Red Dead Redemption 2 Catch-All

The HDR (Game version) is so good. I'll take that over 60 fps any day. Just got to Saint Denis. Antagonizing and cheering at the Vaudeville performances while just standing in front of the stage makes me so happy.

This game is crazy and should not exist in a normal world.

I beat RDR2 a couple weeks back. Arthur was a terrific protagonist and I thoroughly enjoyed his journey. As far as I am concerned, the game ended with his story. The epilogue was utter crap to me. I cannot stand John at all. Arthur was thoughtful, intelligent, considerate, strong, and gentle. All qualities he himself purported to not have, yet had in abundance. John, on the other hand, embodies the very opposite of all those qualities. He's an idiot. He jumps from one thing to the other without any thought given. He has such an adversarial relationship with everyone around him. especially with his wife. He's just immensely unlikeable.

Should I ever replay RDR2, I will stop after chapter 6 is done. It was a great ending.

If they should ever do an RDR3, which I'm sure they will, and should it deal with some of the characters from RDR games, I'd either love to see a young Dutch or to follow the story of Charles. Charles was a fantastic character. And I'd love to see his adventures.

Yeah the epilogue dragged it out a bit unnecessarily for me. Have you tried online?

I have, but I did not like it. The online was built with every facet directed towards getting people to spend money. All of the features that are present in the singleplayer are stripped down and more shallow. The whole rank system is a tedious grind.

I really enjoyed the co-op multiplayer in the first game. I was gutted when the multiplayer in RDR2 wasn’t something similar but more elaborate.

I think it greatly depends on how you play Arthur as to what a kind and thoughtful character he is and he does beat a man to death while working as a loan shark. I like Arthur but he isn’t lily white. John is having a bad time in RDR2. He has an antagonist relationship with his wife but I don’t think he wants it to be the case it comes out of their situation. He is a lot more sympathetic character in RDR1 although I’m not sure he’s ever been particularly bright.

Spoiler:

The epilogues sent RDR2 from being a brilliant western to an all time classic for me because of how incredibly well it tied into the first game. I’ve never experienced a prequel done that well.

Yeah I’m not sure how well the epilogue resonates if you haven’t played RDR1

I tried RDR1 way back in 2009 or 2010. I did not like it at the time and put it down shortly after starting it. So I have no attachment to the character of John. I remember finding him unlikeable even then.

beanman101283 wrote:

Yeah I’m not sure how well the epilogue resonates if you haven’t played RDR1

Wait. Should RDR1 definitely be played first? I also skipped it at the time.

DSGamer wrote:
beanman101283 wrote:

Yeah I’m not sure how well the epilogue resonates if you haven’t played RDR1

Wait. Should RDR1 definitely be played first? I also skipped it at the time.

I think it might work better. I played RDR1 first then RDR2 which made the end of RDR2 incredibly impactful and the epilogue more so. I can kind of imagine is working the other way around but I’m not sure. Gameplay wise RDR1 might be easier to enjoy if you hadn’t first played RDR2 first.

DSGamer wrote:
beanman101283 wrote:

Yeah I’m not sure how well the epilogue resonates if you haven’t played RDR1

Wait. Should RDR1 definitely be played first? I also skipped it at the time.

Well it's a better game so...

:-p

DSGamer wrote:
beanman101283 wrote:

Yeah I’m not sure how well the epilogue resonates if you haven’t played RDR1

Wait. Should RDR1 definitely be played first? I also skipped it at the time.

I realise this question is a couple of weeks old now, but throwing my two pence in.... I never played RDR1, and absolutely loved RDR2. It's not a pre-requisite at all.

Im finding Red Dead Online a great antidote to lockdown - sweeping vistas, can do what i wish, all very cathartic. No real surprise that all the roles require some gold to get started, but as a walking/trotting sim its great

LondonLoo wrote:

Im finding Red Dead Online a great antidote to lockdown - sweeping vistas, can do what i wish, all very cathartic. No real surprise that all the roles require some gold to get started, but as a walking/trotting sim its great

So long as the walking isn't interrupted by griefers continually setting off explosions under you until you're about 100 feet in the air. Griefers nowhere in sight, no idea how they do it

Welcome to the Wild Wild Internet cowboy.

I enjoyed the 1st GAME so very much. Especially since it was the 1st give my GF (now wife) game me at our 1st Christmas dinner together..... I havent had time to play this one

Darkhaund wrote:

I enjoyed the 1st GAME so very much. Especially since it was the 1st give my GF (now wife) game me at our 1st Christmas dinner together..... I havent had time to play this one

It’s probably the best realised prequel story for a game (or movie) I’ve ever experienced. It can be clunky to get used to gameplay wise but only in the way other Rockstar games have been.

Avoid spoilers if you can.

