Right now, I don’t have a PC. Long ago, when I did have one, the first AAA game I ever played was Red Dead Redemption 2. I have played other games, but I feel like RDR2 surpasses all of them and is legitimately one of the greatest games ever made. The amount of details dedicated to realism, the solid storyline, the amazing graphics, NPCs getting angry/creeped out when you follow them for too long, and the hilarious antagonistic insults. I can just go on and on about this game. This is undoubtedly Rockstar’s best achievement yet, and I can’t wait to see how they top it with GTA 6 releasing next year.
It’s an all-timer as far as video game stories and production value, but the railroading that they did to players did irk a great deal of us, as chronicled in that Nakey Jakey video. They set up so many dynamic systems for the player to interact with and then basically dictated that you couldn’t get creative with them during the story missions. Deviating even slightly from the intended path would be a mission failed.
I haven’t seen that video, but I suspect I would agree. RDR2 is something of a paradox.
They did an amazing job on environments and characters, and then turned around and hobbled the game with bizarre PC controls, a save game system and unskippable cut scenes woven from pure contempt for the player’s time, and dog shit mission mechanics that punish the player for any attempt to exercise agency and really have no place in an open world game.
I think your enjoyment will depend on what you’re expecting from your games.
Naughty Dog’s games are some of my favourites, RDR2 is the closest I’ve gotten to that playing a movie experience in an open world game. I would guess that’s hard to balance with more emergent gameplay in open-world story missions, so if that is more what you enjoy as a player, you’d probably feel very restricted.
Absolutely loved RDR2 though. My first or second favourite game of all time.
Odd, I don’t recall having any issues there.
The video evidence in that essay will do more justice than any of my anecdotes, but even things that seemed like possible ways to handle a story mission were not what the developers intended and resulted in a mission failed, like trying to take the high ground in a valley, or trying to sneak in through a window instead of entering from the ground floor.
LOVED RDR1. Wanted to like RDR2 but… it just kind of really sucks to play?
The “cinematic” movement makes me feel like I am piloting a giant- no, actually an Atlas would control a lot better. I don’t know WHAT RDR2’s problem is but it just feels horrible to actually move around.
And the controls in general similarly feel… way more complicated than they should be? Feels like I have five context specific modes at any given time. Like, I play some fairly complex games and have a long love of HOTASes. But RDR2 is the only game where I was ever regularly afraid that I would hit the wrong button and even managed to punch a Stranger in the face once while trying to talk to them. Like… for probably three or four months of my life I could start a frigging F-15 from memory but RDR2 just breaks my brain somehow.
Will probably try again some time. But bopping that one rando and potentially losing out on a cool quest after like 2 hours of tutorial was just… no.
I agree with this. RDR2 pushed so much on realism, it actually made me realize how I don’t want to be as slow as a person in the real world in videogame. Realism in general really doesn’t cut it for me in videogame form.
I’ll take CP2077 over this game in any context.
RDR2 is on my list and I need to stop fiddling around with all my other games and play this one.
All I ever hear is great things about this game.
I was in the same boat as you until a few months ago when I started. Well worth it. The story is great, I’m not to the end yet (been savoring). Game play is very much like gta. Get to it!
It’s also a very long campaign with several points that feel like they’re coming up on the ending, only for a lot more game and story to come afterward.
Genuine piece of advice, if you have the patience for it - walk everywhere, don’t use fast travel. Treat it like a hiking sim sometimes and it will reward you with vibes like no other game.
It does mean that sometimes you’ll have a session where nothing happens and you don’t progress any of the missions/story… but I always found it to be super worth it.
Absolutely. Just stumbling on an empty shack but the contents telling a tale about who was there before is fascinating. Among many other reasons.
Ok will do
I found this video rather relevant. It made me enjoy some nice sunsets on the witcher 3 (started playing it recently):
Maybe it will enhance your play through as well. I agree sometimes not much happens, but it feels more rewarding than trying to min/max the run for whatever reason.
it’s the best game I ever played. I waited years to play it and I played it two years ago, on pc. Amazing. Outrageously good. when I finished playing it, I deleted it off my computer and I set up a block on Reddit before I left Reddit permanently, so that I don’t see any mention of it. I just wanted to forget that I never played it and forget the story so that I could have that feeling of playing it for first time. I think in a year maybe two I’ll be ready to play it again. I can’t wait to forget more about it, so I can experience it again.
I’m not gonna spoil anything bit I didn’t enjoy the story.
Maybe it’s just me and I would play it again if it was a 20 hours game, but it’s too long for me to give it another chance.
I loved the ambiance and gameplay though. I think I enjoyed the first one more because the story wasn’t bad, but it has been ages…
I can’t get into it. I’m probably halfway through, but done in little spurts over the last 3+ years. The gameplay and story are pretty boring but ok. The console trash style controls and ui piss me off so much.
I need help enjoying this game. How can I get past what feels like certain tedium. I’m very early in the game and I don’t really enjoy the time spent walking, riding, or looting, is that essentially the core of the game and maybe it’s not for me?
I am interested in and excited by the story and the environments. I also really enjoy a game with choice, and so far feels quite one tracked.
The game is essentially a trudge from shooting gallery to shooting gallery, with a large open world to do very little of consequence in. There isn’t really anything more to it than what’s on the surface. Either you enjoy the slow burn cowboy experience or you don’t. It doesn’t really get any better.
Yeah that tedium doesn’t go away, imo. There’s a mission that seems inconsequential at the time, but has huge implications for the main character that I really didn’t want to engage with, but the story is the story, there isn’t much if any player agency.
I suggest going on the hunt for the Klan rallies that happen in one area of the map before putting it down. Incredibly satisfying killing those pricks in exotic ways.
The looting you can skip with cheats. Technically you can skip a lot of traveling that way as well. But that’s a big part of the game, imo. If you don’t enjoy spending time in the game, then all you want to do is shoot people? There’s better games for that.
It’s good but I didn’t really get on with it after a couple chapters. It constantly goes through highs and lows, and although I can be fun I found the lows to be absolute boredom.
It’s so damn good. I must’ve replayed it like six times since it came to pc. The story, the voice acting, characters, graphics, everything is absolutely top notch. Except for the goddamn controls (and the menus). I’m not sure if it’s due to it being a console-first game or just a rockstar thing as rdr1’s were also crap, but holy shit they’re infuriating. The amount of times I shot people by mistake, lost missions because of a wrong key, or just plain ended up with an unpayable bounty is too damn high.
I’ve gotten pretty far in the game before having to put it down for a bit, it’s a great game for certain! I do enjoy the level of detail in terms of how NPCs act and respond around Arthur. Red Dead Redemption 2 is certainly a huge step-up in terms of quality from the original game.
I’m not particularly keen for GTA6 as those games tend to be off-putting for me (mechanically and story wise), I also hate driving in games…Unfortunately, GTA tends to involve a lot of driving.
I loved that game and RDR. I 99% completed it. The only thing I have left is the gambling challenges which are ridiculous. I should have did them before I finished everything else.
Yeah its like the soy sauce on rice. Gotta have it.