Grand Theft Auto fans have been left divided over a Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5 feature being in GTA 6. While GTA 6 is set to finally release this November via PS5 and Xbox Series X, we still don’t know much about it other than some general details. For example, we have no idea how its open world works, nor the systems that will bring it to life. This naturally leaves the door open for speculation.
Videos by ComicBook.com
To this end, over on the Grand Theft Auto VI Reddit page, fans of the Rockstar Games series have been doing exactly that. In particular, a discussion about what the game’s day and night cycle will be has caught fire. On one side, there are fans hoping that the 48-minute cycle of Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5 does not return in GTA 6 in favor of something longer that will be more immersive. In Red Dead Redemption 2, this 48-minute cycle worked because of the slow pace of the game. However, in GTA 5, it is often jarring how quickly everything happens because the game’s pace is faster and more chaotic. To this end, many fans are hoping for something more like 60 minutes or even 90 minutes.
Does GTA 6 Need to Change?
“In GTA 5 and RDR2, a full 24-hour cycle takes exactly 48 minutes of real time. While that worked fine for a long time, when I’m actually immersed in the world, just driving around or exploring details, the days feel like they fly by at warp speed. You look up, and suddenly it’s nighttime again, and a beautiful sunrise lasts for all of 45 seconds.
While the popularity of the post and many of the comments echo this sentiment, not every Grand Theft Auto fan agrees, highlighting the pickle Rockstar Games is in.
“I think 48 minutes is a pretty good middle ground, lowkey,” reads the literal top comment. “It’s almost one proper gaming session long. Too short, and it would amplify the ludonarrative dissonance. And too long, will just make it day too much or night too much.”
This topic also opened the discussion of weather, which looks incredible in Red Dead Redemption 2, but as some fans point out, moves in and leaves very quickly, partially because of the shortened day and night cycles.
Unfortunately, Rockstar Games is unlikely to provide this granular level of detail about GTA 6 before release, as it’s proving very secretive with the game so far. That said, what we suspect will happen is that it will more or less follow the Red Dead Redemption 2 model, with perhaps some small tweaks because, after all, there’s no point fixing something that isn’t broken. Could the day and night cycle be tweaked and potentially improved? Absolutely, but it’s not a priority, and considering the crazy positive reception to RDR2, there doesn’t seem to be much incentive to tweak systems very much. Not to mention, whatever Rockstar Games has for the single-player, it’s going to have for GTA 6 Online, where a faster-paced experience is going to prove more effective.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the video game conversations happening over on the ComicBook Forum.
df
