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Red Dead Redemption 2 |OT2| For A Few Hours More
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
For anyone waiting on the soundtrack release I can't recommend Bruce Langhorne's OST for The Hired Hand enough - pretty sure it was a major source of inspiration for RDR2's composers
Finish the epilogue. Seriously. It's a bit slow at first, but there are some genuinely great moments, particularly the very last mission. You'll be doing yourself a disservice by not finishing it, even if you just read or watch it. Just burn through the missions one after another, it doesn't take too long if you do it that way. The epilogues (and small cutscenes during the credits) give some answers to things that happened at the end of the main story.
Love this video about how places change throughout the story:
A lot of these are really easy to miss. I stumbled upon a train crew working on one of those railroad sections at some point, and rode by, and then wanted to check it out again later to see what was going on there, but for the life of me couldn't remember where it ws. Well, turns out they just finished the track in that time.
I love when the worlds change with time, and when games remember how your actions influence the game world... WHen they integrate the passage of time into the game in the story it's just subtle little changes that I really like.
And not only does the passage of time affect the world, but also minor NPC characters:
Oh for sure. Epilogue starts a little slow but it has some good missions and puts a nice bow on the game leading into the story of Red Dead Redemption 1.
Plus, I loved going back to locations from RDR1 and seeing how they were different 10+ years prior.
A lot of these are really easy to miss. I stumbled upon a train crew working on one of those railroad sections at some point, and rode by, and then wanted to check it out again later to see what was going on there, but for the life of me couldn't remember where it ws. Well, turns out they just finished the track in that time.
I love when the worlds change with time, and when games remember how your actions influence the game world... WHen they integrate the passage of time into the game in the story it's just subtle little changes that I really like.
And not only does the passage of time affect the world, but also minor NPC characters:
Oh for sure. Epilogue starts a little slow but it has some good missions and puts a nice bow on the game leading into the story of Red Dead Redemption 1.
Plus, I loved going back to locations from RDR1 and seeing how they were different 10+ years prior.
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The epilogue offers some nice closure and sets the scene for Red Dead Redemption 1 if you've played it or intend to. It's also got some genuinely good missions. The first few are slow, but it picks up. And, of course, it opens up an enormous section of map you couldn't visit during the main story. It's not a bad thing to take a break for a few days to process the main story, but I would recommend completing the epilogue after that.
Alright, will take a few days off before doing the epilogue. The end of chapter 6 drained me emotionally and
John sucks
Fighting words. The epilogue is really good and moves at swift pace if you stick to the main missions (don't bother trying to do side stuff). It actually refreshed me on the game.
And I'd like to know if you still feel that way about him after the epilogue. (is that based on RDR1 or your interactions with him in RDR2 or both?)
Aaah too bad sounds like you can't.
I unlocked Buell in the epilogue.
It does kinda make sense that the horses are gone from Arthur, John's a different person and 8 years pass between the end of the game and the Epilogue. Too bad for people who just unlocked Buell in Chapter 6.
It does kinda make sense that the horses are gone from Arthur, John's a different person and 8 years pass between the end of the game and the Epilogue. Too bad for people who just unlocked Buell in Chapter 6.
If I don't want to do competitive, are my only options for xp still primarily the same 6 coop missions? Did they buff the SP world activities?
Didn't even know you could do the stranger missions in the epilogue.
Will think about that when replaying the game someday.
Will think about that when replaying the game someday.
Oh, yeah, I realized that after the last mission and was like "oh... nice!" There's new stranger missions too that specifically appear in the epilogue as well. I think any missions that are really tied to a specific place, like camp missions in a specific location, will (obviously) not be available. But the ones that don't feature prominent gang characters/roles will be.
new article about Roger Clark
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/...roger-clark-plays-his-best-game-yet-1.3857238
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/...roger-clark-plays-his-best-game-yet-1.3857238
So trying to complete the challenges was a mistake. I got annoyed especially at tbe bandit ones and basically lost interest to play.
Now Im just focusing on the story again while doing the occasional hunting for upgrades and I'm loving the game again.
Now Im just focusing on the story again while doing the occasional hunting for upgrades and I'm loving the game again.
