3 Reasons Red Dead Redemption II Will Captivate You Like No Other Game
/By Kate Mulligan
IMAGE COURTESY OF ROCKSTAR GAMES
Want an extra-long game to sink your teeth into? You're in luck! Red Dead Redemption II (RDR2) is an expansive world offering countless side missions, story quests, ridiculous shenanigans and intense combat that is certain to keep you engaged.
Developed by Rockstar— who also created iconic games like Bully and the Grand Theft Auto franchise— and released on October 26, 2018. The story of RDR2 follows outlaw Arthur Morgan and a gang of other outlaws led by Dutch Van Der Linde as they work to gain money to leave their previous bust of a heist behind them.
Sounds intriguing? That's not even half of what makes RDR2 compelling! There's a reason RDR2 has cemented itself as one of the best story-driven games out there. What is that reason, you may ask? Well, let me give you all the juicy details!
Gameplay Friendly No Matter Your Gaming Style
You heard me right; RDR2 is an open-world game that offers countless things to explore. No matter if you merely want to enjoy the story, 100% the game, want to stylize the main character, explore the map, or find collectibles, you can do that and so much more. There is so much to the game that not even everything could be said without making this blog post 5x as long, no exaggeration. It’s not for no reason that the game takes 150-200 hours to 100% complete, but that doesn’t mean you have to play for long. The main story on average takes around 50 hours to complete, but who’s to say you can’t take your time with it? You can speedrun the game and compete to get the fastest track record or take your sweet time enjoying all the lovely animals you can encounter.
IMAGE COURTESY OF ROCKSTAR GAMES
Expansive World That Leaves Hundreds of Possibilities Open to You
Did you know RDR2 has 144 card collectibles, 179 animals and over 400 things to do? It would be ridiculous to say that there isn’t much to do, as that is far from the truth. Rockstar’s development with RDR2 didn’t take 8 years to complete for nothing and it shows with how vast the world of RDR2 is. Taking time to ride your horse around or bunting legendary animals, or even bringing yourself around the world to complete side quests. It’s even possible to go from town to town causing a havoc of NPC deaths or robbing trains and carts, however I’d only recommend that if you don’t mind the hundreds or even thousands of dollars of in game wanted money. The Rockstar team developed the world of RDR2 to make almost anything possible within the story.
Like any open world game, RDR2 has many possibilities right at your fingertips, but what makes RDR2’s world different is the sheer detail crafted within the world. Your actions shape the world around you through RDR2’s honor system. The honor system is a simple thing. Whether you do good or bad actions, your honor will lean to either of those. This system isn’t there just for show because depending on if you lean to either bad or good honor, the ending of the game will change. I won’t go into detail as it is something worth checking out yourself, but simply put, the demeanor of the main character Arthur Morgan and the visuals will change depending on which honor you choose.
IMAGE COURTESY OF ROCKSTAR GAMES
A Strong Community That Persists Even Seven Years Later
You would think that after nearly a decade later, the community would have died out by now, but that is far from the case! To this day, I see countless of RDR2 based YouTubers, modded gameplays, challenge videos, and roleplays using the Online Play of the world. It is an absolute joy to be around to witness all the creativity from fans of the game, even with all the time that has passed. It is never too late to join in and experience the entertainment RDR2 brings, so what do you say? Play the game and explore the countless of possibilities for yourself!
Kate Mulligan
Kate Mulligan is one of our authors who will be responsible for the world building section within IGN. Born in Edmonton Alberta, Kate has lived their entire life within Canada. Having been raised in a household that loves video games, Kate has taken just as much of a liking, especially towards story driven games. For IGN, Kate will be focusing on the importance of world building and how exactly it effects the continuity of story based video games. Catch their first blog post titled “3 Reasons Red Dead Redemption II Will Captivate You Like No Other Game.”
