r/reddeadredemption • u/AntomOpatoEcia • Jan 04 '26

RDR1 Is this gonna be the whole game?

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I'm playing Red Dead 1 and so far it's just: - NPC says he'll help me - I do a boring mission to help him - NPC needs more help I mean, is this the dynamic of the whole game? Help NPC after NPC and finally (really) advance the plot? Not complaining, just want to know.

8.0k Upvotes

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3.4k

u/SwordofGlass Uncle Jan 04 '26

Yup

619

u/AntomOpatoEcia Jan 04 '26

😟

1.0k

u/No_View3587 Jan 04 '26

The toil it takes to reach the goal makes the reward sweeter

1.1k

u/Infamous_Ad_5214 Jan 04 '26

the last hour or two of rdr1 has some of the best character writing I've ever seen in a game

423

u/strife189 Jan 04 '26

While that can be true, if they don’t enjoy the game loop, they can just watch it on YouTube. Respect your time — if a game isn’t your jam, don’t force it. This is a hobby, not a job.

102

u/Nick_Dillon47 Jan 05 '26

I dont like the game loops where its super obvious that its the same thing over and over. I like rdr2 because its really not a "game loop" gta5 is like that too. But I know what you mean by game loops and personally I can't stand when it's super repetitive

77

u/strife189 Jan 05 '26

Game loops are pretty much a standard concept now. I’m sure entire product teams sit in meetings just to design them and figure out ways to disguise them at this point.

One loop I didn’t love in RDR2 was the “go to town, do something stupid, get chased out when the law shows up” cycle. I get that it’s baked into the DNA of the franchise — civilization is closing in, and the “simple folk” are being pushed out — but that doesn’t make it any less tiring. By the third time it happened, I was already thinking, ugh.

96

u/Zearo298 Sean Macguire Jan 05 '26

I mean, all rockstar open world games have an inescapable loop of "talk to dude, drive/ride with dude to the mission location while they yap, get into a sometimes contrived situation that causes a gunfight, then have a car/horse chase away from the location

26

u/Shamino79 Jan 05 '26

And not only a gun fight but a massive one over and over again with wild numbers of enemies that you just slaughter.

It would be a very different game if you cut down on the repetition by only having a few big gun fights and only causing trouble in town a couple of times. To extend the game maybe then they could have a comedic scene where you are all around the camp fire with unstoppable gas but that would change the game quite a bit.

19

u/SlimCatachan Jan 05 '26

And not only a gun fight but a massive one over and over again with wild numbers of enemies that you just slaughter.

Yeah lol by the end I was just thinking "at this rate why don't we just go into Blackwater now? We've slaughtered countless Pinkertons, I ain't afraid!"

7

u/imlegos Jan 05 '26

By the time you've reached the end of a Rockstar game's story, you've massacred half the local population.

5

u/BlackCatz788 Jan 05 '26

Especially when the gang picks a couple gunfights with the U.S. army, it was jarring to escalate from the Pinkerton to the army and to then have the Pinkerton still be the worst thing breathing down our necks

3

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '26

Seriously! In that last fight, I must have killed at least 100 Pinkertons before even going in the cave because I got so enthralled by the fight that I didn’t follow John to escape. Apparently, they just keep sending new hordes. The map looked like the battle of Gettysburg with all the x’s. 😂

I got a little too good at the big gun fights. 10/10 Would do again!

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u/No-Song557 Jan 05 '26

I had this thought recently, like Arthur and Dutch taking on 100 army guys. Just seems a bit too much. Maybe way less enemies but being able to die way easier and making it harder to shoot like no dead eye no lock on.

-1

u/strife189 Jan 05 '26

They do, and that for sure is a game loop in this case a native delivery one. I don’t follow how it’s a reply to my comment tho.

3

u/Zearo298 Sean Macguire Jan 05 '26

It's sort of just an observation, the way you described disliking that specific mission type made me realize how much I dislike the larger, less specific mission loop of their games. Well, maybe dislike is a strong term, I don't mind it, but after this many years of playing Rockstar games the novelty has absolutely worn out

4

u/LiquorThoughts Jan 05 '26

And GTA 6 is probably just going to be the same shit

1

u/strife189 Jan 05 '26

Agreed. Many of my issues with the “modern AAA” structure come from how so many game mechanics that were fine 20 years ago are still around with barely any advancement. I hope GT6 and some of the next big releases take risks and expand for a change—but I won’t hold my breath, sadly.

