Post by Tig on Nov 26, 2018 13:01:12 GMT -5
Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) is the perfect example of showing how important first impressions are. The opening act, desperate people trapped in a blizzard, set the tone for what is sure to be a long, highly detailed, and grand adventure. The prologue drags a little as everyone moves through the snow like it's made of molasses, but that's easily forgiven as the game is just getting started. The first act starts and immediately not only do you have access to the entire gorgeous open world, but a plethora of side missions and activities are available. Hunting, exploring, fishing later turns up, there's even a nod to GTA as you can steal carriages and wagons and sell them for a profit. There is so much to do from the opening that it's easy to lose the purpose of the main plot.
I think that actually turns into an issue for RDR2. The plot is by and large uninteresting and very, very (very) dry. The main story is so uninteresting, in fact, that I would much rather hunt down prize game or go fishing for an hour than slog right through more empty quests and vapid dialogue. I was talking to another gamer friend of mine and we agreed that what's missing in this game is drive. In GTA you can't wait to get to the next mission and, in many cases, you can't wait to replay them. I am now 50% through the RDR2 and there has not been a single mission that left me wanting to replay it or rushing to the next objective marker to see what's next. Four chapters into this game and the protagonist's band of friends have moved from snowy mountains, to open prairie, to a crappy swamp, and yet, entertainment wise, they're all still stuck in the snow moving like molasses.
The plot involves Arthur and a gang of robbers, thieves, murderers, and scum as they are pushed east on their flight from authorities with the ultimate objective of fleeing the country. The names are all familiar from the last Red Dead game, and several make return appearances, but Rockstar did a great job keeping the games separate. RDR2 is NOT derivative, almost everything about it is unique from the last RDR or any GTA game. The pace is different, the setting is different, the people are different, everything is bigger and more fun, except for the story. It's a solid, stable game with only one or two major bugs and it is, by far, the most graphically detailed game I've seen, but it's not enough to pull you along.
I'm reading articles about people giving up on the story and I can't say I blame them. This game is boring. It's just flat boring. Everything is slow. The way Arthur moves through the camp, buying and selling things are slow, the way horses move in towns, the dialogue...oh heaven help us the dialogue! It's authentic and well acted but every character, every single character, rambles like they're trying out for a role in Romeo and Juliet. And the travel! You don't unlock fast travel until the second chapter and you can only fast travel from certain points that only take you so far! There's no waypoint drop off. On a map bigger than any other Rockstar game WHY IS THERE NO WAYPOINT DROP OFF? So, to get to ANY mission, ANY side mission, heck just to ride home so you can catch required sleep, you spend ten minutes or more riding your horse to the desired spot. In the middle of missions, you have to ride across the map. At the end of missions, you have to ride across the map. It's beautiful, it's relaxing, but when literally 50% of the game is spent trying to get somewhere, it gets real old real fast.
Then, the big kick: there's no payoff. The combat is bland and uneventful. If you can engage targets at range then all you have to do is hunker down from cover and pick them off one at a time. There are very few missions that require any urgency and the only time I've died is when I got hung up on an object or walked into several people shooting me at once. Rockstar did good making sure that the game is not ONLY about combat (something Witcher 3 and Mafia failed at miserably) by adding errand missions, stealth missions, and a VERY crafty hide-and-seek mission with people trying to kill you in the cornfield. Yay! It looks like the game is picking up, then I have to take a photographer on a boat ride for almost ten minutes into the swamp and back so he can take pictures. That's it. That's all of it. Just row, row, row your boat and back. Why? What purpose did that serve other than me clearing the side quests off the map? It's crap like that which keeps me from wanting to do another side mission.
