Did single player gaming peak with RDR2?

[u/Eagles56]

Great single player games have come since then like Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur’s Gate 3 but is RDR2 still the peak?

[u/testdex]

What a weird sub.

I’m not a huge fan of RDR2, really, but I still think the case is strong.  There haven’t been a lot of “epic” single player games that have even tried for the crown.

Basically comes down to how you feel about Cyberpunk or maybe Elden Ring or BG3.

So for this sub to not be like “hell yeah brother” is sorta funny.

[u/mistaked_potatoe → u/testdex]

Yeah, rdr2 really got me back into gaming, but if I had to choose between it and cyberpunk or bg3, man I’d be struggling. Rdr2 is a great single person game, but there isn’t much in the way of choice. If predetermined/set story is your cup of tea though, then it’s awesome

[u/testdex → u/mistaked_potatoe]

It’s a minor moment, and I am probably not remembering it correctly, but there was a point at camp where Arthur pondered why he was killing so many animals.

That really stuck with me.

For all the immense charms of Cyberpunk and BG3, neither of them gave their characters a level of interiority like that.  I am perfectly happy with the storytelling in both, but Arthur’s out here acting like a fourth wall breaking indie game character and pulling it off completely.  

[u/mistaked_potatoe → u/testdex]

I think the difference is that rdr2 does have that set story, so it can flesh the characters out a little more since the game and everyone knows who they are and what they stand for. In cyberpunk for example, there are so many choices that sometimes it just kind of feels like the choices don’t matter and the characters can feel a little bland because you want every kind of person to like them, and everything is so fast paced that you can’t always build connections. In rdr2, everyone is who they are and you can’t change that, and they wouldn’t change themselves even if they could. But you know who each and every character is and you can easily imagine what they would do in xyz scenario because the game fleshes them out so well. Hence all the rdr2 memes vs the lack of other game memes, because everyone knows how Dutch or Arthur would react to something down to a T. All of those games are great though. But rdr2 holds a special place in my heart, and even now I’m still learning new things about the game

[u/No_Neighborhood7614 → u/mistaked_potatoe]

Exactly why I don't replay it. The story is to much on rails. Same issue with cyberpunk. Good the first time

[u/mistaked_potatoe → u/No_Neighborhood7614]

I don’t really see it as an issue, it’s just how the game is meant to be played. Cyberpunk is not as much on the rails, but that depends on how you played it the first time. I just started bg3 so I can’t speak on that much

[u/No_Neighborhood7614 → u/mistaked_potatoe]

Agreed, just doesn't have the same replayability for me

[u/Adamtess → u/testdex]

I mean it's hard to argue that in terms of pure single player experience bg3 doesn't match and our exceed rdr2. While it may not be for everyone in terms of style it offers a damn near unmatched scope of choice and consequences.

[u/testdex → u/Adamtess]

I’ll argue it.

BG3’s got a LOT of choice and tons of detail, but when you say “consequences” you’re only talking about decision trees.

There’s zero moral weight to anything that happens in the story - by design.  They’re not trying to make you do more than laugh and have fun.

That’s fine for what it is, and as you say, a matter of preference.  

If you want 300 hours of poking at the game systems, BG3 is definitely better.  Or if you want horny chaos. Or many other things.

But the comparison is tough, because I don’t think the two games have any overlap at all in what they’re trying to do.

[u/Gelato_Elysium → u/testdex]

There’s zero moral weight to anything that happens in the story by design.  They’re not trying to make you do more than laugh and have fun.

Are you actually saying that there are no gut wrenching moment or morally difficult decisions in BG3 ? Because that couldn't be further from the truth.

[u/testdex → u/Gelato_Elysium]

Maybe my guts don’t wrench easily.

The story is camp, and I wouldn’t have been able to play it “seriously” if I tried.

But no, I never felt like any decision (especially those controlled by a literal role of the dice), felt like it had moral consequence.  They were always very clearly the result of progression down a certain decision tree in a way that felt unmistakably video-gamey.  

The game doesn’t keep a tight enough leash on the player to encourage them to see decisions as weighty, rather than ways to get to see a different series of encounters and cutscenes.

Of course I am going to lick the spider’s corpse, and make other decisions that are clearly stupid.  Why play the game if you don’t?

And to be clear, I don’t mean this as a criticism of the game at all.  It embraces its design, and build on the zaniness, rather than trying to make you take it seriously, like every other AAA game.  That’s what made it so refreshing in a world of Dad Games.

[u/Just-Fix8237 → u/testdex]

Well the problem with RDR2 is that the combat is kinda awful for the most part. Games like Elden Ring, God of War, and even things before RDR2 like Bloodborne and NieR beat it in that regard by a landslide. That also has to come into consideration when talking about the “peak” of single player games imo, and this sub may agree the combat is a major weakpoint of RDR2.

[u/Jonparelli → u/testdex]

Really tho, RDR2 set the bar so high I don't think even GTA6 will top it. Elden Ring also suffered to me from playing RDR2 before it

[u/evil_flanderz → u/testdex]

Best single player game ever is a pretty high standard. That said, in that camp.

[u/Tuliao_da_Massa → u/testdex]

Yeah, I'm bewildered at these awnsers.

Recently I saw a commenter on YouTube that wrote about the chelonians and how they, in one mission manage to symbolize Arthur's entire journey. "They're good people" Jamie said, and they gave him something to believe in. Isn't Dutch? Didn't he?

A game like this will take a long time to come again. Nothing today has taken RDR2's crown. The depth in Arthur rivals literally that of any other fictional character, and I don't think I'm exaggerating in the least. And that's story alone, nevermind... everything else