, these games have them in droves.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, are probably the best examples of this. Rather than punch gangsters and sell cocaine, you slash monsters and glide towards far-off locations. With a focus on exploration, puzzle solving, and combat, there’s something about the new Zelda games that can’t be replicated by other games.
Link can also dress up as a sexy woman in both games. No, I will not evaluate further.
Traversal is another reason why these open-world Zelda games are great, because moving around in them feels great. Whether you’re gliding to a far-off location, climbing a huge mountain, or using a make-shift vehicle, these games just feel great. You can’t replicate that feeling by driving a nice car or motorcycle in GTA games, which feel decent but a bit dull.
Speaking of traversal, Marvel’s Spider-Man has also ruined any love I might have had for GTA 6. While this game does have a pseudo-realistic art style, that all goes away once you start to web swing. You can waste minutes just swinging away to other locations, and it never feels old. Players like me enjoy web-swinging so much that we never use the fast travel, because we never need to.
We imagine that GTA 6 players will be using fast travel often, though that’s totally fine. Driving cars can’t match web-swinging after all.
Other open-world games have also made the Grand Theft Auto series impossible for me to enjoy. Assassin’s Creed Shadows has you leaping on victims and rooftops. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet lets you ride an ancient creature that can glide. The Batman Arkham games have an addictive mix of grappling hooks and gliding as well.
You can see that this writer plays video games to escape reality instead of living in it. Granted, GTA 6 also presents a fantasized experience that gamers enjoy, but that just doesn’t excite me. It’s going to be good, but there are other open-world titles that I will enjoy more.