Yeah, this. Some of the challenges are cool and interesting, but virtually everything about how they are presented and executed within the game is implemented very poorly. That said, completing one set in each of the three areas (stamina, health and dead eye) is a good way to get a stat boost; completing one challenge group to completion gives you an additional bar, and completing all three gives you a second bar (it's the only way to max your stats). Here's which challenges boost what:
Health: Herbalist, Hunter, Weapons Expert
Stamina: Survivalist, Horseman, Explorer
Dead Eye: Bandit, Gambler, Sharpshooter
You flat-out cannot complete Herbalist or Horseman before the epilogue, and I don't believe you can do Survivalist either, so don't worry about those early on (you can do them as you go, obviously, but eventually you'll hit a wall, so if you're only interested in the initial stat boost, they aren't a good choice). Explorer is the easiest and most fun challenge set, so there's Stamina wrapped up. I vastly preferred Hunter to Weapons Expert, so I recommend that for your Health option. Bandit is annoying but can be done early. Gambler is obnoxious RNG, but some of the sidegames are actually fun (poker is always fun, and I actually enjoy the domino game where you have to have sides divisible by 5). Sharpshooter would be my choice for Dead Eye (I actually ended up getting Gambler first, but Sharpshooter is entertaining). So if you just do those three - Explorer, Hunter, Sharpshooter - you'll get the best stat boosts you can manage before the epilogue, and none of them are particularly grindy.
Note that to get the stat boosts, you have to buy the complete item sets from the Trapper in each respective group, and they only fully unlock upon completing Challenge 10 in any respective group.
The game has no difficulty settings and is already super easy even without crafting so I think I'll just complete the story and then go back to the more mundane things. It was actually the bandit challenge that I was trying to do because I was trying to roleplay as a good guy so I figured I would get that out of the way first. But it was so repetitive and I was just not having fun and losing a ton of honor so I gave up lol
It's annoying though because I really want some of the trapper clothes but the requirements are so steep and there's no way to buy them out.
Finished the Prologue.
Having not played the first game (although I know the ending) I was not expecting to get control over John in the prologue, it was a bit bittersweet after spending 60+ hours with Arthur.
The ending with John felt so freaking good , finally get to shoot Micah in the damn face, didn't expect Dutch to help me though, Arthur could have used that Dutch after fighting Micah. So sad to see the downfall of the gang. Arthur was his damn son, John too.
I'm honestly considering starting a new game and just stay in Chapter 2 forever.
The ending with John felt so freaking good , finally get to shoot Micah in the damn face, didn't expect Dutch to help me though, Arthur could have used that Dutch after fighting Micah. So sad to see the downfall of the gang. Arthur was his damn son, John too.
I'm honestly considering starting a new game and just stay in Chapter 2 forever.
Ok and it doesnt change cutscenes or the ending or whatever?
No, nothing like that. They just give you an extra item at your tent like a health potion or cigar or whatever. There's not even much of a cutscene associated with giving them to people. It's pointless.
Thought you guys would enjoy this story. Salt Lake City FanX (Comic con) was last weekend and both Rob Wiethoff (John Marston) and Roger Clark (Arthur Morgan) were there.
I had them sign a movie sized RDR2 Poster I had and I got to talk to them for awhile. They are two of the nicest guys. They really embrace their roles and appreciate everything. They had a panel together and told some funny stories about production and voice lines they enjoyed etc. it's a trip hearing Rob talk because his normal voice is exactly Marston!
I just need to find a frame for my poster!
it was really really cool.
outlaws til the end!
I had them sign a movie sized RDR2 Poster I had and I got to talk to them for awhile. They are two of the nicest guys. They really embrace their roles and appreciate everything. They had a panel together and told some funny stories about production and voice lines they enjoyed etc. it's a trip hearing Rob talk because his normal voice is exactly Marston!
I just need to find a frame for my poster!
it was really really cool.
outlaws til the end!
Do wraps still apply to weapons if I buy them but don't have them equipped similar to bandoliers and satchels or not?
Wraps are purely cosmetic, they don't offer any stat boost. And any weapon customization that does impact weapon stats has to be equipped on the weapon to make a difference to stats for that weapon (e.g. giving a shotgun a longer barrel gives a slight improvement to the accuracy stat, but that boost goes away if you shorten the barrel again).
Did they ever fix the graphics downgrade they did? I just remember a patch making things look worse but havent followed that.
A couple weeks after release. It's been improved since, but it doesn't feel like the lighting is completely restored to the way it looked on release. But it's a real subtle difference that could easily be in my head; it still looks fantastic.
I just did Horseman challenge 9; 17 minute dry dash from Van Horn to Blackwater. They should call that challenge "A Long Ride in a Pretty Game" as homage to the chapter 3 mission "A Short Walk in a Pretty Town." A max bonded Arabian is blindingly fast.
I just did Horseman challenge 9; 17 minute dry dash from Van Horn to Blackwater. They should call that challenge "A Long Ride in a Pretty Game" as homage to the chapter 3 mission "A Short Walk in a Pretty Town." A max bonded Arabian is blindingly fast.
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That was chapter 3, I know because I just finished it a few hours ago :(
Also Ive tried various horses and tbh I dont notice a huge speed difference, maybe they need to be side by side idk. I have a pretty good race horse that I bought from the stables too, along with the fastest saddle and max bonding.
I've gotten so used to big thoroughbreds that I didn't really pay attention, but the black Arabian from the Saint Denis stables is a rocket in comparison to the horse I had for most of the game.
