What is RDR2’s greatest accomplishment?

[BoulderFaceplant]

With RDR2 five years in the rear view mirror, what would you say is its greatest accomplishment? 
I’d have to say the horses. Just the way they look, the way they animate, their handling, their animations. All absolutely stellar. To this day, video game horses feel stiff and unwieldly, but not in RDR2. These animals are responsive, maneuverable, and intuitive. Yes, they crash too easily. I’m not denying that. But man, no game has come close to what RDR2 achieved here. 

[drdrimes]

It reinvented open world

[Ballbreaker_]

In my very personal opinion.

 

It has a heart. Most AAA games nowadays are a gigantic technological show-off with no soul whatsoever.

[32dewdzsx]

That they managed to squeeze in survival elements into such popular series. They aren't super hardcore, but its impressive how different the gameplay felt in RDR2 when compared to other AAA games.

[Jisoo]

Maybe the wildlife for me, including horses. All the tiny details like the eagle hunting for fish and how they all look and behave so naturally and realistic. I doubt we will get an open world game with this kind of animal realism for years, unless Rockstar puts a lot of the same system into GTA 6

 

I think the way you hunt them is great too with the sneaking and using different kinds of ammo and weapons for different animals, plus the quality of the animal itself plays a part. The camp upgrades are cool but its something I never really bothered with (except the satchel upgrades)

[Archangelsky]

I think for me it has to be the feeling of being grounded in the gaming world when I play. I have never played a game where I have felt that the character  I play is an actual part of the environment. The level of immersion I feel in RDR2 I have not felt in any other game.

[hardBallas]

For me it's the graphics/technology. RDR2 still looks better than a fair bit of modern releases and it's impressive it looks this good without any ray-tracing used. Oh and the physics are top notch as well.

[Mister Pink]

It's hard to boil it down to one thing;

 

• Graphics. RDR2 has had the most realistic graphics I've seen in a game such as the colour palette, the colour tones, and detail. Nothing feels copy/pasted. 
• The cinematography of the game is next level. It's up there with some of the greatest films out there. The game employs the art of cinema unseen in other games. Anywhere you look, it feels picturesque. It feels lived in.  
• I think it's extremely polished. I never encountered any bugs or jank or anything that took me out of the game. It's just insanely high-level production. I imagine it was painstaking to get to where it is. I'd say it's an absolute nightmare to try to get such a seismic game so close to absolute perfection. 
• RD2 has the best character writing in any Rockstar game, IMO.  Morgan's arc is superb and I think his character is the most believable and a superbly 3-dimensional character a videogame has ever seen.
• But.. if I were to say it's one thing perhaps it's blending cinematic storytelling in an open world without comprising exciting gameplay, and without having to resort to a kind of linearity that other cinematic games employ.  Using high-end cinematography to tell the story and bedding the open world with many unique one-time events/moments/script. There's a lot of car and attention gone into things that will happen only once in the game and not be repeated. 

 

[Emmi]

I could say a lot of things but the three most important ones are its world, the characters and the camp!

Edited September 22, 2023 by Emmi

[lndex]

For me, a major one that stands out is going between the five fictional states. Each one really feels unique and almost makes you feel like you are worlds away from other parts of the map.

 

NPC behaviour. They have jobs or chores that make the world feel alive and lived in. If you've not watched this yet, I highly recommend it: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/opinion/npc-video-games-red-dead-redemption.html

[Buddy Hightower]

Immersion.

[TaposchtBra]

Animations and details are sublime

[Copcaller]

the detail of the open world during free roam 

[Sneaky Queeky]

IDK. Mister Pink and others have hit the nail in the head. 

 

It's greatest accomplishment? That it was able to reinvigorate a dead genre in a whole new medium that was able to both attract a new generation and push the genre forward creatively in a way that hadn't been done in 25 years. 

[volta2001]

its the closest thing we have to a time machine

[smokeless6]

On 10/18/2023 at 8:42 AM, Copcaller said:

the detail of the open world during free roam 

 

Agreed. Like I was impressed just with how wagon ruts are handled, how they form according to how firm the ground is, shallower in soft and nearly invisible on hard ground, and all dynamically produced as the coach travels. This is just one detail out of hundreds that attain this level of authenticity.

 

Lots of good posts here, I agree with just about all of it with special mention to Mr Pink's post, which is spot on. This game is a production of the highest order. Whenever it comes up I say that RDR2 is the most expertly designed PC game we have seen. That in itself is a singular achievement, but R* managed to marry near-flawless execution to that design, and the result is the finest PC game I have played.  If you consider every facet of game design -- graphics, sound, writing, characters, story, mechanics, UI and so on -- there is really nothing that can come close to matching that they have achieved with this game.

 

I could name a number of things as an answer to the OP. But to avoid redundancy I'll add that the seamlessness in the game world is an impressive achievement. No loading screens. Just one massive, contiguous world that doesn't remove you and break that sense of immersion that it does so well. Superb.

