SPOILERS *SPOILERS* - Questions regarding pursuing progress and trophies with Arthur Morgan

[Blasterman4EVER 2,280]

I'll be concise with my questions.

For those knowing Arthur Morgan's fate and the situation we are in after the story is complete, I have a couple questions for you, for all of us:

1. Is there a way to use previous saves to continue playing as Arthur Morgan while pursuing game progress and trophies?
2. If not, if one wants to achieve as many trophies and as much game progress as possible with Arthur Morgan, rather than continuing the game-designed way, is the most logical choice to start a new game with Arthur and do it over... better... wiser?

My basic dilemma is this:

I want to keep playing the game as Arthur while I pursue the platinum trophy, so long as it is possible to do so, and only then continue playing the game as *cough* Rockstar intended - once I am forced to do so.

[Crm114 41]

Those bastards at rockstar just  had to kill him off smh

[Johan 5,467]

You can still go back to an older save and pursue your trophies; assuming you made progress on them.

 

For example, the gang request items are very limited as well as the activities; if you feel like you did a few of them in your previous save then resume from there.

 

Honestly I'd just recommend starting on a new save just so you can take your time and focus on them.

[dreadsilence 3]

My question for everyone who has completed the story... what things should I do before I complete the story should I do all the stranger missions? crafting satchels or whatever, or are these all still available after you complete the story? I want to have some life to John at the end of the story so it doesn't feel boring to play as him.

[JC_HUMBLE 908]

3 minutes ago, dreadsilence said:

My question for everyone who has completed the story... what things should I do before I complete the story should I do all the stranger missions? crafting satchels or whatever, or are these all still available after you complete the story? I want to have some life to John at the end of the story so it doesn't feel boring to play as him.

I recommend to do everything the game offers with Arthur, yes you can do most of the things with John but doesn't feel the same for me, with John it's cool to hunt some legendary animals of West Elizabeth and New Austin, he also has some exclusive bountys.

[dreadsilence 3]

2 minutes ago, Shinola Gamer said:

I recommend to do everything the game offers with Arthur, yes you can do most of the things with John but doesn't feel the same for me, with John it's cool to hunt some legendary animals of West Elizabeth and New Austin, he also has some exclusive bountys.

Alright, thanks. Are there some stranger missions that can be done with John?

[Johan 5,467]

1 minute ago, dreadsilence said:

Alright, thanks. Are there some stranger missions that can be done with John?

Yes, pretty sure he gets the same ones Arthur had access to (assuming you didn't complete them already).

[JC_HUMBLE 908]

2 minutes ago, dreadsilence said:

Alright, thanks. Are there some stranger missions that can be done with John?

Yeah most of the ones that unlock with Arthur.  

[Blasterman4EVER 2,280]

My only save that wasn't an auto-save was at 9.8% game completion.

What I'm getting at for people who haven't already experienced the problem, is that replaying a mission does not allow you to go back in time.

If you did not create a new, manual save point at a critical moment, or early on in the game, you will not be able to go back in time.


I already started the game for a second time. It's the only way. There are a couple trophies that literally are impossible to achieve if your camp is broken up and in shambles, near the end of the game.


I realized the truth about this supposedly unfortunate situation, after playing all day today again (after beating the game):

I want to play this game again from the beginning anyway, and try to make it close to perfect this time.

The second time around, my intention is to build the perfect Arthur Morgan with the perfect camp, everything in the game maxed out, and pursue particular trophies that way. Once I get past the point of completing the trophies I can't do on my original playthrough, I'll probably just keep going with the second playthrough save --- and forget about the first one.


The lesson that Rockstar gives to people who want to be the first to beat the game is --- you deserve to suffer.

I rushed it, and it was a once in a lifetime experience, but I can't do it for the first time again. It was imperfect.... like Arthur's life.

Anyway --- basically, if, like me, and several other people I know, you were going strictly off an autosave for pretty much the entire game, once --- the pivotal moment happens, there is no going back.

So do everyone you know a favor and tell them to play the game as slow as possible, especially if they don't know what happens.

But I must say...


This is the first game since before 1995 that I wanted to play again from the beginning immediately after beating it. Knowing how big it is, and what it means to want to play a game like this immediately upon completion, it's just astounding.

I have no interest in moving forward to the end, past the end... you know.


That's the genius, endlessly nostalgic effect this game has.......

The only solution to keep the dream that this game is alive is to just play it over again.

Life, death, rebirth. This is how video games once were... but this is the first one this big, this grand, that actually succeeds in making you want to play it again as if it's Tetris, even if a game of Tetris only takes five minutes and a game of Red Dead Redemption 2 takes 70 hours.

TLDR:

I'm playing and beating the game again, from the beginning, better than I did before, getting all of the necessary trophies that way, creating a couple specific save points to have different, perfectly legendary versions of Arthur set aside with everything possible up to that point completed and unlocked, and those are saves are my access to the perfect mythical cowboy.

Ugh. If you have friends playing this game who have not beat it, tell them to slow down. I mean, I don't know. The way I played it, 12+ hours a day for a week to beat the story, it made the experience unforgettably powerful, transportive, and dreamlike. I mean, this is obviously the best game ever made. I've never had a game be this much my favorite game and so frustrating to not have control over the direction it goes.

It's like life. It doesn't matter how much you love something or someone. It was always going to end the way you didn't want it to. But that's what ultimately makes this game the most mythical and powerful game ever made.


SUPER TLDR:

Create constant, manual save points for your story if you want to be able to go back and relive the wonder of the game at different phases.

There are no true do-overs within one single player game.

Also, some trophies must be done with Arthur Morgan and cannot be done with .... ........

Edited November 3, 2018 by Blasterman4EVER