Over 4 years, finally uninstalled game - here's my take.

[Buddy Hightower]

Best story-driven game ever,

For me, the best way to play the game is to do the yellow quests with Arthur as fast as possible.

Don't take breaks for fishing, hunting, exploring, or collecting.

Keep the story moving, spend most nights in camp talking with members, do chores in morning, and then do yellow missions.

Skip most of the stranger missions and skip all the challenges.

 

Let Arthur draw all the points of interest and take stuff to Pearson only if you happen to run across the needed animals by chance.

 

Then at the end, use John for all that stuff.

[JB1982]

I don't think I'll ever uninstall this game! 

 

Definitely the best story driven game I have ever played. Just an absolute masterpiece.

 

Wish I had your willpower to not take breaks though. Been doing my current playthrough for just over a month now and I'm only just nearing the end of Chapter 2! Very easy to get distracted on this game but it's one of the things I love about it the most. No playthrough will be alike.

[billiejoearmstrong8]

I think you can do both. I take long trips away from camp to do side stuff but I always come back and spend plenty of time there in between (to the point I seem to run out of new interactions/conversations lol) and do the occasional mission and I still feel engaged with the story and the gang. At least getting the legendary buck trinket to make hunting easier and all Pearson's satchels so you can carry 99 of each item (instead of 3 at the beginning) is a must imo, not having to deal with never having enough space to store things when you're looting etc and constantly having to restock items makes the rest of the playthrough much more enjoyable.

 

But I can totally see that this way would be good too, I think on my second playthrough aside from the things I just mentioned I'll leave all other side stuff for John and go through the missions faster. In RDR1 I did that with John/Jack on my second playthrough and it was enjoyable. 

[Dizzyo]

Why did you uninstall ?

[Buddy Hightower]

13 hours ago, Dizzyo said:

Why did you uninstall ?

The game as dominated all my free playing time. I have dozens of games I haven't even started yet that I bought over the last 4 years.

After I complete a few I'll probably reinstall and do it again.

If a 60 FPS patch comes out, I'll reinstall immediately. 

[smokeless6]

I don't agree with the OP's recommendations, to rush through to get to John.

 

I prefer to stretch out chapters 2, 3 and 4 for as long as possible.

 

For me, playing as Arthur is far better than playing as John, and I like playing as John.

 

And be sure to hunt for panthers before you swap to John!

 

 

[Buddy Hightower]

3 hours ago, smokeless6 said:

I don't agree with the OP's recommendations, to rush through to get to John.

 

I prefer to stretch out chapters 2, 3 and 4 for as long as possible.

 

For me, playing as Arthur is far better than playing as John, and I like playing as John.

 

And be sure to hunt for panthers before you swap to John!

 

 

Well I have played through everyway possible and for me if I do too much with Arthur I lose connection to the story.

You have bounties in every state you've passed through, you have the pinkertons, Cornwall men, O'driscols, and law men gunning for you.

-OK, I'll go searching for some animals to kill to make a new coat! Catch you later then!!  lol

 

It just doesn't work for me. Especially the challenges.

[dorey85]

I think the OPs idea Is a fun take and an interesting way to play and clearly a challenge for most of us (as I have yet to do a full run through all the way again because I've watched friends fmrun through it .. I can't watch my horse go again ... I almost break even with my friends stupid horses ) miss you monolith you sexy black shire . And I still drift off to hunt . Fish ...hell I'm still missing g a couple compendium animals and plants so I sometimes try n find those. BUT many things are easier as Arthur and if i only knew about the fact that John don't swim but Arthur does ... I'm not around my horse often enough to swim with the horse and sometimes in just a couple feet of I can't touch and have to swim cuz I'm trying to get to a tight spot for a secret or vantage point or whatever ...and John dies in a bucket size spot of water he can't touch bottom in ...ridiculous ... John by standing to reason is a better cowboy all rou d then Arthur cuz Arthur is the sh*t and meeting him much more amazing then John originally .   But John learn from art and clearly sees how awesome he is and John knows well enough to idolize him ...but not one fukin swimming lesson dude ... gah lame ....and plus sorry but Arthur took Jack fishing that mission won me over for the whole red dead franchise . Why hasn't John gone fishing with Jack... he never even mentions fishing once ...Arthur drops something about fishing a few times during the game .. my kinda guy.  I still say there should have been a start point when if known you can save Arthur somehow and he runs or something and cMes back later to be around John n Jack and ....what's her face...abi ...I guess fukin pushy bitch  ..sorry getting personal there 

