Red Dead Redemption II

[Anderson]

I got bored and started taking on side missions in Valentine. The fucking pulling a gun and shooting triggers need to be fixed. I just blew the sheriff's head off.


That led to some shit, so I had to kill everyone in the town with a gun. Now, my bounty is at 245 dollars and I'm hiding out in the New Orleans stand-in town.

[Abraham Smashington]

I killed a legendary bear and made a hat out of his head. Now people don't want to be near me.

[Fil]

I'm at the epilogue now.

[Abraham Smashington]

Damn. You are almost done with it?

[Abraham Smashington]

People do not like my bear hat.

[B_Metal]

People do not like my bear hat.

Well it IS made out of just the bears asshole so........

[BillyG]

I'm at the epilogue now.

I barely started Chapter 3. I just find myself riding around getting into shit and exploring. I want to get into the hunting, but I want more than the like 90 minutes I've been able to play at night.

[Abraham Smashington]

I found a shack filled with a dead family. Thought maybe something cool would happen like a quest. nope. Just a shack filled with a dead family.

[Captain Russ]

Adding so many extra steps to a lot of the mini games/side missions as with hunting and managing your pack mule would have been great to see as options in a survival mode, but as it stands, this is a bit too immersive in those realistic aspects to be fun to the person who wants to just pick up and go.

Hell, even the original saw fit to forego these things and keep it to a single repetitive and rather pointless cutscene of splatter and knife sound effects while Marston bent down on his good knee and went to town.

Now if you want to do much of any of that, you had better save up a nice chunk of time just to get basic shit done with your chosen animal carcass.

I'm already seeing some cracks in this gameplay design and understand this is a true western simulator and not what it started out as in being GTA: OK Corral.

It's a shame that they couldn't find a more common ground with some of the things weighing the experience down, as it is a very beautiful looking game so far.

[Abraham Smashington]

My friend was able to figure out why I mostly don't like this game. It's an open world game and NOT an open world SANDBOX game.

Also, you're totally right Russ. Most of the mechanics feel like they would be at home in a "survival" mode as opposed to just the normal game mode.

[BillyG]

I get why people I don't like the extra steps and some of the admittedly tedious animations...but it's lead to me role playing a game more than I ever have. Last night I found myself standing in the middle of main street in Valentine scoping out the bank, and just lit a cigarette and walked around casing doors and windows. Then when Arthur had a run-in with his ex I felt bad for him and got him a bottle of whiskey, a haircut, some new clothes, and a shower. I thought I had felt immersed in games before, but either I was wrong before or this is another level for me.

[Captain Russ]

That's cool it's hitting the right notes with you, but I can also see where people are coming from with it being a bit hamstrung by adhering so strongly to realism (myself included, but not to an extreme degree...I mean, I fucking played Fallout on the hardcore and survival modes for that extra bit of immersion into my "let's go pick up some more cans and try not to die from dehydration while we do it" simulator).

But there's the aspect of not having alternatives built in that I see as a stumbling block with Rockstar's current crop of titles. It's when things begin to look and act like jobs and not like missions that I have less patience in accepting that as the overarching gameplay philosophy.

Though they just made a nice billion in a weekend so what the fuck do I know?

[BillyG]

I think a LOT of problems people have had would be alleviated if the default settings for control were changed. I went in and tweaked a few things and it feels like someone that had not lost their goddamn mind made the game. It doesn't change the pace or animation requirements, but it doesn't feel like I walk around in mud anymore or fight the controls.

[Abraham Smashington]

So I decided to try to get into this game knowing that it's not something that is for me. So far I went to a tailor and got a pimp suit and boots and a golden gun that looks like Han Solo's blaster off of a side missions dude.

Slow as balls still, but maybe I'm starting to understand what they were going for.

Still can't tell if I'm having fun yet though.

[Anderson]

I haven't touched it in two days. When it's good, it works. But, so much is just flat.


Totally shocked and underwhelmed so far.