It has been almost three months since Red Dead Redemption 2 released and people are still having so much fun with its gameplay (I’m one of those people) as it has become a video game that is practically impossible to put down. There is so much to do in this open-world game and the story is top notch. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel to the first game, telling the tale of what exactly happened to John Marston’s old gang, and we play most of the narrative through the eyes of Arthur Morgan, right-hand man for leader Dutch van der Linde. Alongside Morgan, we travel through the bittersweet narrative with a fresh pair of eyes, falling in love with the setting all over again.
However, Red Dead Redemption 2 is about so much more than its story. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel like the story of the game is overshadowed by how much detail was put into making it. There are so many nuances to the game, Easter eggs to find, activities you can engage in, and mind-boggling features to discover that the narrative’s excellence takes second place to the game’s craftsmanship as a whole. Don’t believe me? Well, if you don’t have the time or inclination (as of yet) to play Red Dead Redemption 2, you should take a gander at this list here. But seriously, consider checking out the game on your own if you haven’t already since it is really fantastic. Read on if you want to become astounded by the hidden details of Red Dead Redemption 2 that you may not have noticed.
25 The Moon And Its Phases
While riding on your horse through the expansive wilderness, you obviously must have noticed the day/night cycle that takes place. However, only an extremely observant eye will have noticed that the moon follows the lunar cycle as well.
That’s right, Rockstar Games thought to include the different phases of the moon. Now, you and Arthur Morgan can ride into the night with a half-moon, new moon, or full moon at your backs. Talk about an attention to detail.
24 The Demise Of Big Foot
One of the great things about Red Dead Redemption 2 is how many simple secrets are available to players if they explore. If you search the area north of Strawberry, you will find a collection of bones.
These bones clearly depict a humanoid creature, but it is far larger than your average human. We are led to believe that we have discovered the skeletal remains of Big Foot. This find is purely just around for the curious wanderer who happens to walk by.
23 Another Doomed Flying Machine
In the first Red Dead game, John Marston meets a man who wants to fly, and as a result, he creates a gliding airship, takes off, and plummets to the ground.
In the prequel, Arthur Morgan can meet the remains of another enterprising man who had an abrupt encounter with the ground as well. This crashed airship just rests innocuously by itself, waiting for the exploring player to stumble upon it. Finding this guy made me reminisce about the first game so hard.
22 The Woman Chained In An Outhouse
When I was just wandering around the Braithwaite estate, I heard howls and strange mutterings coming from an outhouse. On a closer look at the thing, I realized that chains were wrapped around it.
I warily peered inside, but Arthur Morgan leapt backwards when the woman who was locked inside screeched and tried to grab him. Looks like the Braithwaites are keeping some hidden information indeed.
21 The Bandana Does Help Obscure Your Identity
When I first started playing Red Dead Redemption 2, I thought the bandana was a useless piece of equipment. Even though I wore it during crimes, lawmen still seemed to know that it was Arthur Morgan who committed them.
Later, I learned that wearing my bandana actually shortens the time on the “Wanted” meter. For those who don’t know, the Wanted meter appears after lawmen have identified a crime and are searching for the culprit. Low honor players know exactly what I’m talking about.
20 Newspapers Tell Your Stories
The average Red Dead player probably does not realize that giving the local Saint Denis Times a peek is a worthwhile task as the game’s newspapers show how the outside world looks upon the Van der Linde Gang’s doings.
Events that players took part in get written about, and it’s interesting to read about them from a remote perspective. It is also a testament to the amount of detail developers put in this game if they have dynamic newspapers.
19 NPCs Break Wind
If Rockstar set developers to work on male horse parts, you just know that they also set them to work on other bodily functions. Case in point, if you hover around certain non-playable characters, they will occasionally let loose with a fart.
Sphincter sirens are a normal part of everyday life, so when they are included in a video game, they make the world feel ten times more real. Who would have thought that passing gas could be used so precisely and elegantly?
18 Lawmen Clean Up Your Mess
Have you ever stuck around the scene of a crime after you’ve wreaked all your havoc? You should definitely give it a try, just so you can see how much detail Rockstar crammed into this game.
If you escape to a certain distance and use your binoculars to observe where you left a couple of casualties after a shoot-out, you will see some lawmen approaching the area. These lawmen will then pick up the remains and cart them back to town on their horses.
17 Pet The Pets
Aside from his acting like a miscreant, I first knew Micah Bell was reprehensible when I saw him kick the camp dog.
That especially hurt for two reasons: one, Arthur Morgan can’t just end Micah right after that, even though I really wanted to, and second, I had spent so much time petting local dogs and cats that Micah’s actions seemed to erase all the time I had spent giving them a pat – by the way, you can give every dog in this game a good ol’ pat.
