Goafer Posted November 10, 2018 Posted November 10, 2018 Spoiler I don't know how Rockstar have managed it, but every location seems more incredible than the last. I thought the city was about as good as it could get. But the boat scene and Guarma intro was just sublime. The beach looked almost like real video. Spoiler I reckon they're going to pull the old switcheroo again and have Arthur die and you play as John, as he obviously survives.
Goafer Posted November 10, 2018 Posted November 10, 2018 Oh sweet Christ, what a moment. Spoiler After all you go through and then this. Perfectly done.
killthenet Posted November 11, 2018 Posted November 11, 2018 Just completed the story, very impressed by this game despite my high expectations going in. Look forward to discussing the details of late stage plot with you guys, theres a lot to unpack. Oh and the end credits might be the longest of anything ever, I checked the time when the credits started and they were going for almost half an hour before they finally finished up - the testers section was hilariously long.
dwarf Posted November 11, 2018 Posted November 11, 2018 (edited) Rockstar received a lot of flak for excluding staff who quit the company mid-development from their credits, so maybe they made amends with this game. Sure it'd be hellishly long even if they didn't honour everyone tbf. Edited November 11, 2018 by dwarf
Jimbob Posted November 15, 2018 Posted November 15, 2018 Just made it to Chapter 3 Spoiler Blowing up the KKK was a bitter sweet moment. Quite enjoying Rhodes better than Valentine, cleared the bounty i built up before we had to leave to Rhodes. Now i'm in earshot of Saint Denis, did hunt down the vampire and give money to the building of a church extention. Have got a pretty decent American Standbred horse, got some good speed upon it which is good for completing the horse challenges. 1
Babooo Posted November 17, 2018 Posted November 17, 2018 Man this game is huge. Just hit 50% of the game, chapter 4. Still enjoying immensely, just wish I could spend more time with it! Really learning to appreciate how Rockstar built and fostered such a great world/community. The camaraderie between the camp, the interactions, the dialogue....not just in cut scenes but just in passing is astounding. I know everyone bangs on about the level of detail in this game but it truly is astounding. Rather than fast travelling, I actually prefer to journey through the game's world and see what dynamic events come up. It just all feels organic/natural. Up there with God of War for my GOTY right now (Smash Bros I'm hoping, will complete the Holy Trinity).
Jimbob Posted November 21, 2018 Posted November 21, 2018 Found more KKK members dotted around Rhodes, so again i kindly disposed of them. Also found the Suffrogette movement having a peaceful protest. The detail in this game keeps on giving. Watched a video that popped up in my YouTube feed showing that if you watch a dead body, it does decompose and get eaten by vultures. Seriously, some of this detail is both amazing and weirdly iffy at the same time.
Ronnie Posted November 21, 2018 Posted November 21, 2018 Not to keen on the KKK stuff, it's pretty juvenile and fits far better with the tone of GTA than Red Dead. It just feels really out of place, to me at least.
dan-likes-trees Posted November 25, 2018 Posted November 25, 2018 I'm on chapter 6 and weirdly the KKK stuff totally passed me by. Like I've not seen them once.. odd. I am so up and down with this game. It has moments of being absolutely outstanding but then it has moments of being incredibly tedious and repetitive. The game would be so much better in my book if the missions that start off as non-violent or different stuck the course and didn't turn into (boring AF) gunfests. For all that the detail is impressive I also find it a bit.. pointless, at times? I rarely find any of the details particularly surprising or imaginative, and it just reminds me what an insane budget the game has and reminds me of the stupid amount of hours they make their staff pull. Not sure I'd find such a level of detail to be a plus for a book or a film. I'm also not feeling the characters in the way that everyone else seems to be. If I had to describe members of the group beyond the most broad characterisation I'd struggle - Bill and Micah seem incredibly generic and thinly sketched, for example, and I couldn't tell you anything about the reverend, or half the women in the camp.. Can't help but think the game could've done with something akin to ME2's loyalty missions. That's all pretty negative but I have definitely enjoyed a lot of the game - it's been a long time since a game had me sinking in hours every evening, and at times the general atmosphere, the fog effects, the swamps, are really excellently done. I also found all the side quests around Saint Denis to be really gone fun and a fair bit more varied than elsewhere on the map. Everything does feel like it's coming together in this last act too. What's everyone else thinking now the game's been out for a wee while? 1
