I bought RDR2 on PS4 2 weeks ago shortly after beating RDR1 on my xbox because it was on sale for like $30 as opposed to being still $70 on Xbox. And I just finished it yesterday.
I really enjoyed my first playthrough of it. Much more than I did of my first RDR playthrough. I was skeptical how or if Arthur Morgan would live up to John Marston, but honestly after playing both games and spending lots of time with both protagonists, Arthur Morgan is my favorite by far.
His story is so tragic and well written that once it was over I was legitimately upset that I wasnt able to continue to play as him afterwards. Rockstar really knocked it out of the park with this one. Genuinely one of the most developed worlds and captivating stories I've had the pleasure of experiencing in gaming. How the decline of his health slowly unravels and you watch him progressively get closer to death as you become more attached to him as you play is heartbreaking to experience.
There's also just so many little activities like the poker, cards, dominos, five finger fillet, fishing, hunting, going to the theater to watch a performance or movie, etc and quests you can do in the game that really add to the diversity of the gameplay experience that I loved. Never expected to find myself sitting there playing dominos with a camp member for 20 mins straight between missions but it happened
And the random encounters you can experience out in the world in the wild really helps create a level of uniqueness and spontaneity that almost guarantees your playthrough wont be exactly the same as someone elses which makes for great discussion and banter about it. Didnt expect to be cleaning outs so many horse stalls or milking cows as Marston in the end tho
While I understand its not the most realistic game ever created
I really did appreciate just the level of realism and attention to detail that the game did have to offer. Like how your hair grows over time or Arthurs weight fluctuates based on your diet. The handling of the guns and how they felt like they had a weight to them as opposed to being mostly weightless like in most shooters, not always shooting with 100% accuracy and having to maintain their cleanliness over time. The way the mud, water, blood, and snow all impact your clothing and dont just disappear after 30 seconds was such a neat feature. Getting mauled by a bear and having bloody claw marks ripped into your clothing after a close call. Or having to adjust your clothes to be appropriate for the different temperatures of certain areas, I was not expecting any of this level of detail
And dont even get me started on the environments and how graphically breathtaking everything looked. Definitely one of the best looking games Ive ever played. The night time cycle of the game especially when its paired with the light of flames is gorgeous. And the variety of land on the map really helped the game from looking stale after the first few hours. All the biomes from the snowy mountains to the swamps and lakes, grass plains, and towns all looked amazing. And all the weather effects were nice too.
The honor system was a nice feature to the game as well. And the fact there's multiple endings that are dependant on your honor level and choices you make throughout the game really enforced upon me the idea to be a "good guy" because I didnt want to get the "bad ending"
And after I finished the game with the "good ending" I watched the rest on YouTube and felt like I definitely made the right call
Im sad I'll never get to experience this game for the first time again
