This console UI is annoying. Im not sure I can call it UI even, finding anything is a chore.
The UI perfectly fits the game. In good games, there is logic to UI, you get the pattern down and can do everything instinctually after a while. In RDR2, the UI requires you to follow on-screen prompts which change from situation to situation, press E now to do this, but then, press F to do this next time, and so on. You can think of it as a training session for the rest of the game, Rockstar training you to follow the prompts. Good doggy.
RDR2 is just what it aims to be - a perfect "western feelz" game, and if you ditch the main story - a murderhobo simulator of unsurpassed detail and visual quality.
Not at all. RDR2 does not scratch any of the "Western" itches in any successful way except for pretty graphics. It is nothing like the great Western movies or novels. Imagine the best John Wayne movies, or Clint Eastwood movies, or the ones that predated those, how is RDR2 in ANY way like them, except being set in relatively close setting?
First off, the time is wrong. Great westerns for the most part took place during the age of the Western, roughly 1850s to 1880s. RDR2 takes place at the turn of the century, when the West has already been conquered, and stuff like large cities, trolleys, Pinkertons, etc kill the Western atmosphere.
Second, Westerns have been about interesting individuals overcoming or succumbing to the obstacles of nature, villainy, etc. RDR2 is about some Stockhold Syndrome beta follower, who is in an abusive relationship that eventually leads to his death.
Third, and most importantly, Westerns are about the spirit of unquenchable freedom, settings out into massive open spaces where you are your own master. RDR2 is exactly the opposite of this, a Call of Duty-like linear cinematic corridor game, where physical corridors are replaced with mission-failed screens should you deviate a step from the exact prescribed sequence.
So past some superficial similarities, there is nothing about RDR2 that is Western in the way that term is usually meant. I would argue New Vegas has a much more western spirit than this pile.