RDR III – A Narrative Overview

[Agent Edward]

21 minutes ago, Jisoo said:

Ever since playing it in 2010 I always imagined she died right before the game took place, but I think all three options are possible. Atleast theres no indisputable evidence to disprove them.

 

Been thinking of starting my 6th playthrough and 5th 100% of RDR2. Whenever I play I often start to think about their backstories and what the characters went through prior to 1899. Perhaps one day we will get the answer to some of it if its indeed set around 1890 with the gang. 
 

Hopefully it's set in the 1870's or 1880's, the gang was created in 1877 anyway.

[Vabolouz]

I want an end for Charles and Adler. Two stories after they left Johns farm. They have maybe some old things to make right, and you get to know them better. And maybe Jack can be involved to have an end for him too. I really like Charles and Adler, Jack is not that important for me. But I do understand that he deserves an end. 

[BigBoyBertram]

What's the earliest anyone here even thinks we get a new Red Dead game?

 

It could be an unprecedented wait.

[Lemoyne outlaw]

2 hours ago, BigBoyBertram said:

What's the earliest anyone here even thinks we get a new Red Dead game?

 

It could be an unprecedented wait.

it's definitely going to be quite a while. gta 6 is still at least two years away. maybe more. and you know rockstar is gonna milk gta online 2 like crazy for a few years. and who knows if red dead will come after gta 6. it could be bully 2 next. or a brand new title. if i had to make a guess. i would say either late 2020s or early 2030s. i do think that they are doing some kind of development on the next red dead. rdr2 has been out for 4 years now. so im sure they have started talks about the next game. i don't think it's far in development. im not a game developer so i have no idea what the process is like. but im sure it's being worked on at some capacity. but they probably won't start major development until just before gta 6 is released. 

[BigBoyBertram]

26 minutes ago, Lemoyne outlaw said:

it's definitely going to be quite a while. gta 6 is still at least two years away. maybe more. and you know rockstar is gonna milk gta online 2 like crazy for a few years. and who knows if red dead will come after gta 6. it could be bully 2 next. or a brand new title. if i had to make a guess. i would say either late 2020s or early 2030s. i do think that they are doing some kind of development on the next red dead. rdr2 has been out for 4 years now. so im sure they have started talks about the next game. i don't think it's far in development. im not a game developer so i have no idea what the process is like. but im sure it's being worked on at some capacity. but they probably won't start major development until just before gta 6 is released. 

 

Fair points all around

 

If it is next after VI, I think at a bare minimum it will come five years later. So best case scenario, if VI releases in 2024 (I personally think it will be 2025 if no reveal in 2022), we are looking at 2029, which is about eleven years after RDRII. Again, this is very much so BEST case scenario. If I had to be realistic, I think it could be six-seven years after VI releases in 2025, which would put it at maybe 2031-2032, like 13-14 years after RDRII. Again, this is if Red Dead is next in the pipeline, which I think it is in all honesty. 

[Jisoo]

2029 is a decent guess assuming they go straight from GTA VI to RDR3. Its intriguing to think there might be someone at Rockstar right now working on the next game in the pre-production/planning stage. 

[Agent Edward]

GTA 6 won't release earlier than 2025 and RDR3 won't release eariler than 2030.

[Guest]

On 10/24/2022 at 7:45 PM, BigBoyBertram said:

What's the earliest anyone here even thinks we get a new Red Dead game?

 

It could be an unprecedented wait.

Not for a long time. I think they’ll probably want to make a new IP after GTA VI. They’ll get stuck in a two IP loop otherwise. I’d love them to explore something completely new and I’m sure they would too.

[drdrimes]

On 10/26/2022 at 2:52 PM, Edward RDRIII said:

GTA 6 won't release earlier than 2025 and RDR3 won't release eariler than 2030.

If that's the case, the redemption games have come out when I'm 13, 21, and 33...

Edited October 29, 2022 by Drimes

[Agent Edward]

6 hours ago, Drimes said:

If that's the case, the redemption games have come out when I'm 13, 21, and 33...

10, 18 and probably 30 in my case.

[BigBoyBertram]

7 hours ago, Drimes said:

If that's the case, the redemption games have come out when I'm 13, 21, and 33...

9, 17, and 29 for me lol

[JumpingKentFlash]

You know what they should do?

 

Make RDR3 and have it be about Javier Escuella. His life in Mexico before ending in Dutch’ gang. The legend of the south being Javier in Mexico.

That’d tie it

all up nicely.

 

And lastly making RDR3 DLCs about the start of the VDL gang, and have it in different time periods. Control Dutch in it. Each time period being a DLC, the last of which is about the botched Blackwater robbery. Ending with the gang going north (legend of the north) to escape the Pinkertons.

