Topic: Red Dead Redemption 2 (Equestrian Boogaloo)

[FerriswheelBueller]

Just murdered two ranchers and chucked their bodies in the sea before realising I could have just fed them to their pigs.

Yes, but what do you think of the video game Red Dead Redemption 2?

[Blue Jam]

To be fair they both shot at me first, and all because I accidentally wandered onto their land in the dark, and I was friendly and said hello, so fuck those dumbass pigfucking hicks...

Right now I'm seeing if I can get my karma meter all the way up before going full badass. Is it possible to do a full face-heel turn in this game or would that take too long?

[FerriswheelBueller]

I’m not going to keep posting “yes but did you think of RDR2”, but let it be known I was very tempted to.

Your karma is fairly easy to get to zero, you just need to be despised by everyone you meet by doing unspeakable deeds - run into a town and throw dynamite everywhere, and you’ll be a regular Piers Morgan in no time.

[Cuellar]

To atone for my murderous past I've been saying hello to people.

Don't quite know how many people you have to say howdy to equal one innocent person's death, but good to know that's how it works.

[Rizla]

I managed to erase my 100% completed save so I've taken the bittersweet decision to go back to an earlier chapter 2 save and go through it all again with the benefit of hindsight, slower this time, working through all the challenges, and most importantly without the gold glitch that made the money side of things moot during my first playthrough. It takes a massive effort to get that honour meter even just over the halfway point, but even when I racked up an eyewatering $300 bounty through a series of misunderstandings it didn't seem to affect it - maybe my surrendering to the law instead of popping caps in their asses helped. I got the white arabian horsey from by the frozen lake and she's coming along great, and I'm now stonecold unbeatable at knifehandgame. Oh and I found the klan at last, that was fun.

[FerriswheelBueller]

Finally finished this. Watching the credits all the way through, and I noticed Daniel Lanois did all the incidental slide guitar music stuff! Cool.

I liked the second half better than the first I reckon.

[Waking Life]

What point does the second half-moon kick in? I'm fairly time poor so just on the early stages of Saint Denis chapter, but I've also spent a lot of time riding away from the story, fannying around with legendary bucks.

Are the challenges worth it for anyone that spent time doing them? Doesn't appear to be that rewarding and there's a lot of things that you can really only do from looking up (e.g. treasure hunting). Not saying there should be way points, but a rough sketch of a landscape in such a massive game isn't a 'clue'; it's just needlessly tedious in a game world.

[FerriswheelBueller]

I haven’t got anywhere with the treasure hunting. The current map I have is directing to me to “a tree near a road” so that should be a piece of piss to find...

[Blue Jam]

Finally finished this. Watching the credits all the way through, and I noticed Daniel Lanois did all the incidental slide guitar music stuff! Cool.

Has there been a mention of the soundtrack before now? It's very nice, isn't it?

[FerriswheelBueller]

Has there been a mention of the soundtrack before now? It's very nice, isn't it?

*spoilers!*

I love all the Lanois-produced Dylan records from the late ‘80s to mid ‘90s so my memory is definitely being clouded now, but from my recollection - the songs that were actual songs placed into the game were nice but a bit overdone. I thought they were reaching for that moment when you ride into Mexico with Jose Gonzalez playing, which was so special from the first game. It never quite got there in RDR2 for me.

The incidental music is great though. Building the house at beecher’s hope had a fantastic tune to go with it that made the sequence a lot of fun and really added to the whole experience.

[Utter Shit]

I love the way the music gradually changes as you go off on escapades...it's incredibly well done in terms of the formatting, it seems to always know whether I'm just going off for a wander (quiet, calming music which changes with the terrain) or am headed for some kind of mission or general mayhem (more upbeat and intense).

I don't think I've had any of the 'proper' music that people have mentioned yet - I remember everyone talking about a Jose Gonzalez song at a certain point of the first game being one of the highlights of the whole thing, so I'm quite excited to see wagwan.

[FerriswheelBueller]

All the music in the first game was in the key of Am which was a nifty trick to make it all sound inter-related. That’s my RDR music fact for you all, fact-fans.

[Blue Jam]

For the first time I actually have a few quid in my pocket as well, so I think I'm going to buy a good gun and finally take that cunt bear out.

I just managed to kill a bear with the sawn-off shotgun. Got a couple of shots in then shot it right in the face after it pounced on me. Managed to shake it off at one point too- not very realistic but fuck yeah... beare gonna be chopps.

How does the eating mechanic work? I know you can monitor Arthur's weight in the stats but if you feed him too much will he actually start to look like a fat bastard?

[Cuellar]

I can't remember the last time I ate anything and haven't noticed any adverse effects.

[Rizla]

When you cook a bit of meat with herbs, eating it gives you extra health bonuses depending on the herb - eg thyme big game will max out your health, oregano will max out stamina etc. I'm finding focusing on upping me stats and the challenge part of proceedings real good grindy fun at the moment, it's a different game entirely to when I was just rattling through the story at pace.

[The Roofdog]

I haven’t got anywhere with the treasure hunting. The current map I have is directing to me to “a tree near a road” so that should be a piece of piss to find...

