RDR2 PC First Story Impressions

[seldo]

what a strange beginning for chapter 5

I somewhat read about it... but I wasn't expecting that

Glad it's over

 

As for Arthur

Spoiler

I had maybe two or three coughs in ~65 hours, and then that mission in chapter 5 where he collapses

I thought it would be more gradual than this: where does it come from?

 

I also solved my mystery not-done mission from chapter 2: it was the mission triggering all bounty missions

I left it away since I had left Valentine

 

I now have one mission left in chapter 5, while I already did one in chapter 6

ok rockstar.

 

I loved the mission in the bayou walking in the water! the last mission of chapter 4 was also fantastic!

 

now putting the game on hold again for two weeks

[mwnn]

Rockstar single player campaigns are always best when they draw on references to films and other media.

Vice City is practically Scarface the game with Miami Vice & Carlito's Way references.

San Andreas makes me think of Boyz n the Hood, etc. Not my favourite theme but a great game all the same.

GTA V is a bit like HEAT but the single player tried to please everyone and ended up all over the place; I think GTA ONLINE makes up for it.

 

With a bunch of classic westerns and plenty of wild west mythology to pick from it would've been criminal if they didn't cobble together a decent campaign.

The slower pace might not be everyone's cup of tea but I've got no trouble watching a 3 hour epic like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in one go.

Likewise for Once Upon a Time in the West, The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy, High Plains Drifter, Unforgiven, Wyatt Earp/Tombstone, etc.

Not a big musical lover but do like Paint your Wagon #1 #2.

 

I could probably spend an eternity riding around as a lawman, bounty hunter or outlaw on Red Dead Online.

Can't wait to get some serious hardware upgrades and give this a go.

It'll probably all be patched up with all the major bugs fixed by then too.

Edited December 31, 2019 by mwnn

[seldo]

I really like chapter 6, most likely on par with chapter 2!

It feels like the game knows I haven't played in a while, because it makes stranger pop everywhere!

However, I believe it is more because I am coming towards the end of the story and that these strangers bring something to the story.

Anyway, only half way though chapter 6, but I am done for today.

[seldo]

So i finally reached the end of chapter 6. 

So well written, even if I would have liked more pathos here and there. 

[seldo]

And so here it is, I finished the story after 97h of gameplay + 50 minutes of re-discovering new Austin.

Epilogues were both good and bad, but I'm glad I'm done with them. It makes RDR1 even more sad after seeing how * managed to get out of it,and settle. 

I did only missions after chapter 4, as I was getting uninterested by roaming and the very long distances to achieve that and other achievements. 

I'm at 85% completion and I think I've done all the stranger missions that are not in New Austin. 

I've seen there were some as well in New Austin, but I'll skip them. 

I did enjoy the different videos of the credits too. 

 

I'll now leave it for a while and might pick it up later if I find time for it.

i doubt I'll also start it again like I did for RDR1, it's too long. 

 

I crossed New Austin right after I was done with the last epilogue mission. 

It is really beautiful, so identical to the first one, yet with a different feeling due to the atmospheric changes, but also terribly empty. 

I read about it, but I don't see myself roaming in this for very long without much content. 

Armadillo at night looks good, and Gaptooth Ridge is much harder than the RDR1 version due to the lack of place to hide.

it was also interesting to see Tumbleweed with some life.

 

Ive got mixed feelings about the game. Beautiful, yet terribly lengthy and without purpose at times, and way too fast at other times. Some exceptionally good missions here and there, with no downtime, that really caught me up. 

 

Im glad I was able to run it on my GTX 980. Not the best graphics, but no need to get a new card either!

[Maxxeine]

I finished the story way back in November, and have spent my time since then exploring the world and experiencing as much as possible in the way of side content and collectibles. I have well over 200 hours played by now. Despite my below min spec PC (GTX 760 w/ 2GB of VRAM), I've sunken in days, weeks even, of my time. I pushed through the performance issues and having to deal with 30-25fps.

 

I can safely say that RDR2 is Rockstar's best-written game. In fact, it's one of the most compelling games I've ever played. I loved the characters, the gang, Arthur's own story, and everything that led to the downfall of the gang. Very few stories in games have made me cry at the end. There was so much emotion, I couldn't help but root for Arthur to the very end. His redemption arc is beautifully executed. Seeing him interact with characters as he's dying was equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming. Arthur has become one of my favorite characters of all time, as have Sadie, Charles, and Charlotte (the widow); and that doesn't happen often for me when it comes to video game characters. But they're so well written and have so much life breathed into them through their performer's motion capture and voice acting that it's really no surprise.

 

Missions were annoyingly restrictive, but it didn't bother me much as it's a heavily story-driven game and so I understand why Rockstar wanted to keep things tight. But some aspects were just inexcusably limited. You had to stick to a specific path, a specific set of instructions. If you deviate too far from the script, you automatically fail. Again, I understand to a point why Rockstar did this, but it's almost laughable at times.

 

As for the "realism" aspects, like having to cook everything individually, crafting every individual bullet/arrow, looting animations, hunting, etc. - it does get old after a while, but I appreciate the depth and detail put into these seemingly insignificant aspects of gameplay. Animations are some of the best I've seen. Rockstar spared no expense here.

 

Speaking of sparing no expense, I absolutely *adore* the soundtrack. Woody Jackson put his heart and soul into the soundtrack and you can tell from the very first track. I appreciate his attention to detail and how intimately the music interacts with gameplay and the story.

 

As for graphics, I don't need to explain much here. It's easily the best looking game out there. RDR2's landscapes are stunning, breathtaking even - there are so many points where I've just stopped to admire the scenery. From Ambarino to Roanoke Ridge, from Saint Denis to Tumbleweed; it's nothing short of beautiful. The way clouds block sunlight, the way dark clouds creep in from the horizon during a thunderstorm, the way the trees sway in the wind, the way sand and dust obscure your view during a sandstorm. And all of this happens dynamically in gameplay. I honestly can't wrap my head around it sometimes.

 

Anyway, that's what I thought of RDR2.

Edited February 27, 2020 by The7thOne

[cp1dell]

Finally started RDR2 on the PC. Have it running at Xbox One X equivalent settings, but at 60FPS is amazing! Everything is so sharp, and the doubled framerate makes everything so nice and smooth! After getting to experience GTA V at 60FPS when it finally came to PC, it's great to relive the same experience with RDR2.

 

Just finished the first two introductory missions for Colter. Going to take my sweet time progressing through each chapter once I get to Chapter II, completing everything in the chapter's main region. I am in no rush to get to the epilogue, especially since as of right now the "fixes" for it are limited. Hopefully by the time I reach it, there will be something. But who knows.

 

Looking forward to getting out of Colter and really seeing what the game looks like on PC.

[Candy_Licker]

It's simply incredible how much effort they put into creating a living world. Things like these KKK meetings, things going around in your camp, or simply conversations between NPC's when you pass town. In every other game, you'd have NPC's mutter the same two lines and just do nothing. And in RDR2 they created a giant open world where every little NPC feels "real"