Red Dead Redemption... 2!!!

Fair point. But as with most prequels that serve as sequels, it'll be fleshing out a story you should already know. At least in part. I'd wager some of RDR might feel a little less epic or even boring if you play it last.

Would The Empire Strikes Back and its big reveal of Darth Vader being Luke's father have been as good if you watched the prequels first?

Ok, maybe not the best example since those prequels sucked.

But gameplay wise and graphically speaking, playing RDR last will feel like a step back. But it's your choice. I don't want to spoil RDR for you as the story is great. There will be certain aspects of this prequel that will have a bigger impact for you if you already played the first one. Trust me on that.

That, and it just gets you primed for a good western game.

 

At least some good news today. More RDR2 info and footage.

25 days. It's beginning to feel real now.

 

I can't remember the last time I was excited for a game like this. It looks like everything I hoped it'd be.

 

I can't believe it's been exactly 2 years since this thread was opened. I can't tell if time has flown by, or if it has felt like forever.

Let's not even mention the over 8 year wait for a sequel.

But we're almost there. It's going to be the longest week ever. I have the digital version pre-ordered, so I get to start downloading it tonight. That might be even worse. Knowing I have it on my hard drive, but unable to play it.

 

Tonight's the night!

To tide us over during this very long day, here's my favorite tribute video to the first game (no spoilers):



And the RDR2 version:

 

I'm tempted but will refrain from using a meme of Randy from South Park (the internet episode). Those in the know already know which one I mean.

6 hours in and I've barely scratched the surface. There's too much to see and do. I am suffering from attention deficit disorder with this game. No matter what I intend to do, I get distracted and find myself doing something else. Hell, I spent over an hour just picking plants, mushrooms and berries. Wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't already intending on going to the next town to find a gunslinger. I still haven't gone there...

The graphics are stunning. Easily the best looking console game I've ever played. The world is extremely immersive. The gameplay is more challenging this time around, but not in an annoying way. Hunting in particular is WAY more in depth this time around. Killing my first legendary animal (a nasty looking bear) got the heart racing. And having limited storage space means you can't go on an indiscriminate killing spree.

The map is ENORMOUS!

Yeah. This one is going to take a very long time to finish.

 

Yes. You should have.

The game is even better than I could have hoped for. And I hoped for a lot. RDR was my favorite game of all time and this one blows it out of the water. I'm not even talking about the story. I have no idea how far into it I am, but it doesn't feel like I'm even close to the end seeing as West Elizabeth and New Austin are still locked (not exactly locked. But you'll be shot dead on sight if you even step a toe into them). There is SO MUCH to do and explore that one can easily put over a hundred hours into the game in a single play through. Just plowing through the story and ignoring everything else would still take you about 60 hours! But I'm not plowing through it. I'm savoring it. And I still haven't seen half the map.

And seeing as how I put 4 years into GTA Online without getting bored until very lately, when RDR online comes, I'm sure I'm in for another few years of fun.

You could always trade CoD in.

PSA for you folks who are still just starting who haven't started playing yet. Quick tips the game doesn't spell out for you with zero spoilers:

In RDR, hunting was a great source of income. Maybe the best source of income. Not so here. Oh, it's still important (and far more challenging at first), but money is easy enough to come by just playing the game and side quests/exploring. Don't waste time early on trying to hunt for cash. Hunt for materials for crafting only. And similarly, don't kill indiscrimnitely. Only perfect pelts are worth anything of value. To get one, it must be the right animal (3 stars), with a perfect kill (extra damage ruins even a good animal's pelt). Every species has a perfect kill location (head obviously, but sometimes heart/lungs too) with only one or 2 weapons/ammo limiting the damage. You'll learn those as you go. A bow is always a great choice depending on arrow type. But perfect shots with the right firearm will get the job done too. Plus, as your shooting and hunting experience gets better (skill level), perfect kills get easier. Save your ammo and time and only go for kills on 3 star animals unless you really need the meat. Also, remember to "study" a species the first time you see it (it's a button choice when looking at the animal through sights or binoculars). Helps build xp, adds to your journal, and makes tracking and IDing 3 star animals easier.

Legendary animals can give you mats to make unique items and even trinkets that boost certain stats. A fence crafts the trinkets.