 

That’d be an RDR trilogy with legends of the 

West: Marston

East: Arthur

North: Dutch

South: Javier

[Agent Edward]

On 11/1/2022 at 7:57 AM, JumpingKentFlash said:

You know what they should do?

 

Make RDR3 and have it be about Javier Escuella. His life in Mexico before ending in Dutch’ gang. The legend of the south being Javier in Mexico.

That’d tie it

all up nicely.

 

And lastly making RDR3 DLCs about the start of the VDL gang, and have it in different time periods. Control Dutch in it. Each time period being a DLC, the last of which is about the botched Blackwater robbery. Ending with the gang going north (legend of the north) to escape the Pinkertons.

 

That’d be an RDR trilogy with legends of the 

West: Marston

East: Arthur

North: Dutch

South: Javier

What makes Dutch Legend of the North? He ain't Canadian.

[Sanctuary II]

2 minutes ago, Edward RDRIII said:

What makes Dutch Legend of the North? He ain't Canadian.

Perhaps they meant Northern USA but that still won't make sense imo.

[Agent Edward]

Just now, TheMadTitan said:

Perhaps they meant Northern USA but that still won't make sense imo.

He said Javier would be the Legend of the South because he is mexican, so following his very own logic the Legend of the North should be canadian. By the way I hope RDR3 is set on the three countries, Canada, USA and Mexico, RDR1 is set on two countries already and so is RDR2 (kinda), that way we can have two characters to be the legends of the north and the south on the same game.

[Sanctuary II]

12 minutes ago, Edward RDRIII said:

He said Javier would be the Legend of the South because he is mexican, so following his very own logic the Legend of the North should be canadian. By the way I hope RDR3 is set on the three countries, Canada, USA and Mexico, RDR1 is set on two countries already and so is RDR2 (kinda), that way we can have two characters to be the legends of the north and the south on the same game.

I'd love that. I envision RDR3 as this epic spanning the existing Redemption games map (WE, New Austin, Ambarino, New Hanover, Lemoyne) plus Mexico from the first game but expanded and the Yukon but if not that then I'd love to see the nearby Alaska as the game's northern region. It's a place I could totally see being beautifully realized in a Red Dead Redemption game and could serve as the game's Guarma equivalent - not in terms of being the setting of a short chapter but it being the new out-of-US location, since at the time RDR3 would likely be set in imo (anywhere from the 1860-1890s) it wouldn't have been annexed to the US yet.

[JB1982]

If we are assuming that RDR3 follows the patterns of the first two then I think setting the game around 1887 and Arthur's first bank robbery would be a good place as that's really the start of Dutch becoming infamous and making a name for himself. It would have a nice symmetry with the first two games with another 12 year time gap, would make Arthur a similar age to John's age in RDR2 so we can see him grow from what he was then into the Arthur we know in RDR2. 1887 allows for a different map with new locations and also gives us the chance to see the gang in better times. It also allows us to see returning faces but not everyone and allows for some fresh faces too. I've always felt that there is scope for more members of the gang because of the amount of time Dutch and Hosea were together. We know of Jenny and the Callander brothers but we also know of Dutch's ex Annabelle and Hosea's wife Bessie along with someone Arthur kicked out as a traitor. There could be more. Which would allow room for an all new protagonist if that's the route they go.

 

For those mentioning Mac Callander as a potential protagonist, I would personally rather see them pick Davey if they are going with someone we already know of. I get the impression from the stories told in the game that Mac was perhaps a bit Trevor Phillips like and I think that only really works when balanced out against other playable characters (such as Michael and Franklin in Trevor's case). There's a bit less known about Davey although it is suggested they were both wild and violent but RDR2 only really makes Mac come across that way with stories about him "threatening to kill a whole town". I think Davey would have more room for balance. But that's just an opinion.

 

As I say though, there's room for a previously unseen member of the gang in my opinion to be the next protagonist. An advantage here is that we wouldn't know how it ends for a new character. Just because they're not around in RDR2 doesn't mean they have to die. It just means they aren't part of the gang anymore by the events of RDR2. So there redemption can come in another form or even the same form as Arthur and John's. But at least it will keep us guessing what their fate is.

 

I want to play as Arthur again in the Epilogue though. Again, a nice symmetry with it's predecessors but also... it's Arthur Morgan! I want him back in the same way people wanted John back after RDR1! Set it a few years after 1887 but no later than 1898. I don't want to see the Blackwater heist in 1899, leave that as a mythical and hazy event that we will never fully know about. The most they should do as far as Blackwater is some possible foreshadowing that they are eventually heading there.

 

Not sure what the overall story would be exactly but maybe each Chapter centres around them robbing a bank in a different location that Dutch has his eye on or pulling off one of Hosea's legendary cons. They move camps not to escape the law but just to be in the vicinity of the next target.