Just now, dorey85 said:

I think the OPs idea Is a fun take and an interesting way to play and clearly a challenge for most of us (as I have yet to do a full run through all the way again because I've watched friends fmrun through it .. I can't watch my horse go again ... I almost break even with my friends stupid horses ) miss you monolith you sexy black shire . And I still drift off to hunt . Fish ...hell I'm still missing g a couple compendium animals and plants so I sometimes try n find those. BUT many things are easier as Arthur and if i only knew about the fact that John don't swim but Arthur does ... I'm not around my horse often enough to swim with the horse and sometimes in just a couple feet of I can't touch and have to swim cuz I'm trying to get to a tight spot for a secret or vantage point or whatever ...and John dies in a bucket size spot of water he can't touch bottom in ...ridiculous ... John by standing to reason is a better cowboy all rou d then Arthur cuz Arthur is the sh*t and meeting him much more amazing then John originally .   But John learn from art and clearly sees how awesome he is and John knows well enough to idolize him ...but not one fukin swimming lesson dude ... gah lame ....and plus sorry but Arthur took Jack fishing that mission won me over for the whole red dead franchise . Why hasn't John gone fishing with Jack... he never even mentions fishing once ...Arthur drops something about fishing a few times during the game .. my kinda guy.  I still say there should have been a start point when if known you can save Arthur somehow and he runs or something and cMes back later to be around John n Jack and ....what's her face...abi ...I guess fukin pushy bitch  ..sorry getting personal there 

Darn sorry .. I went on a tangent

[smokeless6]

In all the years I've been surfing gaming forums I've never seen a post which quotes itself. Interesting twist, and welcome to the boards mate.

 

It's cool if players want to get their own groove on, and like I said, I enjoy the epilogue with John.  But for me Arthur IS RDR2, and it's not close. If only he hadn't met his end on that lonely mountain. Or the other one if you're a shifty bastage. I would have liked to have him live and play out the epilogue as Arthur.

 

[Buddy Hightower]

8 hours ago, dorey85 said:

and plus sorry but Arthur took Jack fishing that mission won me over for the whole red dead franchise . Why hasn't John gone fishing with Jack... he never even mentions fishing once

Keep playing the story then...

[billiejoearmstrong8]

On 2/2/2023 at 12:10 PM, dorey85 said:

 ....and plus sorry but Arthur took Jack fishing that mission won me over for the whole red dead franchise . Why hasn't John gone fishing with Jack... he never even mentions fishing once ...Arthur drops something about fishing a few times during the game .. my kinda guy.  I still say there should have been a start point when if known you can save Arthur somehow and he runs or something and cMes back later to be around John n Jack and ....what's her face...abi ...I guess fukin pushy bitch  ..sorry getting personal there 

 

John is a deadbeat dad at that point. He knocked up an 18 year old girl and won't act like a father to his child even after 4 years. Abigail even has to ask Arthur for money for clothes for him. Abigail has literally no other options than to be a "pushy bitch", there were no opportunities for an uneducated unmarried mother at that time and she relied on the man who got her pregnant at 18 (while knowing contraception and abortion weren't options) to support the family he created. But you should keep playing, John changes over time. 

[cp1dell]

On 1/31/2023 at 8:32 AM, Buddy Hightower said:

Best story-driven game ever,

For me, the best way to play the game is to do the yellow quests with Arthur as fast as possible.

Don't take breaks for fishing, hunting, exploring, or collecting.

