I'm way late to the party, just finished the game. Gotta say some things about it, spoiler stuff here:
Things i like:
- This is a goddamn beautiful game. My word. The weather effects and skybox especially. The atmosphere and feel of the world is nothing short of amazing because of it. Whether it's dark skies surrounding a soft sunset, a wall of mist and dust covering everything around you, or the sudden strike of thunder from the dark clouds, it's all so glorious.
! - The cast of characters overall are awesome. Hosea, Lenny, Rain Falls and Sadie are my favorite... aside from Arthur, of course. I wish I hung out with Hosea and Lenny more. Fantastic writing and performance from all. It's always fun to come back to the camp and talk with the crew, or do missions with them. Arthur is definitely on my top 5 video game characters list, maybe number 2. I can't get enough of his VO performance, it elevated the already impressive writing to even higher levels.
! - The opening (chapter 1) is probably one of my favorite first few hours in a video game ever. I love the depressed tone it starts with, showing everyone in the crew working together harder than ever to survive. Sadie's family being killed also set the tone of the world they're up against for the rest of the game. Ending it with a good heist mission is a nice touch.
! - Chapter 6 is masterful. Everything the game build up came to this and it paid off so well. The Indians' story arc is devastating to me, I really felt Rain Falls' struggle and it's so heartbreaking all the way through because you know this won't end well. It's also very painful seeing Arthur's tuberculosis at it's peak. It is RDR2 at it's absolute peak.
! - The soundtrack is sooo good! Excited to listen to the official release that is coming soon.
! - I haven't finished them all, but the Stranger missions I've seen are pretty great. The guy taking wildlife pictures and the guy writing about gunslingers are my favorite long running arcs. The one-off missions are fun too, like the one where you teach the widow from the city to survive in the wild, or helpin Beau and Penelope's great escape.
! - I saw a dead body hanging on a bridge near Valentine with creepy serial killer-esque signs near. I also stumbled into a creepy ruined house that might be a former witchcraft site. Point is, I think this game has cool secrets to find.
! - Customizing my weapons is pretty neat.
! - This game feels cinematic af and I love it. The cinematography in the cutscenes can be quite wonderful. Chapter 6's ending came to mind.
Things I don't like or feel mixed about:
- The shooting sections can certainly be cut down a notch or two. Many of the shootouts are either unnecessary or contain way too many enemies to kill (mostly the latter). I still enjoy them all the same, but it just really messes with the grounded tone of the story. Nearly all of my problems with the game's story had something to do with a shootout section.
! - Getting lost in Guarma is a nice surprise, sure, but it just feels like length-padding for me personally. They could have merged Chapter 4 and 5 into one, cut some missions, and it definitely wouldn't drag as much.
! - I like how this game controls overall. Using L2 to lock into an object so you can interact with it reminds me a lot of Shenmue and that's a wonderful thing. Shooting feels better after I tweak it a bit. It takes a bit of getting used to it all, which is quite annoying, I admit.
! - I do wish the game would fucking stop switching out my guns I specifically chose during a mission for something else. I had my shotguns switched out too many times with rifles (which I also had 100% of the time with me) and that's exactly why I never ran out of shotgun ammo.
! - After playing as Arthur for 6 chapters, it's quite hard to play the two-part epilogue for some reason. John is not nearly as engaging or interesting of an character for me. Uncle's annoying attitude also helps that. Not really a problem with the game, just a personal problem of mine I guess. I am glad they added it, I think it showed John's efforts to be a better person pretty well.
Ranking of chapters (because why not):
VI > III > I > II > Epilogue Part II > IV > Epilogue Part I > V
They could have done a few things a bit smoother or with more carefulness but it's overall it's quite mindblowing what they achieved here. I think it's better than RDR1, which is also a great game. Best Rockstar game for me. Can't wait to see what's next for the series. 9.5/10