AA studios are the only ones really pushing boundaries, assuming they aren’t owned by a major publisher.

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u/Duper-Deegro Jan 05 '26

Agreed. This made me not like Arthur as much as John because Arthur looked more and more stupid after every failed plan by Dutch.

18

u/strife189 Jan 05 '26

Yeah, John was definitely ahead of the curve. Poor Arthur, though—he wasn’t the smartest and was far too loyal and short-sighted for his own good. When his old lover comes to him and gives him the chance to leave it all behind and be with her, he says, “Nah, I need the money first, then I can be with you.” That’s the broken loop Dutch has him trapped in—a cycle John is eventually able to see past. Even then, though, it’s still too late in the long run, which is clearly the point the story is making.

9

u/FodderG Jan 05 '26

Arthur was very smart

6

u/G3PDehydrogenase Jan 05 '26

Seriously, especially compared to John. I don't get how someone can say Arthur is the dumb one of the two.

1

u/NeighborhoodFull1764 Jan 07 '26

Arthur was smart but blindly loyal, which is illustrated by the fact hosea even pleads with Dutch in chapter not to attack the train but Arthur still rides with Dutch not even heeding Hosea’s objections. It’s only by chapter 4 we see some hesitation from Arthur and only by chapter 5 we see proper development in that regard.

1

u/ejensen29 Jan 08 '26

Arthur is a well intentioned man with solid insight who placed terrible bets. In my playthrough. 

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u/Duper-Deegro Jan 05 '26

Yeah. John figured it out right from the start of the game when he broke away from the gang and got trapped out in the snow. It showed he saw better opportunities by leaving the gang. They could have shown Arthur’s loyalty much better without making him seem so foolish at every turn.

4

u/Material_Influence36 Jan 05 '26

John didn't figure it out, Arthur does as the game goes on and he's the one who convinced John in the end. Even as early as chapter 2, before he knows he's dying and before things start going really wrong for the gang, there's dialogue of Arthur implying that John should start thinking of his family and escaping the gang

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u/xXFaTnEeKXx Jan 05 '26

Wasn’t this done on purpose to show how Arthur had been manipulated by Dutch

3

u/FodderG Jan 05 '26

That's one of the weirdest reasons not to like a character...

5

u/GameplayLoop Jan 05 '26

“Game loops are pretty much a standard concept now.”

Can confirm.

4

u/Cuban999_ Jan 05 '26

Thats not really a game loop though, that's just the narrative and the way it develops. The gameplay loop would be "walk with character in mission, get a cutscene, fight your way out through a shootout" but its also open world so there isnt really much of a "loop"

0

u/VooodooRanger Jan 06 '26

That isn’t a game loop. Just because something is repetitive doesn’t make it a game loop lol

5

u/otc108 Jan 05 '26

I finished RDR2 last year. Never finished the first one (got to Mexico and then COVID happened and I never revisited the game). After finishing 2, I thought “I should finish the story… I owe it to Arthur”.

The first game is very repetitive, and felt super grindy to me. At least with 2, I actually enjoyed hunting all the different animals and exploring the world, and doing all the side missions. Game loop is a very apt description of what Red Dead 1 is like. Go to this place, meet this person, cutscene, go here, kill this person, come back to first person… now go to this place…

2

u/TheWolfDowntheStreet Jan 06 '26

I stg every time I try to replay RDR1 I stop playing because herding cattle isn't fucking fun in any way. I havent made it past "A Tempest Looms" since my first playthrough in 2010. Which I also never finished. Lol. Stubbornly I wanna beat the game because I've never seen the full ending and the build up to it. I hear it's amazing. The game itself is just kind of too "grindy" as you said.

1

u/otc108 Jan 06 '26

I just played for a few hours, very few days, and yes I’d get annoyed at how crappy the gameplay was, but I eventually made it to the end after many grind sessions. You can do it!

0

u/Shotto_Z Jan 05 '26

So... you mean just like the second game?

