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Red Dead Redemption 2 - now available on PC

Ivan

Arcane
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
7,487
Location
California
The game has a lot of fat and didn’t need to be as long as it is. Dutch’s “decline” is milked and loses its impact by the end.
Can you expand on this? I don't understand what you mean.

Sure:
I felt like the Guarma chapter was a huge waste of time. I think the story would have been just fine if the gang dispersed after the botched robbery in St Denis and reunited in the bog. Guarma stank of filler and introduced characters we would not care/remember after the chapter closed. We knew Dutch was no longer the same men the moment Hosea died. We didn't need to see him unravel slowly by killing innocents in Guarma. I think the story would have more punch if if cut that and segued straight to him killing Cornwall.

In terms of mission design, there are an obnoxious amount of quests where your agency is basically reduced to walking sim mode. The mission where you blow up the train tracks comes to mind. Sounds awesome on paper, but it's mechanically dull and painfully disappointing.
 

Sentinel

Arcane
Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Messages
6,666
Location
Ommadawn
The game has a lot of fat and didn’t need to be as long as it is. Dutch’s “decline” is milked and loses its impact by the end.
Can you expand on this? I don't understand what you mean.

Sure:
I felt like the Guarma chapter was a huge waste of time. I think the story would have been just fine if the gang dispersed after the botched robbery in St Denis and reunited in the bog. Guarma stank of filler and introduced characters we would not care/remember after the chapter closed. We knew Dutch was no longer the same men the moment Hosea died. We didn't need to see him unravel slowly by killing innocents in Guarma. I think the story would have more punch if if cut that and segued straight to him killing Cornwall.

In terms of mission design, there are an obnoxious amount of quests where your agency is basically reduced to walking sim mode. The mission where you blow up the train tracks comes to mind. Sounds awesome on paper, but it's mechanically dull and painfully disappointing.
I felt like that chapter was meant to highlight how Dutch's dream of going to some remote island was just an illusion, and just how far he (or his mask) had fallen. Here he is on an island, and what does he do? Immediately starts stealing/fighting the powers-that-be, and kills an innocent old woman on the way for no reason. It's the moment Arthur starts thinking twice about Dutch, and I think Arthur's disillusion is the theme of the lyrics of the song that plays as you return to the gang:
Did I hear a thunder?
Did I hear you break?
I can't quite remember
Just what guided me this way
(...)
Mmm, oh, traveler, what have you seen?
Were there crossroads where you been?
I once was standing tall,
Now I feel my back's against the wall
(...)
The morning light when it comes to me
It was there but I could not see
Am I to wander as a wayward son?
Will the hunter be hunted by the smoking gun?
You're probably right that, in the grand scheme of things, it's not very well integrated, but I think it's an essential chapter in Arthur's development.
 
Last edited:

Wyatt_Derp

Arcane
Joined
May 19, 2019
Messages
3,070
Location
Okie Land
Grand Theft Warhorse - Delivering Redemption.

*gallops along on horseback. Tunes into 90.5 FM HOLY ORDER ROCK* (How? Who the hell knows. Just roll with it)

'Looks like rain all day. The merchants returning from the Silk Road report thousands of dead due to either hunger... or God. Take your pick. Wheat prices are still high from the influx of giant horses from Scandinavia. Nothing else to say about the *cough* black death. I haven't seen any blacks around here since Charles brought a few scalps with him after shining the Mediterranean with Moorish blood. Now here's Lil Jon with the St. Petersburg choir doing a great remix of 'Hit thou booty with thy Greatsword.'

*Oh look, another gang of Slav-niks congregating by the wine barrels. Time for horse bowling!*

*Now where did I hide my horse armor stash? I need a new paint job.*

Can't wait.
 

DalekFlay

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
14,118
Location
New Vegas
Just started this after finishing Star Wars: Tomb Souls. Surprisingly runs pretty well on my 2070 and Ryzen 3600, using a mix of medium and high at 1440p. Environments look really fucking nice but not sure I'm a fan of the character models. I remember GTA5's combat feeling a little off from being designed around lock-on targeting and the wolf stuff at the start made me worry it'll be the same here, but we'll see.
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
6,063
Location
Digger Nick
Anyone playing Red Dead Online?

As I'm doing $625 Dollar Trader deliveries, you can join as protection for free 312 bucks.

how does it compare to GTA Online? I will play online eventually because the storyfag aspect already bores me before I even got the game

I can't really say as I didn't play it at all, only GTA V Story. What I'm more qualified to compare it with is of course RDR2 itself, which can be said is a different game after all.

