Why it Took me Almost 6 Months to Complete Red Dead Redemption 2's Single-Player Content

AusGamers has written a personal and emotional deep-dive on how Red Dead Redemption 2 struck it's managing editor, Stephen Farrelly (not the WWE superstar, Seamus). Here's a snippet (warning spoilers ahead):

"Prior to my snowy mountain assault on the turncoat, I’d been spending time in Tall Trees trying to feed Evelyn Miller, the struggling writer whose cabin sat at the north-western end of the area, but right in Skinner territory. We run into him as Arthur, too, but that’s a lifetime ago. Miller’s refusal to eat or drink until his latest draft is completed sits as a poignant metaphor for how I’ve chosen to play Red Dead Redemption 2. I’m not playing it as a completionist -- I have myriad tasks yet to complete. Rather, I’ve been playing the game as a denizen. A main character, yes, but one at peace with the game-world around me. Living in a “microcosm of romanticised period media”, as I also wrote in my review.

Never has a game done this to me.

[PoSTedUP]

beautiful, what a passionate read and one i can relate to. this game is a masterpiece and im still lost in the world, i dont want it to end. great article it almost made me feel like i was too stupid to read it lol.

[VenomUK]

It’s been 4.5 months since the game was released so it would be more accurate to write ‘why it took me 4.5 months to complete.’

I’m not busting chops! But better to not sacrifice accuracy to make a point.

[billythepunk]

I had the game way earlier than release, for review purposes. It’s actually between 5 and 6 months. Ran with “almost six” over “over five months”, no reason. Just where I landed.

[PeaSFor]

I got the game on launch day, played the first hour and half and then never touched it again, I just lost interest in it and felt like not playing it at all, maybe one day I will find the motivation to play it again.

I work night shifts(9pm to 6:30am) so probably it's related to my lifestyle and not the game itself.

[Saigon]

@PeaSFor

Not certain why you are getting disagrees, its your situation. For me most games are like that, and usually that is a good sign. I must say, once you get past the first few tutorials the game-play picks up. I am only about 30% complete, but that is due to me playing this game late. I picked it up on launch day but I was so burned out due to completing a few other games before hand, one which includes spiderman. I've fully jumped in now, and I must say this game is worth it. I will be getting Seiko next week and Days Gone next month. If I am not done with RDR2 by then, which I won't, they will have to wait. Ugh I just forgot, I have two other new games I must play as well. Looks like I have an interesting year.

[VenomUK]

@billythepunk - no worries!

[PoSTedUP]

@saigon. the game and gameplay gets better and better but the camps get worse imo. im at like 54%. i play almost 100% in FPS mode. i really love the foraging, crafting, hunting and fishing, so robust!

[sampsonon]

i got bored after a couple of days and deleted it. i might come back to it n the future, but damn that game is a slow drawn out empty world. i do like some aspects of it of course but the combat s so bad it's hard to enjoy.

[Lord_Sloth]

I like the story, the characters, most of the gameplay, and it's absolutely gorgeous, but it's also absolutely tedious. Clean your guns, eat food, clean your horse, take a bath, pull back your hammer before you fire your gun... *sigh*

[Redrex7000]

yea u really got to be in the mood
cuz the game is slow
and focus you to take it slow
with the animation and
what not

[rainslacker]

I took a while to complete it because the general world stuff was pretty good and interesting. This was mired by doing stuff for crafting or the camo, which was ultimately meaningless. But, the general world stuff I did more because the actual story was more a chore than interesting. I'd only go do those story missions when I needed to open up the rest of the world.

Biggest complaint in the game though was the completely jacked up fast travel system, coupled with a ridiculous crafting system and too small a satchel to make it fun because you'd have to run back and forth across the map, or spend money to travel, and you'd still have to travel to a town to travel to camp.

To me, R* sacraficed fun game play mechanics for realism, and the realism still wasn't real enough to make it worthwhile, and who cares about realism if it isn't actually fun.

[PoSTedUP]

im the opposite. i liked everything about the realism and crafting systems. travel etc. it immersed me into the world more. yes, i even enjoyed chopping wood for the camp and feeding the horses etc lol. its just a game in its own and there is nothing else like it. i would take long hunting and fishing expeditions up into the mountains, camp out, craft, cook, track animals, look for easter eggs etc. go into town, do stranger missions and side quests, hit the bar have a drink and play some poker or black jack. go shopping for supplies and what not. the thing that i really love is how you have to buy gun oil and physically oil up your guns to keep them in good condition. blew my mind. one more thing, if you come across an opossum , it will play dead!!! its really the game i have been waiting for.

