Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4/Xbox One - 26 October 2018)

[dwarf]

1 hour ago, Daft said:

Ah, yeah, at first I had it flat on the sofa next to me but I found a way to easily prop it up and have it sitting in front of me. If you can have it so it's easy to glance at on a stand, I 100% recommend it. 

Also, I went the other way with GPS and turned it on. I use the 'cinematic' thing a lot to auto-ride and just pay attention for any blips that pop up on the radar. I tend to switch between cinematic and manual quite a lot; usually manual when I have a good idea where to go and the auto when the journey requires a lot of turns and looking at the map and screen at the same time is impractical.

When I'm not going anywhere in particular, having the map on the app isn't an issue. Yes, it's slightly more convenient to have it on the screen but it's also butt-ugly and I much prefer it without.

Can you set a waypoint/markers etc on the app?

I've turned the GPS back on now. If you turn GPS off, the game doesn't let you set a waypoint on the map with X. That means you have to place markers instead, but to delete them you have to scroll over to each one manually. Say you've been on a few journeys and you forgot to delete the markers as you went; suddenly your radar is cluttered up and you have to spend more time finding and erasing them on the map screen. The lack of a 'delete all markers' option has forced me to use GPS/waypoints instead, which is annoying because it drastically changes the whole experience. Maybe I'm bothered more by the GPS from a purist design perspective than I actually am of the system in practice. GAH.

I think there's a compromise whatever you end up going for. Sometimes it works great to have a minimalist set-up if you're just roaming around, while during missions you want more info, but because you frequently shift between these states there's not a one size fits all.

I could write a long and boring essay about the UI/inventory stuff in this game because of the sheer amount of time I've spent trying to tame it (it feels like I already have done in the thread) but it's almost beside the point when you come across your first city and weep with adulation at how fucking amazing it looks. I can understand why the reviewers might've overlooked the drawbacks when it came to scoring because it's clearly doing something unique with the world-building. These outlets backed themselves into a corner by giving a million identikit shooters a 9/10, leaving them no way to distinguish Red Dead from the rest of the pack without downplaying its faults in the rating. [this comes back to the problem with scoring in general but we need not go there]

Usually I get over impressive graphics pretty quickly but this game is an exercise in sustained awe. Every new place is a treat.

 

[Sheikah]

But that's just it, you don't seem to need to select targets with R1, just rolling over them with the crosshair is enough. But then he starts firing? Maybe I've run out of dead eye and that's the reason. Really weird

A little way in that stops happening and you have to paint them yourself. Not sure if you can put the auto feature back on.

[Sheikah]

My other big problem is not knowing when to steal enemies weapons. The option comes up to swap my gun for another on the floor, but I have no idea if it's any better. For that I need to check the stat of my current one, do the swap, then check the stat on the dropped one. Too much hassle tbh

Pretty sure it's a case of if you have a cattleman revolver already, there's no point in looting another.

So far all the weapons I've seen dropped are "worn" (so would need oil to clean them to remove the stat debuff). I also doubt they have any modifications on them since you usually have to pay a premium in the shop for them.

I think looting dropped enemy weapons is good if you didn't bring that particular weapon to the gunfight (i.e. you left it on your horse), and you want to use that gun.

[dwarf]

Thing is, unique weapons don't seem to have any noticeably different stat attributes either from what I've experienced. I hunted someone down in the middle of nowhere after a difficult firefight, and expected the leader's weapon to be worth picking up. Couldn't tell if there were any differences after repeatedly swapping it for my own, in the way that Ronnie mentioned (which is ugh, I agree).

A notification did say special weapons have different stats, so the inability to compare them directly is an oversight.

Edited October 29, 2018 by dwarf

[dan-likes-trees]

On 10/26/2018 at 7:43 PM, drahkon said:

Anyways, did some cleaning this afternoon so haven't played much. I completed a couple of missions just now, though. Enjoyed it very much.
t's a typical Rockstar Games affair, so if you didn't like their older games then you will definitely not like this one.

 

Really though? So far it seems completely different from GTA in tone and pacing. Bit like saying someone who doesn't care for Unchartered would definitely not like The Last of Us.

On 10/28/2018 at 6:34 PM, dwarf said:

I was getting annoyed at having to press two buttons to display the map, and then I thought, 'maybe if I hold options down that will take me straight there.' It did.

