Red Dead Redemption II was both my most anticipated game of 2018 and also the one I was most wary of. I was a huge fan of the first game, which came out all the way back in 2010. It was the series I dreamed of Rockstar revisiting once again, but was always let down time and time again. Sometimes when we get our dreams and wishes granted, they end up being disappointing. There was a lot that could have gone wrong with this sequel and the first few showings didn’t have me exactly thrilled. The biggest reveal was that it was a prequel and not about a new group of people. That is to say, we were going to find out what John Marston’s life was like in the height of the Van der Linde gang. Yet we weren’t going to play John, but someone completely new that was never mentioned in the first game.
Prequels, especially ones that center on how villains rise to power and turn from good to bad, Star Wars cough, can be dicey. So again, that had me concerned. Then their first few trailers were story focused, which was kind of mind-boggling to me. What even is this game? A true gameplay trailer didn’t even release until a few months away from this launch and even then I was a bit baffled. So now that it’s out, what do I think? To be blunt, I love it. That said there are some confusing things I wish I knew before I started so here are some helpful tips and just some odd observations for newcomers. Hope this helps!
25 Dialogue Options Don’t Change The Story
Another mechanic the game tries to hammer home to you that isn’t as important as it seems is dialogue choices. You can greet people and it will raise your honor, which is useful if you want to get discounts in shops. That’s about it.
The choice is yours and yours alone.
If you choose to off someone, or let them live, it doesn’t really affect the story. The morality will rise, or lower, but again, that in itself doesn’t affect that much either besides some discounts and stuff. Basically, don’t fret over it like you would in say Mass Effect.
24 No Multiplayer At Launch
I’m not one for multiplayer especially when it comes to games with stories I want to get invested in. That said because Red Dead Redemption II is such a different experience, I was curious how the game was going to handle online.
I want to explore the old West with my friends.
Guess I’ll have to wait because a beta won’t even be ready until November. Will we even get the full release this year? Hard to say. This is just like Grand Theft Auto V’s launch. You’d think Rockstar would have learned.
23 You Can Miss Missions
Yes, you can miss missions. Now that may make sense if your caravan moves to a new area, or if a character, the quest giver, passes away. Those seem obvious, but there was one that didn’t seem so obvious. In chapter three, I had two yellow missions as well as a white mission that said Abigail wanted to talk to me. Well when I did one of the yellows, Abigail’s disappeared, which was weird because it seemingly had nothing to do with what I just did. That’s just the one I caught. Did I miss more before that?
22 Invest In Your Camp
On that same note, instead of using money for guns and stuff, you should invest in the camp as soon as possible. It’s a great way to improve the condition of your comrades as well as get valuable upgrades. I already mentioned the fast travel and horse hitch, but there are more. You can actually max it out pretty fast if you’re good with managing your money. I was a little disappointed once I basically finished in the third chapter.
21 The Companion Actually App Is Actually Useful
Video game companies often try to market a companion app for their games. I don’t know if they’re just trying to cross promote something that will get phone users to generate traffic, or if the developers legitimately got behind this thing as a useful service. Red Dead Redemption II’s is on the latter half. It’s actually useful, which is something I ignored until my friend messaged me and told me to check it out. It’s a great way to use the map.
20 Press And Hold “Start” To Access The Map Quickly
If you just don’t want to use the companion app for your map, there is an easier way to access it. Again, the menus are a pain to navigate. Normally what it seems you have to do is hit the Options button on PS4, then select the map, and there you go. It was needlessly complicated. Well, I eventually found out that you can simply hold down Option and it’ll bring it right up. That’s another oops on my part.
19 Eating Isn’t That Important
Even though the game tells you repeatedly that it’s important to eat and drink to stay alive, it really isn’t. Sleeping will pretty much rejuvenate all three of your bars, which is to say health, stamina, and your Dead Eye. Eating is just a good way when exploring to keep your health from draining. Another upkeep feature that isn’t that necessary is grooming. If you want to trim your hair, or beard, cool, but you can also let them grow.
18 There IS A Way To Revive Your Horse
Horses are your main mode of transportation, duh. As such these majestic beasts actually level up. The more you ride them, groom them, and feed them, the better bond you will have, which will then increase stats. There are also abilities gained with leveling up like being able to drift.
This is on a horse-by-horse basis, which is to say if your horse gets destroyed, you have to start from scratch with a new one. The Horse Reviver potion will, fortunately, resurrect your horse. It’s expensive, but worth having around.
17 The Beginning Is The Worst Part (Stick With It)
Red Dead Redemption II has a pretty bleak and confusing opening. I had no idea it was going to start with your gang being stranded in the mountains, deep in cold snow, and on the brink of being wiped out. Aside from the atmosphere, it’s also just kind of dull and drawn out. This tempered my excitement for the game and I kept telling myself “this is going to get good” just to keep myself going. It’s not the worst opening 2-3 hours of a game, but it was a letdown, to say the least.
