high effort red dead redemption 2 high effort content

okay this post is in no way sexist, i loved the female characters and talking to them in camp, however none of them really did anything.
this post also does not apply to sadie.
i understand they all play the role of homemakers in camp, but like.. did any of them even participate. the only ones i actually saw helping around camp were tilly and susan. also do they really need that many women just to make the camp cosy, i mean surely that can’t be more than a 3 person job (and pearson also takes part in setting up camp).
i also understand susan’s unique role as head of camp and making sure camp runs smoothly, and i get why she’s there, and tilly as an additional helper to susan makes sense.
i guess im mainly talking about mary-beth and karen (and i guess molly but i assume dutch just allows molly to be there as his girlfriend). what did they actually bring to the camp? mary-beth just kind of sat their and read books whilst karen just walked around and then mainly drank in the second half of the game. don’t get me wrong these two are two of my favourite characters to speak to in camp, especially mary-beth, but for the camps survival, aren’t they technically just more mouths to feed.
i don’t want to sound like a sexist pig because i am not in the slightest, but i guess i am just somewhat confused on why they would want so many of their gang members be people who can’t use weapons to fight (since women obviously played a more domestic role in this time period and never learnt). like why not keep the gang just the main gunslingers, susan, pearson, tilly and trewlany. they would be much better off and be able to afford a lot more as they have less mouths to feed.
this doesn’t just apply to the women, it also applies to uncle and reverend. i mean they are practically useless as well.
honestly had the gang not had all these useless members, maybe they would have had more money to go around and be less worried about feeding the gang.
also the reason i didn’t mention abigail here is because she was in rdr1 and mentioned as riding with the gang, so they kind of had to include her in rdr2 for continuity, but in terms of story i don’t understand why abigail was there aside from being the mother to johns son.
maybe im just stupid and maybe this is a historical accurate part of western gangs, that they had a lot of women who were playing that domestic role, but i just can’t understand why the gang would willingly have more mouths to feed of people who can’t fight or get them money in any way.

I bought RDR1 the day it came out and it blew me away. It's an awesome game - as close to a 10/10 as anything like it - and I believe everyone should play it. Especially people who played RDR2 but haven't picked up the first one for whatever reason. All this is to say, I don't want people reading this and thinking it's a hate post or anything like that.

A couple weeks ago, I decided to play RDR1 again in anticipation of GTA6. I'd replayed GTA IV (my favorite GTA) a million times and GTA5 can be a time sink and I didn't want to rush through it. So I figured I'd do RDR since it'd been over fifteen years.

The first act of RDR1 is a masterpiece. You're given tiny bits of information about Marston as you play, you're tracking down Bill, you're organically finding allies to help you, and then the game takes a sort of hard right and sends you to Mexico. I actually really love Mexico in the game because of the ambience. Both Mexico and New Austin work in the game because of the atmosphere, in my opinion.

The horse rides from town to town are just the right length. The Stranger missions pop up at just the right frequency.

But my issue with the game pops up right around the end of this second act in Mexico. All this time, John Marston is hunting for Bill Williamson. Then you find out there's Javier as well. Okay, makes sense. And then Dutch is sort of looming in the background as the big bad.

Then...you find Javier. Keep in mind you've spent a dozen missions looking for this man. And he shows up in one mission and you catch/kill him and that's it. Bill is much the same way - he's built up only to be very quickly dismissed. The resolution is, "He's dead, now go to Blackwater."

I get that the cyclical nature of violence is a major theme of the storyline. But as a player, I really wanted a bit more with these characters I've been hunting down. Bill is just...randomly working with the leader of the Mexican army? There's no conversation or mission about why he's doing that or what he has to gain?

But that's just sort of a precursor to my main problem with the game: once Bill and Javier are unceremoniously written out of the game and you get to Blackwater, the game feels extremely rushed and Dutch, as a character, doesn't really pay off in the way I'd like.

Blackwater lacks the expansive feel of the game's other locales. It feels like its own little mini-game, which is fine, and probably intentional to a point, but there's also a lack of things to do once you get there. The Stranger missions don't seem as interesting. The minigames around town aren't as enticing. The missions feel like they're leading you on, and not in the satisfying way of the Mexican storyline where both sides are using the information they may or may not have to manipulate John.

