jason and lucia special abilities and criminal career stage bonuses

Been going back and forth on how Rockstar might handle the two protagonists this time. The first thing I keep coming back to is special abilities. In GTA 5 each character had their own thing, Franklin's driving focus, Michael's bullet time, Trevor's rage. But with Jason and Lucia being a duo, do they each get a unique ability on top of a shared focus type thing? Or is it just one focus/dead eye ability that both of them use the same way?

I think having separate abilities would make switching between them feel more meaningful. Like if Lucia has something tied to stealth or social manipulation and Jason gets something more combat or driving oriented. But then again, a shared focus ability keeps it simpler and maybe fits the Bonnie and Clyde vibe where they're equals. Not sure which I'd prefer honestly.

The other thing is the criminal career mechanic. The OP floated the idea that each stage of your criminal career could come with its own bonus or ability. That sounds cool but also maybe too gamey. The example they gave was walking into a bar with a psycho Lucia. NPCs who recognize her might back away immediately, run before she even pulls a weapon, refuse to confront her, warn other NPCs, or recognize her from previous incidents. That kind of reputation system would be wild. It would make your choices actually stick to the world.

But then there's the other side, which is that Rob said it might only affect some narrative actions and nothing mechanical. If that's the case, the criminal career stuff is more about story flavor than actual gameplay systems. I'd be a little disappointed if it's just window dressing, but I also get that Rockstar doesn't want to overcomplicate things. The NPC memory stuff from the extended look already seems like it's doing a lot of heavy lifting, so maybe the criminal career is more about how the story reacts to you rather than a full reputation meter.

I'm leaning toward wanting unique abilities for each character and at least some light reputation effects from the criminal career. Not full on Nemesis system, but enough that a psycho Lucia feels different from a low key one.

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Source: r/GTA6 · Curated content.