Red Dead Redemption 2

I was 100% on board, then there was a definitive point where I really fell out of love with the game and found it a chore to finish. Without spoiling anything, at the time of Guarma it became apparent that pacing and structure were of no concern to the otherwise excellent writers. Moment to moment and character writing is phenomenal but the storyline is stretched out to be as long as possible and the themes stop resonating as they are reiterated over and over. Needed serious editing.

The attention to detail in this game is apparent from the opening scene to the story's end but Red Dead 2 has one massive flaw: it has no soul. The original weaves themes of the old west's myths and legends into each character and story beat, elevating it to be more than just a shoot-em-up cowboy game. This is a story where the character fates are known, the ending is known, and as a result, is ultimately unnecessary. Red Dead 2 is fine but the original is infinitely more interesting.

Wild west simulation. Boring.

I haven't even finished the game yet it's that impressive.

The good: attention to detail, the relationships/interactions with people, how alive the world feels, the world itself, the story is also fine. The bad: too much realism that makes the game boring more often than is forgivable (I'm not allowing that shit just because of "immersion," it's a bad choice), unnecessary mechanics, small issues that aren't a problem in other games. The ugly: the fast travel system, one of the worst ever, adds to the bad. It's a great game, not a masterpiece.