I think RDR2 is one of the best game stories I've ever played. I have mixed feelings about the gameplay but I've done four playthroughs because the story and characters were great.
However, when viewing it as a prequel to RDR1, the story left me wanting in a lot of ways. My issues with the story range from petty retconning criticisms to bigger issues such as how RDR2 failed to expand on the characters of Javier and Bill.
RDR1 is a story about a reformed criminal who's forced to hunt down his adopted family in order to save his biological one.
Throughout the game, many of John's interactions with his old gang include dialogue about their unseen pasts and the somewhat thin characterizations of Bill, Javier and Dutch are kind of justified since the player is seeing the endpoint of their relationships with John and their lives in general.
So, going in RDR2, I was looking forward to learning more about John's relationship with Dutch, Bill and Javier so that I'd care more about them in RDR1.
Unfortunately, the prequel retconned Dutch's gang and added so many new characters that Javier and Bill basically had nothing to do throughout most of the game. There are some fun camp conversations you can catch here and there along with an ironic story mission where Javier helps save John's life. But, for the most part, Bill and Javier don't do much.
The characters of Dutch, John, Abigail, Jack and even Uncle are all improved in RDR1 due to how they're portrayed in RDR2. But I didn't feel the same about two of the main villains of RDR1's story that John spends two-thirds of the game chasing down. Honestly, it's kind of bizarre to not significantly expand on Bill and Javier's characters and their relationship with John considering how much RDR1 focuses on them.
Then there's the retcons. I'm fine with the new gang members but some of the story decisions seriously clash with RDR1. For example, Blackwater in RDR1 was just a modernizing town that the Marstons happened to live near but in RDR2 it's a town that Dutch and his gang shot up (retconned into being the Blackwater massacre mentioned in RDR1).
But since RDR2 is a prequel to RDR1 then the Marstons have to live near a town that Dutch's gang shot up nearly a decade ago and where John is still a wanted man (there's even a Blackwater newspaper that John can buy in RDR2 that mentions him, Dutch and other wanted outlaws). John even attempts to commit loan fraud in Blackwater when he gives the bank manager his fake name before inexplicably giving his real name for no reason.
There are plenty of other retcon examples that, in my opinion, both hamper and improve RDR1 but this OP has been long enough.
So, what do you think about RDR2 as a prequel?
However, when viewing it as a prequel to RDR1, the story left me wanting in a lot of ways. My issues with the story range from petty retconning criticisms to bigger issues such as how RDR2 failed to expand on the characters of Javier and Bill.
RDR1 is a story about a reformed criminal who's forced to hunt down his adopted family in order to save his biological one.
Throughout the game, many of John's interactions with his old gang include dialogue about their unseen pasts and the somewhat thin characterizations of Bill, Javier and Dutch are kind of justified since the player is seeing the endpoint of their relationships with John and their lives in general.
So, going in RDR2, I was looking forward to learning more about John's relationship with Dutch, Bill and Javier so that I'd care more about them in RDR1.
Unfortunately, the prequel retconned Dutch's gang and added so many new characters that Javier and Bill basically had nothing to do throughout most of the game. There are some fun camp conversations you can catch here and there along with an ironic story mission where Javier helps save John's life. But, for the most part, Bill and Javier don't do much.
The characters of Dutch, John, Abigail, Jack and even Uncle are all improved in RDR1 due to how they're portrayed in RDR2. But I didn't feel the same about two of the main villains of RDR1's story that John spends two-thirds of the game chasing down. Honestly, it's kind of bizarre to not significantly expand on Bill and Javier's characters and their relationship with John considering how much RDR1 focuses on them.
Then there's the retcons. I'm fine with the new gang members but some of the story decisions seriously clash with RDR1. For example, Blackwater in RDR1 was just a modernizing town that the Marstons happened to live near but in RDR2 it's a town that Dutch and his gang shot up (retconned into being the Blackwater massacre mentioned in RDR1).
But since RDR2 is a prequel to RDR1 then the Marstons have to live near a town that Dutch's gang shot up nearly a decade ago and where John is still a wanted man (there's even a Blackwater newspaper that John can buy in RDR2 that mentions him, Dutch and other wanted outlaws). John even attempts to commit loan fraud in Blackwater when he gives the bank manager his fake name before inexplicably giving his real name for no reason.
There are plenty of other retcon examples that, in my opinion, both hamper and improve RDR1 but this OP has been long enough.
So, what do you think about RDR2 as a prequel?