[Mister Pink]

On 10/23/2023 at 11:44 PM, Sneaky Queeky said:

It's greatest accomplishment? That it was able to reinvigorate a dead genre in a whole new medium that was able to both attract a new generation and push the genre forward creatively in a way that hadn't been done in 25 years. 

This. I think RDR as a series as pushed the Western genre in film and games more than any other IP in the last 25 years. 

 

RDR got me into the Western genre in film, so I'm grateful for that. Every kid, and adult that's played RDR, when watching westerns now has a reference to relate to. 

[Jason]

Above all else, immersion. It's the most immersive open world ever made by a country mile.

 

One of the biggest ways they accomplish that is NPC's. Their behavours that has been mentioned above are one aspect of that, like their schedules, jobs, routines, etc, but the mere fact you can interact with them is the meat in the pie. It's sort of easy to fall into the trap of thinking the NPC interaction system is shallow but not only had it never been before on that level prior to RDR2, it's never been even attempted since. The fact I can start and end fights with words is really impressive, and from an immersion perspective being able to greet people, mock people, etc, is really, really cool

 

The gangs camp is the best example of this. It has SO much life, so many unique conversations and events, most people won't see anywhere close to all of them in their time with the game. But it's also the best example of just how well they used the NPC interaction system and also another aspect they put effort into in RDR2, which was making every action by the player physical and in the world. Being able to go say hi to Pearson, grab a bowl of stew, start talking to someone else while walking with the stew in hand, sit down a table and eat and talk is an insane technical achievement in a game, and when doubled with all the unique camp conversations make it that extra bit special. It all feels so simple in the game but the fact it's so seamless is bonkers.

 

It's this that excites me about GTA VI above all else, because no other studio comes close to this type of stuff cause the scope of it is beyond virtually every other studio, so I'm really excited to see Rockstar's v2 of it.

[Jimbatron]

There are so many good things about the game, but the story and acting of it are next level stuff. There hasn’t been a R* story that I’ve disliked, but I have no hesitation in saying this was their best - by quite some margin.

[Sneaky Queeky]

On 10/27/2023 at 9:20 AM, Mister Pink said:

This. I think RDR as a series as pushed the Western genre in film and games more than any other IP in the last 25 years. 

 

RDR got me into the Western genre in film, so I'm grateful for that. Every kid, and adult that's played RDR, when watching westerns now has a reference to relate to. 

Yeah man, before RDR 1 came out, I had seen some classic westerns, my father got me into older movies when I was a teenager. I had seen classics like Unforgiven and the Dollars trilogy. But I distinctively remember Rockstar doing a newswire series that recommended certain films and I watched a lot of them. 

 

But before RDR 2 came out I went through a "deep dive" through many Western movies, especially Spaghetti Westerns, because such was my excitement for the game, and I ended up watching movies like the original Django, Keoma, The Great Silence, ect. which I probably wouldn't have bothered with, all because of my hype for RDR 2. I maybe, and probably would have, seen a lot of them... eventually. But the excitement for the game inspired me to buy all the blu rays. I also read Blood Meridian, which I may not have read. (Though again, maybe eventually, as I had read The Road.)

 

The point is, the game truly brings that genre to life in a new way that also pays tribute to the movies in a way that makes me smile every time I play it. When I played the game night one, and got to Saddler ranch with Dutch and Micah, got into the fight with the O'driscolls, and a reworked version of "The Man with a Harmonica" played, I was instantly in-love with the game and I still am, now moreseo. 

 

And it's done that for a whole new generation, which is amazing. I mean I think the last biggest selling western is The Quick and The Dead, which is a fine film, but released in 95 and it's no classic. Maybe I'm wrong. But the genre has been given a whole new life by Rockstar that is unsuspected. It sold a lot.  And it's the greatest work in the genre since at least Unoforgiven. 

 

But I think it's better. The amount of dialogue, the amount of by hand detail all over the world that helps the player get absorbed into the world in a way a movie couldn't possibly do. I love this game! I just can't play it all the time... 

[Jason]

22 hours ago, Jimbatron said:

There are so many good things about the game, but the story and acting of it are next level stuff. There hasn’t been a R* story that I’ve disliked, but I have no hesitation in saying this was their best - by quite some margin.

 

I would say that you could very comfortably argue that RDR2's greatest achievement might just be Arthur himself, both the writing and the performance behind it.

 

For me he's he greatest protagonist in video game history. He has an incredible character arc, he's incredibly well performed and he has a real depth to him that you don't often see, especially not in video games. The famous "I'm afraid" scene is the most notable example of Arthur and Clark's range but there's so many of them littered throughout the game, especially in the later chapters.

[Jimbatron]

4 hours ago, Jason said:

 

I would say that you could very comfortably argue that RDR2's greatest achievement might just be Arthur himself, both the writing and the performance behind it.

 

For me he's he greatest protagonist in video game history. He has an incredible character arc, he's incredibly well performed and he has a real depth to him that you don't often see, especially not in video games. The famous "I'm afraid" scene is the most notable example of Arthur and Clark's range but there's so many of them littered throughout the game, especially in the later chapters.

Agreed. I love Arthur and RC’s portrayal of him. He is my favourite protagonist to date.

