Red Dead Redemption 2 (Equestrian Boogaloo)

[Noonling]

It took me a while to warm to Arthur (fair enough, main characters tend to be a little bland because they are an extension of the player, whoever that may be). There are a couple of bits that annoy me - some of the stranger missions are just too silly and Chapter 5 was shoddy, but other than that I'm loving the writing and the characters.

[Excellent_Biscuits]

Also the drop in quality from the first half is really noticeable. I found myself thinking "hang about I've been playing this for 25 hours and now have better guns, yet I have to tediously shoot ridiculously dense AI about a thousand times before they go down.

Summats just a bit off about it. I don't usually complain about games but this ones really irritated me.

As I say Its mindblowingly good looking

[Noonling]

Mate, just shoot them in the head. Else a good shotgun will often put them down in one go.

[Excellent_Biscuits]

"They're coming coming from the left!"

Again

[Timothy]

You are saying Arthur is a good character?

Pretty much every mission is a holocaust of humans, and then go fishing.

Nah

Yes, Arthur is a good character. And no, that's BS. Maybe try and play longer then chapter 2 or 3 before you go on about the writing not being good. Rockstar really takes the time to build the world, characters and story. It's a western.

It's like saying a movie isn't good and you can write better screenplays when you turned said movie off after fifteen minutes.

[Timothy]

Also the drop in quality from the first half is really noticeable. I found myself thinking "hang about I've been playing this for 25 hours and now have better guns, yet I have to tediously shoot ridiculously dense AI about a thousand times before they go down.

Summats just a bit off about it. I don't usually complain about games but this ones really irritated me.

As I say Its mindblowingly good looking

Deadeye and a headshot and they fall down immediately.

[Excellent_Biscuits]

Ok I apologise

I'm very sorry

[New Jack]

One of the perks you unlock for dead eye is showing you the fatal areas in a body, so you can aim for a major organ or the head and that. It's quite good! If dazzlingly obvious that shooting an arrow into someone's foot isn't going to immediately kill them

I like the gunplay. Got a pair of volcanic pistols, but keep riding about with the Lancaster Repeater, to absolutely slaughter stagecoaches or gangs or whathaveyou.

The best character is Charles. Fuckin love Charles

[brat-sampson]

Hearing a bunch of rumbles about the back half of the game going down the pan a bit, which is a shame because a) I'm loving the pace and approach of this first half and b) I'm pretty sure I'm nearing the end of it...

I like some of the silly strangers.

[Excellent_Biscuits]

There's just a load of dread that comes over me when I just know it's gonna be another large samey gunfight. Especially when the photographs on the icon on the map show you what you're going to be expecting before you even get there.

I'm near the end pretty much and I'm just putting it off because I don't really care what happens.

As others have said, it's just a really nice game to go for a wander and take your time taking in the world.

[mobias]

I'm in chapter 4 and I'm finding the story and the missions definitely the weakest link in the game. Part of the problem is I'm just not massively interested in the characters. Exploring the world, doing little side missions, going hunting etc. Great fun. I could do it all night. Every time I step back into the story and missions I do so with a mild trepidation. Rockstar clearly have a template for their missions in this and GTA and just don't step out of it enough. Go from A to be B and kill loads of people. Mission ends.

[Excellent_Biscuits]

Abso bloody exactly!

I like you Mobius

[Excellent_Biscuits]

Mobias

[New Jack]

I'm in chapter 4 and I'm finding the story and the missions definitely the weakest link in the game. Part of the problem is I'm just not massively interested in the characters. Exploring the world, doing little side missions, going hunting etc. Great fun. I could do it all night. Every time I step back into the story and missions I do so with a mild trepidation. Rockstar clearly have a template for their missions in this and GTA and just don't step out of it enough. Go from A to be B and kill loads of people. Mission ends.

Weird, because I was reading Edge magazine who pointed out the missions are daring too - they keep changing up the formula. Part of why they gave it a 10

Now, a lot of them do involve killing, but I like the stealth ones, the hunting ones, the fishing ones, there's ones without even anything to do - the choices that set up future events, the "find" missions. Maybe you aren't doing the missions randoms give you though. The entire plot is basically following Dutch the leader's ideas, so it's not like killing is not backed up in the narrative.

As criticisms go if you think it's cookie cutter Rockstar, I don't entirely disagree - I mean, it's like watching Star Wars and going "pfft, it's in space" - but it's way more varied than, say, GTA. And yeah, obviously the missions are all going to rely on one game mechanic or other! "Go from A to be B and kill loads of people. Mission ends" just isn't how I've found it at all, and fairly reductive.

[Timothy]

Well said. I completely agree. The slow character building and variation in missions made this game for me. Like the one where you go fishing with Jack. Or how the loan missions evolve. Simple but soooo effective.

[QDRPHNC]

I was way up high in the mountains, in the clouds. Very eerie. Hearing a bear not far ahead, but obscured, I couldn't see more than a few feet ahead of myself.

