RDR1 vs RDR2 Replayability

[Old Man With No Name]

After you complete both games %100 even with the random encounters, RDR1 has more replayability and fun things to do comparing to the RDR2. RDR2's design choice about this is the worst thing about this game. I think it makes RDR1 better than RDR2 here is why and comparison;

 

Exclusive activities to RDR1:

RDR1 Random events:

Almost all random events are so common and never ends. Which makes the interactive game world feel more alive player can get fun from it. But in the RDR2, game world realism is mostly about eachother npcs, all player can do mostly is just greet or antagonize. But in RDR1, unending random events gives you chance to get some fun in small time. 

-Arm wrestling

-Unending bounty hunting missions (roleplaying as bounty hunter)

-Nightwatch (roleplaying as sherrif or deputy)

-Bank robbery (yes, you could do this in rdr1 without missions)

-Horse taming (cool activity to earn money)

-Unending Duels: If someone saw you cheat at poker, a cool showdown begins

-Arm Wrestling

-Horse shoes minigame

-Liar's dice!

 

Exclusive activities to RDR2

-Few RDR2 Random events: Almost all of them are unique. But when you complete all of them, the only replayable random events are Herbalist and annoying mexican shooting challanger and these random events appears so rare.

-Fishing

-Dominoes

-Boring chores

Edited March 28 by Old Man With No Name
corrected word

[Jisoo]

I think in general when comparing the two games, a lot will come down to how much one appreciates realism and the almost excessive attention to detail 2 has in certain areas. One thing I sorely missed in free roam when replaying 1 earlier this year was the wildlife and all the animals and their behavior. Sure you can hunt some animals in 1, but the depth in how you hunt and crafting aspect is unrivaled in 2. Same goes for things like making herbs, ammo, different food etc which is an activity. 
 

Minigames, bounties (45 vs 14, why are there so few in RDR2?) and duels are definitely done better in RDR1, and I also wanted to have a proper high-stakes poker game. Horse taming isnt exclusive to 1 though? 

 

I am sort of guilty in that when I do 100% the game (four times), I dont really stick around afterwards. Ill do the bounties in New Austin and try to complete the compendium usually. RDR2 probably suffers a bit from its own length in that a 100% playthrough is anywhere from like 80hrs to 150hrs and by that point most people might want to take a break regardless even if there was more to do or not.

 

 

Edited November 24, 2022 by Jisoo

[Lemoyne outlaw]

3 hours ago, Jisoo said:

 

Minigames, bounties (45 vs 14, why are there so few in RDR2?) 

 

 

 

 

well you have to remember that the bounties in rdr2 have their own mini stories. some even have cutscenes. in rdr1 its just go here kill a couple people then take him to jail. at least the bounties in rdr2 were more unique and interesting. 

[stag3coach2]

I hated horse shoes minigame so much is unreal. Liar's dice was pretty cool though, going to Thieves Landing with the elegant outfit to roleplay as a skilled gambler.

[Dan_1983]

On 11/24/2022 at 3:25 AM, Lemoyne outlaw said:

well you have to remember that the bounties in rdr2 have their own mini stories. some even have cutscenes. in rdr1 its just go here kill a couple people then take him to jail. at least the bounties in rdr2 were more unique and interesting. 

Yes, plus bounties suited John as a government enforced bounty hunter more than they do an outlaw like Arthur.

Edited November 25, 2022 by Dan_1983

[Buddy Hightower]

13 hours ago, Dan_1983 said:

Yes, plus bounties suited John as a government enforced bounty hunter than they do an outlaw like Arthur.

You only need to do 1 as Arthur, the rest you can do as John. In fact, for me, saving as much content for John as possible is the best way to play RDR2.

Trying to do everything with Arthur just kills the pacing.  

[Dan_1983]

52 minutes ago, Buddy Hightower said:

You only need to do 1 as Arthur, the rest you can do as John. In fact, for me, saving as much content for John as possible is the best way to play RDR2.

Trying to do everything with Arthur just kills the pacing.  

I do two, maybe three bounties the most as Arthur. The rest I leave for John. 

[AnymYo]

I think both games are worth to replay them. I think RDR1 have more sandbox elements you can do aditional to the story. In RDR2 the story has a bigger focus.

[FamousActor_]

I disagree. I think RDR2 replayability aspect is superior due to story choices and different endings.

Edited March 28 by FamousActor_

[Old Man With No Name]

1 hour ago, FamousActor_ said:

I disagree. I think RDR2 replayability aspect is superior due to story choices and different endings.

