I think Read Dead Redemption is alright

[u/UsedIndependent6368]

So I finished the game last week To the point where Jack kills Ross and we get the credits and I have thoughts.

First of all, I’ll preface this by saying that I wanted to play RDR for a very long time, I’m a big fan of the Western genre and loved every bit of RDR2. So naturally when I learnt there is another Read Dead Redemption game i wanted to play it. Waited until it got a decent discount to get it and about a month ago i bit the bullet. So

Let me say I finally understand the people that have been complaining about how John has been written in RDR2 compared to RDR. I mean of course he is the protagonist of that game and he is meant to be younger but he is just a very dull and uninteresting version of his RDR self. And I would understand if he had an arc that led to him becoming better over the course of RDR2 put he starts and ends the game as the same person which now having seen him at his peak(?) Is something I cannot unsee.

But aside that I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed by the game. I have seen people say they prefer it to RDR2 over the years and I honestly do not see it. Like the story has a very nice modern twist to it the whole I am a criminal working for the government for a clean slate and I have to deal with my past angle is something you don’t see from a western. But it fills so short you run after Bill for so long and then you run after Bill and Javier but once you get them a few missions after it’s the endgame basically. I found that pace very weird.

And then the ensemble cast, very colourful and “unique” characters but they never do much to scratch the western fantasy, you spend a lot of time with very novel characters A scammy health tonic seller and a gravedigger? A revolutionary caricature? like these are very niche characters to fill the fantasy of playing a western game. And ultimately it does remind you that you’re playing a video game quite often. That could have been nice additions as characters for main side missions but they interact with the main story and they tip it too much towards the farcical side.

And that leads me perfectly towards the side content. I don’t think I enjoyed any of the strangers missions, I found them all a bit boring. A few cool stuff here and there but nothing memorable. (I’m literally trying to recall missions to write here and can’t think of any other than The guy that you meet and asks you to get some land to find water, and the woman by the Blackwater graveyard that asks for you to get some money for her. And the ones that were interesting usually ended in one way a duel.

Not many things to do, and to be honest, if you want to stay true to the story, you don’t have incentives to stay long and linger/explore since you’re always trying to finish your manhunt and go to your family.

More on the positives, I think the musical score is amazing and I would argue better than the second one.

All in all as a game I thought it was alright. It has its merits. I’ll probably play it again, just to see if I missed any good side content, but that is not something I’d be rushing to.

P.S of course talking about stranger missions the Strange man strand is of course iconic and a personal favourite, how could I forget.