Sometimes I have to remind myself that I started this blog for myself, as a way to leave reminders and reflections to look back on in the future. I finished Red Dead Redemption 2 recently, and when I considered taking a break from exam studying to write a blog about it, I thought “but what hasn’t been said about it? Everyone has written and posted a million thoughts on it.” But that’s the line of thinking you practice when you have an audience, and while I am honored and grateful that I do have a few kind souls who check this blog on occasion, I try not to worry about ‘producing,’ because that can stifle my desire to write anything at all. So, like Arthur Morgan and his frequent note-taking and sketches, here are some brief and somewhat random thoughts about my time with RDR2. There will, obviously, be some spoilers.
There was some concern about the sim aspects of the game – the weight management, horse care, gun maintenance, etc. – and I have to admit I was a tiny bit worried about it as well. Rockstar used similar systems in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and I didn’t like how they (mostly the turf wars) intruded in my open-world exploration and adventuring. The opposite happened with RDR2. Because I started the game during end-of-semester madness and played the rest between intense study sessions, I almost slipped into shallow mission-hopping, just plowing through the game without enjoying the world. But I actually found myself embracing the little things, which quickly turned into a routine, just like the real world. These minute, world-building details gave the game a texture that few other games have.
I tried to make it back to camp every night, or every other night, to get at least four hours of sleep. I loved making it back in the evening, before everyone had gone to bed. I would hitch my horse (more on her later), feed her a few carrots and brush her down, then greet a few friends on my way to the stew pot. I’d ladle myself a bowl (no doubt made with the meat I harvested from the wolves that attacked me a couple of days prior), then wander over to one of the few people I actually liked, maybe Tilly or Mary-Beth, and chat with them as I ate. If I needed a beard trim, I’d do that before turning in, and in the morning I’d drink a cup or two of coffee while making small talk with whoever else was loitering around the low fire. Then it was off to work, as I’d feed my horse an oatcake, pat her down, and head back into the wild.
When I was out in the world, I was always aware of how dirty I was getting. It was dusty in the desert, muddy in the swamps, and dirty (and sometimes bloody) everywhere else. So I also tried to take a bath every few days, if I could. I wasn’t making a conscious effort to role play. I just felt like I needed to. I felt refreshed coming out of a hot bath, even if I could never quite get my clothes clean. I would forget about my guns more often, but once I bought and customized my two primary weapons, the Schofield revolver and a bolt-action rifle, both black with silver engravings, I kept up with the cleaning and maintenance more often.
As with the original RDR, I decided to stick with one horse: the one that came with the special edition. She was a grey war horse, big and powerful, so I named her Freya, after the queen of the Valkyries (at least in God of War lore, heh). I didn’t eat much myself and was perpetually underweight, but I kept a healthy store of hay, radishes, apples, peaches, oatcakes, and more to feed Freya because she was constantly working hard to get me from place to place, and she never threw me once. Plus I ran her into several trees, riders, and over cliffs, so she deserved to be spoiled. Speaking of spoiled, I know I gave a spoiler warning earlier, but just in case someone is reading this and hasn’t played the game, I’m about to spoil something big. So, you know. Just another warning. Ahem. Near the climax, when Freya was gunned down, I actually shed some tears. The game was emotionally intense at points, but I never teared up or cried during other beats. I don’t know if it was an extension of role-playing a hardened gunslinger, and I was definitely moved by some events, but I never broke – except for when Freya went down, and I crawled over to her to say goodbye. That hurt more than Arthur dying, because I knew that one was coming. Somehow I believed my faithful steed would survive that mess. Le sigh.
I do think that the epilogue was too long, as others have said. I think overall it’s great, and I love some of the same kinds of world-building minutiae (the house building especially), but it could have been half or a third as long and been just as effective. I do think that the epilogue and the clips that show up in the credits do a wonderful job of bridging the two games, though. I almost wish they’d release a remaster of the first game, because it would be really cool to jump straight from the sequel (prequel?) into the original game. I think having played through the events that prompted the first game’s narrative, many of the lines and scenes would have so much more power. They probably will release a remaster at some point, but if it’s not within the next few months I’ll probably pass on it. I really feel I need the emotions and memories to be fresh in order for it to be effective. Maybe I’d play them back-to-back sometime down the road, though.
Some final, random thoughts that I don’t have the time to expand on: I know Arthur was hung up on Mary, but I was quietly crushing on Mary-Beth. Sadie was annoying at first but became one of my favorite characters. She should get some DLC. Killing Micah was so. damn. satisfying. I didn’t hunt very often. I bagged a few legendary animals, but my main source of meat was animals that tried to kill me or what I bought from butchers. I only encountered one cougar, and (surprise, surprise) it killed me. There was what I guess was a witch’s hut up north, and I drank from the cauldron inside (don’t judge me, I’m adventurous, okay?) and passed out. I couldn’t tell if it had any other effects and I didn’t lose anything that I could tell. *shrug emoji* The game’s weather and atmosphere systems were incredible, as was the geology/topology, which is a continuing interest of mine in games. I have many more thoughts, big and small, but I think I’ll end it here, before this blog ends up as long as the epilogue. *badum csh*
A New Game Plus 