Yes it's digital only that's my point

Yup I got 100 hours on it

I mean I was bummed because I wanted to go to a midnight release and preorder a collectors edition but I am still getting the game so no it changed nothing

Even though I love the gameplay and find it so immersive being in the world, I can understand why some folks bounce off it

Very flawed game

Red Dead 2 is rockstar’s best work by a f***ing mile

RDR2 is amazing in terms of its technology and storytelling. A showcase of what the medium is capable of producing in so many ways

But I don't understand why the actual gameplay had to suffer for them to deliver on those fronts It's so frustrating

Not really

The gameplay is fantastic, what do you mean? It’s exactly what it should be. Every mechanical element was absolutely intentional, if you didn’t gel with it, then it just wasn’t to your taste, but it’s clearly the most mechanically dense, well-thought out experience they’ve ever released.

S*** sold over 70 million copies, you don’t hit numbers like that with bad gameplay.

I’ve seen so many people who borderline relished s***ting on the game at release do a complete 180 turn once they gave themselves over to it.

It’s uncompromising, sure, but that alone in a AAAA title of its scope is f***ing remarkable in and of itself.

If I have to make sure to equip the weapons I want on Arthur every single time I get on/off a horse, that's bad game design. Idc about "realism" if it makes playing the game a lot more tedious and frustrating than it needs to be. I don't need to sit through a 5 second animation every single time Arthur loots a body because of immersion or whatever

"Well-thought out" I don't agree

Suffer is kinda wild lol

I think it's also because I've been playing Online that I got to experience what it feels like to be in a posse and tackle our online story missions either in a chaotic way or stealthily, so it's a best of both worlds package when you combine that with the single player. That's if you really really don't like the single player component, which, to each his own I suppose, but Online lets you tackle the missions how you want.

Just keep in mind, it's still the same antiquated Rockstar "other players are required to play mission" formula, but you'll have an easier time finding players than GTA V online. And they're more chill. Something about cars that turns people into a******s.

How is that bad game design?

It do be sounding like a gameplay preference.m which is fine. Also, I'm not saying the gameplay is perfect or nothing, but my god, it HITS for a certain kind of player. The shootouts got weight too. I remember when I used the elephant rifle while in cover and the s*** knocked me back bigly

I like it. Reminds me of the weapons loadout Sam Fisher did in Chaos Theory. Maintaining weapons and stocking up on gun oil can be a chore tho, if you don't upgrade your pouches, which is why the loop encourages you to kinda explore.

Actually I changed my mind RDR2 sucks. GTA VI soon come

Exactly. If you want constant dopamine hits look elsewhere, because that’s clearly not the vibe.

Mission one is literally slowly trudging through the snow in the middle of a goddamn blizzard. It ain’t going for high octane stuff.

I say it in the post - realism at the cost of tedium to the player is not good game design. It's a video game, I don't need to spend 8 hours of my 50 hour playthrough watching looting bodies and skinning animals animations because "it's realistic" when the illusion will inevitably be broken anyway when a horse glitches through walls during cutscenes or whatever

Rockstar doesn't need to sell this illusion to the point of inconveniencing the player. Players needing to make sure they equip the weapons they want on Arthur's person every few seconds because Arthur can get ambushed and his horse could run off with his weapons at any moment is not good game design

There's a reason God Of War beat it for GOTY that year. RDR2 leaves a lot to be desired in the gameplay department, like there's no way you guys think that is peak gameplay

God of War praise itt

Games like God of War, TLOU, Halo 3 are far closer to being flawless games than RDR2 is

Wrong

TLOU2 got much better gameplay than the first apparently

Hey now, we love our Sony slop

God of War, my main criticism was lack of enemy variety. That's it. Halo 3, I don't think I have anything they could've improved

RDR2 I don't f*** with even how the character feels to control. I think what they did in IV/RDR1 movement is realistic enough, more fun and far better for a video game. So yeah, I just can't put it up there and call it flawless when something as basic as movement could be improved