[rainslacker]

I think the crafting itself was OK, although ultimately meaningless to the enjoyment of the game, would have been better if the acquisition of materials wasn't quite so cumbersome, slow, and trying too hard to be realistic. It's cool at first, but after skinning a few hundred animals, you just kind of wish it had a quick animation to speed things up.

I did like the fishing.

The gambling would have been fun, but they made it so there were no high stakes, except in that one mission. The talking was monotonous after a while, and the smirks when someone one were grating. Seeing these people get excited no matter what they won was laughable, and the slow dealing to be realistic isn't really something that is fun for the long term. While I appreciate the fact the dev wants the player to slow down, and they want you to experience that realism, sometimes devs have to think of the players as well. Not considering the fact that not everyone cares enough to see the same animals skinned hundreds of times, or see the slow process of real Blackjack or Poker dealing, is just bad game design, coupled with a pretentiousness by the dev to think that everyone will just like what they have to offer because they happen to make it. It isn't considerate of the players time, and it would have been simple enough to give the option to speed things up for those that don't care, or wish to speed up the rather extensive grind that the game presents.

[PoSTedUP]

i agree with the high stakes gambling. but they did have a button you could press to skip the dealing. they should have a skip button for the skinning i agree, but im pretty sure if you are skinning a bunch in a row (mainly bigger game) they sped it up and didint show the whole thing for every one of them. and at the same time, it isnt necessary for the game or story, just certain animals if you want to craft new clothes or satchels. i personally like it though. its just a game of that level of realism that we really havent seen before. it has its grind and it is time consuming, but so do other games, the game does have its flaws. they took it to the max this time and im personally glad they did. the ones that like hunting and fishing and the realism of out doors would appreciate it more, but at the same time it really isnt necessary to do thoes things to complete the game. just like playing poker or taking a bath, shaving, chopping wood etc. there will be the people who will try to hunt down every animal, and the ones who wont at all.

[rainslacker]

Yeah, I knew you could skip some stuff on the gambling, but not all of it. When it's faster to get up and down on the black jack table if you're going for that trophy, then there is a problem IMO.

The crafting itself, at least the skinning parts, were sped up after the first one, but they were still overly long if you're doing a lot. Same with looting, which also had the downside of costing you more in bounties which is a whole other issue I won't even get into, and was probably the worst part of the design of the game.

[PoSTedUP]

yep. some of the looting, store front robberies for example would result in a break even or loss with the bounty. it made you be extra careful not to get caught, though the first one mine was at like 90bucks bounty for like $50 plus a gun. but yeah exactly, flaws. going around looting people is time consuming but i did feel rewarded when i hit the fence with a lot of expensive jewelry and what not. im trying to get the cigarette card collections to see exactly what they are worth because its been a long time coming and they better be worth alot, they are hard to find without a guide.

[rainslacker]

The biggest flaw with the bounty system was that it was a game that supposedly presented you a choice between being good or bad. Being good, you were saddled with the worry that even when you tried to do good, you'd sometimes be punished for something you never intended to do. Like I looted a dead guy where a passerby actually saw the guy being kicked by his horse. Commented on how bad the luck was. We sat there looking at him for a while, I even greeted the guy, then he started moving on. I looted the guy, and he freaked out, and I had the law decending on me.

But the biggest problem is that the choice to be good or bad was heavily favored to making the player be good, because being bad was just too tedious and costly. While I understand some ramifications for choosing the bad path, the actual punishment was rediculous, and not even realistic in resolution. Pay the bounty, and you can get off with a night in jail even if robbed the bank of a couple hundred dollars, shot the sheriff and deputy, the entire militia, and half the innocent people in town. Hell, I got a $25 bounty, and people shooting at me because one of the town dogs got in front of my horse and I ran over it. I was like WTF. I spent so much time trying to be careful, that it just wasn't fun some of the time.

The way it was structured was that the choice wasn't really a choice. The dev wanted you to be good, and made sure you went that path or you'd end up not getting ahead because you were always being chased, couldn't even hunt if you were wanted in an area because your shots would cause the law to pursue you, and you'd spend all your money getting out of trouble.

[Damrock]

Sitting there for 10 minutes with your horse on autopilot going back to camp, Wondering why your still even playing the game...

Honestly one of the most boring games i have ever played.

I expected this to be my new favorite game.

[sprinterboy]

Had great times with rdr but for some reason I can't get into this one, I don't know if it's the game, me or something else but my gripes out weigh the positives. Finished chapter 2 and started 3 but haven't played since November.
I'm fact afte res2 and metro (awesome games) I've reinstalled hzd, order 1886 and bloodborne and purchased trial rising (awesome) I've literally just had a week off work too but didn't feel compelled to play rdr2, just battered bloodborne, finally defeated 4th boss lol.

