Rockstar Games is about to grace us with a new mainline series in the GTA series, with the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 slated for a 2025 release.
The hype levels are through the roof not just because it’s a GTA game, but also because GTA 6‘s chosen setting of Vice City is one associated with some of the best memories many players have with this series. With that in mind, let’s talk about throwbacks that will make us all feel old and happy for what we’ve already lived through.
6. A literal throwback to the ’80s
I’d love for a small portion of the game to take place in ’80s Vice City. I’m sure that 6’s GTA-fied Miami is going to rock, but players would love the throwback, even if it’s just a couple of missions in a small part of the city. The Florida Man-filled streets of 2025’s Vice City sure will provide no lack of wildly fun moments, but the essence of Vice City is crystalized in the ’80s. The devs really shouldn’t pass up on that opportunity to give us all that well-deserved nostalgia shot.
Let us play as the father of the main character, or, if you’re feeling meta, as Tommy Vercetti himself. The original Vice City took heavy inspiration from Scarface, but it didn’t show Vercetti going through one of the most iconic moments of Tony Montana’s life, his demise.
Even if we can’t have the blockbuster dream of having both 2020 and 1980 Vice City in the same game, I think it’d still be great to have Tommy Vercetti, the first main character in the series who was an actual character, make a return. Would he come back as an ex-criminal enjoying his retirement? An old mob boss who just can’t let go? The main villain? I’d be down for any of those.
One of the reasons why people love The Godfather Part 2 is that it’s both an incredible sequel and an engrossing prequel. The promotional materials so far show no indication that GTA VI would ever pull such a daring move, but it sure as hell could — and should.
5. Bring back all the songs from Vice City
I’m pretty sure we all want all of them in all of the radio stations from the original Vice City. The GTA series does a great job of showing kids awesome music that they likely have never heard about, and that trend started with Vice City.
The devs can either go the easy route of just copying and pasting the original Vice City recordings, or make their modern-day counterparts. Make the hosts and DJs a bunch of old men who just can’t let go of the ’80s. There’s no shame in that, as many of us are equally guilty of that hilarious crime.
4. Smaller and more focused playable area
Vice City features one of the smallest maps in the series and that was never a problem. Just let imagination run wild and fill the map with all sorts of cool stuff to do. I know they won’t fail in this department.
I understand that the devs might not get the chance to do that because all games need to be bigger nowadays. If that’s the case, then I’d like for the Vice City in GTA 6 to be a 1:1 replica of the original, and then for the game to introduce new surrounding areas to expand upon it, instead of just stretching the city that we all know and love like a botched plastic surgery would. That’s a great way to produce something that’s both a remake and a fresh new thing.
3. Bring back all the wacky easter eggs and more
Vice City came out before the myth of Florida Man was a thing, so this is perfect timing to bring all of the original Vice City’s easter eggs and even player-made myths back into the fold. Moon Landing easter egg? cement shoes easter egg? Giant sharks? We need that times ten.
Remember how you needed to take drugs to dream about getting abducted by aliens in GTA 5? Well, GTA 6 takes place in Florida, man, where I assume alien abductions occur on the regular while you’re perfectly sober. If the game doesn’t feel almost like a fantasy adventure in the vein of a modern-day Witcher 3, then the devs are missing an opportunity. We already know that the trailer directly references many real-life “Florida Man” videos, so let’s get to it.
2. Shooting the moon to make it bigger
Ok, this seems like just a dumb throwaway easter egg, but hear me out. This would be a throwback to the old days of the GTA world where shooting the moon would cause it to grow larger, but it could also be more. For one second, let’s ignore the problems adjacent to living in a version of Florida where anyone with a gun has a say over the size of the moon. Let’s instead focus on how cool it’d be to see this easter egg make a return in blockbuster style.
Now, instead of the moon simply becoming larger, we could trigger the apocalypse, like seen in the video above, or at least a small rising of the tide. The devs put this easter egg in the original Vice City to settle an argument, and it would also work here as a great argument settler. The argument in question, you ask? Finding out who’s the ultimate Florida Man.
1. Motorcycles
Yeah, I know that the series has had motorcycles for a while, even flying ones. Still, motorcycles were one of the big selling points in the original Vice City, so I expect some damn great motorcycle-based chases. Yeah, that’s it.