16 Spot-On Animal Behavior
If you want to know how much time and energy Rockstar Games put into Red Dead Redemption 2, you need look no further than opossums. Most animals will flee from you if they see your character approaching, but not the opossum.
Like its real-life counterpart, the opossum will act deceased in the hopes that you will leave it alone. You can walk up to the supposed stiff body of this opossum, but your targeting reticle will turn red, indicating that it is still alive.
15 A Visible Body Odor
If Arthur Morgan does not bathe, the world around him will take notice as patrons of saloons will make snide comments and shopkeepers will exclaim in disgust. Plus, if Arthur enters Eagle Eye, the pungent odor of his body will waft more strongly from his form.
It says a lot about a game’s dynamic qualities when its NPCs are aware of how much time has passed since your character last cleaned himself. This is just one of the reasons why Red Dead Redemption 2 is a fantastic game.
14 The UFO House
One outlandish detail included in Red Dead Redemption 2 is the mystery of the UFO. There is a house north of Emerald Ranch that has the strange remains of a cult, who believed in beings from above, and if you hang out in the house after dark, a strange light emanates from the sky.
If you peer past the greenish glow, the familiar form of a stereotypical UFO can be seen highlighted against the night sky. Come on, we can’t have a Rockstar game without one UFO Easter egg, can we?
13 Hunting The Messages
Taking the beaten path definitely rewards players of Red Dead Redemption 2. One of the mysteries Arthur Morgan can uncover is that of a mysterious man with a penchant for violently attacking people.
This man leaves bits of a map stuck in the various body parts he has so carefully removed from a person. If Arthur collects all the pieces, he can locate where the man lives, but let me tell you, it is not a pretty place. The guy needs a new interior decorator.
12 A Frozen Couple
Lake Isabella has a spooky detail hidden around its environs. If you explore the area, you will find a camp that has been completely covered by snow. Within the camp, a couple can be seen holding each other for whatever warmth their bodies could provide.
However, that warmth was clearly not enough. This couple has a scrap of paper with a panoramic map sketched on it. Whether or not this map leads anywhere or whether it’s just a sketch drawn during the couple’s last moments has yet to be revealed.
11 If You Leave An Animal Alone
One of my favorite activities to do in Red Dead Redemption 2 is to go out and hunt. The Legendary Animal Map was my go-to document in my satchel.
Unfortunately, there were the occasional critters I couldn’t carry with me after I poked them full of arrows. So, I did what any reasonably burdened person would do in that situation; I left the body there. Apparently, over time, they will decay and attract scavenger birds.
10 Horses Really Do Accumulate Dirt
Many times while you’re roaming the countryside, the game will alert you that your horse is dirty and needs to be brushed. If you don’t brush and clean your horse, its stamina is affected.
Another amazing detail in the game is if you let your horse get too dirty, saddle lines will form beneath its saddle. If you remove a saddle from a dirty horse, there will be a clean, saddle-shaped spot on its back where the saddle kept its skin from becoming muddied.
9 The MacFarlane Saga Continues
In the first game, John Marston meets a woman named Bonnie MacFarlane, who fends for herself and John in times of trouble. If you roam the lake-side near Rhodes, you will find a man who has washed up on the shore.
Before he passes away, the man gives Arthur a letter he wrote to a Bonnie MacFarlane. Apparently, this man is Bonnie’s beloved. He was trying to return to her before whatever happened to him occurred, but unfortunately, we all know he never made it back to Bonnie.
8 Random Witches In The Woods
A witches cauldron can be randomly found in the woods by Arthur Morgan during his travels. If the player so chooses, he can even drink from this cauldron.
Here’s a word to the wise: don’t drink from random cauldrons that you find in the woods and that are surrounded by spooky candles. Even though Morgan just passed out and woke up a few hours later, something a lot worse could potentially happen if you did that in real life. Just look at a few horror movies for reference.
7 Beard Physics
Even though Arthur remains more or less the same character in the story no matter who plays him, the customization options for his looks are phenomenally varied. Just take a look at what you can do with his hair.
Not only can you give Arthur different looks, but his beard is separately rendered. That means that it jostles when he rides his horse, shifts when he talks, and adjusts to whatever clothes he is currently wearing. That is just obsession to detail.
6 Whatever Floats Your Boat
I’ve seen countless videos of players experimenting with Red Dead Redemption 2, but one particular video surprised me with how far the developers were willing to go to give players complete control over their world.
The player in the video got into a boat on a lake and started to make holes into the bottom. The boat actually began to take on water and sink. This might not seem like much, but the attention to detail still astounds me. You can sink your own boat!