GOTY

This is a genuine top tip. Embarrassed by how long it took me to work out how to get to the map even without this. Also to manually save. I am dim.

Anyway. Deeply impressed with it thus far. Absolutely loved the first couple of hours, which had such a great Revenant vibe with the snowy mountain and the astounding weather effects. I'm actually find my interest slightly dropping off as the world's opened up - I had been enjoying the interactions between the camp members but between missions if you try and talk to any of them they generally have nothing to say. Seems a bit at odds with how full of detail the world is. Presumably they develop more through the main story missions.

Has anyone gone for a bath yet? An.. interesting experience..

[Ronnie]

It's seriously awkward when you go for a bath and ask for some "help". I won't be doing that again.

Conversations around camp do open up and get a bit more interesting as things happen etc.

I read a fair bit of criticism for Arthur's characterisation last week, but I have to say, I love him. Love his dry humour and whole personality.

The plains near the first camp location where you hunt bison, jaw dropping scenery.

Think I'm nearing the end of chapter 2 but I'm absolutely loving it. Even the controls and gunplay are starting to feel a bit more natural. A bit.

I'm still not sure when it's safe to loot and when it isn't. I finished a mission near Blackwater and once it was over Arthur said he would stick around the see what he could find in the enemy camp. He picked up some money off a table and all of a sudden was Wanted, police arrived and I was shot dead a few seconds later. Can't imagine anyone was around to see me steal the money.

Also not entirely sure what the different symbols are for completed missions.

I have to say the bit that I find really, really jarring is the KKK run ins. The "humour" really doesn't fit the tone of the game and it feels like something more appropriate to a GTA game.

[killthenet]

55 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I'm still not sure when it's safe to loot and when it isn't. I finished a mission near Blackwater and once it was over Arthur said he would stick around the see what he could find in the enemy camp. He picked up some money off a table and all of a sudden was Wanted, police arrived and I was shot dead a few seconds later. Can't imagine anyone was around to see me steal the money.

The same thing just happened to me with that mission, it made it seem like I'd be able to spend some time looting the bodies and looking for valuables but after I'd looted a few I noticed some red markers approaching my position so I tried to hide but they'd already seen me so I ended up in a gunfight with them. I was pretty sure I'd killed all of them but I still ended up with a bounty which is pretty weird too, the most problems I've had have definitely been little things like this where I seem to aggro people for no reason - a guy bumped into me when leaving one of those projector shows outside Valentine, I thought nothing of it but when I got outside he started wailing on me. 

How on earth do you take a bath? I had a look round the camp but couldn't see anywhere to do it.

[Goafer]

I think I had a similar experience. Killed a bunch of rival gang members in a mission, Arthur said he'd stay around to loot, then was wanted for murder. Fortunately, no one showed up so I just waited out the wanted bar.

Otherwise, it's been a fantastic game. I had wondered how well it would run/how good it would look on my standard PS4, but it's been consistently stunning. Load times are good too. I guess that's due to most of it being on the hard drive.

Spoiler

That mission in the bar where you get utterly shit faced is amazing. Had me grinning almost all of the way through it.

 

Edited October 30, 2018 by Goafer

[dwarf]

You can find baths in hotels, or whatever they're called. Pay at the counter in Valentine and walk through the door downstairs.

As for aggravating people for no reason, sometimes it's unavoidable but you can defuse some situations if you're quick on the L2.

///

This is worth a watch btw:

I'd add that ginseng elixirs are worth drinking straight away - they give a flat buff to your core. I had 4 or 5 after the first few hours of the game and left them sitting there like a noob. Drink them up.

Also, another tip (no spoilers): You can get a side mission from an author in Valentine (in the small bar) who tells you to take pictures of notorious gunslingers. When you get to the gunslinger who lives in a snowy area, make sure to check his cabin properly. I thought I'd looted it fully but apparently there's a treasure map inside somewhere, which means I'll have to make a long journey back. I only know this because I got pictures of all four bounty hunters for the quest, but there was no map icon to complete the quest. I checked online, and apparently you can't turn in some side quests until you've reached a certain chapter in the main story - in this case chapter four. Thought it was worth mentioning to save confusion. The same article mentioned the treasure map I missed. 

