Red Dead Redemption 2

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Saint of Killers wrote:
Hime wrote:I've wanted to play this for ages and I'm really tempted to pick it up on sale, the only thing putting me off is that I'm currently playing through The Witcher 3. Do you think it would be a bit much to try and play these two at the same time?

How far are you into Witcher 3? Do you have the two expansions? If you're only just starting/haven't touched the expansions: hold off for another sale, where it'll no doubt be cheaper than it is now.

Not very far. I'm only level 10. But started on Xbox then changed to the Switch version. I reckon I've probably put about 40 hours into the game. I meant more from the point of view of playing w open world games simultaneously rather than one being loads better than the other.

Zilnad wrote:
aayl1 wrote:
Zilnad wrote:I bought this in the recent sale but I think I'm losing interest now.. My completion percentage is about 40 but all the little gameplay niggles have taken their toll on me now. A lot of the time, it feels horrible to control and a lot of its mechanics are so obtuse.

I loved GTA V but RDR2 is closer to GTA IV.

I think I'm done with Rockstar now. Their style of open world game has been surpassed in every way by better developers. It feels like Rockstar are still stuck in the 2000s and haven't progressed in any way other than making things look prettier and prettier.

I'm going to try and push through to see the story but my concern is I'll give to anyway and end up resenting the game. It's been my biggest disappointment in recent times.

I agree with this, also this video essay is very on point and explains all my gripes with the game extremely well:

EDIT: jump in at 2.40 for some truth bombs

I've saved the rest of that video for later but 13 minutes in and he's absolutely bang on.

Example: I was on a mission with Bill to rob a wagon. We arrived at the ambush spot and held up the wagon. The NPCs all started pleading with us and Bill got angry and I thought "strawberry float this, let's just shoot them, take everything and get out".

I shot them both using dead eye and got an instant "mission failed".

Retried the checkpoint and the strawberry floating mission ends in a shoot out anyway, in the same spot, in which you kill absolutely everyone before robbing the wagon.

What the strawberry float?!

I'm a strawberry floating arsehole bandit and I failed a mission because I shot the guy I was robbing before he pulled his gun on me?! And it's not even a one off case. Every single mission is so linear; ride here, watch a cutscene, do exactly as we say, shoot people, run away.

strawberry float off Rockstar! Coming into this game immediately after finishing BotW only makes its flaws even more unbearable.

The video has really made me want to replay MGSV though. Now that's an amazing sandbox.

Watched the whole video as big admirer of rdr2 and rockstar in general - I struggle to disagree with any of it.

Very interesting video and commentary on open world games - its a long video but I recommend a watch

Barnsy! wrote:Watched the whole video as big admirer of rdr2 and rockstar in general - I struggle to disagree with any of it.

Very interesting video and commentary on open world games - its a long video but I recommend a watch

Yeah I think my frustration with the game is they get sooo close to making you feel like a badass outlaw and then whip it away from you every time. Basically I also agree with the video 100%.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Good video, that guy is pretty funny too.

Hime wrote:
Saint of Killers wrote:
Hime wrote:I've wanted to play this for ages and I'm really tempted to pick it up on sale, the only thing putting me off is that I'm currently playing through The Witcher 3. Do you think it would be a bit much to try and play these two at the same time?

How far are you into Witcher 3? Do you have the two expansions? If you're only just starting/haven't touched the expansions: hold off for another sale, where it'll no doubt be cheaper than it is now.

Not very far. I'm only level 10. But started on Xbox then changed to the Switch version. I reckon I've probably put about 40 hours into the game. I meant more from the point of view of playing w open world games simultaneously rather than one being loads better than the other.

Well, that's more a personal thing, then. And personally, I like to stick to one big game at a time.

twitter.com/SoKfa_ce/status/1247929821197414400

I wouldn't mind but it made my coat bloody :dread:

Tempted to give this up now as I've had my fill of the open world and can't be arsed to put myself through the mill that is Rockstar's cynicism. Not when real life is so crap.

I'm going from main mission to main mission now; I want this over with so badly. (Mostly because I am sick to the back teeth of Arthur and John continuing to give Dutch the benefit of the doubt.) Currently on Guarma.

I haven't played this in over to weeks but keep being amused by how many other people I'm seeing starting the game and also giving up.