The replayability i mentioned is not about story, its about open world

[Lemoyne outlaw]

1 hour ago, FamousActor_ said:

I disagree. I think RDR2 replayability aspect is superior due to story choices and different endings.

yea i agree. i always have a playthrough going on. this game has been out nearly 5 years. but i always replay it. once i finish the story i start it over. and i always change up the side missions. so each playthrough is a little different and unique. and i plan on replaying the game until gta 6 comes out. but even when it does come out. I'm sure i will replay the game. just not as much as i do now. 

[SM-W]

On 3/28/2023 at 4:43 PM, Old Man With No Name said:

The replayability i mentioned is not about story, its about open world

I guess in terms of sandbox I'd probably declare RDR2 the winner, simply because the story of RDR1 really isn't meant for you to take part in outlaw activities (as it's contradictory to John's story, motivations and character arc), whereas RDR2's narrative gives you some more freedom in how you play (even if the sandbox really isn't the main focus of either game).  No disrespect to RDR1, though - it's definitely got a much stronger atmosphere imo.

 

On 3/28/2023 at 5:00 PM, Lemoyne outlaw said:

i always have a playthrough going on. this game has been out nearly 5 years. but i always replay it. once i finish the story i start it over. and i always change up the side missions. so each playthrough is a little different and unique. and i plan on replaying the game until gta 6 comes out. but even when it does come out. I'm sure i will replay the game. just not as much as i do now. 

Personally speaking, as much as I loved my first playthrough of RDR2, my 2nd playthrough didn't last very long at all. I wasn't going to free Micah from prison, so I just stole wagons for Seamus for a while (which really feels like the one sandbox criminal activity that you can profit from, unlike train robberies which always result in gaining a larger bounty than you get from robbing the passengers) until I just kinda lost interest and moved on to a different game. I think it's a great game in spite of some irksome flaws, but I've never had an urge to try playing the single player again.

I dunno, I guess RDR2 for me was like my first girlfriend: It was really enjoyable at the time and (in spite of the crap both of us were going through in our lives at the time) I wouldn't trade in the experiences I had with her for anything in the world ....... but equally, I wouldn't want to go through that same relationship and those same experiences with that same woman again. (Nor her with me.)

 

On 3/28/2023 at 3:18 PM, FamousActor_ said:

I disagree. I think RDR2 replayability aspect is superior due to story choices and different endings.

........ Are there really "different endings" though?

There's only two endings - "the right one" and "the wrong one" (and you and everyone else knows exactly which one is which, LMAO) - and depending on your honor level, in either of those two endings you either, A, "die", or B, "are killed."

 

Plus, the stuff in the epilogue is always the same (save for a couple of differences in dialogue with old gang members depending on whether Arthur had low or high honor) and what story choices there are really don't make any differences for the characters (it would have been cool if certain decisions would have changed the fates of people like Herr Strauss or Pearson or the ladies at camp or anyone else) nor change the world itself.  What changes there are tend to be less tangible; doing the missions to help Mrs Downes and her son results in her owning a golf course, but you only find out in a newspaper article - it's not a physical change you see anywhere in the game world itself.

 

Compare the story choices in RDR2 with a game like, say, Fallout: New Vegas, where your actions and decisions determine whether various factions/characters survive or die, or which group of morally-dubious dickheads ends up controlling the entire region. Despite the fact those decisions are admittedly pretty much only seen on the ending slides with a narration explaining what the eventual outcome was (versus there being any kind of physical, tangible, in-game effects)(*), comparatively speaking, RDR2's story choices feel much more superficial.

Spoiler

(*) Obsidian had originally planned to have a post-game where you'd see the effects of your choices first hand, but they didn't have the time to implement them to any degree.

I personally think FNV is a bit overrated, but considering they only had 18 months to make the damn thing using a game engine / dev software they had zero familiarity with how to use and the insane amount of content left on the cutting room floor, it's still an incredibly deep game with a surprising amount of choices, depth and dialog variations depending on the various choices you can make.)

[Agent Edward]

13 hours ago, SM-W said:

I guess in terms of sandbox I'd probably declare RDR2 the winner, simply because the story of RDR1 really isn't meant for you to take part in outlaw activities (as it's contradictory to John's story, motivations and character arc), whereas RDR2's narrative gives you some more freedom in how you play (even if the sandbox really isn't the main focus of either game).  No disrespect to RDR1, though - it's definitely got a much stronger atmosphere imo.