Anyone else got some nifty tips? I feel like there's all sorts of stuff I'm neglecting/missing out on. Thing is, I don't want to read a tip guide e.g '27 things you need to do at the start of Red Dead' because I'd rather discover most of it myself. Things like the above would've been useful, however.

Edited October 30, 2018 by dwarf

[Shorty]

I was very confused by Cores yesterday. The more expensive saddle you buy for example the higher your core drain %. Surely that's just a mistake, and they don't realise that increasing a "rate" of "drain" sounds like you mean it will drain faster, when I'm sure the opposite is actually true.

The game is great but a lot of core mechanics are left without details.

[Jimbob]

Spoiler

Rescued Sean last night from Blackwater.  Got back to camp to find a party going on to celebrate his return, so joined in with a few beers.

 

[Ronnie]

Tips wise, remember to use your binoculars if you're trying to hunt perfect pelts. You can check what quality the animal is before you hunt it. Apparently there's also info you can learn about which weapon works best to get a perfect pelt.

4 minutes ago, Jimbob said:

  Progress (Hide contents)

Rescued Sean last night from Blackwater.  Got back to camp to find a party going on to celebrate his return, so joined in with a few beers.

 

Sounds like you and I are at the same place. Did you loot money that was lying around in the camp after the mission and suddenly became Wanted? I kind of feel like I missed out on a lot of good stuff because of that. I did a fun one after that with Charles, which made me really appreciate the scenery.

Edited October 30, 2018 by Ronnie

[Jimbob]

2 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Tips wise, remember to use your binoculars if you're trying to hunt perfect pelts. You can check what quality the animal is before you hunt it. Apparently there's also info you can learn about which weapon works best to get a perfect pelt.

Sounds like you and I are at the same place. Did you loot money that was lying around in the camp after the mission and suddenly became Wanted? I kind of feel like I missed out on a lot of good stuff because of that. I did a fun one after that with Charles, which made me really appreciate the scenery.

Yeah, tried looting the camp and came up Wanted.  Same happened on an earlier mission when i looted a shotgun from a cabin.  Hid over by the rocks, waited until the wanted cleared and resumed my looting.  Nearly have enough for another camp upgrade.

[drahkon]

Quote

Rockstar Games® is proud to announce that the critically acclaimed Red Dead Redemption 2 has achieved the single-biggest opening weekend in the history of entertainment*. With over $725 million in worldwide retail sell-through during its first three days, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the second-highest grossing entertainment launch of all time next to Rockstar Games’ previously released title, Grand Theft Auto V, which achieved over $1 billion in retail sell-through in three days.

...

Red Dead Redemption 2’s list of initial benchmarks include:

• Biggest opening weekend in retail sell-through across all entertainment releases;
• Second biggest launch (three days) in retail sell-through across all entertainment releases;
• Biggest entertainment launch of 2018;
• Most pre-ordered full game ever on PlayStation Network;
• Biggest day one full game sales ever on PlayStation Network;
• Biggest first three days full game sales ever on PlayStation Network.

via Businesswire

Holy shit.

[Sheikah]

Also look at that preorder rate via PSN - that's where a lot of sales will have come in vs GTA (which was last gen), which are never accounted for in the charts.

 

This makes the suggestions in the other topic that this wasn't an enormous sales success seem ridiculous now. [emoji14]

[Goafer]

So this happened to me earlier:

Truly a masterpiece.

[Babooo]

So this whole weekend (apart from a dinner out last night) has been taken up by this game and I can safely say I'm fully absorbed/integrated into this universe and set of mechanics. And wow, this game has got me HOOKED. I just want to play, play and play. 

Gone are my initial reservations about the controls, the crappy bounty system etc. For me this game ramped up about half way through chapter 2 and now I'm in the early stages of chapter 3. LOVE IT. 

[Jimbob]

Managed to finish the upgrades to the camp last night, thanks to a treasure map i bought.  Also mangaged to get a few bits for my horse, a new gun for myself and stocked up on provisions in-camp to keep everyone happy.  Seems to work, overheard Dutch talking saying they've got money, food and guns.

Found a random hut on one exploration trip South, had 3 or 4 random enemy NPC's who were drunk.  They went to bed, i killed all bar one.  They told me where more money was in the hut when i scared them outside.  And in Strawberry, one NPC let me pick anything up in the store as a thank-you for saving his life from an attack.

