I will only comment on the singleplayer.
I think the biggest strength with this game by far is the writing. RDR2 has some of the best writing I have ever seen in a game. Every single character is deep, nuanced, believable and well-acted. It seems as though each of the gang members has their little established relationships and opinions of each other, including Arthur himself, and it's great to hear them banter or tell stories over the campfires. What's more, as the events of the story unfold many characters and their relationships change, for better or worse, and a lot of the gang members are completely different people by the end. Arthur goes under a lot of self-conflict that makes him more relatable and keeps you sympathetic as you get to know him. This game does a good job of making you feel invested and to actually care about the people involved in it and I can tell a lot of love was put into the writing for this game.
The world itself is also beautifully realised. I think games have this ability to take you into a world that you could never really experience in real life in a way nothing else can, and this game is a perfect example of that. There is no better way to really understand how the western United States felt at the turn of the century, as colonisation took a stronger foothold and cities exploded in growth, than to actually experience it in this game. And of course, the game looks absolutely gorgeous. I think the graphics speak for themselves, if you can run them.
However, I think RDR2's weakest point is the gameplay. Many times, the gameplay can be quite limiting, especially during story missions where it will force you to restart because you wanted to try something a bit different. Rockstar has a bad habit of making you play the game exactly as they want you to instead of letting people use the gameplay systems they have in front of them however they want. You have to do stealth at this part, and you can only take this route. There are constant instructions at the bottom of the screen telling you what you should do and where, instead of just letting people loose occasionally. I think everyone has seen that Nakey Jakey video, so I don't need to go further because it explains everything perfectly. The honour system is cool, but it's not unique and it doesn't seem to have any impact on the story or character's attitudes towards you.
The gameplay is also very slow in general. I personally don't mind it but I think many people could get impatient. My advice is to just go with it. Take things steadily, roleplay a little bit, and you will enjoy it much more instead of just going against the game's deliberately slow systems.
Overall, fantastic storytelling and world-class open-world design, but expect something very linear when it comes to story missions (and that's fine).
I think the biggest strength with this game by far is the writing. RDR2 has some of the best writing I have ever seen in a game. Every single character is deep, nuanced, believable and well-acted. It seems as though each of the gang members has their little established relationships and opinions of each other, including Arthur himself, and it's great to hear them banter or tell stories over the campfires. What's more, as the events of the story unfold many characters and their relationships change, for better or worse, and a lot of the gang members are completely different people by the end. Arthur goes under a lot of self-conflict that makes him more relatable and keeps you sympathetic as you get to know him. This game does a good job of making you feel invested and to actually care about the people involved in it and I can tell a lot of love was put into the writing for this game.
The world itself is also beautifully realised. I think games have this ability to take you into a world that you could never really experience in real life in a way nothing else can, and this game is a perfect example of that. There is no better way to really understand how the western United States felt at the turn of the century, as colonisation took a stronger foothold and cities exploded in growth, than to actually experience it in this game. And of course, the game looks absolutely gorgeous. I think the graphics speak for themselves, if you can run them.
However, I think RDR2's weakest point is the gameplay. Many times, the gameplay can be quite limiting, especially during story missions where it will force you to restart because you wanted to try something a bit different. Rockstar has a bad habit of making you play the game exactly as they want you to instead of letting people use the gameplay systems they have in front of them however they want. You have to do stealth at this part, and you can only take this route. There are constant instructions at the bottom of the screen telling you what you should do and where, instead of just letting people loose occasionally. I think everyone has seen that Nakey Jakey video, so I don't need to go further because it explains everything perfectly. The honour system is cool, but it's not unique and it doesn't seem to have any impact on the story or character's attitudes towards you.
The gameplay is also very slow in general. I personally don't mind it but I think many people could get impatient. My advice is to just go with it. Take things steadily, roleplay a little bit, and you will enjoy it much more instead of just going against the game's deliberately slow systems.
Overall, fantastic storytelling and world-class open-world design, but expect something very linear when it comes to story missions (and that's fine).