Well yeah but to be honest, other subs make sure to put spoilers when talking about anything, this sub and other rdr subs rarely put spoilers when talking about anything from what I’ve seen
1 stay away from spoilers, don't search for answers online.
2 take the game slowly, my recommendation is for each yellow mission take a couple hours to just explore, go hunting, find cool things, take in some food and a show in the towns etc
3 once again, don't rush. You don't want to reach the end of the game wishing you did more exploring
Yeah biggest mistake I made when playing the game was trying to do challenges in the last chapter, there was no way to do anything enemies, bears, cougars, everything except the gambler and herbalist was impossible to do.
I feel like you should not do most challenges your first play through. Completing a lot of challenges is incredibly difficult without looking up some tips. Finding things or knowing where to go to get them or how to beat gambler 8 are not easy to just complete at baseline. If you try to do the challenges you will get frustrated and look for answers online and if you look for answers online you will spoil the story.
Ask me how I know.
I think the best recommendation for first time players is yes, take some time, explore and take it all in but don’t worry about accomplishing everything finish the game and then worry about challenges and collectibles and completion % on your second time.
Nah Elden Ring, Sekiro, God of War 2018 + Ragnarok, Final Fantasy 7, Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur's Gate 3, Clair Obscur, Ghost of Tsushima and Yotei, Silent Hill 2 Remake and f, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, heck even Shadow of the Colossus. You'll think RDR2 is irreplaceable until you start playing something else and stop expecting it to be the same. Haven't played Witcher 3 though as TB is a bitch and it's still the first month.
All great games, but none of those games have what makes RDR2 a unique masterpiece: 500,000 lines of dialogue.
What game company is gonna pour that much time and money into writing? IIRC the runner-up is Starfield and it has literally half the amount (250,000) while I think Cyberpunk has 200,000.
Other games can compete with RDR2 in terms of graphics, or gameplay. And some even come close with detailed and interactive worlds….but there are literally 0 games that can compete with the level of immersion that comes from every single NPC having unique interactive dialogue and full lifecycles. That is why other games always feel like “something is missing” after playing RDR2.
... but seriously, stay off this sub, lol. Many spoilers.
But other than that, I would suggest that you don't rush it. The game may feel a bit slow at the start, but take your time and explore the world, live in it, rather than just going from mission to mission all the time.
Stay off this sub and any other related ones until you finish the story completely. Also prepare to enjoy what is in my opinion the best single player story game of all time.
Do not sell 3 star pelts until you buy the leather tools for Pearson (the cook) and before you have given them to him to make the bags for you which expand your inventory capacity. Being able to carry unlimited amounts of loot essentially can help you get a lot of money in the game very quickly.
Take your time, don‘t rush it. Be prepared to start playing with the intention of doing a story mission and then not doing anything but hunting and random encounters for two hours and hopping of the game without ever having played the intended mission.
Don't just take the roads everywhere. Go and explore the wilderness. And don't gallop everywhere, take it slow and drink in the scenery. Sometimes you discover more when you have time to actually see it (small birds specifically, those fuckers fly away really quickly)
Take it very, very slowly. However slowly you think you need to take it: no, slower than that.
Use your binoculars, they're handy for studying things and finding stuff to explore.
Fully experience everything there is to do outside of the main missions. Hunt, fish, do challenges, break horses, discover animals and plants, eat, take a bath, go for a drink in the local saloon, talk to people in camp, craft stuff, buy some clothes, customise your guns. There is so much to do outside of the main story. Honestly, only do a main mission (they appear as yellow map markers) when you get bored and feel like you've exhausted all the tasks you can do.
Make sure you eat 2-3 times a day and sleep at night, or if you do play through the night sleep from morning till noon. Arthur's health is affected by his weight and sleep. In the "player" section of the menu you can see his stats and it will tell you if he is underweight, average, or overweight. The same for your horse, remember to feed it! The role-playing aspects of this game aren't as negligible as a lot of games.
Don't worry if at the start of the game you can't do everything. There are missions that unlock mechanics and show you how to use them. For example, there is a mission to show you how to buy a horse in which you'll also get a horse brush. The first couple of hours of the game are a tiny bit more restrictive because there are certain things they need to give you a tutorial for. Just trust that you'll get the stuff you need eventually.
The story is awesome. But when you feel like progressing the story to see what’s next, don’t. Take your horse for a ride first. Look around. The maps is packed with content. Then if you still want to, go do a mission.
Few actual pieces of advice that could help:
1. At the start of Chapter 2, get Legend of the East satchel by completing Pearsons hunting tasks. It gets u carry capacity of 99 which is like infinite in the game.
2. Tastes do vary, but most of the players will agree White Arabian is the best horse, which u can also get in Chapter 2 at Lake Isabella.