At this point I feel like I want to go back and just finish the story as quickly as possible but I think that's just the sunk cost fallacy of having paid for a game and not getting to the end. I'd probably deeply regret wasting any more time on it.

Actually, if I'm part way into Chapter 3, how many hours would it take to finish if I just focused on the missions? There are 6 chapters so I'm guessing it's going to be longer than I'm willing to play for.

Zilnad wrote:Actually, if I'm part way into Chapter 3, how many hours would it take to finish if I just focused on the missions? There are 6 chapters so I'm guessing it's going to be longer than I'm willing to play for.

I'd say anywhere between 10 and 20 hours to the end, tbh.

It all blurred together for me because I was also extremely over it by that point. The mission structure doesn't get any better or more varied.

I was enjoying the characterisation and character arcs, but I'm annoyed that I missed some of the best stuff because I didn't do some side quests in the last chapter. And I didn't do those side quests because I was soooo bored of the missions.

Edit: honestly I'd just say sack it in and watch the cutscenes on YouTube. That's all you'd really be "playing" the game for at this point.

Thanks Aaron, you're very helpful. I think I'm going to delete it now and buy Final Fantasy to play instead.

I think I'll plough on today and if I don't get to chapter 6 in my first session, then I'll delete it too and buy... um, ...Divinity Original Sin 2.

Amazing the different experiences people are having of this game. When I finished it I felt it was one of the best games I'd ever played and I was genuinely moved like I'd watched a great film.

I am finding just about everything to be really worth my time – even the rigid mission structure didn't turn me off. But the dissonance of how Arthur is written for side missions/diversions (nobody's fool) and main missions (Dutch's fool) is typical of Rockstar's writing and I hate it. But just about everything else is neigh on perfect, the engine (from how stable it is, to how amazing everything looks) especially is worth praising. I wish Witcher 3 ran as smooth on a base PS4.

This and the Witcher 3 are among my fave games this gen, also, a lot of the side missions in RDR2 flesh out Arthur’s character and his inner conflicts more, if you’re ignoring them then you might be getting a 1 dimensional view. Simple tasks like teaching a widow to hunt, helping a woman to get out of prostitution are among examples of the small side quests.

Also, there’s lots of variation to things in RDR2, I never got that Ubisoft open world feels of doing same things over and over again.

I loved the bit where Arthur climbed to the top of that tower in Saint Denis and then synchronised to unlock more collectables and shanties.

Saint of Killers wrote:I am finding just about everything to be really worth my time – even the rigid mission structure didn't turn me off. But the dissonance of how Arthur is written for side missions/diversions (nobody's fool) and main missions (Dutch's fool) is typical of Rockstar's writing and I hate it.

Arthur having been completely suckered into Dutch's cult of personality is a big part of why the story works, especially later on. He's a guy slowly realising he squandered his entire life. I'm generally very critical of Rockstar's writing, particularly how cynical it can be, and while that isn't totally absent here, one of my highest praises for RDR2 is that it felt like they finally made a real effort to tell a sincere story.

Victor Mildew wrote:Amazing the different experiences people are having of this game. When I finished it I felt it was one of the best games I'd ever played and I was genuinely moved like I'd watched a great film.

I completely agree with the latter half of your final sentence. I was totally moved by the character and story arcs and genuinely think it's some of the best characterisation I've ever seen in any media. Arther Morgan is possibly the best protagonist of any video game.

The mission structure is so boring and terrible and did nothing but ruin the amazing world that the cutscene were building up.

The character arc of Arthur is honestly one of the best I've seen in a game with as much mainstream appeal as RDR2 has. The (proper full on end of game spoilers) emotional punches of missing out on reuniting with his old love, contracting terminal tuberculosis, and seeking a path to redemption in his various side quests genuinely took me by complete surprise and left a real impact.

The main Dutch storyline however, is unfortunately complete strawberry floating nonsense. "Just one more job, Arthur!" when the first big heist on the bank gives you enough money for basically everything you want during the rest of the game. The tension towards the end of the game with the erosion of the camp's community was great but I had already given up on enjoying the main plot by that point. I didn't feel they handled the shift to John's family being the focus for a dying Arthur or the epilogue in general either.

The world Rockstar built was what made the difference for me in really liking this game overall. I know a lot of people had issues with the deliberate attempt to slow things down via 'realistic' animations and such but that was what kept me coming back to it, despite quite a few design flaws.

Red Dead Redemption 2

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