dwarf Posted November 25, 2018 Posted November 25, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, dan-likes-trees said: I'm on chapter 6 and weirdly the KKK stuff totally passed me by. Like I've not seen them once.. odd. I am so up and down with this game. It has moments of being absolutely outstanding but then it has moments of being incredibly tedious and repetitive. The game would be so much better in my book if the missions that start off as non-violent or different stuck the course and didn't turn into (boring AF) gunfests. For all that the detail is impressive I also find it a bit.. pointless, at times? I rarely find any of the details particularly surprising or imaginative, and it just reminds me what an insane budget the game has and reminds me of the stupid amount of hours they make their staff pull. Not sure I'd find such a level of detail to be a plus for a book or a film. I'm also not feeling the characters in the way that everyone else seems to be. If I had to describe members of the group beyond the most broad characterisation I'd struggle - Bill and Micah seem incredibly generic and thinly sketched, for example, and I couldn't tell you anything about the reverend, or half the women in the camp.. Can't help but think the game could've done with something akin to ME2's loyalty missions. That's all pretty negative but I have definitely enjoyed a lot of the game - it's been a long time since a game had me sinking in hours every evening, and at times the general atmosphere, the fog effects, the swamps, are really excellently done. I also found all the side quests around Saint Denis to be really gone fun and a fair bit more varied than elsewhere on the map. Everything does feel like it's coming together in this last act too. What's everyone else thinking now the game's been out for a wee while? I feel the same. I wouldn't do away with all the detail as some of it does add to the experience beyond mere titillation. That said, Rockstar probably took an 'in for a penny, in for a pound' attitude with the realism and went too far. When the game is firing on all cylinders, it's terrific fun. I reached chapter 3 on a high. After a few missions into the chapter, however, I've hardly touched the game for two weeks. It's not that I don't intend to finish it, but more that I need time to recharge my enthusiasm between sessions. I think my main 5 problems are: 1) Overemphasis on detail, as you mentioned, which slows down gameplay (Jim Sterling dedicated an entire video to this which is worth a look) 2) Time spent horse riding - there's way too much of this and it isn't particularly fun. Some missions fast-travel you here and there, but I think you should have the option to fast travel back to camp more often. Horse-riding would be fun if chase sequences took you through densely populated, obstacle-laden areas. The horse riding mechanics are deep enough to challenge your handling skills and reaction times, but so far all I've experienced are pursuits through open fields. GTA doesn't have this problem as you can rag a car around the map for hours without getting bored. Red Dead's map is bigger than GTA's and yet the travel speed is twice as slow. 3) The minigames aren't engaging, which compounds the tedium of horse-riding. I don't play dominoes IRL for good reason, poker is only fun against real people with real money, and fishing is both boring and requires too much preparation. Even if the rewards were meaningful I still wouldn't bother with them. The five finger fillet is occasionally a worthy distraction, and ultimately that's how I see these things: as distractions to take you away from the tedium of horse-riding. It's not the idea of minigames in itself that I have a problem with, but rather the selection of games and their execution. 4) Crap inventory system (already discussed in thread) 5) Complicated control systems which are only used for rare, context-specific actions The story/characters are engaging enough, and occasionally funny, but nothing special. Arthur is inconsistent in the way he deals with people and approaches tasks, but that's an intractable problem with videogames as a form so I'm not really bothered by it. Edited November 26, 2018 by dwarf
killthenet Posted November 25, 2018 Posted November 25, 2018 I agree on a lot of points, the game is definitely too long and after finishing the story I have no desire to dip back into the game - movement in it is too slow for just walking around exploring to be any fun. There were a lot of systems that I didn't touch at all, I didn't craft a single thing and didn't really bother to hunt, play minigames or do bounties outside of the story missions. Although some of the characters can seem a bit one dimensional they did a great job with Sadie and Charles in particular and although the story definitely drags at times (Rockstar were clearly too satisfied with themselves to know when to stop adding things in) the pay offs felt worth it for me. The detail is impressive at first and feels really immersive but the number of glitches I encountered coupled with pretty idiotic AI at times totally took me out of the immersion. One of my favourite things about the game though was how it's enhanced by having played through the first Redemption - listening to John's rants around the camp and seeing how much he changes in the intervening years was really interesting and it didn't feel like it was forced. I think the game would have been greatly improved if they'd cut out a chapter or two of story and paired the map down a little, the game truncates some areas (Saint Denis is a fraction of the size of the real New Orleans) but the world seems too big in general.