I've had three faster horses than my hungarian halfbred and they've all died on me lol.
Article on the game from Film Crit Hulk here. Well, I say article but small novella might be more accurate!
Some good points in there, goes more in-depth with views he's aired on Twitter. Whilst I don't necessarily agree with them all I can certainly see how he's formed his views and how they'll resonate with a lot of people.
He also covers a lot of ground on the issues that I also had with the main narrative thrust of the title. As someone who truly loved the game and thinks Arthur's ending is one of my favourite from any game I've seen there were certainly a lot of moments that had me scratching my head as to reasoning. The main one for me is that it's never made clear as to why Arthur trusts Dutch so implicitly beyond him literally saying it. As the author says, we as the gamer never get to see Dutch in the way that Arthur does. We're just supposed to accept that viewpoint but without being shown why.
Anyway, there's a lot to digest but it's well worth a read.
Some good points in there, goes more in-depth with views he's aired on Twitter. Whilst I don't necessarily agree with them all I can certainly see how he's formed his views and how they'll resonate with a lot of people.
He also covers a lot of ground on the issues that I also had with the main narrative thrust of the title. As someone who truly loved the game and thinks Arthur's ending is one of my favourite from any game I've seen there were certainly a lot of moments that had me scratching my head as to reasoning. The main one for me is that it's never made clear as to why Arthur trusts Dutch so implicitly beyond him literally saying it. As the author says, we as the gamer never get to see Dutch in the way that Arthur does. We're just supposed to accept that viewpoint but without being shown why.
Anyway, there's a lot to digest but it's well worth a read.
That was a great article (warning; it has major spoilers for basically the entire plot). I don't necessarily agree with everything either, but at least he lays out his arguments well (as opposed to that other critical piece that was posted where the author simply says that people who don't agree with him aren't real gamers). I didn't have nearly as much issue with the controls as he did, but I still accidentally put my fishing pole away while I'm trying to bait it, so that certainly rings true. And his point about the overall difficulty of the game is bang on; the only real change becomes "ok, now instead of 5 enemies there are 50 enemies." The shooting is passable, but it's not really good enough to be the sole gameplay mechanic for engaging with the world. I mean, hell, the game goes out of its way to say "there are so many things that you can do besides shooting; you can talk to everybody!" OK, fine. So why does every single mission become a shooting gallery?
I like his idea for restructuring the narrative. Giving Dutch and Micah better character arcs would certainly help explain why Arthur makes the frankly baffling decision to not shoot Micah directly in the face as soon as he starts shooting up Strawberry apropos of nothing early in the game. And hearing Dutch say "we just need money, I need more time" ad nauseum sort of loses any impact by Chapter 3, let alone as the game builds to its conclusion. Giving more emotional weight to those relationships by letting us build them ourselves would fix a lot of the problems the game has in regards to those characters specifically. As it stands, Micah feels like a generic villain from the second he is introduced, and Dutch rarely comes off as someone we should trust even remotely.
The author doesn't spend much time critiquing one of my biggest complaints with the game (the crafting is superfluous and the challenges are poorly implemented). But even with all that, I maintain that the game is a masterpiece. And, frankly, I did have fun with it, even when it feels like a treatise on futility. For all the baffling design choices made at the game level, the game's world is more richly detailed, immersive and beautiful than any I have experienced in a game before, and I want to stay lost in it.
I noticed when you have a fast horse, you'll get challenges from people looking to race you. I had a fast horse from Saint Denis for a while and routinely got challenged to ad hoc races, which I stupidly declined at the time because I'd be in the middle of something. But after going back to a slower horse, I haven't had that challenge again yet.
Ive had challenges with slow horses so it probably just hasnt triggered yet.
I've gotten challenged to a race on a basic Morgan in my first playthrough. After I won, the lady I raced shot her horse and killed mine through it. I haven't bothered accepting another race proposal. With my current horse (the black Arabian), people just comment on what a nice looking horse it is. One person said "that horse looks better than my wife," which seems untoward.
One more point about this article (again, good read, but lots of spoilers, so don't read it unless you've finished the game). The author talks about how the quest for immersion ultimately ends up reducing our immersion because humans don't think through actions the way the game wants us to. Why isn't there a single button press to search a wardrobe as opposed to pressing a button to open each drawer individually? It's not immersive to be continually pressing a button to perform single actions that make up part of a larger action. But I think the author misses an opportunity; in a game that is striving for realism and immersion to the extent that RDR2 is (and the interminable unskippable animations that accompany EVERYTHING), why do we merely need to run near a gun to automatically collect its ammo? The designers intentionally made it so looting bodies has a lengthy animation associated with it every single time; you could say that this forces you to prioritize looting versus fleeing the scene, but it really just serves as padding the length of mundane tasks. But why doesn't this realism extend to needing to pick up the dropped weapons from the ground, remove the bullets and manually put them in your satchel? They skipped that part because it would be cumbersome and terrible in the heat of battle (I actually think it would be cool to run out of ammo and struggle with trying to pull bullets out of another gun - good dramatic tension - but whatever), and it's just not fun. So why, in God's holy name, could they not extend that same philosophy to things like looting furniture or playing blackjack or purchasing items at the store? They knew it wasn't fun to sit through an animation when they didn't include one for gathering ammo, but Lord help you if you want to skip to your hand in a game of poker (after being treated to the SINGLE WINNING ANIMATION THAT EVERY CHARACTER PERFORMS IDENTICALLY).
