If you haven't’ played Red Dead Redemption 2 yet, I don’t think I need to impose it on you anymore than I’m sure the entire gaming world already has. I won’t delve into what makes it a masterpiece or rehash the same platitudes that have circulated every gaming sphere for the past seven years. What I will tell you is my latest experience with the game, having played through it twice already, I yearned to return to the company of Arthur, and spend another playthrough with the gaming worlds most beloved cowboy.
Like a wistful god gazing upon mortals, I found myself going back to the beginning of time to weep at my anointed Arthur, I know of his tragic fate, and his destiny, while he is blissfully unaware, tracking snow into the ramshackle cabin that the gang find themselves in. I know Dutch’s true nature, and of Hosea’s death, and of all the pain yet to come, like Thanos, I feel as if I am cursed with knowledge. I make it through the bitter cold and oppressive snow of chapter one, and the gang make it into the east. The wagon wheel breaks, Arthur begins to fix it, and the splinters of his destiny once again begin to embed themselves in his weary hands. I begin to steel myself for the coming pain. The misery of Read Dead 2’s captivating story doesn’t begin to set in for a few chapters yet, but I can see the tide of melancholy starting to swell in the distance, in the words of fellow tragic Rockstar protagonist CJ, “oh ****, here we go again”.
It’s my third playthrough now, the first one is my sacred timeline, It was, at first, a low honour playthrough, which pivoted into high honour as the game progressed, this is my own personal canon as it allowed me to fully experience Arthurs redemption from highwaymen to hero (it also gave me the opportunity to play with the games low honour systems), my second playthrough was a pure high honour, as although Arthur didn’t know it, I knew that he was indeed a good man, and I strived to uphold the heroic virtues that I knew lay within his soul.
This time, once I get to Horseshoe Overlook, I look across the valley, my eyes and Arthurs scanning the Dakota river, he has a cigarette on my behalf, and I begin to wonder, what will I do this playthrough? A dark thought crosses my mind once I realise there is one thing I haven't done, a low honour playthrough. I wince at the thought, and the terrifying idea scares me out of the camp and onto the road. I’m going hunting.
Whilst many of Red Dead 2 systems are locked behind story missions the trapper is available from the get-go, and the ability to hunt, skin and sell pelts is an immediate hook for those who already have experienced with the hunting element of the game. My playthrough begins with a lot of hunting, at first, it’s self-serving hunting, hats and boots and coats for Arthur. Then it’s to sell for money which goes straight into the strongbox at camp. I give some meat and pelts to Pearson for camp upgrades and for food for the gang, eventually I notice the satchel menu, the ‘Legend Of The East’ satchel draws my eye. No matter what kind of playthrough I end up doing, I need have this, that satchel is a mighty boon for Arthur, his looting and herb collecting tendencies requiring an impossibly large inventory space. The next ten or twenty hours of this playthrough consist mainly of more hunting, outfitting Arthur, and working towards the legendary satchel, any profits go towards the gang.
I do a few quests along the way, enough to unlock some critical gameplay elements, namely ‘Exit Pursued by a Bruised Ego’ which unlocks legendary animal hunts, which provides me with yet more hunting opportunities and access to the legendary pelts for the trapper. Life is good for Arthur and the gang, Blackwater begins to feel like a distant nightmare and life in Horseshoe Overlook begins to feel comfortable. Alongside hunting, I begin to collect dinosaur bones and complete challenges; there’s also the matter of the gunslingers.
Red Dead 2 is a thrilling narrative masterpiece, and the missions always leave you wanting more: more dialogue, more action, more money. On my first playthrough especially I could not stop doing missions, not only was the story gripping, but I was taking anti-spoiler measures. The internet means that spoilers lie around every corner, especially if the online zeitgeist is fixed on the game that you’re playing, I was determined to finish before I was caught out by a stray Reddit thread, Tweet or YouTube thumbnail.
Subsequent playthroughs of Red Dead are free from this burden, and on this third playthrough especially I felt completely liberated of the looming pressure to progress the story. Countless hours passed and eventually I got the satchel, most of Pearsons upgrades and a majority of the Trappers clothing. The constant flow of money and goods means the camp is happy and Arthur is free to hunt and roam the beautiful valleys and forests of the lush green county, this is the life that Dutch envisioned for the gang, and for now it was a reality. Time wasn’t standing completely still however, some missions are needed to unlock certain things; a couple of examples are ‘Money Lending and Other Sins’ is needed for the ledger and camp upgrades and ‘The Spines of America’ are needed for the fence.
Aside from these missions however I took great joy in slowly and methodically completing the games many side objectives and returning home to a happy camp, everyone was still friends, and more importantly Micah was nowhere to be found, still behind bars in the Strawberry jail, where I was content to let him rot for his future sins.
In between hunting I enjoyed the act of traversing Red Dead’s vast and beautiful world, taking Arthur up to the grizzlies to hunt bears, down to dusty ol’ Rhodes to play Blackjack or creeping around the Bayou for alligator skins. The random events add a nice bit of spontaneity to the journey, but even without, getting lost in the inspiring beauty of the east country is a serene experience, and without any narrative pressure, it makes sense for Arthur and the gang to take their time and build a life for themselves near Valentine.
It has now been countless hours since I arrived at Horseshoe Overlook and looked over the Dakota River, so long since I began to wonder if I am going to embrace evil and commit to a low honour playthrough. I rejected the idea at first and I reject it now. I have come to the realisation that I don't need to progress the story at all, why force myself to push forward and try and satisfy ambition, when instead I can be perfectly content and happy where I am. I find myself in the cowboy version of the Garden of Eden, free from the greed of Dutch, the evil of Micah and the scourge of tuberculosis. If this really is the primordial garden, then I don’t want to let the snake in. It’s a paradise, before the events of the game start to ignite conflict and the dominoes start to fall as the gang is slowly torn apart from the inside. The more I relax into chapter two, the more I don’t want to leave. For Arthur, he’s living his life: hunting, making money for the gang and enjoying the peaceful countryside, but for me I am stuck here because I am paralysed by a longing for a simpler time, a time in Read Dead’s story before ambition, false promises and loss.
Deep down though I know that this cannot last, time marches on, and one day I will need to go and collect money from Thomas Downes and once again witness the death of lovable Sean. Chapter two isn't without its drawbacks; Deadeye isn’t fully levelled up and Clemens point is arguably a better camp. If I want to experience the story, I will need to look beyond the safety, tranquillity and beauty of chapter two.
It’s important to enjoy the present, and it’s important to be comfortable, but the future cannot be denied. Hanging out doing collectables, side content and enjoying the world has been my serene little safe space away from the stresses of life. It is a simpler time for Arthur and the gang, it feels like the paradise of Haiti that Dutch so fervently describes for the entirety of the second half of the game. However, one day, if I want to experience Red Dead 2 again, I will have to head to Strawberry to save Micah and say goodbye to Mary Linton one more time. But I don't need to think about that now, life can sometimes throw a Micah at me, or take away a Mary, but trying to anticipate the future can be paralysing, I just need to enjoy the present moment.
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