[Goafer]

I'll try not to spoil it, but the extra mission thing at the gun shop basement was an awesome little bit of storytelling. Went from laughter at the situation, to wanting to kill the owner, to feeling sad about the whole thing in the space of about 3 minutes. Brilliantly done.

[killthenet]

@Goafer which gun shop was that mission in? I don't recall doing a mission in a gun store yet so will happily track it down to play the mission you talked about.

I'm about 60% through the story now and won't post anything too detailed in case of spoilers but the game has definitely taken a turn. I seem to be picking up the pace a bit too, have done about 10% each day over the last couple of days - might slow down and do some more side missions before cracking on with the plot.

I've run into a few more irritating moments though, I was in Saint Denis and witnessed a guy rob and shoot a woman so I chased him down and lassoed him, tied him up and started carrying him towards the Sheriff's office and the townsfolk all started running from me, a minute later and I was surrounded by the law shooting at me with no way to tell them that the man I had supposedly kidnapped had just mugged and killed an innocent woman. I just stood there while they barraged me with bullets and killed me but when I respawned I still had the bounty on my head from the 'kidnapping'. Moments like this were what irked me most about the first Redemption, I had hoped the AI would be at a higher level in this but they're still thick as pig shit sometimes.

Edited November 6, 2018 by killthenet

[Goafer]

Spoiler

It's in Rhodes. Go to the right of the entrance to speak to someone through the basement window. He should call out to you.

 

[Dog-amoto]

I’m finding the ability to draw at any time really cool and a great improvement from the last game. Being surrounded by would-be assailants, it feels great to get the drop on them. It can be a bit hit and miss though, occasionally I’ll accidentally fire off a shot without meaning to, ruining the element of surprise. 

[Ganepark32]

I've been slowly playing away at this and I'm up to the early moments of chapter 3 but it's all so overwhelming. Still trying to get to grips with some of the mechanics and just the sheer scope of what there is to do in the game. I do kind of feel like I'm going through the motions with the game and it's missions so far. It hasn't fully got it's hooks in and in a lot of the missions I've done so far, I'm seeing parallels to RockStar's other games such as GTA V.

That all being said, there's something pulling me back to the game and even if I can see roughly how the main story is going to pan out, I find myself wishing I had more time to put into the game. Being able to go off and do whatever I want, whether it's hunting or robbing a train or what not, just feels amazing. And then there's some of the moment to moment stuff that happens that really ingratiates the game to me.

For example, I came across a small camp of enemies who decided they wanted to fight so as I turned on my horse to get a better angle, I heard a loud roar to my left. I turned the camera to see a massive bear charging through the camp and watched as it annihilated everything in its path (with the exception of one guy who cowered behind a barrel) before the bear turned about and ran off into the night. Moments like that make the small frustrations about the controls and the wanted system go away.

Very interested to see more though and go head back to a certain cabin I came across to see if there is something going in there.

Spoiler

I can't remember the exact location but when I entered it, there were skeletons everywhere, all dressed as pirates with plenty of aged pirate rum to loot as well. When it got to night, and when the moonlight shone through a hole in the roof, it turned green and there was an every noise. Nothing happened immediately but I did wonder if something might, whether through a mission or something.

 

[killthenet]

The last few missions I played were jaw dropping, blending fantastic shoot outs with intelligent and thoughtful writing. There were times when I felt the narrative was dragging a little but it all feels worth it after the missions I played through tonight. 

[Hero-of-Time]

Quote

“On October 26th, Rockstar Games launched its highly-anticipated Red Dead Redemption 2, the label’s first game built from the ground up for the current console generation. Red Dead Redemption 2 has received outstanding reviews, with numerous critics awarding the title a perfect score. The title is now tied with Grand Theft Auto V as the highest rated title on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a 97 Metacritic score. A massive commercial success, Red Dead Redemption 2 has set numerous records, including achieving the biggest opening weekend in the history of entertainment, with over $725 million in retail sell-through during its first three days. Red Dead Redemption 2 sold-in more units in its first 8 days than the original blockbuster Red Dead Redemption sold in its first 8 years and, as of today, the title has sold-in over 17 million units worldwide.

Insane numbers.