I’m a little torn on this game. On the one hand, the writing is fantastic, quite possibly some of the best I’ve seen in a game. But its reluctance to commit wholeheartedly to its survival mechanics brings it way down for me.
I was initially very excited by the prospect of having to wear different outfits depending on the weather, having to store larger items on your horse, maintaining a healthy weight, methodically searching for supplies in drawers and such, however, it quickly becomes clear that you don’t actually NEED to do any of this. It has all these great ideas, but due to its nature as a mainstream AAA game, it lacks the confidence to make any of these mechanics important. I’ve seen a lot of people say that the sluggishness of the game is a problem, but I would argue the true problem is that it doesn’t lean into it harder.
Another thing; the world is beautifully realised, undoubtedly, though I don’t think it’s as well designed as the first game’s map. In RDR 1, there are tons of smartly placed landmarks to guide you through the world, so much so that observant players will be able to navigate the map without having to rely on a mini map. Best of all, 1 manages to do this without making its world feel all that video game-y. It’s pretty organic. In 2, I frequently found myself getting lost and having to rely on the map and mini map to guide my way. Maybe it’s more realistic? I didn’t have as much fun traversing it, though. Still, it is very pretty, so getting lost in it isn’t the worst thing.
Oh, and the soundtrack is fucking amazing. Modern games made in the west don’t tend to have particularly memorable soundtracks imo, but I would say this one stands toe-to-toe with a lot of Japanese games even. Insanely good.
I was initially very excited by the prospect of having to wear different outfits depending on the weather, having to store larger items on your horse, maintaining a healthy weight, methodically searching for supplies in drawers and such, however, it quickly becomes clear that you don’t actually NEED to do any of this. It has all these great ideas, but due to its nature as a mainstream AAA game, it lacks the confidence to make any of these mechanics important. I’ve seen a lot of people say that the sluggishness of the game is a problem, but I would argue the true problem is that it doesn’t lean into it harder.
Another thing; the world is beautifully realised, undoubtedly, though I don’t think it’s as well designed as the first game’s map. In RDR 1, there are tons of smartly placed landmarks to guide you through the world, so much so that observant players will be able to navigate the map without having to rely on a mini map. Best of all, 1 manages to do this without making its world feel all that video game-y. It’s pretty organic. In 2, I frequently found myself getting lost and having to rely on the map and mini map to guide my way. Maybe it’s more realistic? I didn’t have as much fun traversing it, though. Still, it is very pretty, so getting lost in it isn’t the worst thing.
Oh, and the soundtrack is fucking amazing. Modern games made in the west don’t tend to have particularly memorable soundtracks imo, but I would say this one stands toe-to-toe with a lot of Japanese games even. Insanely good.