Higgledy wrote:

It’s probably the best realised prequel story for a game (or movie) I’ve ever experienced. It can be clunky to get used to gameplay wise but only in the way other Rockstar games have been.

Avoid spoilers if you can.

Wot Higgledy sed... basically.

Before release, I wasn't sure that Rockstar could pull this one off. In particular, interest me in a story, the ending to which I already knew. But they did.

Add to that a much more diverse, inclusive and interesting set of NPCs, and some (almost) Witcher 3-level side stories.

Plus lots of weirdly compelling side activities.

It's very close to being a masterpiece.

But there are some clunky controls and the inventory system is a bit fiddly too.

I gave online a fair shake recently, but between level 100 guys killing my level 4 guy for no reason, and the less detailed graphics over single player graphics, it didn’t stick with me. Last night I tried to pick up my single player save. It’s from 2018. I had bounties everywhere and no money. Soooooo... I restarted from the beginning, and it’s pretty damn good.

I’m still going on my 2nd attempt at single player. I’m trying to only do story missions and some side missions to get through the story portion, but I keep getting side tracked. The same thing happened on my first play through. I really want to explore the world, but the problem is that some equipment is not available at the beginning of the game.

I’m still totally loving it. The clunky controls and menus are easier for me to grok this second time through.

My play through was way too much hunting with little to zero story progress then almost pure story with not much of anything else. I enjoyed it but it didn’t feel balanced in terms of an over all experience. When I have a PS5 (and an updated version of the game maybe?!) I’d like to play through it again.

I'm excited, but a bit skeptical. The emotions the last game brought up were unusual for rock star game

I’m suffering through the first couple hours of this... just how long can I expect 90% of my playtime to be holding X to follow someone and listen to them talk?

I can kind of tell there’s something to the game but I hate the current pace. I’m literally falling asleep at the wheel after half an hour.

Only a few hours in myself and know how you feel. Also the controls which aren’t user friendly at all - I just hope they gel at some point. Do I press or hold, loads of different keys where E would have worked, different keys for the same activity at different places - hope I’ve got that wrong but that is what it feels like. Just slows everything down and breaks immersion.

Yet the feel of the game, Arthur, exploring, fighting etc is lovely and is keeping me going.

If you skip side dialogues and don't explore much, the opening period in the mountains takes around 2-3 hours. It can take as long as five if you're poking around in the corners. Once you get to the second camp (not the abandoned mining camp you start in) it opens up considerably.

I won't quibble with anyone's criticism of the game's controls or pacing, I just find it so interesting that the game's ponderous, deliberate pacing is why I still love playing it, while it's why so many others absolutely hate it.

I live in New England, I get enough slow trudges through awful weather in my reality

Prederick wrote:

I won't quibble with anyone's criticism of the game's controls or pacing, I just find it so interesting that the game's ponderous, deliberate pacing is why I still love playing it, while it's why so many others absolutely hate it.

There has been a lot of effort put into to making games faster, more streamlined and generally less of a hassle to play which, over all, has been a good thing, especially for people who want very fast, frictionless gameplay. Playing Red Dead 2 showed me that some things were lost when everything became too quick and too easy. I was stunned by how much I adored the games slower pace and just how much I had missed that kind of experience (I also fully understand why people find it to be a massive negative.)

After realising how much I enjoyed Red Dead enforced pacing I thought back to older games I adored and realised that many of them were of the slow, deliberate, possibly even ponderous, variety.

Once you get out of the damn snow it gets a lot better.

My first attempt at this game was at launch. I didn’t make it very far. The second camp. I didn’t like trying to learn the different systems in the game, so I lost interest and quit playing. I restarted recently and I think I’m close to the end of the main story line.

Prederick wrote:

I won't quibble with anyone's criticism of the game's controls or pacing, I just find it so interesting that the game's ponderous, deliberate pacing is why I still love playing it, while it's why so many others absolutely hate it.

I also love the pacing. For some reason I’m not bothered by the unskippable animations of skinning and picking herbs. You really could go pour a drink in the time it takes to skin a bear.

The controls have become second nature by now, but I’m leery of playing a different game with more traditional controls. I don’t want to disrupt the flow I have going.

I’ve had a few good belly laughs at some of the dialogue. It’s well written.

Spoiler:

I love the womanizing artist. The electric chair sequence was some good black humor. The various random encounters in Saint Denis are pretty good. Plus I was able to buy some of the fancier clothes and now I have Arthur in some spiffy duds.

The way they slowly brought you to the diagnosis of Arthur’s tuberculosis was excellent. I was genuinely horrified.

I’m not sure how much I have left to go in the game.

Sounds like you aren’t too far off RawkGWJ. As with the first game there is an epilogue or two.

When I eventually get a PS5 I want to play through the game again.

Don't give up on this. This game is amazing. From someone who started this twice because I got distracted.