Game's a masterpiece, but it does have some serious design issues.
I did this on mobile so I can't edit out the first frame rn and it's killing me.
I'm changing my hair and facial hair based on the chapter/story location and it's pretty neat.
Finished Herbalist Challenge 9; pick 43 different herbs. God almighty was that a slog. It wouldn't be so bad if 15 or so of them weren't these stupid exotic orchids that spawn in exactly 6 specific places and most of them are near gators which causes my horse to freak out (she's fast, but she's skittish). Of course I get to 42/43 and there's no ingame list to tell you which ones you have, so I'm guessing... maybe one of the ginsengs? No, not that. OK, blackberry. No, not that. Ended up being the Bay Boylete mushroom. Fortunately there's a spit of land at a bend in the Dakota river that has all of those, plus Indian Tobacco and all the common stuff as well (Thyme, Mint, Burdock Root, Bulrush). Good place to visit early in the game since it's not far from Valentine and it nets you a bunch of herbs you can use for crafting.
Now to cook 11 types of meat. Apparently, there are edible crabs in the game. I did not know this. Time to go crabbing.
Now to cook 11 types of meat. Apparently, there are edible crabs in the game. I did not know this. Time to go crabbing.
Just watched the final credits roll on my second playthrough. Sat through 40+ minutes of names for the second time. It's just an absolutely amazing experience. The game has some significant flaws in execution, but what it does well is done so well as to render those arguments pointless. You cannot find another open world like this in any other game. You cannot find a story or characters like this in any other game. You cannot find presentation like this, graphically and aurally, in any other game. The superlatives outweigh the complaints by a country mile. It's simply a brilliant experience.
Now, that said, all I've got left for 100% is challenges and shit like dinosaur bones and exotics, so we'll see how happy I feel with things as I move towards wrapping those up. Orchids can go fuck themselves.
Now, that said, all I've got left for 100% is challenges and shit like dinosaur bones and exotics, so we'll see how happy I feel with things as I move towards wrapping those up. Orchids can go fuck themselves.
Finally started RDR2. It looks amazing and production value is so good, but gameplay is too slow and it's more like a simulator or David Cage games, not an open world game! Is it going like this until the end or it's getting faster in next chapters?
I don't hate this type of gameplay, but in a game like RDR2... don't know.
I don't hate this type of gameplay, but in a game like RDR2... don't know.
Maybe you're still in chapter 1? Chapter 1 is slow and isn't really 'open world'. When chapter 2 begins is when it becomes more 'open world'.
Yeah, I played more and now it's so better than the first part and I'm enjoying it a lot.
The intro to the game (Chapter 1 specifically, but well into Chapter 2 as well) moves at a very deliberate (slow) pace. It's essentially a glorified tutorial. The game has a lot of different mechanics and it tries to introduce you to them slowly, the practical upshot of which is that it feels like a slog at the beginning. Once the world opens up in Chapter 2 and you start unlocking more abilities by proceeding in the story, the full depth of the game becomes more apparent and more engaging. But the pace stays slow for most of the game, so that's something you'll either get used to or end up hating.
Did you play GTA Online? Similar mechanics, mostly worse. If you loved GTA Online you might like RD Online. If you hated GTA Online, there's not much to like in Red Dead Online. It's still a 'beta' but I sort of doubt it'll ever take off, IMO.
Thanks, found gta online boring, but I enjoyed the original RDR multiplayer mode, so wasn't sure.
Holy shit chapter 4 is so good
I wish they were able to eliminate loading screens during cutscene sequences though like Max Payne 3 did
I will say it felt kinda rushed by the end though and there didn't seem to be enough missions that took advantage of
I wish they were able to eliminate loading screens during cutscene sequences though like Max Payne 3 did
I will say it felt kinda rushed by the end though and there didn't seem to be enough missions that took advantage of
Saint Denis
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Non spoiler video of a hilarious physics glitch I encountered
Edit: chapter 6 is annoying. No nearby general stores really and the melee enemies in the area down you in one hit.
Edit: chapter 6 is annoying. No nearby general stores really and the melee enemies in the area down you in one hit.
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