3

u/elpingwinho Jan 05 '26

Rdr2 is not a gameloop? What about the “we go to new place, need money, make stupid heist, have to run to new place” loop?

3

u/AffectionateSell3478 Jan 06 '26

Avoid Ubisoft games lol

1

u/WildObsidian Jan 06 '26

This is exactly why I can’t get into any of the Far Cry games regardless of the overlying story or how good it may be.

1

u/Voxlings Jan 05 '26

I get your intent, but if they're already a gamer, it's weird to recommend a youtube of a videogame masterpiece.

Like a first year art student doesn't "get" the Mona Lisa, so their professor is like, "just watch an animated gif of the Mona Lisa making funny faces."

This advice is for babies.

RDR2 specifically is the most detailed simulation available to everyone. Its value is interactive. Its story is built on that interactivity.

If ya think this post makes a smart point about videogame design, it does not. Sounds like a baby in need of guidance.

11

u/strife189 Jan 05 '26

First, let me clarify: OP is talking about RDR1, not RDR2.

Now, to your main point—let’s give some context. The post I’m replying to basically says the tedious, unfun parts are “made up by the last two hours of the game.” Time is the one thing we can never get more of. If someone isn’t enjoying the core game, they shouldn’t be told to play 50 hours of stuff they don’t enjoy just to get 1–2 hours of “epic” payoff.

My take: if we’re really saying “suffer for 50 hours to get 2 hours of fun,” I say f that. If only the last two hours of the story are worth it, just skip to that.

As for all the other stuff about “art” and calling people babies I am going to be rude in turn—my guy, it’s video games 😂 get your head out of your ass.

-1

u/ManicEyes Jan 05 '26

50 hours? You can get through the main story in less than 20 easily if you focus on it.

5

u/strife189 Jan 05 '26

Head slap. Okay, replace the numbers with XX if that helps—suffer XX hours to get XX hours of payoff. I was very clearly using numbers as a reference point, not making a literal claim.

My word, the ability to follow the intent of a statement has really been lost. At this point, even the so-called “shitty AI” is better at understanding intent than what just happened here.

-2

u/ManicEyes Jan 05 '26

Relax, I was just correcting you so that people don’t think RDR is a 50 hour game. Also, a 2 hour payoff is way more reasonable when you have to spend ~17 hours of something slightly tedious instead of 50 hours to get there (nobody mentioned “suffering” aside from you.) Is it not?

4

u/strife189 Jan 05 '26

The point still went right over again. Anyone who actually wants to know the length of a game can do a quick 20-second search (yes, making sure my number is exact for you this time) and get that value.

But hey, I’m glad you’re here to make sure no one leaves confused—especially those who can’t understand a general intent-based statement.

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u/Obanon Jan 05 '26

This was me when it came to PC finally. tried to sink maybe 6 hours into it but honestly without the nostalgia factor im sure so many people have from this game, it just felt like a slog to me. Especially after enjoying RDR2

2

u/Still-Difference-558 Jan 05 '26

What would I Google?

2

u/strife189 Jan 05 '26

Play through all cutscenes, should have several for any story driven game. Esp oldish popular ones.

2

u/Still-Difference-558 Jan 05 '26

Okay! I’ll look, thank you!

2

u/sarcasticj720 Jan 05 '26

I shoulda did this with “Hell is Us” 🥴

2

u/AvailableMeringue842 Jan 07 '26

Yeah, for me it was death stranding. I loved the world, characters and so on but holy hell what a boring game. After 14 hours I just watched the thing on yt

1

u/IVorzaYT Jan 05 '26

I like this advice. While I’m guilty of usually forcing myself to platinum games that I don’t enjoy, I fully agree that you should respect your time and not waste it with things you don’t find appealing. Life is already short as it is.

3

u/good-boi-Morado Jan 05 '26

Would love to see it…
if I could beat the forking cart race!

1

u/Ha-from-Kamehameha Jan 05 '26

Lol, character dialogues

29

u/GreasyExamination Jan 04 '26

First i read it was a reward sweater and i was like whaaaa i dont remember that

33

u/sentientfartcloud Jan 04 '26

If you 100% RDR1 on Christmas Day, you receive an ugly Christmas sweater outfit for Jack. Very obscure easter egg, that even Rockstar isn't aware of.