Keep the story moving, spend most nights in camp talking with members, do chores in morning, and then do yellow missions.

Skip most of the stranger missions and skip all the challenges.

 

Let Arthur draw all the points of interest and take stuff to Pearson only if you happen to run across the needed animals by chance.

 

Then at the end, use John for all that stuff.

I agree for the most part, aside from some stranger missions that can appear in the newspapers like the gunslinger ones, the electric chair, and a couple others I can't remember. Biggest takeaway from this is that none of the "silly" stranger missions appear in the newspaper, like not-Nikola Tesla, and the giant/midget one. Meaning you can have the more "serious"/calm stranger missions sprinkled throughout. It goes without saying you definitely need to do the monk/nun stranger missions as Arthur, as well as The Widow of Willard's Rest. I'm on the fence about Arthur doing The Veteran.

 

Definitely need to do the companion/gang missions though too like fishing, hunting, coach robberies etc. They add some nice depth to the camp members.

 

Also, I personally always stuck to whatever state/territory was introduced up into that point of the story. Don't travel to Lemoyne or Roanoke Ridge in Chapter 2, don't go to Saint Denis until Chapter 4, that sort of thing.

[Buddy Hightower]

On 2/3/2023 at 1:34 PM, cp1dell said:

I'm on the fence about Arthur doing The Veteran.

First 3 with Arthur, last one with John.

Same with Mason fellow, save last one for John.

 

For me there is really only a period of time where I can freeroam with Arthur and that's right at the start of chapter 2. 

 

[BigBoyBertram]

Honestly, I don't think I'll ever uninstall it. I feel certain loyalty towards some of my favorite games to the point where I always want them hanging around lol. Plus, I barely buy new titles anyways. 

[billiejoearmstrong8]

On 2/6/2023 at 5:04 AM, Buddy Hightower said:

First 3 with Arthur, last one with John.

Same with Mason fellow, save last one for John.

 

For me there is really only a period of time where I can freeroam with Arthur and that's right at the start of chapter 2. 

 

Having just finished chapter 3 I'm glad I did all the side stuff I could early on, the main story really ramps up after that and it would feel wrong to be away like that now. I went on my main extended trips away in early chapter 3 and that felt ok since we were just getting into what seemed like at the time silly business with the Grays and Braithwaites and the camp was chill. Plus it's good to have proper deadeye (I can't stand the auto tag version that you only get rid of towards the end of chapter 2). But I agree early chapter 2 would be the best time for it story wise. 

[JB1982]

3 hours ago, billiejoearmstrong8 said:

Having just finished chapter 3 I'm glad I did all the side stuff I could early on, the main story really ramps up after that and it would feel wrong to be away like that now. I went on my main extended trips away in early chapter 3 and that felt ok since we were just getting into what seemed like at the time silly business with the Grays and Braithwaites and the camp was chill. Plus it's good to have proper deadeye (I can't stand the auto tag version that you only get rid of towards the end of chapter 2). But I agree early chapter 2 would be the best time for it story wise. 

 

I agree Chapter 2 and early Chapter 3 feels like a good time for side stuff. There's a very relaxed and tranquil feel to the game in large sections at these points and everyone's in good spirits for the most part. You feel like you can be away from camp without any real pressing need to return for urgent business. As the game progresses, there's less and less of those moments.

[billiejoearmstrong8]

1 hour ago, JB1982 said:

 

I agree Chapter 2 and early Chapter 3 feels like a good time for side stuff. There's a very relaxed and tranquil feel to the game in large sections at these points and everyone's in good spirits for the most part. You feel like you can be away from camp without any real pressing need to return for urgent business. As the game progresses, there's less and less of those moments.

Yeah after Blessed are the Peacemakers the sh*t hits the fan. Couldn't believe how quickly and relentlessly things went south after that, I can't imagine there will be times where things don't feel urgent again. I'm doing the stranger missions that have unlocked in Saint Denis but even that feels wrong, going to an art exhibition and playing with a toy boat while Jack is missing lol

Edited February 10 by billiejoearmstrong8