 

Personally speaking, as much as I loved my first playthrough of RDR2, my 2nd playthrough didn't last very long at all. I wasn't going to free Micah from prison, so I just stole wagons for Seamus for a while (which really feels like the one sandbox criminal activity that you can profit from, unlike train robberies which always result in gaining a larger bounty than you get from robbing the passengers) until I just kinda lost interest and moved on to a different game. I think it's a great game in spite of some irksome flaws, but I've never had an urge to try playing the single player again.

I dunno, I guess RDR2 for me was like my first girlfriend: It was really enjoyable at the time and (in spite of the crap both of us were going through in our lives at the time) I wouldn't trade in the experiences I had with her for anything in the world ....... but equally, I wouldn't want to go through that same relationship and those same experiences with that same woman again. (Nor her with me.)

 

........ Are there really "different endings" though?

There's only two endings - "the right one" and "the wrong one" (and you and everyone else knows exactly which one is which, LMAO) - and depending on your honor level, in either of those two endings you either, A, "die", or B, "are killed."

 

Plus, the stuff in the epilogue is always the same (save for a couple of differences in dialogue with old gang members depending on whether Arthur had low or high honor) and what story choices there are really don't make any differences for the characters (it would have been cool if certain decisions would have changed the fates of people like Herr Strauss or Pearson or the ladies at camp or anyone else) nor change the world itself.  What changes there are tend to be less tangible; doing the missions to help Mrs Downes and her son results in her owning a golf course, but you only find out in a newspaper article - it's not a physical change you see anywhere in the game world itself.

 

Compare the story choices in RDR2 with a game like, say, Fallout: New Vegas, where your actions and decisions determine whether various factions/characters survive or die, or which group of morally-dubious dickheads ends up controlling the entire region. Despite the fact those decisions are admittedly pretty much only seen on the ending slides with a narration explaining what the eventual outcome was (versus there being any kind of physical, tangible, in-game effects)(*), comparatively speaking, RDR2's story choices feel much more superficial.

  Hide contents

(*) Obsidian had originally planned to have a post-game where you'd see the effects of your choices first hand, but they didn't have the time to implement them to any degree.

I personally think FNV is a bit overrated, but considering they only had 18 months to make the damn thing using a game engine / dev software they had zero familiarity with how to use and the insane amount of content left on the cutting room floor, it's still an incredibly deep game with a surprising amount of choices, depth and dialog variations depending on the various choices you can make.)

The trick to make profit with train robberies in RDR2 is doing them in Chapter 2, where your maximum bounty is $300,00, get all the money you want and only then advance to the following chapters, it's that easy.

[drdrimes]

23 minutes ago, Edward RDRIII said:

The trick to make profit with train robberies in RDR2 is doing them in Chapter 2, where your maximum bounty is $300,00, get all the money you want and only then advance to the following chapters, it's that easy.

I realized this yesterday when I was messing around on Xbox. Can't believe it took me so long to realize it too 

[Agent Edward]

39 minutes ago, Drimes said:

I realized this yesterday when I was messing around on Xbox. Can't believe it took me so long to realize it too 

I must know this trick since early 2019 and I'm surprised that a lot of people still didn't realize this yet lol, I always tested the mayhem mechanics of this game while lowering my honor on dishonorable playthroughs back then and realized that this trick exists quickly.

Edited May 26 by Edward RDRIII

[drdrimes]

1 hour ago, Edward RDRIII said:

I must know this trick since early 2019 and I'm surprised that a lot of people still didn't realize this yet lol, I always tested the mayhem mechanics of this game while lowering my honor on dishonorable playthroughs back then and realized that this trick exists quickly.

Speaking of train robbing, explosive bullet is a lifesaver, I haven't stopped using them for the safes ever since I found out about its effectiveness with that! Rockstar thinks of everything

[Agent Edward]

24 minutes ago, Drimes said:

Speaking of train robbing, explosive bullet is a lifesaver, I haven't stopped using them for the safes ever since I found out about its effectiveness with that! Rockstar thinks of everything

What if I told you that I never bothered to craft explosive bullets in all these 4 years constantly playing this game? I simply thought that they were entirely unrealistic until I found out that rarely some outlaws actually used explosive bullets back in the wild west days, but they used to put dynamite residues with the projectiles instead of animal fat afaik.

[Sneaky Queeky]

3 hours ago, Edward RDRIII said:

The trick to make profit with train robberies in RDR2 is doing them in Chapter 2, where your maximum bounty is $300,00, get all the money you want and only then advance to the following chapters, it's that easy.

Lol, I never knew this. I've been on a full low honor run with this playthrough and I'm at chapter 4 and I've got a $917 bounty in Lemoyne alone, mostly from trying to rob trains and stage coaches. 

