Compared to the themes of revenge and justice that drove John Marston (and the player) throughout the story of Red Dead Redemption , the shift that Rockstar puts on to the Van der Linde gang as a whole places Red Dead Redemption 2 's storytelling in a very different context, but one that is just as compelling and engaging as John's hunt for the members of his former gang. Despite the fact that the game is a prequel, which gives players some sense of awareness as to the fates of certain characters such as John Marston, Dutch Van der Linde, Javier Escuela, Bill Williamson, and more, the story in Red Dead Redemption 2 -- without getting too thick into the weeds of spoilers -- takes so many twists, turns, and surprises that it holds its own in crafting an engaging tale with so many exceptional moments to enjoy.

When you reach a destination after traveling on your horse, before you actually embark or reach the waypoint to begin the mission (or speak with a character that might initiate a mission), bring up your weapon wheel to make sure that you're carrying the equipment you intend to bring with you on the mission ahead. Whether that's your trusty carbine repeater and a shotgun for those brutal gunfights, or a bow and tomahawk for stealthier missions, always check when you're by your horse to make sure that you have the right tools for the job, otherwise you'll find yourself at a loss and may not be able to (easily) return back to your horse before the mission is over.

From the visuals and score that feel drawn straight from the past several decades of Western cinema classics, to a world that is full of secrets to discover, to a story that continually pulls you in over the course of its many twists and turns, Red Dead Redemption 2 truly comes as close to the sense of a "living, breathing world" that I think we have ever seen from a game before, and it's truly invigorating to play and experience every inch of this world and see what it has to offer.

It's more than just pointing out that people can't come back for the grave. There are no continues in real life. That much is obvious. What I will say though is that I'm coming at this from a humorous perspective. I'm engaging my fellow fans in a conversation to laugh about all of the ridiculous stuff that goes down in Red Dead Redemption II . Maybe the things that happened to me didn't happen to you and vice versa. Some of these issues may not even be alarming to others. That's fine too. Again, all I'm trying to do is engage in the conversation. I also want to make it clear that I'm having an enormously good time with the game. It's everything I wanted from a sequel and more. Well, mostly. I would have preferred it not to be a prequel, but that's a whole other rant. There are some light mission spoilers ahead, but I keep the exact details to a mini

During certain missions, you are prompted to cover your face with a bandana, which is typical of Westerns. It looks cool. This is to keep your identity hidden, right? Well despite this, somehow you always get fined with a bounty. It doesn't make any sense. I tried wearing masks too and that doesn't do anything either. It feels like Rockstar put them in as an obligation to the genre. They didn't want to implement it as a real disguise. It might have broken the game otherwise, or someth

There's going to be a little crevice, eventually leading to a cave. In there, you'll find stone statues, seven in total. Taking another look at the cave paintings, you'll find that the statues in the painting are accompanied by eagles with varying numbers of tail feathers. The feathers correspond with fingers on the statues, the winning combination being: 2, 7, 5, 8, 3, 4, 6. Once the combination is put in, you'll be rewarded with three gold b

Another thing that doesn't make sense is the beginning concerns water. No matter what you do, there are certain areas in the snow-covered mountains you need to tread water in. How is there not a scene immediately afterward of Arthur freezing himself to the bone, or at least getting sick? In the grand scheme of problems, this is a very minor one, but it was enough where it got me to think. Again, the beginning just has a lot of issues with

Due to all of this, it is of no surprise that Red Dead Redemption 2 is gearing up to be one of 2017’s most hotly anticipated games of the year. Despite Rockstar’s pristine record of releasing great quality games, they’ve set quite a high bar for themselves in attempting to outdo the lightening in a bottle they caught with RDR . However, if they stay true to the atmosphere and tone of the first game, Night hunting strategy and follow this advice, they’ll be releasing an even more legendary game than its predeces

I hope you enjoyed my 25 Things We Wish We Knew Before Starting Red Dead Redemption 2 article, because I’m back with another. This time I thought it would be fun to point out some of the inconsistencies, plot holes, and stuff that generally don’t make sense about Red Dead Redemption II . I know topics like this seem like cheap punching bags. I mean when you get right down to it, video games don't make a lot of sense in gene