One of the most annoying parts of Grand Theft Auto Online could be done away with if Grand Theft Auto 6 updates the online game. It's an issue that is impossible to ignore, because every player is guaranteed to have to deal with it when they play. Rockstar should surely be aware of it, and hopefully a plan will be in the works to fix it.
The biggest draw of Grand Theft Auto Online is the ability for players to create their own characters and adventure through the world of Grand Theft Auto. They can collect fancy cars, fight gangsters, and go on rampages across the city like any quality GTA protagonist would be expected to. The steady flow of new content from sources such as GTA Online's Los Santos Drug Wars update has given players more outfits and vehicles to fit their chosen style, keeping the game healthy and relevant. Without customization options, GTA Online would have a lot less to offer.
GTA Online's Heritage Mechanic Is A Burden On Character Creation
One part of character creation in GTA Online is the heritage mechanic. Rather than a typical set of bases to build on, the game has the player choose from two parents, and creates an amalgamation of the two's features for the player's character. There are a good amount of options for both the mother and father, leading to many possibilities for the player's base look. There is also a pair of sliders that determine which parent the protagonist inherits more of their facial features and skin tone from. Before any GTA Online player can start their criminal enterprises, they will have to go through the heritage options in order to create their character.
GTA Online's Character Creation Could Be So Much Better
The biggest problem with the heritage system is that it's harder to work with than a simple set of options. Every change of parents brings changes to the base design, some more drastic than others, and it can leave a character looking much different than what the player had intended for them. While there are thankfully some other options and sliders to fine-tune the character more to the player's liking, the heritage system still feels more like an obstacle than anything. There's nothing that it provides that a simple list of options for skin tones and default appearances couldn't. It's a cumbersome mechanic that acts as evidence proving GTA 6 needs to remake GTA Online and make improvements to the process.
For an example of how GTA Online's character creation could be improved, Red Dead Online can offer a decent example. It streamlines the process by offering a selection of base faces, each with three potential skin tones. While this selection is a bit limited, it's easier to use than the heritage system. Red Dead Online has other options to add more flavor to characters as well, such as adjusting their build and age, and even giving them scars. If these ideas could be fused into GTA Online's character creation, the options at the players' fingertips would be astonishing. Even though Red Dead Online is dead, GTA Online could still learn from what it did right.
Making a character and taking them through GTA Online is fun, but the heritage system doesn't start the game in the best way. At most, it's an unnecessary extra step for something that many other games help players decide easily. If Grand Theft Auto 6 brings its own update to Grand Theft Auto Online, then the heritage system needs an overhaul.
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