[Agent Edward]

2 hours ago, TheMadTitan said:

I'd love that. I envision RDR3 as this epic spanning the existing Redemption games map (WE, New Austin, Ambarino, New Hanover, Lemoyne) plus Mexico from the first game but expanded and the Yukon but if not that then I'd love to see the nearby Alaska as the game's northern region. It's a place I could totally see being beautifully realized in a Red Dead Redemption game and could serve as the game's Guarma equivalent - not in terms of being the setting of a short chapter but it being the new out-of-US location, since at the time RDR3 would likely be set in imo (anywhere from the 1860-1890s) it wouldn't have been annexed to the US yet.

I don't want them to reuse RDR1 and RDR2's maps anymore, I think my map concept is more interesting and brand new of course.

 

[Jisoo]

5 hours ago, JB1982 said:

We know of Jenny and the Callander brothers but we also know of Dutch's ex Annabelle and Hosea's wife Bessie along with someone Arthur kicked out as a traitor. There could be more. Which would allow room for an all new

I believe Arthur said that unnamed traitor literally got killed in camp. He mentions it when you play dominoes with Tilly. 

Bessie and Annabelle would be great to see. The way both Hosea and Dutch takes about them and misses them would make them significant members of the gang, although it seems Hosea and Bessie both were away from the gang for a period of time. The murder of Annabelle would also show us the escalation of the rivarly with the Odriscolls.

[Jutland]

13 hours ago, Edward RDRIII said:

I don't want them to reuse RDR1 and RDR2's maps anymore, I think my map concept is more interesting and brand new of course.

 

Yes I’d like an entirely new map too. (And entirely new characters, come to that.)

 

I am a bit pessimistic about how the RDR2 map would be treated by Rockstar in any future game.

 

Imagine how RDR2 treated the RDR1 map, but on a much bigger scale.

 

I’d prefer not to see a ruined and empty and rushed version of the RDR2 map, so I think they should leave it, and work on something else

 

 

[JB1982]

1 hour ago, Jutland said:

Yes I’d like an entirely new map too. (And entirely new characters, come to that.)

 

I am a bit pessimistic about how the RDR2 map would be treated by Rockstar in any future game.

 

Imagine how RDR2 treated the RDR1 map, but on a much bigger scale.

 

I’d prefer not to see a ruined and empty and rushed version of the RDR2 map, so I think they should leave it, and work on something else

 

 

 

I think if they are going to include any part of the RDR2 map in the next one it can only be Tall Trees and Great Plains and that should only be included if they intend to go as far as showing the Blackwater heist. Which I personally hope they don't as said above.

[Sanctuary II]

On 1/5/2023 at 9:17 PM, Edward RDRIII said:

I don't want them to reuse RDR1 and RDR2's maps anymore, I think my map concept is more interesting and brand new of course.

 

I was initially going to agree to disagree until I realized that not only do I not mind (as it doesn't even fit in my idea for RDR3) but it'd probably be for the better. Considering how barren and unutilized West Elizabeth and NA were from the first game, I can only imagine how much of the map would be wasted with the 3 states from RDR2 + the aforementioned RDR1 states being totally empty - half of the map would feel empty and sparse on content.

 

So I'd rather they focus their resources on implementing the regions farthest west from New Austin + Mexico and a northern region in either Canada or Alaska. If they're going to include at least one RDR2 state, I hope they bring back Ambarino because it felt the least fleshed out in RDR2 and they could introduce the areas north of Spider Gorge that we know exist and towns like Crenshaw Hills where Micah met Dutch.

 

Also I've seen your post about the next location, it was very well done and most of it are the same regions I'm hoping are picked as the setting.

On 1/6/2023 at 12:07 AM, Jisoo said:

I believe Arthur said that unnamed traitor literally got killed in camp. He mentions it when you play dominoes with Tilly. 

Bessie and Annabelle would be great to see. The way both Hosea and Dutch takes about them and misses them would make them significant members of the gang, although it seems Hosea and Bessie both were away from the gang for a period of time. The murder of Annabelle would also show us the escalation of the rivarly with the Odriscolls.

The traitor that was killed in camp is a thread that I always thought oddly doesn't get pulled on more when people speculate about RDR3, perhaps because it's mentioned in a missable side activity, but I always found it intriguing. In my idea for RDR3, I imagine the protagonist being tied into the whole O'Driscoll rivalry and is falsely perceived as a traitor and he's killed by Dutch at camp after in an ending similar to Arthur's death in the Go For The Money versions. Sort of setting up the beginning of the dark years for the gang leading to RDR2.