 

I would have to add though I think the entire ensemble cast is similarly awesome. I have seen Academy Awards given for best supporting actors for much less than Benjamin Byron Davis’ portrayal of Dutch but it doesn’t stop there. I thought the whole gang, and the antagonists were well written, different, varied and perfectly cast. I don’t think there was an obvious weak link, unlike in GTA V where I thought the antagonists were underdeveloped (not the fault of the actors).

[The-Ghost]

On 10/4/2023 at 4:29 PM, Buddy Hightower said:

Immersion.

This pretty much, the game is an absolute trip.

 

Everything else contributes to that, the visuals and insane amount of animations/voice lines for almost everything just plays more into it.

It's very difficult for me to watch a video of the game and not just want to load it up and play right away.

[Buddy Hightower]

16 hours ago, The-Ghost said:

This pretty much, the game is an absolute trip.

 

Everything else contributes to that, the visuals and insane amount of animations/voice lines for almost everything just plays more into it.

It's very difficult for me to watch a video of the game and not just want to load it up and play right away.

If GTA6 is better than RDR2 - then my god I'll be lost in the game for 10 years.

[Montana...]

Bringing back a slower paced single player story.

 

This grindy online sh*t needs to end. Especially when the majority of it relies on "end game" material. 

 

Also, I've said this 1,000 times but being 3rd person makes it 100x more immersive. As soon as games with potential go 1st person they lose a whole lot of their audience. It's just not immersive. The movements suck and it gives off the sweaty PvP COD vibe. But.... that said, being able to switch to 1st person is a nice feature.

[smokeless6]

I see it the opposite way. For me, first person is magnitudes more immersive. It's the difference between being your character or controlling your character. Interesting polar opinions here. Which is cool, but no, cannot agree.

Edited November 13, 2023 by smokeless6

[billiejoearmstrong8]

On 11/13/2023 at 8:50 PM, smokeless6 said:

I see it the opposite way. For me, first person is magnitudes more immersive. It's the difference between being your character or controlling your character. Interesting polar opinions here. Which is cool, but no, cannot agree.

Totally agree. In particular when other characters are talking to you and turning towards your face/looking you right in the eyes it feels much more immersive than when you just see them looking at a character. Same with everything else, you're literally more immersed in to the character when you're looking out of his eyes instead of observing him.

[wantedformurder]

On 11/13/2023 at 4:58 PM, SM00V 0PERAT0R said:

Bringing back a slower paced single player story.

 

This grindy online sh*t needs to end. Especially when the majority of it relies on "end game" material. 

 

Also, I've said this 1,000 times but being 3rd person makes it 100x more immersive. As soon as games with potential go 1st person they lose a whole lot of their audience. It's just not immersive. The movements suck and it gives off the sweaty PvP COD vibe. But.... that said, being able to switch to 1st person is a nice feature.

Agreed, that's where CP2077 failed. It should have been 3rd person. 

[Montana...]

On 11/13/2023 at 1:50 PM, smokeless6 said:

I see it the opposite way. For me, first person is magnitudes more immersive. It's the difference between being your character or controlling your character. Interesting polar opinions here. Which is cool, but no, cannot agree.

 

16 hours ago, billiejoearmstrong8 said:

Totally agree. In particular when other characters are talking to you and turning towards your face/looking you right in the eyes it feels much more immersive than when you just see them looking at a character. Same with everything else, you're literally more immersed in to the character when you're looking out of his eyes instead of observing him.

 

The problem is in the movements. It's always clunky and unrealistic. In first person they try to make it you but you end up limited to whatever they design you to be. For example, CP2077 and it's "customization". You can do all these things to your character - but do you ever see them outside of a menu? Does it really matter what color your hair is or what tattoos you have? At least with 3rd person you can customize to your liking as much as they allow and you actually see it, and if it's done well, the movements will be more realistic which in itself feels more immersive. The other issue is every 1st person game like these feels like it's basically COD. You bob up and down, hold a weapon, point, shoot - game. There is not a single first person game that captures movements correctly. The view limitations just don't immerse me. You can't even look down and see your own body in those games. It's just floor lol. You have no torso. Turning towards another character to look them in the face feels more like a panning shot from behind a camera and less like a turn of your head/body. 

 

TBH, the only time I've used first person in RDR2/GTA is to zoom in on something. I truly feel like 3rd person open world is one of Rockstars, not just RDR2, best achievements. First person seems like a great way to avoid making a player feel unique.

 

It doesn't hurt putting in the attention to detail either. Too many games fall flat on small details and you end up getting stuck on 8 bit polygons too often. That, especially in first person, feels like trying to walk in a sumo suit or with beer goggles on.

Edited November 20, 2023 by SM00V 0PERAT0R

[wqx]

My last run was a 100% run and now I try to complete all the outfits at the trapper whenever I feel like and something that I realized is, that albeit RDR2 not fully commiting to be an RPG, the fact, that you can talk/interact with the NPCs and hear the protagonist's voice even after finishing the story, it actually feels like John's life keeps going. It can get old though after a certain time, but I would add, that this is also a huge accomplishment.