Jimbob Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 I'm partly in the same boat. Spoiler Apart from the camp upgrades, i've hardly crafted anything (outside of table covers, a mat for my sleeping area and some small things for the scouts). The camp upgrades i felt were a necessity, seeing as we're living rough after the Blackwater incident. I did feel that after the shootout in Valentine, and then the bank heist that i'd be locked out of the northern region akin to Blackwater. Rockstar seem determined to make the crafting materials required to be perfect pelts, which does limit things. If they put it as a "Good" pelt as well, i'd probably craft more. I do hunt for the camp, bringing back a deer or two now and again. As an experience, it's worth playing Red Dead Redemption 2. However it'll probably not be something i'll rush back to, unless i had nothing else to play.
Julius Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 Concerning Red Dead Online: Quote Now that everyone has had a chance over the past month to experience the story of Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang in Red Dead Redemption 2, it is almost time to begin the beta period for Red Dead Online. Early access to the Red Dead Online beta begins tomorrow on Tuesday, November 27, working up to full public access on Friday, November 30. Built from the ground up for the latest hardware, Red Dead Online blends the classic multiplayer of the original Red Dead Redemption with the best of everything we have learned since then about creating deep multiplayer experiences. The result is something completely new and fun, and an experience that will continue to expand and evolve over time. A Vibrant Open World With the gameplay of Red Dead Redemption 2 as its foundation, Red Dead Online transforms the vast and deeply detailed landscapes, cities, towns and habitats of Red Dead Redemption 2 into a new, living online world ready to be shared by multiple players. Create and customize your character, tailor your abilities to suit your play style and head out into a new frontier full of things to experience. Explore the world solo or with friends. Form or join a Posse to ride with up to seven players; gather around the fire at your Camp; head out hunting or fishing; visit bustling towns; battle enemy gangs and attack their hideouts; hunt for treasure; take on missions and interact with familiar characters from across the five states; or fight against other outlaws in both spontaneous skirmishes and pitched set-piece battles; compete with other players or whole Posses in open world challenges and much more. Beta Period and Access The launch of the Red Dead Online Beta is the first step in what will be a continually expanding and dynamic world, and the beta period will allow us to deal with the inevitable turbulence of launching any online experience of this size and scale. During this process, we will be looking to our dedicated community to help us report and fix problems, share ideas, and assist in shaping the future of the full Online experience. As with all of our releases, we will strive to make the launch of Red Dead Online the best it can possibly be, and we ask that the community share that spirit with us over the next weeks and months. To help us ease into the beta and to mitigate major issues, we will begin the early access period starting Tuesday, November 27 at 8:30am EST, and gradually scale the player base up to full access beginning on Friday, November 30. This will help ensure that our servers can handle a steadily growing volume of concurrent players in the early hours and first days of the Beta and hopefully reduce the likelihood of any server crashes during the launch week as we get things up and running. Full rollout details are as follows: • Tuesday, November 27th: All Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition owners. Please note, players who purchased the physical Ultimate Edition must redeem the Ultimate Edition code in the packaging to be eligible. • Wednesday, November 28th: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 on October 26th according to our data. • Thursday, November 29th: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 between October 26th to October 29th according to our data. • Friday, November 30th: All players who own Red Dead Redemption 2. The Red Dead Online Beta will be available to anyone who owns Red Dead Redemption 2 on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One starting Friday, November 30. When booting up Red Dead Redemption 2 and arriving to the title menu, you will see an option in the top right of the screen to select Online.
