I stood on the edge of the precipice and looked out over the town of Valentine and the expanse beyond. It seemed to go on forever. My goal, however, was in plain sight, just on the other side of town. Caliban’s Seat, which could be seen from miles away thanks to its horse shoe shape, supposedly held the second treasure map I needed, hidden away by the Jack Hall Gang so would-be treasure hunters like myself wouldn’t stumble across it. Unfortunately for them, they’d misplaced the treasure map map, which was now in my possession. It was time to move.
After a casual ride along the outskirts of Valentine, and a slightly less casual hike up a mountainside trail, I'd found myself on a narrow ledge along the side of Caliban's Seat. I’d immediately recognized the final location as Cotorra Springs up north, where’d I’d taken a detour just days before. It was getting dark, but I was so close. Sleep could come later.
As the sun was setting, I finally arrived at the Springs, anxious to uncover this grand treasure and return to camp with something of value. As I closed in on my destination - the swash of a nearby geyser filling the silence of night - I spotted a peculiar arrangement of stones. Underneath this little monument was, lo and behold... a map. Another map? There was only supposed to be two. Suddenly, paying that mysterious “entrepreneur” for the location of buried riches didn't seem like the greatest exercise in judgement. It was now dead of night, and I hadn’t slept in over a day. It was time to set up camp and head out at first sunlight. That treasure wasn't going anywhere.
Over the last half a decade as I grow older and my patience wears thin, I’ve found the scales that balance my preference of narrative and gameplay tipping in favor of the latter. As a kid with nothing but free time, the prospect of hundred plus hour long JRPGs excited me, their convoluted stories colorful casts of characters mesmerizing me. These days, with a few exceptions, I find myself seeking out shorter experiences that allow me to jump in and jump out with tight, responsive mechanics that are easy to learn and difficult to master (Dead Cells and Monster Hunter: World to name a few recent examples).
Despite this, I love Red Dead Redemption II, a game that absolutely does not respect your time nor your preconceived notions of how a modern game should play and react to your input. Rockstar is notorious for having “their way” of doing things and consequently digging in their heels while the rest of the industry conforms to change, for better or worse.
Red Dead Redemption II is a game that, well, doesn't want to be a game. It doesn't want you to think of it or to approach it as such. When you insert that disc (or install that file), load up, and set out on whatever adventure awaits, the rules and expectations of damn near every other game don't apply. Arthur Morgan is not a man known to rush things. He is a slow, exhaustively animated element of a living, breathing world, and he likes to mosey his way through that world at a pace that would be downright generous to call “leisurely”. Want to loot those rival gang members you just finished off? Get ready for a detailed animation, showing you grabbing and emptying pockets. Skinning an animal? Animation. Looting cabinets in an abandoned cabin? Animation. Hell, taking a bath at the local hotel? You damn well better believe there is a lengthy animation for that.
To some, this can all make for a slow, cumbersome slog of a game, and I honestly can’t fault them for thinking that. Looking at Red Dead Redemption II from the perspective of purely fundamental game design and quality of life you’ll find it’s really quite flawed. The story-focused missions bear the brunt of these flaws, corralling you down a narrowly defined, scripted track that punishes you for even the slightest deviation. I've been met with numerous "game over" screens after doing something I didn't even realize was against the rules. When Rockstar has a story to tell, they want you to experience it exactly the way they intended, no questions asked. It’s not a user friendly experience by any stretch. Almost any other game trying to pull this off would probably leave me frustrated and playing something else.
But I bought in. I continue to buy in. I’m not just playing a game the way I normally do, checking off boxes on my way to a staff roll or 100% completion rating. I’m Arthur Morgan, dammit, living out his life the way I expect he would. At no point do you actually need to sleep, for example. You could theoretically go weeks or months or years without a second of shuteye and be met with nothing of consequence. But Arthur needs to sleep. It’s getting dark out, so I better set up camp, cook some rations, and get some rest in before starting anew first thing in the morning. My horse’s health and stamina cores are full, so by video game logic she’s fine, but it’s been a long day and she’s put the work in so I better feed her, pat her, and give her a brush. Maybe even take that saddle off and let her roam the field for a bit, unconstrained.
It’s all in service to living out this western fantasy. Every texture, every animation, every ambient sound is crafted in painstaking detail to pull you in and make you forget you’re just playing a video game, doing video game stuff. People have schedules and routines from day to day. Towns are alive with hustle and bustle. The roads are traveled by merchants, lawmen, and runaway outlaws. It’s easy to feel like you’re really part of the Wild West when everything around you is designed so convincingly.
This feeds into an overarching concept that games can take advantage of over other forms of entertainment: role-playing. I don’t just mean your typical RPG full of stat leveling, tech trees, and dialog options. It's a state of mind. To be so invested in a world that you want to interact with it beyond just inputs on a controller - inhabiting it and really putting yourself in the shoes of the protagonist - speaks a lot about a game. My partner and her sister - who don’t necessarily play games on a regular basis by any means (but love horses) - recently got a PS4 of their own along with RDR2. It’s fun and interesting watching them play; they’ve taken to it in a similar way. Taking care of their horse, setting up camp and turning in at night, even heading to a hotel to take a bath after a muddy ride in through the rain. Nothing required of the player, but what you’d inherently expect to do if you were a cowboy in the wild midwest.
I've personally rarely had this kind of experience; I can be invested in a story, a cast of characters, conflicts and relationships, but it’s more difficult more me to break through that barrier and forget I’m just playing a video game. Maybe that’s why I find Red Dead Redemption II so surprising. I enjoyed the first game, sure, and it’s probably the only Rockstar title I’d played more than a few hours of before losing interest. That doesn’t really set precedent for loading up my save with no real goal in mind, instead just going hunting or riding to a new location just to… be there. I’ve logged about thirty-ish hours into the game so far and am only in chapter two if that tells you anything. I’m not even close to being done and, just like Arthur Morgan, I’m not in any hurry.
As I stepped outside of my tent I was greeted by the blinding light of the rising sun. Rested and with newfound determination, I tore down camp and set off to the (hopefully) final destination in my precarious scavenger hunt.
Soon enough I was along the shores of a small lake, overshadowed by the mountainous peaks of O'Creagh’s Run. A beautiful sight, the light of the sun reflected off its snowy surface. A single islet lied in the center of the lake and teased me with its promise of hidden wealth. After a harrowing swim (maybe I wasn’t in as good of shape as I thought), and some light digging, I'd found it. Gold bars worth at least a thousand dollars, if not more. This was enough to keep our camp afloat for the foreseeable future. I’d just need to find a fence willing to take it off my hands.
And just like that, I was off again, the sound of the wind in the trees to keep me company along the way. To think this days long journey would have never happened had I not stopped at the beck and call of that odd fellow claiming to be an entrepreneur. Just another day in the life of Arthur Morgan.
The opening (and closing, for that matter) reads like a Louis L'Amour book--fantastic! Had me engaged from the beginning. When you switched to more of a game review, I was a little disappointed to be leaving the story; so, I was happy to see you pick it up again for the closing. Great post!