I get the point about the missions, there is variety but not a ton of imagination. But the idea of "missions" is itself going to become kind of an antiquated notion when worlds as well-realized as this become the norm.

[Ferris]

Haven't played this for a week, still on chapter 3. A combination of not wanting to play when Mrs Ferris isn't around because we were both looking forward to it and I don't want to spoil it, and also being busy means I just increasingly can't be arsed.

I found 2 hours to put into my absurd baseball game last night (my second baseman currently slashing .776/.790/1.287) because it's fun. I play for 2 hours, and get 2 hours of silly enjoyment. I play RDR2 for 2 hours and I spend it grinding away to get animals skins to keep some greasy fuck in the camp happy because they all want meat but apparently can't be arsed to sort it themselves, then I have to go over and do something for someone else, then I'm ambushed by banditos so I die and have to start the fetch quest all over again. Also your dead eye is empty now so remember to eat your vegetables! Put on your warm coat! Comb your hair and wash behind your ears!

It's a slog, like doing chores or going to the gym. Yeah it's immersive, but it isn't fun. I haven't found it particularly satisfying either. I get less and less free time, and I want to spend it doing something I enjoy, not running errands for virtual lazy bastards.

I'll probably finish it because of the immense goodwill the first game built up, but I fear this isn't for me.

[Jobey]

I love this game except for the missions.

[New Jack]

Finished it, loved it. Most fun I've had all year. Baffled why people who don't like the missions don't just soak up the world!

---

I clipped through the floor, well, the water in a lake didn't spawn so me and the horse fell through the world! Ace

[The Boston Crab]

There's plenty to soak up in the world but relatively little sense of progression or success. In comparison, AC Odyssey is a dopamine fountain, constantly rewarding you for clearing camps and hunting and fighting and tracking down Mercs and Cultists and stuff. I really love what RDR2 does at its best, it's a massive step forward in certain ways, but it's rewarding in a pretty low-key way.

[New Jack]

Huh, I feel the exact opposite. Almost everything I enjoy, and I haven't even seen shows yet, or played games... Ah well. Hopefully you enjoy it. I do recommend completing it!

[The Boston Crab]

I definitely will but I'm not going to marathon it as I initially felt I would. I do love the time I've put in so far, I just need to be a bit better rested to properly get into it. I've been under the kosh and under the weather this last fortnight and I've not been in the mood for something as meditative.

[New Jack]

Fair dos. I do think I got lots out of it cause I live on my own and I'm on the dole! An in game day is 48 minutes so might be good to just play one day at a time.

--

Omg, you know why honor matters? Found out pretty damn late... Transparent text shit: There's a change to the ending

[kittens]

Fair dos. I do think I got lots out of it cause I live on my own and I'm on the dole! An in game day is 48 minutes so might be good to just play one day at a time.

--

Omg, you know why honor matters? Found out pretty damn late... Transparent text shit: There's a change to the ending

what's the difference?

[New Jack]

what's the difference?

Arthur's peace. He can end the plot looking at the sunset. Or Micah can blow his head off.

[Utter Shit]

Anyone got any new stories? I've had great fun reading this thread over the past few weeks, seeing what mayhem people have been getting into.

I went on a bit of a wander the other day and somehow ended up getting shot at and chased. I'm not entirely sure why they started shooting, it was just after I killed a wild animal - is it possible that the NPC's took my shooting as a threat, or is it likely just coincidence that I was randomly attacked after I shot the animal? Anyway, in my desperation to get away (they chased me for fucking AGES) I ended up going miles outside the parts of the map I'd explored so far.

First of all I ended up at the Braithwaite mansion which I've heard people mention is a big deal later on - it was quite exciting seeing something that was so outside of the ramshackle nature of everything I've seen so far. Then the locals started shouting at me for trespassing so I fucked off to Rhodes, which also looks like it could be worth exploring later (I'm assuming that's also part of the story).

Once again it was just great fun riding around, without advancing the story or really doing anything of note. I dunno about anyone else, but I get a real feeling of calm when I get back to my camp - in fact, without really planning it, I now have a fairly steadfast rule that I have to get back to camp before turning the game off. I sort of treat camp as the place where your game is saved, even though I know the game is constantly auto-saving as you play. I think sub-consciously I don't like the idea of leaving Arthur unattended in the open when I'm not playing, like he might be killed while I'm at work. Basically I treat him like a Tamagotchi.

[Harpo Speaks]

I'm still absolutely loving this, but I've been largely focussing on the main story missions for the most part as I'd like to actually complete that element without having it spoiled for me.

Seems like I had similar issues to most people with the majority of Chapter V. It felt really rushed and a bit of a missed opportunity.

[New Jack]

Anyone got any new stories?

[Utter Shit]

Blimey. I can't wait to not be able to kill that behemoth.

[QDRPHNC]

Spoilers! Kotaku has quote a good collection of easter eggs in RDR2, several I hadn't heard about.