I'm really impressed with exploration in this game. While I was wandering around trying to find nice views for screenshots, I came across a small, burned down village. The only building still intact was a tiny, stone jail that I just had to investigate. Inside, i found a treasure map next to one of the prisoners' corpses. I also wandered upon a farmer and his two sons that I helped out at a construction site getting attacked by bandits. No quest and minimal reward for killing the bandits, but it was just a satisfying, emergent-feeling experience. Afterward, the father asked his sons why they just hid and they replied that the father never gave them any guns. "Worst decision I ever made," said the father. Another event was a courier getting robbed by two bandits. The bandits first just told me to move along as it was none of my concern. I was sitting there on my horse deciding whether I should intervene, but then they did a double take and recognized me from Dutch's gang, at which point I shot them in their faces with my pump-action shotgun as they drew their guns. The coach's passenger got out, got on one of the bandit's horses, and told me to just take what I wanted for saving him as he rode off.
So good!
So good!