Red Dead Redemption II

[Super Monkey Balls]

Finished this yesterday. No spoilers but I like the way the story played out. I've been a mostly good cowboy but I think I'll wreak a bit of havoc and then sell it.

It's a very impressive game, I enjoyed it, but there's a lot of listening to dialogue whilst trotting around on horses and I didn't really feel compelled to go and do much exploring. I can't help but compare it to BOTW and find it inferior, as with every open world game since.

[cutmymilk]

Just about finished with the story. Absolutely love it. I see SFs points but trying to immerse myself and ignore the, at times, lack of real gameplay.

Question about the last section...

->Open Spoiler<-

I now have Arthur's saddle, which just magically appeared after the Motherhood mission of the epilogue. Strikes me as strange that a bigger deal wasn't made of it. No cut scene or explanation? Was this the same for everyone?

[Super Monkey Balls]

Question about the last section...

->Open Spoiler<-

I now have Arthur's saddle, which just magically appeared after the Motherhood mission of the epilogue. Strikes me as strange that a bigger deal wasn't made of it. No cut scene or explanation? Was this the same for everyone?

->Open Spoiler<-

IIRC John gets it out of the trunk from under his bed when things are kicking off.

[cutmymilk]

->Open Spoiler<-

IIRC John gets it out of the trunk from under his bed when things are kicking off.

->Open Spoiler<-

Yeah you see him grab a load of clothing, not the saddle.

[Finsbury Girl]

Finally finished off the story and epilogues.

I understand the need to lead into Red Dead Redemption but I though the whole ending was quite a let down from my point of view. The build up was immense but talk about anti-climactic.

I dunno I am still conflicted about this game. My God the cinematics and graphical fidelity are absolutely outstanding as was the acting and voice acting from the whole cast. Some of the story fantastic other bits not so much. Some of the mechanics and walking sim bits were downright garbage and shouldn't be anywhere in the same galaxy as a AAA game.

I loved riding around, hunting and fishing the best oh and growing my massive grizzly adams beard. My Arthur was basically a hipster he was the most dapper man in the wild west.

I'm going to clean up some of the challenges and legendary beasts but that will be about it, I've never played RDR so I may just pick it up so I can finish the story completely.

->Open Spoiler<-

I so wanted Arthur to be the one who shot that mutha fukka Micah Bell in the face ; not happy how it turned out

[Finsbury Girl]

Just about finished with the story. Absolutely love it. I see SFs points but trying to immerse myself and ignore the, at times, lack of real gameplay.

Question about the last section...

->Open Spoiler<-

I now have Arthur's saddle, which just magically appeared after the Motherhood mission of the epilogue. Strikes me as strange that a bigger deal wasn't made of it. No cut scene or explanation? Was this the same for everyone?

->Open Spoiler<-

Yeah would've been nice to have some sort of handover - like Arthur telling John take my stuff. There is the one line from John to Charles how he says I found this ring amongst Arthur's stuff. It was not resolved well at all. I had over 18k in cash and bucket loads of toncis ingredients as well I wasn't happy to lose it all for the two epilogues

[Neon Ignition]

->Open Spoiler<-

I think I would have been okay with the handover to John if it had been better handled. As soon as it's clear Arthur is running out time it became too obvious that John was going to be the main character post-endgame which is fine but I would have enjoyed that turn more if the game built on its momentum with John unable to attempt moving on post-the Gang until the death of Arthur and the betrayal of Dutch and Michah felt resolved to him. The game would have worked better with John's family on the run towards their new life as John hunts down Micah in a continuation of the build up of stakes. Instead Rockstar has John's story pick up at a point where all momentum is lost and starts you off by pushing you back into the dullest chore like aspects of the games early hours, by the time things start wrapping up it's lost its pacing

[Finsbury Girl]

Agreed Supes. Spot on regarding pacing - that is a recurring issue with the game throughout.

[Atticus]

---

I keep going back to this wanting to lose myself in the cowboy dream, but little things frustrate me. Tiny little deviations (which yhuge game like this throws up constantly) can break the thread of even the simplest of task. I helped someone on the side of the road and agreed to take them back to Valentine. On the way I went treasure hunting, found what I needed, got back on the horse and the marker to complete the Valentine task was gone and unretrievable. What can't I have a couple of things on the go at once? Cowboys can multi-task! The open plains and promise of adventure keep drawing me back though.

[charlesr]

Saw a vid of someone accidentally shooting a bird out of the sky during a cutscene, which lands in the scene. Kinda funny

[Zen Monkey]

I waited so many years for this game, even pre-ordered it (an exceedingly rare act for me), but in an entire week have spent maybe 5 hours playing it... I just find it boring and end up thinking I could be playing Mario Kart 8 instead, or playing Splatoon 2 instead, or Dark Souls III, or baking a cake, or anything. And so I turn it off and do something else.

Boy, I was wrong about this game. I returned to it after a three month break from gaming and was soon having fun. It's funny, but everything I initially disliked about the game, I ended up loving. I couldn't bear the methodical mechanics and incredibly slow pace but came to realise the pace perfectly suits the time period and that the deliberate mechanics only help ensure complete immersion.

It certainly sets new standards in terms of world-building and attention to detail. Not played anything that suspended by disbelief so completely. But most importantly, the game is fun to play and, much like Zelda Breath of the Wild, rewards and encourages experimentation. With a little imagination you can rob, murder and hunt in such amusing and elaborate ways.

I didn't care much for the story but Arthur is a brilliant character and maybe my favourite video game character as I really felt for him and his plight. But it's the world that left the deepest impression. It really hammered home just what we've done to this planet. Riding out in the wild feels so free and natural, and then you get to the fenced off lands, the dirty towns and cities with their artificial laws, you hear townsfolk gossiping about trivialities, you see first hand man's willingness to sacrifice freedom for the illusion of security - all of that stuff is evident in the game. It reminded me what a silly species we can be, how we are willing to destroy true beauty and genuine wealth in exchange for convenience and gimmickry.

But lest I get too serious, the best thing of all about this game is how it makes you feel like a cowboy. That feeling when you ride into a small town and tip your hat to folk as you greet them, the sway of your horses hips and how that affects your character's movement atop, the sound of the hooves. It's all captured so wonderfully. You feel like John Wayne or Clint Eastwood and that's very, very cool.

A masterpiece.

[fishbowlhead]

Yep. For once, all that anticipation, all that waiting and all that money spent on development 100% paid off.

I think only the next rockstar opus will come anywhere near this.

[Zen Monkey]

Yeah. It's gonna be tough playing other open world games. I mean:



Brilliant.

[fishbowlhead]

I mean, just wow .

Its basically a playable westworld.

[Golgo]

I'll never play this as I can't forgive Rockstar for the way they treated their staff. That is until it's down under £20 and then all bets are off as it does look awesome and it'd be a shame for all that slave-labour to go to waste.