Edited May 26 by SneakyDeaky

[Agent Edward]

5 minutes ago, SneakyDeaky said:

Lol, I never knew this. I've been on a full low honor run with this playthrough and I'm at chapter 4 and I've got a $917 bounty in Lemoyne alone, mostly from trying to rob trains and stage coaches. 

Well, since you're doing a dishonorable run I don't think you really bother being chased by bounty hunters and losing honor while killing them, I remember you saying that you play on Version 1.00, just like me, and unfortunately we lose honor when we kill bounty hunters in this version for some reason.

[Sneaky Queeky]

10 minutes ago, Edward RDRIII said:

Well, since you're doing a dishonorable run I don't think you really bother being chased by bounty hunters and losing honor while killing them, I remember you saying that you play on Version 1.00, just like me, and unfortunately we lose honor when we kill bounty hunters in this version for some reason.

Yeah I'm on 1.00. Unfortunately I feel the bounty hunters/law spawn far too much. Sometimes I will just turn around and ride in the opposite direction of them until they "despawn" off the map. Another problem with 1.00 for me, regarding bounties, is I had a large bounty in West Elizabeth, but it reset, likely after a mission. 

 

I gotta build my bounty back up again in WE! I also wish I could see a list of all my crimes and the bounty for each crime, like RDR 1, but either it doesn't exist or I'm an idiot and have never found it in the menus. 

 

As you play on 1.00, do you find, if you don't engage the bounty hunters when they spawn, I mean when you are just riding around, not doing anything, that if you avoid them and they "despawn," sometimes the mission markers remain grey for sometime, and you can't save, or make camp ect. because the game still thinks you are wanted, even though you are not anymore? It's like a weird delay? 

 

I like having bounty hunters chase me though, I want the feeling of being a wanted outlaw when playing low honor. But it's a touche and poorly implemented feature.  

[Agent Edward]

1 hour ago, SneakyDeaky said:

Yeah I'm on 1.00. Unfortunately I feel the bounty hunters/law spawn far too much. Sometimes I will just turn around and ride in the opposite direction of them until they "despawn" off the map. Another problem with 1.00 for me, regarding bounties, is I had a large bounty in West Elizabeth, but it reset, likely after a mission. 

 

I gotta build my bounty back up again in WE! I also wish I could see a list of all my crimes and the bounty for each crime, like RDR 1, but either it doesn't exist or I'm an idiot and have never found it in the menus. 

 

As you play on 1.00, do you find, if you don't engage the bounty hunters when they spawn, I mean when you are just riding around, not doing anything, that if you avoid them and they "despawn," sometimes the mission markers remain grey for sometime, and you can't save, or make camp ect. because the game still thinks you are wanted, even though you are not anymore? It's like a weird delay? 

 

I like having bounty hunters chase me though, I want the feeling of being a wanted outlaw when playing low honor. But it's a touche and poorly implemented feature.  

This list of crimes you committed don't exist anywhere in the game, don't even bother looking for it. Version 1.00 is buggy sometimes and gives you problems such as the ones you mentioned, sometimes the game shows Gwyn Hughes' debt collecting mission on the map even though I already completed it and I'm on Chapter 4 already, the ejected bullet shells have buggy textures and physics and sometimes stays floating in the air, the water textures gives a bluish color effect for anything which enters its surface and so on, but it's still the best version in my opinion because glitches aside the graphics are about 5% better than the most recent patch and, most importantly, we can go to New Austin as Arthur among every glitch ever found in this game.

[Sneaky Queeky]

13 minutes ago, Edward RDRIII said:

 sometimes the game shows Gwyn Hughes' debt collecting mission on the map even though I already completed it and I'm on Chapter 4 already

Yes I get that every playthrough. I even had Winston Holmes show up on the map again a couple days ago then it vanished the next reload. 

 

Anyway, I think RDR 2 is very replayable. I never played RDR 1 this much, or at least, not on such a deep level, in the sense that I play around with so much more in RDR 2 - like the crafting, the customization, the collectibles, greet/antagonize, the coach robberies, the really long story. 

 

RDR 1 is great to just zip through now and enjoy the awesome ride, though. Especially the Mexico missions which I love. 

 

RDR 2 takes more patience, but it's worth it.  

[Agent Edward]

1 hour ago, SneakyDeaky said:

Yes I get that every playthrough. I even had Winston Holmes show up on the map again a couple days ago then it vanished the next reload. 

 

Anyway, I think RDR 2 is very replayable. I never played RDR 1 this much, or at least, not on such a deep level, in the sense that I play around with so much more in RDR 2 - like the crafting, the customization, the collectibles, greet/antagonize, the coach robberies, the really long story. 