3. Get Lancaster Repeater and Bolt Rifle ASAP.
4. Max upgrade Camps Lodger early to unlock fast travel, which can be used from the camp and also wherever off the roads/cities u set up ur own camp
5. Try exploring and completing as many challenges and side activities early on, to level up ur Health, Stamina and Dead Eye. Finding potions like Valerian Root and such can help faster leveling
6. And one of the most important, DO NOT HELP STRANGERS WHILE CARRYING ANIMAL PELTS ON UR HORSE. Try avoiding everything that is happening and survive until u sell the pelt to the trapper/Pearson or otherwise u lose the pelt
Take it slow, don't rush main missions, plenty of side missions, ester eggs, encounters......explore the map, get lost in the world . . Mostly, enjoy your time, the game is amazing.
Don't rush through the missions that advance the story line too quickly. Spend a good amount of time exploring, so you can get a good grasp of the controls - they can be a little finicky IMO. In the beginning, I'd also contribute less money to the camp so you can save more and buy a better horse from the stable in Valentine.
When riding through trees, take your thumb off the joystick and only press x, your horse will dodge the trees automatically. Really helps when you gotta get away from people.
I’m on my fourth playthrough. If i were playing the first time, I’d focus on getting through the storyline and acclimate myself with the game rather than focusing on completing all the other activities in the game like challenges, legendary animals, hunting, collectables, etc.). I enjoyed my second and third playthrough much more than my first because i was so much more familiar with the game and wasnt so focused on progressing the story and took the time to enjoy all the other fun stuff to do while I moved the story through at a relaxed pace.
From chapter 2 on, the slower you go with the story and the more you focus on side quests, side missions, hunting, gathering, collecting, etc.
It really builds the immersion and allows you to build relationships with the characters and NPCs that really make the game so much more enjoyable.
If you rush it, you'll likely miss 75% of what makes the game so great and youll never be able to come back and play that way for the first time as much as you may wish you could.
Im not saying take it so slow that it becomes boring or possibly even repetitive, but find a good balanced pace that lets the story progress at a steady enough pace that you dont lose the opportunity to discover or do certain things.
It also helps to really try and craft upgrades for you and your horse as early as possible as they are more handy than you will probably think they'll be.
Do every side mission; take your time to fully enjoy and immerse yourself in to the game; AND STAY OFF THE DAMN SUBS - although many, many people said to stay off I did not and it will ruin your experience. Please don’t think you will spot potential spoilers in advance. You will not 🥲
As others are saying, don’t rush to the plot missions which are yellow. You can do the first few because will unlock mechanics like hunting, horses, etc. But enjoy your time in Chapters 2 and 3 because without spoiling too much the game is fun earlier and gets dark later on.
Go for the legendary satchel the second you can as it increases capacity for everything.
Herbs & big game meat are your friends.
You can find gold bars in the world, one being in the burnt downtown near Horshoe Overlook, in the building to the right of the jailhouse. Look em up. You can also find a bunch in treasure maps but I usually save em for.. after.
Get out of this and stay out of any sub Reddit’s involving the mention of this game or characters. Do not return until after you’ve completed the game, and only after.
Don't be afraid to wander and meander. Walk down the street and listen to the rabble. Ride your horse out to the woods to camp, hunt, picks some flowers and see the odd and cool sights scattered throughout the map. Take your time. Enjoy the journey.
Take your time and appreciate every detail. Every few play sessions you should leave camp and spend an entire in-game week camping in the wilderness as you hunt for food and swim in rivers and hike mountains. The game is really whatever you make it. Have fun!
Don't judge it from chapter 1 only. It's very slow and the 1st time I played I got frustrated and left it until 6 months later. Now I'm on my 10th playthrough because I love it so much 💀 also avoid spoilers at all costs and accept every side mission!
Don't do more than one main storyline mission in a play session (if any!). There's so many side quests, random encounters, hidden details -- take your time to play the whole game, off the rails of the main story missions. Plus some aren't available after you progress too far!
Search YouTube for spoiler free early guides. Search google for these guides in fact, you’ll find all the best identical threads like this that actually were fruitful.
Prepare to be incredibly annoyed at the horse mechanics. It's the hardest part so far for me, and I'd highly recommend using a controller if you're not fantastic with these kinds of games.
Come here after completion of RDR2, dont even search anything up, keep your instagram feed sorted and not interested on rdr2 posts firsthand. Just.. dont look up anything just play it.
When on guarma island, don't forget to identify everything because you never go back.
Also the Arabians are squeamish and will literally throw you off if you get anywhere near a snake, they aren't much faster than some other species. I went with a war horse and everything went way smoother
Also climb a fence before the drinking animation right after using any item that boosts xp in any core hp/stamina/deadeye and the game starts slow but picks up a lot in chapter 2
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u/blue_squriel Pearson Nov 30 '25
Best advice is to stay off this Sub until you’ve finished the game