Now, what to do with your hunting gains: You can use perfect pelts for crafting to build up your camp, and make improved satchels (allows you to hold more things) through your camp's cook. You can also use them to craft clothing, equipment upgrades, and even saddles through a trapper. What the game doesn't tell you is that you don't have to hold those materials forever. Your cook will hold them until you have enough for camp upgrades, and you can sell them to a trapper and over time, he'll sell you the goods he makes as he has enough inventory for his crafting. So give your pelts to the cook and sell them to the trapper as you go. Saves space and keeps you from losing everything if you die.

Play the game missions almost exclusively until you get to the first fishing mission. By then, most abilities should be unlocked. Then go ahead and waste all the time you want exploring.

There are legendary fish too, but I haven't done much fishing yet and haven't seen any use other than food. I might be missing something there.

Invest in your camp early and often. Upgrading Arthur's tent can give you fast travel. Updating Dutch's tent improves how much the rest of the gang chips in.

 

A dude?! That's John Marston! You know, the protagonist of the first RDR? Unless you never played the first one. In which case, pay attention to him throughout the game.

I found out what to do with trophy and legendary fish. There's a guy in a shack on the northeastish shore of Flat Iron Lake. He gives you a side quest to catch and send trophies to him. It also unlocks the ability to buy special lures which you must use or a legendary will never bite.

Well, and food.

 

I am in heaven with this game. It is already exceeding my expectations- and they were high. I haven't gotten very far, and I'm still getting used to the controls, but I am probably going to lose a lot of sleep playing this...only never to finish.

Same voice actor, too, which is cool because I thought he "retired" after RDR.

 

My wife pre-ordered this for me through a deals site for like $34. The reason it was so cheap? It is the Mexican release. I have to say, having everything in Spanish is pretty cool.

 

Yep. Also, Bill, Dutch, Abigaile, Uncle, and even Edgar Ross. I'm not certain if Javier Escuela is the same voice, but we heard so little from him in the first game, I guess it doesn't matter.

Edit: Apparently, Abigaile and Uncle have different voice actors this time around. They sounded similar enough, I never noticed (except for them maybe sounding a bit younger).

Sadly, the voice actor for Landon Ricketts died a few years ago. I have zero idea if Landon makes an appearance in this game, but if he does, it'll be a different voice actor. But it was a nice touch by Rockstar paying tribute to Landon's voice actor, Tom Hagen. The highest peak in the game is called "Mount Hagen." And in Lemoyne, there's a "Hagen Orchards."

I'm going to have to actually get around to playing the missions soon. I've been too busy smelling the roses. Exploring, gambling, fishing, and hunting. Mostly hunting. I need to make that sweet sweet gear. And legendaries too. Speaking of gear, I'm sure you all have figured it out. But on the off chance you don't know, you can store 4 outfits on your horse. It's a good idea to make sure 3 of them are fit for certain climates: average, HOT, and freezing cold. If you enter a new area, or the weather changes (a warm area got frigid one night during a storm), you can easily switch clothing on the fly and not lose health and stats.

So after some serious hunting I made up a fairly decent cold weather outfit and went on a hunt that reminded me of a certain Charles Bronson movie from when I was a kid:

 

Death Hunt!

I've haven't worked on the missions much, but I'm having an awesome time just hunting, gathering, and playing poker. I hardly played any poker in RDR 1, but I can't stop myself this time around. I think I went on a horse taming spree for 4 or 5 hours the other night.

I'll throw this question in a spoiler just to be safe-

Spoiler

How do you unlock fishing? A friend of mine told me you have to take a kid fishing, but I've not come across that.

Also, I left a good horse hitched to a tree a few nights back. I couldn't find him, but I put a marker on the map. If I go back, will he still be there or will he "despawn"?

Lastly, I was riding at night and a wolf spooked my horse. I couldn't see it before it came up on us, and I completely lost ability to use my controller. Is that normal? Ultimately I think my horse killed it, but it was weird.

This was a while back, but getting drunk with Lenny was possibly the best thing ever.

 

Ha! I completely forgot about Death Hunt. Just remembered the furs. I was going for "White Buffalo" but combined those 2 movies in my head.

If you don't put your saddle on a horse, don't stable it, or don't hitch it to the upgraded hitches in camp, yeah. He's gone if he isn't on the map.