So here I am, halfway through and unless it's right next to me, I'm avoiding all side quests for the main story. I'm bound and determined to finish this game as I have far too many unfinished ones under my belt for the last year. It's not about attention span or not appreciating the beauty of immersion; bear in mind I spent over 100 hours on Kingdom Come, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is just utterly boring. It's beautiful, the side activities are fun, but the writers and cast should be spanked for not once thinking about their audience and just going off to do their own thing. Rockstar made a masterpiece background then forgot to put anything of interest in the middle of it. What we're left with is a beautiful landscape to explore...and really not much else.
I think that actually turns into an issue for RDR2. The plot is by and large uninteresting and very, very (very) dry. The main story is so uninteresting, in fact, that I would much rather hunt down prize game or go fishing for an hour than slog right through more empty quests and vapid dialogue. I was talking to another gamer friend of mine and we agreed that what's missing in this game is drive. In GTA you can't wait to get to the next mission and, in many cases, you can't wait to replay them. I am now 50% through the RDR2 and there has not been a single mission that left me wanting to replay it or rushing to the next objective marker to see what's next. Four chapters into this game and the protagonist's band of friends have moved from snowy mountains, to open prairie, to a crappy swamp, and yet, entertainment wise, they're all still stuck in the snow moving like molasses.
The plot involves Arthur and a gang of robbers, thieves, murderers, and scum as they are pushed east on their flight from authorities with the ultimate objective of fleeing the country. The names are all familiar from the last Red Dead game, and several make return appearances, but Rockstar did a great job keeping the games separate. RDR2 is NOT derivative, almost everything about it is unique from the last RDR or any GTA game. The pace is different, the setting is different, the people are different, everything is bigger and more fun, except for the story. It's a solid, stable game with only one or two major bugs and it is, by far, the most graphically detailed game I've seen, but it's not enough to pull you along.
I'm reading articles about people giving up on the story and I can't say I blame them. This game is boring. It's just flat boring. Everything is slow. The way Arthur moves through the camp, buying and selling things are slow, the way horses move in towns, the dialogue...oh heaven help us the dialogue! It's authentic and well acted but every character, every single character, rambles like they're trying out for a role in Romeo and Juliet. And the travel! You don't unlock fast travel until the second chapter and you can only fast travel from certain points that only take you so far! There's no waypoint drop off. On a map bigger than any other Rockstar game WHY IS THERE NO WAYPOINT DROP OFF? So, to get to ANY mission, ANY side mission, heck just to ride home so you can catch required sleep, you spend ten minutes or more riding your horse to the desired spot. In the middle of missions, you have to ride across the map. At the end of missions, you have to ride across the map. It's beautiful, it's relaxing, but when literally 50% of the game is spent trying to get somewhere, it gets real old real fast.
Then, the big kick: there's no payoff. The combat is bland and uneventful. If you can engage targets at range then all you have to do is hunker down from cover and pick them off one at a time. There are very few missions that require any urgency and the only time I've died is when I got hung up on an object or walked into several people shooting me at once. Rockstar did good making sure that the game is not ONLY about combat (something Witcher 3 and Mafia failed at miserably) by adding errand missions, stealth missions, and a VERY crafty hide-and-seek mission with people trying to kill you in the cornfield. Yay! It looks like the game is picking up, then I have to take a photographer on a boat ride for almost ten minutes into the swamp and back so he can take pictures. That's it. That's all of it. Just row, row, row your boat and back. Why? What purpose did that serve other than me clearing the side quests off the map? It's crap like that which keeps me from wanting to do another side mission.
So here I am, halfway through and unless it's right next to me, I'm avoiding all side quests for the main story. I'm bound and determined to finish this game as I have far too many unfinished ones under my belt for the last year. It's not about attention span or not appreciating the beauty of immersion; bear in mind I spent over 100 hours on Kingdom Come, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is just utterly boring. It's beautiful, the side activities are fun, but the writers and cast should be spanked for not once thinking about their audience and just going off to do their own thing. Rockstar made a masterpiece background then forgot to put anything of interest in the middle of it. What we're left with is a beautiful landscape to explore...and really not much else.