That said, from what I've gathered, one of the things GTA Online is infamous for is "griefing", which is practically nonexistent here. There are up to 25 people on the entire map including New Austin, but you only see their location when you are in close proximity to them, and you also see the "aggressive" players as red dots from a way larger distance than they see you, so you can avoid them easy enough. So it actually contributes really well to that Wild West feeling of general solitude, loneliness in a sparsely populated wilderness. Out of, say, 100 people I pass only one or two starts something. If there are 4+ people in Saint Denis it's a warzone of course.

Now, compared to RDR2, Online is more "gamey" and arcade-like. You play a silent protagonist again so you don't larp interactions with NPCs anymore. The character is much less clunky, movement and looting are basically exactly as they were in RDR1. Combat (and to a huge extension gameplay due to how overwhelming part of the game it plays) is also much more fun due to several factors: 1) Dead Eye is no longer a boring i-win button and has different effects. Only one of them allows you to paint "X"s in real time and the rest is a player tanking/buffing other players/rushing etc; 2) due to how faster a character is combat is more dynamic and fun, 3) you have different passive Ability cards that can make a playstyle differ significantly. Now I'm i.e. playing with a Gunslinger card buffing revolver dual wielding, with 2x LeMat Revolver (which has a 9 round cylinder and a fucking shotgun under the barrel to blow people to gibs. Yep, it's a real weapon) and it's the most fun I've had in a shooter since many years.

I'd say the game is surprisingly lenient now when it comes to economy. After Frontier Pursuits you can earn money relatively easy as a Trader or Collector without breaking a sweat, and the premium currency of Gold Bars can be largely ignored as it doesn't apply to many things - some clothing pieces here or there, or the best version of an Arabian for 42 gold, but now I'm sitting on 90 with nothing to spend it on. If you log in every day you get increasingly huge multiply to Gold earned from Daily challenges so you'll be earning at least 2-5 bars per session.

Lastly, keep in mind that the game is 1 year old and from what I heard, GTA Online didn't really gain much substance until some Heists 2 years down the line. So there are many more things coming down the pipe, however Rockstar is not exactly the fastest in providing new content here.

P.S. I see that you already play, and thus own the game, however you can prepare for a rougher beginning if you didn't but the Ultimate Edition. I'd say that the UE was the single best thing I could have bought for this game. Not even those overpriced gold bars apply. You get a massive headstart at the start of the game, get many unique clothing pieces and a nice horse (there are not a lot of both right now) at the beginning so you don't start out as a complete bum. And there are even additional small bonuses issued to Ultimate Edition owners from what I see, continuously!
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
6,063
Location
Digger Nick
not sure I'm a fan of the character models.

What I find jarring is that Arthur's/camp people faces are much more detailed than all the other NPCs, which makes sense I guess, leading to strange dissonance in conversations for me. It really hits you hard if you start Online.

I remember GTA5's combat feeling a little off from being designed around lock-on targeting and the wolf stuff at the start made me worry it'll be the same here, but we'll see.

You had some lock-on targeting there? First time I hear about it. Change the settings.
 

DalekFlay

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
14,118
Location
New Vegas
You had some lock-on targeting there? First time I hear about it. Change the settings.

No I'm saying the combat is designed around lock-on targeting so it doesn't "feel right" to me without it. Hard to really put into words what I mean though, and I got used to it in GTA so it's not a big deal really.
 

DalekFlay

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
14,118
Location
New Vegas
I'm like... not enjoying this much at all? Everything is so fucking clunky, like the main character has arthritis, and there's all this random bullshit you need to do that takes 5 different prompts to get through. Hold tab, press R, click on X, let go of tab, hold B to use, press R to pick-up. Like jesus fucking christ this could all be done very simply with a menu click and the E key. The shooting is obviously balanced around auto-targeting and getting mobbed by three wolves is a pain in the ass. Why do I have to press shift five times to go fast, and then he randomly slows down constantly anyway when he passes someone or something? When the fuck is it saving outside of mission checkpoints and sleeping? Why the fuck put survival mechanics in a game like this? Could the story pacing be any slower?

I'm like 5 hours in and thinking of uninstalling. GTA4/5 had some of this shit but nowhere near as bad, to my memory.
 

HoboForEternity

sunset tequila
Patron
Joined
Mar 27, 2016
Messages
9,202
Location
Disco Elysium
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
this is what i got from searching red dead redemption on steam:

l0kgnrwvf7141.png
 

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