RDR2 lacks mission freedom.

[RespectThySole]

First couple of months Breath of the Wild was at 7.5. Just sayin

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Breath of the Wild is also divisive to a degree. Definitely not anywhere near RDR2 level, but look at that thread where it simultaneously won polls for favorite GAF/ERA GOTY winner and least favorite GAF/ERA GOTY winner. 8.5 seems spot on considering that.

 

[Blade Wolf]

When the director of Last of Us criticize your game for lacking player agency in missions you know you fucked up.

The Last of Us might be linear, but it's not on-rail like RDR2. In fact most of the levels are fairly open, small, but open.

 

[Mars People]

If the game really does have a list of problems and issues a mile long, how is it sitting on 97 metacritic?
(I haven't played it)

 

[Cokie Bear]

If the game really does have a list of problems and issues a mile long, how is it sitting on 97 metacritic?
(I haven't played it)

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GTA IV is the third best game of all time according to Metacritic with a score of 98. Do you think many people actually agree with that?

 

[Blade Wolf]

If the game really does have a list of problems and issues a mile long, how is it sitting on 97 metacritic?
(I haven't played it)

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Because metacritic doesn't reflect a game's quality all that accurately?

A 97 game is about as good as a 92 game, they are all within the same range, there isn't really any difference.

God of War got a 94 on metacritic, does that mean the game is 3 metacritic ''points'' worse than RDR2? of course not.
Nobody plays RDR2 and then immediately says ''Wow this is totally 3% better than God of War!''

 

[Yaqza]

If the game really does have a list of problems and issues a mile long, how is it sitting on 97 metacritic?
(I haven't played it)

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I've been playing it since release. Very, very slowly, because I'm only in chapter 4:) (and I've abandoned it for a couple of weeks when I bought VR headset). And have to say, that there are some things that RDR2 does perfectly. And I love its slower pace. But many gameplay - and narrative - mechanics are just jarringly bad or simply pointless. This game is far from perfect and in my opinion reviewers who gave it 10/10 are victims of Rockstar mass hysteria. Right now it's a solid 8/10 for me. And it probably won't change, because I won't encounter different game mechanics.