Not a spoiler really to say that yes, you unlock fishing in a mission where "Uncle Arthur" takes Jack fishing. It happens about midway or slightly later in Chapter 2. Stop exploring for now and push through missions until Chapter 3. By then, everything will be unlocked except for some recipes, you'll have some money in your pocket, and the camp in Chapter 3 is the BEST camp in the game. Location, location, location. (Great scenery too)

If your horse gets spooked enough, it'll start bucking and even buck you off. While being bucked off, you'll be helpless to do anything until back on your feet. I've never lost a horse. Never accidentally rode one off a cliff, hit a train, or the usual ways. Animal attacks rarely get my horse hurt (bastard bucks me off and bolts) and if I'm ambushed where I'm surrounded, I'll quickly dismount and order the horse to flee, then deal with the enemy.

 

My latest hunt:

 

Ahh, I think I might be screwed. I haven't seen a Marston since the beginning. https://www.gamerevolution.com/guid...-missing-bug-where-are-sadie-abigail-and-jack

 

Jeezus!

 

For side stuff in chapter 2, yes. Not to fear. You're not missing much. The fishing mission is a story mission, so it'll have to trigger.

Edit: Hmmm... I assumed that mission would have to trigger because something significant happens during it that drives the story. But that article makes it seem as if that may not be the case.

Not to worry. There's a few other fishing missions. But the article makes it seem as if you can fish already. So try it out:

Go to water.

Hold your left bumper button to bring up your weapon wheel. Hit your right bumper to go to the items tab. The lower right segment (around 5 o'clock) is the one you want. Move to that and hit your right trigger to cycle through the items. If they're right, the rod should be there.

Select your rod. Once it's out, hold left bumper to select bait. Hold your left trigger in to grasp and hold the rod/ reel. Look in the direction you want to cast. Press right trigger to cast. Hold it for backswing, let go to cast. You can be more precise with casts by how long you hold. You'll get the hang of it from long casts to short pitches.

You won't have lures until you buy them at Lagras. But you can buy other bait from most store catalogs. Just wait for a bite if bobber fishing, or reel your lure slowly (you reel by rotating your right stick clockwise). You can tap your right trigger to flick the line every so often. (You can also use eagle eye to see fish in sun glared or muddy water and move your bait accordingly). You can actually feel nibbles and bites by the vibration in your controller. When you have a good bite, pull and hold your right trigger to set the hook. You can let go once it's set good.

Then just play your fish. Careful not to reel when it goes on a run or thrashes near the surface. You can also press in your right stick to mimic halting the drag if a fish is peeling off too much line. But obviously use that sparingly or you can snap the line.

Once you can fish, go to the north shore of Flat Iron Lake and look for a white question mark. There, you'll receive the side quest for legendary fish and unlock the lures needed to catch them. Then go to Lagras at your earliest convenience and buy said lures.

You'll be catching stuff like this soon enough.



Obviously some of these fish don't look like the weight listed. But they fought like it.

 

Don't you feel silly riding a small dog though?

 

Thanks for the awesome tutorial, Ray. Unfortunately, I didn't have a fishing rod or any Marstons appear in camp after finishing all the chapter 2 missions, so I decided to restart the game. I figure I'm at the edge of time lost vs value, so it was now or never. Shouldn't take too long to get back to where I was if I hurry through the missions.

 

I avoided that bug by complete accident. Or maybe by my insistence on almost roleplaying. Eating, walking around with coffee talking, making sure to sleep. I don't know exactly how much or how often you need to sleep before it weakens you, so I played it as getting him a few hours per in game day at least.

Yes, you can plow through chapter 1 in an hour or so. Still hurts having to restart.

I'm in the epilogue. It's very strange visiting iconic places in game that you got very familiar with playing the first game. Some of them have subtle differences being a few years before RDR. Some are pretty drastic. And all are so much more detailed.

I had to go to a certain spot and just rode there knowing exactly where it was and the best route to it. My wife said, " you played t
his game so long you don't need a map?" I said no. I played the first game so much, I don't need a map.

This should look familiar.

 

Here's the Aurora Basin, which was snowy in the first game. Must be summer or fall this time.



There's some extremely wicked dust storms in n the desert. Wait until you experience one.

 

Apologies for the photo dump, but a little fun playing around with outfits.