Red Dead Redemption 2

It was impossible to miss the hype for Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018. Reviewers and players alike praised the game, gave it 10/10 review scores, and it won numerous awards. According to Wikipedia it won over 175 Game of the Year awards¹, and Metacritic lists it as the 9th highest-rated game of all time (as of 2024) with a 97 Metascore².

I remember wanting to play it when it came out, but one thing lead to another and apparently it’s been six years since then. 🤯

I looked back at my records to see what I was playing that was so important to keep me from the 9th highest-rated game of all time.

In October of 2018, I was deep into The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015). I finished it up in early 2019, and it was such a long game that I needed a break. I didn’t even finish the expansions because I was so burnt out.

I only played a handful of other games through 2019, and then over the end of year holidays, I picked up and played Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018), Titanfall 2 (2016), God of War (2018), and NieR: Automata (2017).

So I guess I was busy with other games…

I also think there’s also a bit of a mental block with games that are both so hyped up, and so long. I don’t know why exactly, but it is definitely harder to start a game that you know is going to be a huge time commitment.

Long story short, six years later and I’m finally making time for it. It was recently added to PlayStation Plus Extra (for the second time), so I figured I should take advantage of it before it goes away.

Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)

In Progress

Currently I’m 60 some hours in, but it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. Here are some thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head while riding horseback across the American frontier:

It is a very slow, deliberate game. The game is in no hurry to get anywhere, and it’s not afraid to take its time. This doesn’t really bother me because it’s just so engaging and immersive. The world is full of interesting things to see and do. I’m trying to do all the side missions when they pop up, and they are all unique and interesting. Plus all the random encounters and events that happen as you’re riding around are fun to experience.

Earlier in my playthrough, I spent a little too much time hunting and started to get a little burnt out, so I had to refocus on the main story. But now, as I’m getting closer to the end, I’m feeling nostalgic for the early days.

The game is beautiful. I’m playing it on the PS5 and everything looks amazing. The world looks very realistic, lighting and weather effects are great, and the character models are very detailed. It’s a very immersive experience. The map is huge, and there’s a lot of variety in the environments you’ll explore.

This is my first Rockstar game, and they are clearly very good at what they do. I understand their reputation now.

That’s not to say I don’t have any complaints. The controls took a while to get used to, since there’s a lot of context-sensitive actions. I ruined a few interactions by accidentally pulling my gun on someone. Other times, I’ve had multiple random encounters happen at once and disrupt each other.

That said, the game is so large that I’ve accepted that I’m going to miss a lot of content, so it doesn’t bother me too much. I’m just trying to enjoy the ride and see where the story goes.

To close out, I’d like to leave a few spoiler-free tips for anyone else who might also be 6 years late to the party:

• I purposely avoided exploring the map, since I didn’t want to spoil new locations before the story took me there. Now that I’m farther along I’ve realized the story isn’t going back to some of the early areas. The map is split into regions, so when the story takes you to a new region, you can feel free to fully explore that region.

• A lot of people suggest getting the sachel upgrades early, but as I mentioned, I found myself getting burnt out on hunting. I don’t think it’s necessary; also it requires exploring the map to find the animals you need, which I was avoiding.

• Challenges must be done in order, which is important to know if you are trying to complete them. Progress you make on Challenge 2 doesn’t count until you’ve completed Challenge 1. I don’t really recommend being a completionist on your first playthrough, but it’s still good to know if you want to try.

Anyways that’s all for now. I feel like I’m closing in on the end of the game, and looking forward to seeing how it all wraps up.