Edited January 10, 2023 by TheMadTitan

[Jasperathome]

i really dont want red dead redemption 3

i want a new red dead title

the story of that gang is over i dont want to keep revisiting those characters every game

make a new red dead with new characters and a new world

 

personally i would want a game set during the golden age of the west

Edited January 16, 2023 by Jasperathome

[Agent Edward]

On 1/16/2023 at 12:29 AM, Jasperathome said:

i really dont want red dead redemption 3

i want a new red dead title

the story of that gang is over i dont want to keep revisiting those characters every game

make a new red dead with new characters and a new world

 

personally i would want a game set during the golden age of the west

The game may still be called Red Dead Redemption III even if it isn't about the Van der Linde gang anymore.

[beandoer]

On 1/26/2023 at 4:19 PM, Agent Edward said:

The game may still be called Red Dead Redemption III even if it isn't about the Van der Linde gang anymore.

No it wouldn't. The first Red Dead game was called Red Dead Revolver, with Red Harlow as the protagonist. When they came out with the second Red Dead game, it had John, a new protagonist and a new story, so they called it Red Dead Redemption instead of Red Dead Revolver 2. They only named the third game Red Dead Redemption 2 because it was the second part of the second game, but its still the third entry in the Red Dead games. If in the fourth installment with a new protagonist and a new story they would name it Red Dead (Something Else) not Red Dead Redemption 3.

Edited February 8, 2024 by beandoer
Spelling

[ViggoJames]

I don't think we have much more interesting things to see with the van der Linde gang.

I think the previous gunslingers mentioned, like Landon Ricketts or Black Belle, could have a cool take during a more "golden" age of the wild west.

[lilcino]

I think some people missed the point here. The saga is called 'Red Dead Redemption', and in both games every main protagonist reaches his redemption by dying of a 'red dead' (a little too literal but that's kind of what happens).

 

Every speculation of a possible RDR3 main character, albeit valid, would not make sense.

 

- Prequel with Dutch : what redemption would we expect from him? We perfectly know how violent, chaotic and irredeemable he is. In his youth his nature was just repressed.

 

- Spin-off with Sadie / Charles : RDR2's epilogue pretty much cleared that after American Venom they both found their path, so we've already seen their 'redemption'.

 

- Sequel with Jack : we're only aware of one major criminal felony he committed. He's young and he didn't live a life of crime, a redemption arc would be odd and less deep than the other two protagonists. Also, he probably just canonically 'retired' his crime behaviour after killing Edgar Ross.

 

Personally, I wouldn't know how they would put together a logical narrative for RDR3. I'm sure they will get to the bottom of it, but I fear that after Dan Houser leaving they will probably just never release another red dead game to focus on a new ip (afaik Dan was the one who strongly desired the Red Dead series)

[Jisoo]

1 hour ago, lilcino said:

Every speculation of a possible RDR3 main character, albeit valid, would not make sense.

I think if a game would be set in 1890 or whatever, the main character would need to be someone entierly new and/or someone whos affiliated with the van der Linde gang in some way. Playing as an existing character wouldnt really work, plus we know exactly how that characters story arc would be. It worked with John in that he has a very obvious reason to not talk about his past and it was obviously Arthurs story. 

 

Technically they could make you play as Annabelle or Mac Callander. Two characters we know were an important part of the gang at some point and their backstory is more or less unknown, but their deaths arent affiliated with the "redemption" thing. If they made a whole new character and put them into the gang, why would no one in RDR 2 ever mention them? Ofcourse its because they werent written at that point, but it would just be a weird dynamic lore wise for someone who had a redemption arc in/for the gang to never be spoken off ever again

 

 

[Lemoyne outlaw]

22 hours ago, lilcino said:

but I fear that after Dan Houser leaving they will probably just never release another red dead game to focus on a new ip (afaik Dan was the one who strongly desired the Red Dead series)

strauss zelnick already said that they plan on doing more red dead games. so it's not a question of IF there will be another one but WHEN. I'm guessing it won't be until the early 2030s. but if they plan on doing another game before it then we are probably looking at late 2030s. or dare i say it 2040s. man i can't even believe I'm talking about a future decade when we aren't even in the middle of this one yet. but sadly games take so long to make that it seems we only get one new rockstar game per decade. 

[propanecocaine71]

On 3/12/2024 at 8:18 PM, ViggoJames said:

I don't think we have much more interesting things to see with the van der Linde gang.

I think the previous gunslingers mentioned, like Landon Ricketts or Black Belle, could have a cool take during a more "golden" age of the wild west.

I agree with this sentiment, I personally think the van der linde gang has satisfactory beginning and end to their story. I want a prequel with Landon Ricketts or new character set during the 1870s-1880s. We've the dying of the old west in 1899 and the west through the lens of the early 20th century in 1907-1914, I wanna see the west at its peak. 

On 3/17/2024 at 5:45 PM, lilcino said:

but I fear that after Dan Houser leaving they will probably just never release another red dead game to focus on a new ip (afaik Dan was the one who strongly desired the Red Dead series)

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Sam houser who loves westerns? Not Dan?