[SkatterBrain]

not being able to mess around more and try crazy stuff without people running to go tell on you, even when you clear out everyone the pinkertons are always on you, it sorta ruins the fun, take out everyone while taking a train they dont stop coming, even though theres no one left to go tell em to send more guys, that system is sorta weird to me , Mafia 2 did a good job with what the coppers could do with the technology at the time, could get away with stuff changing cars or getting rid of everyone ,changing clothing or licence plate number

[sampsonon]

exactly

[l33t_haxx0r]

Coz it's boring af

[chris235]

it will take me much, much longer because i can‘t get into the game. but at least i‘m not blogging about it ;-) i‘m posting a comment. for zero clickrevenue *g*

[FunAndGun]

It took you 6 months because you had to recover from the boring sections and convince yourself to power through.

[raWfodog]

I've been loving it as well. I honestly just love exploring the wilderness and discovering all the interesting people and places tucked back in the woods. It is such a detailed, open world and the devs did a great job of filling it with activities and life.

[PoSTedUP]

i agree 100% @your comment below: gah, thats why i dont want kids. i do, i really do, but i dont... lol. my girl is ready, i am not. im still a kid in my mind.

[King_Noctis]

I still haven’t finished the game yet lol. The game is so great (at least for me) that I don’t want it to end.

[bignosepig]

This game has its flaws. I powered through this game in a month and I feel like a piece of shit. Not really satisfied but glad to be done, like most games for me. BUT. Recently, I popped back in the disc, and just starting messing around and doing sidequests, and it's been some of the most enjoyable moments for me in the game. Still a stellar and amazing game, but all the problems everyone says are definitely true. Disclaimer: I played the last one so I had the willpower to blast through this game in such a short amount of time

[Gamingsince1981]

Short amount of time ,in one month ? I had the game finished including the prologue and all side quests in 4 days......how in the hell did you drag it out over a full month and still have things to do ? Were you playing the online mode ? I didn't touch multiplayer so maybe that's why.

[bignosepig]

Mind you I sometimes spent a few hours to many in playing session and took a week break. I also didn't touch online though, I tried it for 15 minutes but it wasn't compelling

[raWfodog]

"...how in the hell did you drag it out over a full month and still have things to do ?"

For me, its simply because I have no time for long gaming sessions anymore. Between work, wife, kids, chores (did I mention work?), I'm lucky if I get a few hours of game time in on the weekends. Not to mention the huge backlog of other games I'm also playing through as well. I just want to be rich already so I can game all the live long day :)

[rainslacker]

I only stuck with it because for some reason I felt obligated to complete it to 100%. I got over that a few days after I finished the epilogue. I just said I'd prefer to play another game, so I did. I was going to platinum the game, but said it wasn't worth it, because while I feel ok about the game overall, it just wasn't enjoyable enough to do the remaining tedious work, and all the MP stuff just to get a platinum trophy. I'd rather spend that time getting a plat in a game I am enjoying

[brando008]

Got the game mid February, and just finished this past weekend. What an incredible game that invites you to slow down and take it all in

[InKnight7s]

It is boring as simple as this.

[franwex]

God what a bore fest this game is.

But I’m ok with that. Maybe going fishing with Jack may not do it for me, but I understand that story and tone can be enjoyable for other people.

What made me quit was the tedious control scheme. With games like Breath of the wild, or even Assasins Creed that actually control decently this game stands out-in a bad way.

Hunting for treasure and gun fights are a real pain and not fun-which is the actual game. So boring story+bad gameplay=me not playing (rockstar still kept my $80).

There was 1 reviewer that actually scored this game fairly with a 7 and everyone got pissed off. Guess they were the only one that is trustworthy now.

[Orionsangel]

It's taking me months to complete AC Odyssey. So I hear ya.

[Skuletor]

I still haven't finished, I jump between different games all the time. Plus I usually try to clear all the icons off the map when I do play so it takes me awhile to finish open world games.

[EronY]

Why it Took me Almost 4 Months to Complete Red Dead Redemption 2.

Because it's boooooring...

[EricLane]

I'm in chapter 6 and don't think I could replay it considering my backlog so I got a map and now I'm running around to see the sights and check dinosaur bones off my list. I really need to get to Witcher 3.

[isarai]

I stopped playing it cause the Blur on PS4 pro hurts my eyes after about 30mins, just gonna wait till they fix it. Which by the looks of things may never happen as MP seems to be all they care about now