dan-likes-trees Posted December 3, 2018 Posted December 3, 2018 Wheeeww. Finished it up. In light of the final few hours I really see now why reviewers had the response they did. The game truely hits upon greatness in the final arc of the story. Something in the enormous length of the game really does add up to something pretty emotionally investing. Finishing it I had a feeling that I've had only a handful of times, maybe finishing The Wire, the Harry Potter books, maybe the Witcher 3, of time passing, characters having grown or changed completely, and me personally feeling sad for leaving behind something I've become pretty invested in. The music and the general atmosphere in particular really added to the emotional payoff. That said it's easy to forget how deeply frustrating or boring huge stretches of the game are earlier on.. Further spoilery thoughts Spoiler The whole Guarma section went from being initially brilliant to being a total, poor man's Unchartered slog. Almost completely inessential to the story I still think alot of the characters were seriously underwritten - it's telling that I don't remember being at all bothered by any of the gang dieing. Perhaps more backstories were hidden behind the optional fishing / poker / house raid quests, but given how long the game is anway, it's mad that meaningful interactions with your camp aren't integrated better into the main quests. The game has some real standout moments - riding with the native Americans in formation in one of the late missions, getting pissed with Lenny early in the game, the fishing trip with Hosea and Dutch, raiding and burning down the Braithwaite (?) manor midway through the game. Loved some of the side quests that recurred throughout the game - the woman up in the mountains north east of the map, returning to the Braithwaite couple toward the end. I loved the epilogue. Loved how Arthur's presence hung over the whole two acts, despite being only mentioned a handful of times. Despite initially seeming a bit annoying, I thought all the mundane tasks worked really well, particularly the building of the ranch. Sadie and Charles really shone in the epilogue too. Actually not sure what I thought of Arthur and his arc. I can see what they were trying to do with the story being basically about him coming to terms with having wasted his life with Dutch but at times it felt achingly drawn out and a bit contrived that he'd take so long to come to the realisation and act upon it. I liked how his past was only hinted at in passing, but I never had that much of a sense of him as an individual character. I'm still thinking about it and processing it all. Also thought the ending was total bullshit - I went back for the money since we know that John and his family will be fine anyway, which wound up being a pretty dismal ending for the character. By contrast I thought John had a terrific arc and the epilogue was really well written, particularly with regards to he and his son, and the whole lead up to the proposal was excellently acted; again the length of the game really paid off. I never finished the original but I might well go back to it! Curious to hear what yous all thought!
Ronnie Posted December 28, 2018 Posted December 28, 2018 Can anyone who's finished the game give me a clue about how to get the best ending? My honour is already max-ed out and I'm about a third of the way through Chapter 6. No spoilers at all, just vague info would be great please!
Jimbob Posted January 3, 2019 Posted January 3, 2019 On 28/12/2018 at 10:22 AM, Ronnie said: Can anyone who's finished the game give me a clue about how to get the best ending? My honour is already max-ed out and I'm about a third of the way through Chapter 6. No spoilers at all, just vague info would be great please! You're pretty much there, if you've not max'd your bonding with your horse, do that also. Finished the main campaign over the festive period. I'll delve into details once i've finished the final chapter. But overall, a great experience. 1
Ronnie Posted January 11, 2019 Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) Finished Chapter 6 last night. Arthur is probably my favourite character in video games, in terms of cinematic games. Love him. Edited January 11, 2019 by Ronnie 1
Jimbob Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 Finished the Epilogue on Friday, now i can give my full impressions for the game Spoiler For a game of this size, i was surprised how much content and touches that Rockstar put in this. If i focused on the main story only, i'd have missed some quite interesting side-quests (including "Oh Brother", which has 2 brothers competing for the love of a woman. And the Marco Dragic quest, which was interesting). I did find a woman up north near Dragic's lab, where i taught her to hunt to survive. And the many times of saving a random NPC with getting a massive discount at a local store next time i saw them. Watching how Arthur would be loyal to Dutch throughout the game until Chapter VI, when he realizes his plans don't benefit anyone crazy enough. Dutch abandoning Arthur in the oil factory, then leaving John was obviously the final point. Even though i knew it was coming (as anyone who played the first Red Dead Redemption will know), seeing only John back-up Arthur with everyone else behind Dutch was showing the true colors. Right up to the ending of the Epilogue where Dutch shot Micah, and you (as John) finished him off for Arthur. I think Dutch realized that Micah wasn't showing his true colors, and it took right to the end to realize that. Overall, i played as a decent character. So for the ending of the game, man that was something. I had maximum bonding with my horse, and that scene was up there with Shadow of the Collossus's emotional horse scene. I knew Arthur dying was coming, so to get some redemption by helping John escape and having a brawl with Micah which ended with Arthur dying with the sun rising over the mountain. Read that was one of the better endings, have seen one with Micah shooting Arthur on the same mountain. The Epilogue itself was as expected, feeling more like the first Red Dead Redemption in the latter 1/2, and was slower paced than the rest of the game. The ending was more like i was expecting, and it came about quicker than i was expecting. Wasn't too bad overall, and exploring New Austin and visiting everywhere (i saved the Sheriff of Armadillo from being killed, and done a few bounties i saw dotted about) Taking the controls issues away, which i got used to. I found this to be one heck of a good game, up there with some of the best games i've played in a long while 1