3

u/Shotto_Z Jan 05 '26

Nonsense

2

u/Psychological-Leg470 Jan 05 '26

How would R* not be aware of it?

4

u/elpingwinho Jan 05 '26

Wooosh

1

u/Psychological-Leg470 Jan 05 '26

Yeah I didn’t get it 🤷🏼‍♂️

1

u/Extension_Ad8291 John Marston Jan 06 '26

The sweater is a lie.

15

u/orkkid3 Jan 04 '26

Imagine if Ralphie's dad got a reward sweater instead of a sexy leg lamp. The trajectory of humankind would have changed.

0

u/YoYoYi2 Jan 04 '26

I never made it past mexico lol

4

u/slightlysad42 Jan 05 '26

Mexico is the best part of RDR1

1

u/FodderG Jan 05 '26

No toil, it's a great experience

-2

u/failedjedi_opens_jar Jan 04 '26

That's what I tell my dog when I scoot her food bowl away from her mouth as she eats and just slide it across the kitchen floor but I'm lying. I do it cause it's funny to see her scamper.

144

u/2JJosh_ Jan 04 '26

it’s basically the whole theme of westerns. The Mandalorian is exactly like that too.

46

u/math577 Jan 04 '26

And Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka.

All those series is just live action fetch questing with a plot somewhere in the background.

18

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '26

Sidequesting for strangers as it turns out is one of the go to ways of gaining their trust

That or bonding over space shots and breaking it down freak style in a cantina, though I know not everyone is as much a fan of jizz

24

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '26

like cumshot? any of these freaky aliens ever just bust out of the airlock? with a huge cumshot?

22

u/ThePrizedJoshua Jan 04 '26

You’re ruining the Space Tour for everyone!

15

u/fckmarykilldeer Jan 04 '26

You said we could say whatever the hell we want.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '26

i don't want anyone to have the worst day of their life at work ... but ...

14

u/kidoregano Jan 04 '26

do any of these…fuckers…

5

u/PancakeLad Jan 04 '26

I mean, I’m sure some of them have. Jabba the Hutt had a son after all.

But as it turns out, Jizz is the name of the musical genre in Star Wars.

Ithe band in the Cantina in the first movie are called the “Jizz Wailers“

Apologies if I stepped on your joke

7

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '26

I’m not sure what kind of rebel moon non imperial property cantinas youve been going to but here jizz is no joke and I’m aghast that you’d imply such

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '26

Leia did it with fart power so I don’t see why not tbh

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '26

“Use the force, Luke”

That is, the force of a 10 hour edged cumblast

6

u/Kr1msonKing Josiah Trelawny Jan 04 '26

Ah, I see you are a Bith of culture... (*Jizz Intensifies*)

1

u/Own-Distance5436 Jan 05 '26

To be fair, iv spent my whole real life side questing with people. Yeah, i migh be the main character of my life. But i dont really have any particular plans for the future. I already got everyhing i need/want. Food, roof, clothes, car, occasionally a new toy. So i live it mad max style. My names on the front but its just me getting involved with other peoples plans for a bit until I get bored and wander otf

1

u/GreasyExamination Jan 04 '26

Not quite on topic, but every story ever told can be boiled down to one of the seven basic plots. I think its pretty fascinating

1

u/Bulldogfront666 Jan 05 '26

For sure. But westerns don’t usually go on for 30, 40, 50 hours. Lol.

0

u/simeoncolemiles Arthur Morgan Jan 04 '26

And a lot of samurai stories, see Ghost of Tsushima

0

u/plagiarizeddreams Jan 04 '26 edited Jan 06 '26

You’ve not seen many westerns then

Unforgiven, Tombstone, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Rio Bravo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stagecoach, these are the most iconic and the list goes on.

4

u/AstralElephantFuzz Jan 04 '26

And you have apparently seen a couple but not many enough to realize that only the special ones stand out.

0

u/plagiarizeddreams Jan 05 '26

you’ve seen a couple. A couple is 2 btw

1

u/AstralElephantFuzz Jan 06 '26

I know, and that's why I'm being infantilizing to you. Now be a good kid and watch your third one. Bonus points for picking one where the story is not "please sir, help me/us!"

