I greatly enjoyed RDR1 and hearing that RDR2 was even better certainly piqued my interest. And, well, yes... RDR2 is better in so many different ways. I think the overall situation and plot's a lot more engaging, the characters are way more fleshed out and interesting, and the interactions with the open world are far more advanced than they were in RDR1. I think my favorite aspect of this game is how you really get a good sense of family and community with the Van der Linde gang with many of the supporting characters having vibrant and fun personalities. This, of course, makes the gradual decline and inevitable destruction of the gang all the more tragic. My jaw did drop a bit when Sean was shot in the head and when Lenny was gunned down on the rooftop, I remember thinking "no!!!" because he was my favorite by far. He was an intelligent and fun young man with a lot of great interactions with Arthur and he was shot down while he was still so young. I knew many of these characters were doomed from the start, but that does not take away the tragedy of their passings. Fortunately, some did survive and it's quite touching to see them in the epilogue forging their own new lives. Mary-Beth, Tilly, Pearson, all having their own conclusions as they are able to succesfully escape their past is really touching and I love the interactions they give to John Marston. I also found the chemistry between John and Abigail to be amazing and seeing John genuinely giddy and in love with this woman made me feel pretty happy for the guy. Not to mention him getting to meet up with Charles and Sadie in the epilogue was great, I loved that they got to band together at least one last time and I'm happy Sadie and Charles also got to get their own satisfying conclusions. And on the topic of supporting characters, while Rains Fall and Eagle Flies only became relevant much later, their plight and conflicts were EXTREMELY engaging. They make you feel for the injustices they face and their conflicting ideals, the difference in their age, and the ultimate death of Eagle Flies was an incredibly compelling story I did not expect at the later half. Rains Fall still mourning his son at the epilogue is just another twist of the knife in this miserable story.
Now, this brings me also to Arthur Morgan who is an AMAZING protagonist. Going in, I thought we'd be playing as John again so playing as someone we've never heard of before was interesting. As time went on, I found Arthur's struggle in finding good in himself, his disillusionment with Dutch, and him facing his inevitable demise to be deeply compelling. He's a tragic, flawed, and ultimately doomed character who perhaps did deserve his fate but helped many others in the process. Of course, we all know how it ended with John Marston which adds a further layer of tragedy.
Dutch is a WAY more compelling antagonist now as you can see his desperation and deteriorating mental state begin to take a choke hold on him. Everytime the gang moves, the camp gets progressively drearier and sad until the very end with Beaver Hollow. Micah is also a great additional antagonist you just HATE with a passion. He's perfectly despicable in every way and makes Dutch's downward spiral just a tad more understandable.
Gameplaywise, this game is full to bursting with exploration and content. I love how a lot of the random interactions are way more unique and varied compared to RDR1. And a lot of them end up having nice payoffs when you meet them back in town. I also like there's far more incentive in doing dishonorable things like crime, robbing, and murder compared to 1 and entire important gameplay mechanics such as train or stagecoach robbing are made a thing. You're going to get a wanted level a lot and some quests outright force you to become wanted.
Overall, RDR2 excels in both the story and character department as well as the expanding on the immersive open world gameplay from the first game. Very easy reccommend and I can see why this is many people's favorite!