Ronnie Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 3 hours ago, Jimbob said: Finished the Epilogue on Friday, now i can give my full impressions for the game Thoughts (Spoilers ahoy) (Reveal hidden contents) For a game of this size, i was surprised how much content and touches that Rockstar put in this. If i focused on the main story only, i'd have missed some quite interesting side-quests (including "Oh Brother", which has 2 brothers competing for the love of a woman. And the Marco Dragic quest, which was interesting). I did find a woman up north near Dragic's lab, where i taught her to hunt to survive. And the many times of saving a random NPC with getting a massive discount at a local store next time i saw them. Watching how Arthur would be loyal to Dutch throughout the game until Chapter VI, when he realizes his plans don't benefit anyone crazy enough. Dutch abandoning Arthur in the oil factory, then leaving John was obviously the final point. Even though i knew it was coming (as anyone who played the first Red Dead Redemption will know), seeing only John back-up Arthur with everyone else behind Dutch was showing the true colors. Right up to the ending of the Epilogue where Dutch shot Micah, and you (as John) finished him off for Arthur. I think Dutch realized that Micah wasn't showing his true colors, and it took right to the end to realize that. Overall, i played as a decent character. So for the ending of the game, man that was something. I had maximum bonding with my horse, and that scene was up there with Shadow of the Collossus's emotional horse scene. I knew Arthur dying was coming, so to get some redemption by helping John escape and having a brawl with Micah which ended with Arthur dying with the sun rising over the mountain. Read that was one of the better endings, have seen one with Micah shooting Arthur on the same mountain. The Epilogue itself was as expected, feeling more like the first Red Dead Redemption in the latter 1/2, and was slower paced than the rest of the game. The ending was more like i was expecting, and it came about quicker than i was expecting. Wasn't too bad overall, and exploring New Austin and visiting everywhere (i saved the Sheriff of Armadillo from being killed, and done a few bounties i saw dotted about) Taking the controls issues away, which i got used to. I found this to be one heck of a good game, up there with some of the best games i've played in a long while Do you mind if I ask... I’ve got 4 missions left in Epilogue 2 and I’ve barely explored any of the new area. Does the remaining story missions take me that way or to the town(s?) past the valley or should I just go ahead and explore on my own before finishing up the last few missions. No spoilers please just a vague idea
Jimbob Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 1 hour ago, Ronnie said: Do you mind if I ask... I’ve got 4 missions left in Epilogue 2 and I’ve barely explored any of the new area. Does the remaining story missions take me that way or to the town(s?) past the valley or should I just go ahead and explore on my own before finishing up the last few missions. No spoilers please just a vague idea No main mission goes much further West of Beechers Hope, so explore away.
Ronnie Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 5 minutes ago, Jimbob said: No main mission goes much further West of Beechers Hope, so explore away. What a weird/annoying missed opportunity. Ok thanks!
dwarf Posted January 14, 2019 Posted January 14, 2019 Vast tracts of the Capital Wasteland in Fallout 3 were far from any important quests. It was one of the best things about the game.
Ronnie Posted January 17, 2019 Posted January 17, 2019 Finished the Epilogue, 88.8% total completion, that'll do me fine. Sufficed to say I'll be thinking about this game for a very long time, it really is that special. I can't imagine ever being as impressed with an openworld ever again, at least for a long. It did the Breath of the Wild thing where it doesn't flood your map with a million checkboxes and instead let's you explore at your own pace, go wherever you want and see what you find. I really appreciated the design of the world, everything felt so seamless and organic. Visually the game is absolutely stunning, ever 60+ hours in I'll be galloping along on my horse with my jaw open gawping at the incredible scenery. The Rhodes area in particular is just lovely. It's not just the landscape either... building interiors, animations, everything. The map is probably the most beautiful I've seen in a game, and I love the UI and on-screen graphics. I've seen plenty of complaints the gameplay is too slow, Arthur walks like a tank etc... I didn't have a problem with it at all. Not every game needs to be fast paced and all action. The environmental story-telling was great too, so many mini stories dotted around in the various cabins. Loads of easter eggs I would never have found without looking them up online though. Characters were amazing. Arthur is GOAT protagonist, Sadie stole every scene she was in, likewise Dutch. Loved Jack, loved Charles. Spoiler I'm finding it tough to share my thoughts on the epilogue. On the one hand, it's beautifully done and really finished the game off nicely, but at the same time the sudden change of pace was incredibly jarring and lessened the impact of Arthur's story. I enjoyed it overall and I'm sure they made the right choice putting it it, I just would have liked it to reference Arthur a bit more maybe. RDR3 with Sadie or Charles as the protagonist next? I'd much rather that than GTA6. Incredible game, will live long in the memory that's for sure.
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