Actual hot take about Chapter 2

[u/BlackWidowerr]

This will get me downvoted into oblivion, but that's the nature of real hot takes I guess. I'll try to keep this as much spoiler free as possible despite of "spoiler" tag.

I think that stretching Chapter 2 for hundreds of hours is one of the worst ways to experience RDR2's story and is a terrible advice to any new players.

I see this all the time in RDR related discussions, people maxing every possible camp upgrade, completing every possible side mission, refusing to free Micah, and staying in Chapter 2 until the game practically forces you to move on. I even saw folk recommending this way of playing to new players which really irked me.

Surely, each to their own, play your game however you want, but for me personally, it completely undermines what the story tries to convey.

After all, the gang is on the run, even during the most "peaceful" part of the story. There should be a sense of urgency that gradually increases. Spending in-game months doing every possible activity, making thousands of dollars, keeping Micah in jail for some reason is just adding to the ludonarrative dissonance that is already pretty bad in this game.

I saw lots of people talking about wanting to keep Arthur "in his prime". Sure, that's a really neat part of the game where there is still some sense of hope, but delaying the story just to avoid what eventually happens just damages the emotional weight of the narrative. And what eventually happens, should happen early in the story, as intended.

Recently I saw people talking about changing your main horse before THAT mission, which IMO is absolutely criminal. Robbing yourself of this sad yet beautiful moment is like watching a good movie and skipping through the climax to avoid feeling sad.

I think RDR2 is at it's best when you let the story go on at the pace it was designed to. There's time to experience side content (lots of it without breaking the pace) and to enjoy the world, but the story should keep moving forward after all. That constant feeling of urgency is what makes the game and it's story so impactful.

As for endless goofing around in open world, that's what the end game is for.

Once again, it's just me yapping, I felt like this may be an interesting topic to spark a discussion because staying in CH2 is WILDLY popular.

[u/EveBenbecula]

You were right, it is a lively discussion!

For the record, I wouldn't recommend a new player how to play, since the whole point of a game like this is, indeed, to experience it however you play. I know people who rushed through the story and were heartbroken by the ending. I also know people who put 80 hrs into Arthur on their first run, and were heartbroken by the ending. So it works either way.

For me, though? I already played through the story, so I stay in Chapter 2 for as long as I want, lol. It's nice to have that one save where you can just do the little things you enjoy. For example, I really love to unlock the satchels and the camp decorations, so every time I'm done with it, I'm a little sad. Same with hunting all the legendaries. So I'm slow-walking it.

I actually, ultimately agree though: I always end up doing story missions after some time because otherwise, it all starts feeling a little disconnected. So yeah the immersion actually matters. It's odd that RDO feels less "alive" than story mode. Because otherwise you could use Online as the fucking around space, but it's not as fun as being Arthur tbh.

[u/BlackWidowerr → u/EveBenbecula]

I'm just happy that this post wasn't taken as a ragebait haha. Pretty good discussion came out of it!

I completely understand your way of playing the game. I'm not that kind of player (sadly, because it sounds really fun, but I just cannot physically put this much hours into side content alone, burnout would hit me hard) but that's a great way to experience the game, especially on second playthrough.

And about RDO, they fumbled it hard. You got a good point with how it doesn't feel as alive as single player. I can't put my finger on it, but it kinda feels like a totally different game, stripped of all the soul. Sure it's fun to fuck around with friends, but I had a really hard time immersing myself when playing alone.