"Near a tree by a river there's a hole in the ground"

I came across a bloke standing at the top of a hill with a treasure map but it was during Chapter 6 when I was trying to be honourable so I didn't rob it off him. "If it triggers a side mission there'll be another way I can get it, maybe buy it off him", I thought. But he just got on his horse and buggered off.  Fucker.

[Timothy]

There was a side mission to that when you talked to him. He gave me the map.

[The Roofdog]

Not the Dapper Dan with the big moustache. There's another cagey old bloke later on that you just have to rob.

[Timothy]

I had to collect something for him and then he traded it for his map and jumped on his horse. Same guy.

[Blue Jam]

Just rode past the lake where an old man in a tent is crying out for help. It seemed like an obvious trap so I got my shotgun ready and as he jumped out with his rifle and went "Hahaha, how could anyone be so stupi-" I shot him, looted his corpse and then chucked it on his campfire.

I'm developing an ugly prejudice against ranchers. Just had two more threaten me before giving me a chance to say Howdy. I'm going to go back to their ranch after dark and murder them both and feed them to their pigs.

For me this game seems to be all about finding creative ways to dispose of bodies. I've clearly been playing too much MGSV and Deus Ex. Also getting my honor meter up is proving to be too much like hard work- it's been a little bit on the good side for ages and it just won't budge. Being a badass is more fun.

[The Roofdog]

It took me ages to master combat but by the time I did I relished walking into an obvious trap by the side of the road, especially if it was set by those Murfree fuckers.

[Blue Jam]

Hogtying someone and chucking them on their own campfire and watching them burn alive as you cook yourself a lovely meal would get your honor totally FUBAR, right...? I'm definitely not going to do that to a rancher ("jolly", my arse).

Is it impossible to lasso a dog? I made friends with one then tried to steal it because I wanted a pet but it kept on giving me the slip.

[FerriswheelBueller]

Just rode past the lake where an old man in a tent is crying out for help. It seemed like an obvious trap so I got my shotgun ready and as he jumped out with his rifle and went "Hahaha, how could anyone be so stupi-" I shot him, looted his corpse and then chucked it on his campfire.

I'm developing an ugly prejudice against ranchers. Just had two more threaten me before giving me a chance to say Howdy. I'm going to go back to their ranch after dark and murder them both and feed them to their pigs.

For me this game seems to be all about finding creative ways to dispose of bodies. I've clearly been playing too much MGSV and Deus Ex. Also getting my honor meter up is proving to be too much like hard work- it's been a little bit on the good side for ages and it just won't budge. Being a badass is more fun.

Everyone in the game tries to attack you regardless, so it’s a really shit trap. Like, everyone. “I’m not going to attack you, surprise!, I am going to attack you” doesn’t really work in this game because you see it coming a mile away.

Re: increasing honour - just walk into town and say “hello” to everyone. You can spam that and it increases a lot, for some reason, like a corrupt Tory politician pressing the flesh to get back in everyone’s good books after the latest “sex with/feeding people to” pigs scandal. I imagine if you went to 2 or 3 towns you’d max it out (though I haven’t tried).

Edit: I also favour the “hogtie, then on their own campfire” method. Humans are a predictably nasty lot aren’t they?

[Blue Jam]

Been saying Howdy to all the Pardners in Valentine but most of them recognise me from that brawl in the saloon and keep replying with snide remarks. Tough crowd.

Edit: I also favour the “hogtie, then on their own campfire” method. Humans are a predictably nasty lot aren’t they?

This game is doing terrible things to my brain, I love it.

[The Roofdog]

Even saying hello to everyone in the Indian reservation with every single one of them telling me to fuck off out of there bumped my honour meter, so I don't think it matters how they respond.

[dr beat]

I just managed to kill a bear with the sawn-off shotgun.

Johnny Cash tribute act admits their follow-up to Folsom Prison Blues 'needs more work'

[FerriswheelBueller]

Even saying hello to everyone in the Indian reservation with every single one of them telling me to fuck off

I read this as “Indian restaurant”, which really paints a picture.

[Rizla]

My honour meter was one from the top but then some fucker witnessed me being "cruel" to an animal and it dropped back down. I'm enjoying this so much more the second time round, getting well ace at the hunting malarkey and crafting trinkets, fancy ramskin chaps, bear hats and explosive weaponry for when I decide to get back into the story side of things. I've been cheating a bit with maps in order to find dinosaur bones and stuff but it's still enormous fun ticking off all the little boxes. I heartily recommend doing the rock carvings side quest as it has an absolutely brilliant pay off once you get all ten. Right, off to hunt me some grizzlies, happy trails y'all.

[Hank Venture]

With all my posturing about how I was going to boycitt Rockstar due to their microtransacrions stuff, someone ruined it by gifting it to me as a christmas present.

Just set up camp (Chapter 2). What is your best tips for beginners?

[TrenterPercenter]

Just play and stock up on tonics and ammo as best you can. It isn't very hard.

be prepared to be bored a lot going to and from mission starts/ends.

It is an incredibly beautiful game though.