 

RDR 1 is great to just zip through now and enjoy the awesome ride, though. Especially the Mexico missions which I love. 

 

RDR 2 takes more patience, but it's worth it.  

RDR1 is a game that I like to play when I'm not on vacation from college, because we can finish its story way quicker than RDR2's story, let alone a 100% run, I know that we can rush through RDR2's story and that it must take about 5 days only to finish it like that, but everytime I try to do this I find myself losing time customizing Arthur, his weapons, his horse, doing side stuff and exploring the world just the same lol, RDR2 is a game that I need months to finish it because my completionist spirit don't let me do a quick run just to rewind its story again.

[Old Man With No Name]

On 5/27/2023 at 4:34 AM, Edward RDRIII said:

RDR1 is a game that I like to play when I'm not on vacation from college, because we can finish its story way quicker than RDR2's story, let alone a 100% run, I know that we can rush through RDR2's story and that it must take about 5 days only to finish it like that, but everytime I try to do this I find myself losing time customizing Arthur, his weapons, his horse, doing side stuff and exploring the world just the same lol, RDR2 is a game that I need months to finish it because my completionist spirit don't let me do a quick run just to rewind its story again.

The best thing that i love about RDR2 is losing time by doing stuff came outta nowhere. But as a completionist, when you complete everything, its completed. Game actually tells you whats done is done and start over. Starting over RDR2 is hell. So this is why i prefer RDR1. RDR1 side stuff and world, random events etc still alive for completionists, because when you complete everything, half of the side stuff are repeatable. Most of the random events are repetable. Best thing about RDR1 is, you dont need to restart to the story

Edited May 28 by Old Man With No Name

[Agent Edward]

7 minutes ago, Old Man With No Name said:

The best thing that i love about RDR2 is losing time by doing stuff came outta nowhere. But as a completionist, when you complete everything, its completed. Game actually tells you whats done is done and start over. Starting over RDR2 is hell. So this is why i prefer RDR1. RDR1 side stuff and world, random events etc still alive for completionists, because when you complete everything, half of the side stuff are repeatable. Most of the random events are repetable. Best thing about RDR1 is, you dont need to start to the story

Each to their own I guess, I love both RDR1 and RDR2 but the second game is more interesting than the first one for me, at least the comparisons between RDR1 and RDR2 are mostly about nitpickings than the ones between GTA4 and GTA5, which usually have fans of both sides saying that one is extremely superior to the other.

[drdrimes]

On 5/26/2023 at 9:23 PM, Edward RDRIII said:

I must know this trick since early 2019 and I'm surprised that a lot of people still didn't realize this yet lol, I always tested the mayhem mechanics of this game while lowering my honor on dishonorable playthroughs back then and realized that this trick exists quickly.

I booted up a chapter 2 save and I'm having too much fun with train robberies. I travel to Riggs Station or Wallace Station, clear out the trains, then kill enough cops to make them despawn entirely! And with only 300 dollars as my bounty, it's an insane profit!

[Agent Edward]

On 5/29/2023 at 11:40 AM, Drimes said:

I booted up a chapter 2 save and I'm having too much fun with train robberies. I travel to Riggs Station or Wallace Station, clear out the trains, then kill enough cops to make them despawn entirely! And with only 300 dollars as my bounty, it's an insane profit!

If all players knew how to just take advantage from the game's own structure like you instead of complaining that their bounties go sky high, what a generation of moaning players we're seeing recently who can't play for sh*t and complain about everything.

[billiejoearmstrong8]

On 5/27/2023 at 3:21 AM, Old Man With No Name said:

The best thing that i love about RDR2 is losing time by doing stuff came outta nowhere. But as a completionist, when you complete everything, its completed. Game actually tells you whats done is done and start over. Starting over RDR2 is hell. So this is why i prefer RDR1. RDR1 side stuff and world, random events etc still alive for completionists, because when you complete everything, half of the side stuff are repeatable. Most of the random events are repetable. Best thing about RDR1 is, you dont need to restart to the story

For me another plus with RDR1 is you don't need to follow any guides/maps to complete collectibles (apart from maybe looking up a couple of the treasure locations the first time, but it's easy to remember them after that), you can just play the game and complete it without any outside help. And nothing you have to do for 100% feels like a "chore", it's all enjoyable stuff that isn't excessively difficult or a grind. So I find it extremely replayable in terms of starting a new game and completing to 100% again as well. I've completed it to 100% more times than any other game I've played and I enjoy the 100% requirement tasks as much as the main missions.