rockstar keeps sneaking rpg systems into gta 6 and people still won't call it one

I keep seeing this take pop up and it's starting to make sense. The dating stuff, the break up mechanic, the whole "go anywhere" line from Rockstar. That's RPG territory, whether anyone wants to admit it or not.

Not that GTA hasn't had light RPG elements forever. Stats, skill progression, buying property. But this time it's deeper. You can apparently break Jason and Lucia up. That's a relationship system, not a gimmick. And they've said you can go anywhere, with way more interiors than before. That's basically what Skyrim promised back in the day, and nobody had a problem calling that an RPG.

I get why people push back. GTA has its own identity. You say "RPG" and people think turn based combat and elves. But the genre has stretched so much that at this point, an open world game with player choice, relationship management, and freeform exploration is closer to an RPG than to a pure action game. Rockstar themselves probably won't use the word because it would set expectations they don't want. But the systems are right there.

The funny thing is, even GTA San Andreas had a dating system and nobody called it an RPG back then. It was just a side activity. Now it's front and center with two protagonists who can split up. That's a different level of consequence. And if there are real gameplay effects from breaking up, like different missions or dialogue, that's not just flavor, that's roleplaying.

So yeah, call it an action adventure, call it a crime sim, call it whatever. But the more I hear about GTA 6, the more it sounds like an RPG wearing a GTA skin. I'm not mad about it either. More systems, more freedom, more ways to play. That's what I've wanted from this series for years. If they want to keep denying the label, fine. I'll be too busy playing to argue about genre definitions.

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Source: GamesRadar+ · Curated content.