16 Getting Through Cluttered Menus
The menus aren’t the only things cluttered in the game. Actually interacting with dressers, tables, and the like can also be frustrating. Let’s look at your camp bedside for example. In your space you can sleep, sit, change clothes, interact with pictures and other objects on your nightstand, and shave. All of this is within centimeters of each other and simply turning one direction can change what you can see. Well if you hit the two triggers on PS4, it’ll cycle through all available options near you. This saves a lot of time.
15 You Don’t Have To Engage With The Simulator Stuff
Red Dead Redemption II is every bit as exciting as the trailers made it out to be. Even though it’s a prequel, it’s the same old game you’d hope to expect. Along with that, it’s also a cowboy simulator underneath the gun-slinging action. A simulator you can put as much, or as little time as possible in.
The options are outstanding and more unlock the more you play through the campaign. You also move a lot in a caravan. It’s crazy detailed, but maybe too much so.
14 Fast Travel Is Lacking (And Costs Money)
Rockstar is basically second to none when it comes to creating open world games with diverse settings, filled with stuff to do, and see. That said they’re kind of behind in some regards too. Red Dead Redemption II is a beautiful recreation of the Old West. However, the fast travel system is severely lacking and makes engaging in this world a pain. You can pay taxi carriages in town to take you to hub areas, or towns. Later on you can fast travel from camp, but like taxis, only in certain areas. Rockstar, this is 2018. Fix this!
13 Don’t Quit During Missions
If you’re in the middle of a mission, even if you make it to a checkpoint, the game will not save. I found this out the hard way. It was about 4 A.M. and understandably I was finally nodding off so I decided to log out in the middle of the Micah breakout mission in Strawberry. I assumed since I hit a checkpoint that I could restart right from there. Nope. Not only that, but it didn’t save when I got into Strawberry either. I was not happy.
12 Cheat Like There’s No Tomorrow
This is something I didn’t notice in the menu either. Big surprise, right? I know, I know. If I would have explored more thoroughly I could have solved a few of these issues, but I digress. Anyway, you can input cheats in the game that can help alleviate a few stresses if you’re having a hard time.
Turning them on will negate trophy accumulation on PS4, but does anyone really care about rewards any more? That seems so old to me. Maybe I’m in the minority though.
11 The Difficulty Is Very Forgiving
I love Red Dead Redemption II even though there’s a lot of small quality of life things that drive me up a wall. The one thing I was most surprised about was the difficulty. There’s no setting, which is standard for Rockstar games, but even without that, the game is pretty forgiving. For example, if you fail a lot during a mission, an option will eventually pop up asking if you want to skip to the next checkpoint. That should be in more games!
10 Hunting Isn’t Worth It
Assassin’s Creed has kind of conditioned me to always go full hog into hunting animals as a great way to upgrade gear. You can do this in Red Dead Redemption II as well, but it’s a lot more cumbersome. If you down a deer, you can skin the pelt, but you have to put it on your horse. You also have to put the carcass on the horse in order to harvest other materials. You can store multiple skins on your horse, but not bodies. Going back and forth between the wild and towns was just not worth the time.
9 It’s More Linear Than It Seems
As an open world game, Red Dead Redemption II is actually more linear than I thought it would be. There are plenty of missions to tackle, but they’re mostly yellow, indicating they are story missions. There are random side missions that are in white, but they are few and far between especially compared to the last game.
An open West with one path.
Going through the story also unlocks a lot of content and gear that makes things easier. The game feels like it’s trying to get you to shotgun your way through linearly is what I’m trying to say.
8 The Unmarked Quests Are Some Of The Best
That said there are unmarked quests to be wary of and I’m not just talking about random encounters, or the Stranger missions. Here’s a great example. I was on my way back to camp early on when I just so happened to notice a bloody rabbit carcass. I decided to get off and try and skin it. I couldn’t, but the trail led me to a bridge where I found a crime scene. The main story is awesome, but this subtle storytelling is what really sold me on the world. This is just one example too.
7 Where Does My Horse Go?
There are times when you have to leave your horse behind during a mission in order to drive a carriage, or something. Usually, it comes back to you at the end, but there were some missions where I was stranded after completing them. Horses won’t be lost though. They’ll just be stuck at the start of the mission area and if you’re too far away, whistling won’t call it back. That is unless you get the horse hitch upgrade for your camp, which will always call them back there. I really wish I knew that earlier.
6 Shops Are Kind Of Useless
There are tons of shops in the world like general stores, gunsmiths, and more. The game tells you to get into them, but they’re kind of useless. Why? You find plenty of consumables and ammo on downed bodies for example.
Playing dress up with Arthur is always fun.
So there’s really no need for the general store. As for guns, well, you get some of the best stuff during story missions. The game is also not that difficult, as I mentioned, so upgrading just isn’t worth the time. Buying clothes, on the other hand, is great.
