I just finished Red Dead Redemption 2. I think I hit 96% completion in story mode. I doubt I’ll go back and grind for 100%. Overall I would say it’s one of the best games I’ve played. It’s exactly my kind of game, long story mode, strong cinematic story line and many quests. I wish it kept going.
Which brings me to the first RDR. I remember playing it for a while but never finishing. The prequel storyline in 2 got me curious about 1. It’s on Sony’s streaming service so I figured I would give it another try.
Let’s see how long I last. The improvement in gameplay from 1 to 2 is astounding. I was not expecting graphics to be as good or the story to be as complex or the map to be as big. I didn’t remember how clunky and frustrating gameplay was. Just riding a horse can be frustrating. Random encounters often end in sudden death while you are trying to do something important. The gameplay in 2 was much more intuitive and fun.
I’m wondering if it will be worth my time just to see the complete story.
One extra observation: the voice actor for Arthur 10 times better than John Marston. But that’s apparent if you only play RDR2.
Cool, I just recently completed Red Dead Redemption 2 as well. And, like you, I also started but never finished the first Red Dead Redemption. The second one is a much better game, in my opinion, a truly great game. I think it’s up there with other open world sandboxy type exploration games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Grand Theft Auto 5. I finally got around to playing it because I am working from home and self isolating so much.
Right now I am playing The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past to kill time.
I agree it’s a great game. I was actually stunned by the cinematic use of music and cut scenes in the finale.
The other thing I forgot about RDR is how drab and dreary it is. Everything kind of blends together. I know it’s the desert but there could be a bigger color palate. That’s something it shares with Fallout. RDR2 got it right with its multiple areas of snow, forest, bayou, city and desert. The background was very pleasing to the eye.
I’ve only played the first Red Dead Redemption (and the entertainingly weird zombie version), so I’m curious to see what comparisons you come up with. As far as it being worth your time to play through, the ending is pretty good but you could just watch it on Youtube if you wanted. I don’t think the gameplay got particularly better or worse towards the end.
What didn’t you like about the John Marston voice acting? Was it too low-key for you?
You don’t have to play RDR1 first. If you don’t, certainly characters you meet in RDR2 won’t mean a lot to you. But you shouldn’t feel lost or anything like that. RDR2 takes place before RDR1, after all.
I think this is an accurate description. Both the Grand Theft Auto franchise and the Red Dead Redemption franchise are Rockstar properties, so I would argue they share some DNA. Both franchises involve huge open worlds that one can freely explore, along with multiple missions that you complete to progress the story, and tons of sidequests that you can ignore if you like. The gameplay for both is action/third person shooter (for the most part).
The most obvious difference between the two is their settings in time and place.
I would say that, as far as the tone of the story and even specific plot points, there is a fair amount of overlap between Red Dead Redemption 1 and Grand Theft Auto 4.
I was having a great time playing RDR2 up until things started to become apparent. For instance: I should kill that guy, he’s no good. That guy is fucking things up for the whole group, DUTCH WHY CAN’T YOU SEE THAT?? But you can’t do anything about it. And then, you know, Arthur. I mean, you know.
RDR1 has a GTA feel. Not as much with 2 I think. Both franchises share the same bones.
RDR2 is a far superior game. If you liked the first one you would have to love the second. Everything is done better in the second one.
The voice actor for Marston seems fine in the first one. In the second one he seems flat and one note. It’s a much broader story and even though he is a relatively minor character he is still important. His voice doesn’t change much. The actor who does Arthur Morgan does a great acting job not just for video games. John is not nuanced. Arthur is all nuance. Arthur is very low-key as well.
RDR 1 is my second favorite game of all time. I have tried to play RDR2 multiple times but found it to be a bore. There are WAY to many systems in the game that feel like work and bar none, without a doubt, the dumbest thing they did was not allowing fast travel back to the camp. It make every mission feel twice as long. John Marston in red dead 1 is bar none the best voice acted and scripted character of all time. Arthur in RDR2 just sounds like random western guy. Big downgrade from Marston
Agree to disagree. Marston in RDR2 has the same tone regardless of what was going on. Arthur constantly showed a depth of character. In RDR1 there just isn’t nearly as much to work with.
The fast travel system could be better I agree. You are still able to fast travel reasonably close to where you want to go most of the time. It’s not a huge problem in 1 since it’s so much smaller.
There are so many Easter eggs and side missions in 2 I usually had something to do when going between places.
Interesting. I could have probably written the exact same OP, but with the two games reversed. Relative to the generation they were released, RDR1 is on my short list for game of the decade, and RDR2 is good, but has some major flaws and stupidities in game play.
Making a huge game world to play in, and horse riding a major loop, then making horse riding such a miserable chore is the dumbest decision in recent gaming. Want to more than walk? Prepare for joint damage from hitting the run button constantly for an hour. Now your horse has run smack into a tree, and killed you. Now he stumbled over a stump, and killed you.
My preferences don’t always match the majority opinion. For instance, I liked Fallout 3 more than Fallout: New Vegas and I liked Mass Effect 3 better than Mass Effect 2.
I’ve heard mostly good things about RDR2, but I’ve heard some criticisms too; I’m not enthused by the idea of trying to get rare crafting components to spawn, for instance. As far as RDR1 goes, I liked it but it didn’t blow me away. The plot was interesting, but the gameplay got a bit repetitive. I’ve played it through twice and I completed quite a few of the optional challenges on the second go-round.
I heard that criticism before I played the game but found it wasn’t true. On rare occasions I fell with the horse and got hurt. Maybe I died once. Before I played the game I would have thought it happens all the time.
So far I am enjoying my replay of RDR1. Right now my biggest complaint is the washed out colors. Everything is tan and everything blends together. It makes it very hard to pick things out on the screen and it’s hurting my eyes. I spend more time looking at the little map to see where things are than looking at the scene around me.
Finding the crafting components and animals to spawn could be annoying but that is the most optional part of the game. You can make every outfit and make the camp fancy but all that does is scratch the completest itch.
So I finished RDR. All considered it is a really good game especially for its time and system. The criticisms I had did not get better as the game continued. The washed out color palette hurt my eyes the entire time. That made aiming at farther targets very difficult. RDR2 was a much better game in all aspects except the fast travel system.
I’m going to continue with undead nightmare now. The lack of ammo is both challenging and annoying.
I tried it–came with my PS4, but I didn’t care for it. I prefer the ability to create/build my character like in Skyrim, and this game felt very linear to me. I might revisit it eventually…
Which one? If you like games with involved storylines you will like both but 2 is certainly much more complex. In RDR2 yon can just play through the storyline easily enough but if you like Easter eggs and quirky side missions there are plenty of those. Any grinding in the game is strictly voluntary. If you are not interested in making all the different outfits there is no need to grind.