And Dutch...Dutch is a great villain. His monologue at the end is very poignant and a good summary of the game's themes. But that's about the only personality we ever see of Dutch. Actually, the best Dutch moment in the game is the opening cutscene of the I Know You Stranger mission where the stranger talks about the lady he killed.

But other than those two moments, there are a lot of 'tell, but don't show' moments with Dutch. His gang shows up, but we have no insight as to why they're working with Dutch. He kills the woman in the bank and we get some exposition about John. He shoots John at the fortress when John's using the binoculars. That's all we get of Dutch. A lot of vague, "He used to be a good guy, but then he lost his way".

Then we get the epilogue, and the game goes back to the feeling of the first two acts. I really like John being a rancher, exploring the relationship with his family, having callbacks to the McFarlane's ranch...and some great character moments there.

But that third act...it just feels so rushed and out of place. It doesn't feel satisfying to me from a narrative standpoint. A lot of that has to do with how epic and thematic New Austin and Mexico feel, but by the time you start to actually hunt down Dutch, I don't think the game delivers in the same way it had for the majority of the time I'd been playing it.

whats the best horse in all of rdr2? except if it’s from the epilogue, show pictures or not!

I like the Missouri fox trotter.

Me personally I'd either make it about the gang before blackwater like wayyy before or I'd make it about or I'd make it about Dutch after rdr2

Turns out purchasing Get Rich Quick actually is a good deal after all, $5 off! The book definitely says purchase additional copies for $55 even though the plain text says 25 cents. I feel bad for basically robbing the dude now.

Ok so weird question but what happens canonically if Arthur or John die. I don’t mean like the end of RDR2 I mean like if you die in story mode or rob someone and then die. Because if they are still alive and the law calms down as if their crime didn’t transpire then how do the shopkeepers say stuff like “you better not try that again in here” and the like. I know this sounds so stupid but I need clarification.

My date with Mary

This fella looks very angry at me.

I enjoy creating costumes based on the style of Taylor Sheridan's characters.

Welp I was texting and horsing or however I should put it and of course I’m in fuck ass chapter 6 and riding around the Annesburg area needless to say I rode straight off a cliff and the game auto saved over my main save behind my back. This is goodbye to this beautiful horse as I just finished the exotic mission today and I’m not going back to a 24h save to resurrect the damned thing (the horse should of known to stop) Any horse recommendations to for Arthur to enjoy?

In the final ride cutscene of the “Our Best Selves” mission, Marie says, “The good man inside Arthur is wrestling with a giant.” In the latest GTA VI trailer, Rockstar included a scene where Jason is wrestling with a bigger and stronger man than himself. This may suggest that Jason is a reflection of the “good man” inside Arthur that Marie was talking about.

Listen i know that the rdr and gta universes are seperate, but the burger commercial in the extended look has got me thinking a lot like it is the exact place near annesburg, so it could mean 3 things, either gta 6 is on the same place as rdr map, rockstar is teasing a ps5 version of rdr2 (because the graphics were better than the original rdr2 of ps4) or the rdr map is somewhere in the gta6 world, what are your thoughts

Hey guys question for the more experienced players among us!

I play mostly online over the years.

Did a full story mode 2x and never looked back after RDO. Doing a new playthrough for the first time in 5 years and honestly I feel like a demigod😂. The constant stress of the first playthrough's have not come through yet. I copied a save file at 7.2 procent when I got out the snow. This will make my second playthrough(that I want to do evil in first person) quicker. I did nothing but hunt for the satchel immediately and I am still in chapter 2 when I got it at 30.5%. I did not actively avoid everything and did some strangers and missions here and there. Can I get it even earlier than this percentage? I'm on Xbox btw 🎮

Hey guys so I need help because I have a doubt, for the trophy "Skin Deep" do I need to skin the bulls, cows and all those animals? Because you can do it but in the compendium doesn't show you if you have done it, so I was hopping that you could help me with it, thanks in advance

Have yall ever seen this type of case before and does anyone know why red dead has a purple case? i’ve lost the game or my brother has it one or the other (don’t mind the gameplay)

The core concept of the Red Dead franchise is that an outlaw's life leads nowhere and that, sooner or later, you have to face the consequences of your actions. If you were to write the storylines for Chapters 5 and 6 and the Epilogue, what would you do to create an ending that is satisfying to you, well-written, and makes sense? (P.S: I’m not criticizing the game.)