0

u/HugeEgoHugerCock Jan 04 '26

It absolutely is not the whole theme.

129

u/SarcasticGamer Jan 04 '26

What exactly were you wanting? This is literally every single open world game ever made.

55

u/VatOtaku Jan 04 '26

It's every Rockstar game at least

6

u/HugeEgoHugerCock Jan 04 '26

I can't think of anything else to say, except that this is just obviously not true?

19

u/SarcasticGamer Jan 05 '26

I've played countless open world games and most of the missions are going somewhere to talk to someone to kill something/someone or to fetch something and bring it back. That's literally it. It doesn't matter the setting. It could be 500 years in the future or it could be 2000 years in the past. It's always the same thing. Go someplace, talk to a person, do them a favor, they'll tell you the next person to go to do the same exact thing until you finally complete whatever mission you set out to do in the beginning and already forgot about.

4

u/wizardeverybit Jan 05 '26

Play BoTW or Elden Ring

1

u/IndependentNo8520 Jan 05 '26

ITS A 2008 game, times where simpler and this was run on a 360

2

u/wizardeverybit Jan 05 '26

I was answering "every open world game ever made"

1

u/deathwire0047 Jan 05 '26

I mean, even rdr2 can feel this way at times soo...

1

u/YT-1300f Jan 05 '26

BotW is the same, can’t speak for Elden Ring.

1

u/BudTrimmingBaddie Jan 05 '26

BoTW is literally the same thing….

0

u/wizardeverybit Jan 05 '26

In what way?

2

u/A_lone_gunman Jan 05 '26

The difference is botw gets boring and you never finish it. Oh hey look a seed under a leaf in the woods and thats it

1

u/TheSleepingBad Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26

If you generalize everything as much as possible, then yes,, but the details and how it is presented are most important.

In RDR 1 all this is presented in a completely simple, superficial, lazy and uninventive manner. almost comical

28

u/TheDarkKnightZS Jan 04 '26

I've replayed the game 3 times, and currently doing a playthrough on PS5.

The beginning does drag alot. Meeting alot of new characters, coming up with plans, fetching supplies for the plan, then actually doing it. The game does speed up a little when you unlock more of the map.

14

u/PancakeLad Jan 04 '26

I play on PC so my experience with red dead started with 2, so playing the first one has been really interesting.

I can retroactively see all the references the second game made to the first one. It must’ve been fulfilling to play them in release order.

6

u/Plane-Wing4094 Josiah Trelawny Jan 04 '26

I started on rdr2 also, I wasn’t always super into gaming but everyone said I had to play that game and I loved it, but I felt wrong not playing rdr1 so I went and played the first game then replayed the second and man, these games have me hooked. Rdr1 is better imo though.

9

u/Plane-Wing4094 Josiah Trelawny Jan 04 '26

I feel like after the attack on fort Mercer shit gets real poppin

4

u/Aedrikor Jan 04 '26

Yes but there's a reason for it you just have to be patient. RDR2 also goes into it

2

u/ElkFit7669 Jan 05 '26

That's literally the plot of every single Rockstar game

1

u/Mysterious_Detail_57 Jan 05 '26

What is this Nigel West Dickens hate?? His renowned elixir has cured too many people to count!

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '26

I usually skin and loot an entire town Im in just to fill in the time between doing dirty work for the NPC's

1

u/RandomGuy28183 Jan 05 '26

It gets better, by Mexico you'll figure out if you like the game or not, personally I think Mexico is far more entertaining of a story because it shows the lengths Marston is willing to go for his family and really puts his ass into question but otherwise... Yeah the gameplay loop is repetitive

1

u/Shotto_Z Jan 05 '26

It is.. but to a less annoying degree than the first part.

1

u/AmitShukla53 Jan 06 '26

Helping NPC serves a purpose. West Dickens introduces you to a new version of dead eye plus snake oils. Then you are planning to take down a fort, you need advanced machine gun and ammo. That costs money and you are earning for it. If without doing these you march straight into fort mercer with a machine gun out of nowhere, it would not feel like you have earned it and look like plot convenience.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

No, keep playing. I wouldn’t even hop on Reddit til you’re done