General:
As you walk around in the game world, NPCs will react to you differently based on your disposition... E.g., if you're carrying your gun out of your holster, they'll be stand-offish, nervous, hostile, etc. But if your gun is holstered they'll be normal.
Approaching people (NPCs) in the open world you can press one of three face buttons to say something or treat them in a certain way... Triangle is a congenial greeting, circle is antagonize, and square could be to rob them.
You can rob people in the game without drawing your weapon, "You can bully them into giving them your money."
These prompts change as you play (unsure of whether this is based on your actions, or if it's fixed progression style). These prompts are also context sensitive, with the example that a fisherman may give you different prompts and will react differently, while a tough or a bar drunkard might react in a different way and give you different prompts.
NPCs treat you differently based on what you've done, your reputation, what you're wearing, etc.
Gangs & Camp:
Your gang has a gang camp with a life to it
Much of the descriptions are around open world interactions within your camp
The gang gives you ambient missions / challenges, for instance, as you're walking around camp one of your gang members might let you know that they could use provisions (meat, etc) which prompt you to go off hunting
WHile there is a management aspect to the gang & camps, it's an extra that's there if you want to use it, but it's not something you have to stay on top of... Sounds pretty optional with bonuses if you do it, but it's not a management game.
There is a reward for how much you put into the camp.
Description sounds roughly similar to how in GTAV you kept your crew, though more active and more omnipresent. Personal thought is I'm hoping they have a good expansion of this, e.g., aquiring tough guys or people who are skilled at certain things, giving you an incentive to keep them around, but it's not as annoying/overbearing as the settlement feature from FO4.
The World
New area called "New Hanover" was where most of the demo took place
Varied areas, swampy, snowy, industrializing towns
New Hanover was an alpine, mountainous, forested, has a town called "Valentine"
Describes a very "living, breathing world," which they say is cliched, but a lot of detail from the descriptions.
"It looked incredibly impressive," running on a base level PS4.
"It's an open world game that looks as good as anything I've seen on PS4."
Hunting & Providing for your camp
Hunting has been greatly expanded from the sounds of it
Multiple ways to skin your captures with different effects
Kills can be latched onto your horse or you can just keep the pelt
Lots of animal animations about hunting...... but they sound very detailed, and as an animal lover sounds pretty striking. Description sounds sad for me, haha, not sure if I'll be able to really do that.
Value of the animal varies on how well you kill it, either with bow, buck shot, bullet, etc.
Animals you capture will decay and rot over time, both visually, and the value of it. NPCs will give you odd reactions (From what it sounds like) if you're riding around with a rotting, dead buck on your horse.
Horse
Connection you make with your horse is much greater, emotional & gameplay connection
"RDR, Horse was a disposable vehicle." (Rockstar). In RDR2, horse relationship is much stronger, the stronger a relationship you have with your horse, the better performance and attributes of your horse.
Unique animations, unique open world examples, the closer you get with your horse.
You keep a lot of your best gear on your horse, and so keeping your horse near you (through a better bond) the quicker access to your wider gear
If your horse dies...... you have to restart that bonding process.
Horses can get injured and you can use medical tools to bandage and save it.
"For something to mean something, it has to cost something."
Robbery
Ambient music as you start missions similar to GTAV
As you approach robberies and missions, they bridge out based on choices, for instance, one of the members of your gang plays a character to cause a distraction in a bank, allowing you to get a surprise on the staff
"One continuous camera movement," soudns almost similar to the camera work in that True Detective scene carrying you through a missiong
Option to crack a safe v. blowing up, with different rewards and risk
Very detailed animations for all of this
Sho
otout begins as you come out after robbing the bank, which introduces more of the action
Action sounds consistent with the last RDR
Dead eye returns
Some kills would give you a cinematic camera
The fight doesn't end when you flee the town, fight continues on horseback, ALA RDR missions from the sounds of it
In one scene, the characters hat gets shot off, and because he flees... he doesn't get it back. If you want it back, you have to go back at a later time and get it back
