henke on 15/4/2019 at 15:28
Ahhh, here's a nice place to set up camp.
"You cannot rest while there is activity in the area."
*gets back on horse, rides a bit further down the road*
"You cannot rest while there is activity in the area."
*rides even further into the woods, tries to set up camp again*
"You cannot rest while there is activity in the area."
WHAT FUCKING ACTIVITIY? DID A RABBIT FART WITHIN A 5 KILOMETER RADIUS OF ME OR SOMETHING????
also I've been playing a lot of RDR2 lately, think I'm getting close to the end. This game is wonderful, and frequently infuriating.
Thirith on 16/4/2019 at 10:38
Over the last week or so, I finished chapters 4 and 5, and it definitely feels like I'm getting close to an ending. I wish I could put Dutch out of his, and our, misery, but alas, that won't happen any time soon/already happened years ago. Also, I've got a bullet with Micah's name on it, and I'm hoping to use that one soon. That guy needs to be put down.
Even after riding around for hours and hours, I'm constantly gobsmacked by how breathtaking the scenery often is - and even when it isn't, it feels real the way that few (if any) open worlds do. In no small part thanks to the lighting tech and the sound design, RDR2's world is one of the most atmospheric I've ever encountered in a game.
Malf on 16/4/2019 at 13:42
I really need to get back to this. I too felt like I was nearing a conclusion last time I played it, by I got distracted by other games and felt my interest waning as RDR2 outstayed its welcome.
It's great, but feck me, it's long.
I also need to finish off Spider-Man, but my interest in that one dropped off for slightly different reasons. No matter how good the traversal, it still descends into Ubi-style open world busy work, and there's something about this manifestation of Peter Parker I just don't like.
henke on 17/4/2019 at 18:28
Welp, that's it. Reached the end. Looking back on the story, it feels very similar to that in GTA V. A lot of shouting that eventually just kinda fizzles out into anti-climactic endings. Some nice moments here and there tho.
Enjoying the epilogue, although I was hoping the player character would switch to Sadie. Felt like the narrative was setting her up as Arthur's protégé.
scumble on 18/4/2019 at 15:00
My son got to the end and spoiled it a bit for me, but there's a lot I didn't see him play. The story has more interest than GTA5 but I'd agree the ending is a bit meh. I'm more inclined to go back for hunting and scenery.
Malf on 18/4/2019 at 15:34
I fired this up again last night.
It's a hard game to like, but an easy game to admire.
Coming back to it after playing more responsive stuff, it's a real slog getting back in to the groove necessary for extended play sessions.
And the crime and punishment system, particularly in Saint Denis, feels far too aggressively tuned.
Whilst attempting to access my horse's inventory, I suffered some controller cognitive dissonance, and accidentally pulled my rifle from the saddle while a copper was near by.
Even though I immediately holstered it, the copper decided he didn't like me and went into arrest mode, with me becoming Wanted for $5.
But there was no way for me to surrender and simply pay the $5 on the spot; the copper just started shooting at me, and what followed was a miserable run through the back alleys of Saint Denis trying to evade an increasingly numerous army of homicidal, psychic coppers, who despite losing sight of me seemed to know exactly where to find me.
I didn't shoot back at all, knowing that this would just increase the bounty, and eventually managed to escape.
But even after the Wanted meter had decreased to zero and disappeared, the coppers still appeared red on the radar. It only took one to spot me, at which point I had to start the whole tedious evasion of bloody-minded lawmen all over again.
I then did a couple of missions to try and push the story forward, but got frustrated by just how on-rails the missions are, and eventually gave up and played some Hitman 2 instead.
RDR2'a a staggeringly beautiful game with incredible systems and depth of simulation, but it's definitely saddled with some unfun throwback elements from the Rockstar back catalogue.
JumpinBlackjackFlash on 18/4/2019 at 15:41
Maybe the gun rules are wired to be different under the hood from city to city? I can see the Saint Denis cops being a bit stricter about longarms.
henke on 18/4/2019 at 17:53
I'm really enjoying the game again, and the epilogue is turning out to be HUGE.
Quote Posted by Malf
RDR2'a a staggeringly beautiful game with incredible systems and depth of simulation, but it's definitely saddled with some unfun throwback elements from the Rockstar back catalogue.
Yup. I don't even think it's a throwback tho. The mission design is way more linear in RDR2 than in previous R* games. The way a lot of gameplay elements are locked off during missions is groundbreaking in it's awfulness.
scumble on 18/4/2019 at 21:14
I'm not sure games have progressed that far in terms of NPC and environment behaviour - it has got more detailed but we are still plagued with nonsensical situations due to accidents and glitches. Immersion is always broken by something.
Thirith on 19/4/2019 at 09:36
I can't really compare directly to any of the other games, but yeah, the missions are a lot more about "This is what Arthur would do. Retrace his steps." than about letting you be the cowboy you wish to see in the world. By and large, Rockstar gives you open world that let you freely do a wide range of things, but the moment the story takes over it tends to tell you that freedom is an illusion and we're all trapped in our roles.
Which IMO tends to be an example of gameplay and story converging in these games, really; especially in RDR2, Rockstar are telling a story about a lack of agency. Dutch thinks he and his gang are truly free men, yet freedom is always just out of grasp because of needs: they need to rob just one more bank, they need to kill just one more person who has wronged them - and by the time the characters realise just how much they've been trapped by their supposed freedom, it's too late.
Still sucks in the sense that on the surface the game promises freedom, but the missions do the opposite. I don't mind all that much, because I love just being in that gorgeous world and I find the story and characters quite engaging, but it is impossible not to wonder what a Rockstar game would be like if it actually delivered freedom rather than griping about how it's always just out of reach.