All the Small (Annoying) Things--RDR2 Edition

I've pretty much always been a big fan of Rockstar's games--heck, I even remember playing the OG Grand Theft Auto on my brothers PlayStation (if you're a young'un, look up some videos of it--seriously, because it's kind of amazing to realize how far that series has come).  I've played all the Grand Theft Auto games and they're definitely very memorable and were some of the early masters of the more open world style of game that we see today.  Although I haven't played Red Dead Redemption (and woo boy was there some strange/disappointing news about it this week) the third game in the series follows Rockstar's game style to a T.  As much as I do enjoy their games, I don't want to get too fangirl-y--no one is perfect (woo boy!  That news this week!) and as I've been working through RDR2 I've encountered some aspects of the game that do detract from what is an otherwise fabulous experience.

Before I get to that though, let's not avoid the hot RDR related news that dropped this week.  Rockstar announced this week that they were going to be releasing a remaster of Red Dead Redemption!  For about .25 seconds I was pretty stoked before my brain kicked in and reminded me that it took a very long time before Grand Theft Auto V and RDR2 came to PC (5-7 years?  I think somewhere within that timeframe).  Then things got even weirder because it turns out that this "remaster" is basically only for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch--not even current gen consoles (*although apparently people with the newest XBOX can still play it because it's backward compatible) or for PC.  The PC part isn't too surprising (but nonetheless disappointing), but not even for PS5?  Things only escalated from there when the price was announced--$49.99!  The internet reacted exactly how you would expect--anger, puzzlement, and tons of videos/articles analyzing this strange move.  People with XBOX's were happy to point out that you can currently buy it for $30 (+$13 for some big DLC that's going to be included as part of the remastered version)--that price includes nice graphical updates as well as access to multiplayer--both things that aren't included in the upcoming remaster.  Many articles also pointed out the disastrous GTA remaster as a reminder that maybe people shouldn't put too much stock in this whole "remaster" thing.  The whole thing just seems like another shameless cash grab to me, but maybe I'm just being too cynical.  (*If you missed this entire debacle--here's a link to an article: PC Gamer)

Anywho--back to RDR2 and those small, obnoxious things that drive me a tiny bit batty.

1.) The "weight/body condition" dynamic for Arthur and horses.

Early on in the game it is explained that Arthur needs to eat or else his body condition (which apparently contributes to how full his health and stamina gauges can be--like if you've ever wondered why there's a fragment that just never becomes available even after you've fully levelled it up--I'm guessing that's why) will decline.  "Realistic" you might think--but, unfortunately, I hate how it works.  Most games teach us that you use items when you need them--therefore if Arthur's health isn't low, I'm not having him reach for that delicious can of kidney beans.  Why would I waste an item when I don't need to?  Well, because you sort of need to!  The truly crazy part of the whole thing is that the amount that Arthur needs to eat to maintain "good" body condition is pretty insane (here's a link to a Reddit thread with a recommended "meal plan" for perfect body condition:  Tips for Arthur's Weight).

I wish this mechanic worked slightly differently and that Arthur would actually lose health/stamina and it would make eating more necessary.  This same dynamic is true for horses--if you take your horse to a stable, the hands will comment about how your horse is so skinny--even though it looks fine!  

2.) Having NPC's comment on Arthur's dirty/bloody state.

Arthur can get a little grimy from his activities.  Sometimes the level of filth is completely obvious--if you're carrying around bloody, skinned animal carcasses (or humans who might have met an unfortunate end) there will be a very obvious bloody splotch.  If you've simply shot...say, a rabbit, and then skinned it, Arthur's hands will be bloody.  Occasionally though, there's no obvious blood and NPC's will still comment "where'd all that blood come from?"  In order to get "clean," you can plunge Arthur into any available body of water close by and watch as blood floats away on the surface.

Again, you could easily say "realism," but why, oh why, can't there be an option for Arthur to wash up in camp?  Why do I need to fully plunge him into a river when his hands are a little bit gross?  I wish that his little shaving station had an option for cleaning up.

3.) Death...and horses.

It's just a fact that sometimes Arthur will die.  For me, most of those times happen at the claws of panthers/cougars who can creep up on you pretty easily.  If you're caught totally off guard, you're basically a goner--RIP Artie.  It's also a fact that your horse can fall prey to unfortunate circumstances.  In my case, those circumstances are typically due to my own stupidity (FYI, you do not have to fish for one of the legendary fish on the railroad bridge near Saint Denis and you should, in fact, not do that because it will likely result in the death of at least Arthur, but potentially your brainless horse too--it cannot control itself from running on to the tracks once you've caught the fish.).  Having Artur die costs you some cash...but having your horse die sucks even more.  One of the first things I do every playthrough is have Arthur trek up into the mountains to tame what is basically the best horse in the game--the white Arabian that wanders around near Lake Isabella.  You should do that too because it's a great horse and it's only slightly difficult to tame.  Then, it's just a matter of building up your bonding with the horse--and that does take a little while.

The panther saddle has good stats and looks nice.
(not my screenshot, sadly)

If your favorite, fabulous horse dies...well, then it's an issue of either 1.) returning to the snowy reaches of the mountains to find another white Arabian, tame it, and then bond with it--a somewhat time consuming process OR 2.) heading to the stables and finding an equivalent horse--which will be somewhat expensive.  I had this situation arise when poor Arthur was randomly ambushed near Catfish Jackson's.  Most of the time I'm able to head off any ambushes, but this time I don't know what happened--before I even had time to select my handy repeater from the weapon wheel poor Arthur was dead (I think he took a shotgun blast from short range...somewhere?  It was pretty confusing).  Dying happens, so I wasn't too concerned, but when I saw a totally random horse I was like..."nooooooooooooooooooo!  Not my beautiful Elsa!"  Then I had to seriously contemplate if I really wanted to go through the whole taming process again.  Nope.  Luckily, if you have the cash, there's a very nice black Arabian available from the stables in Saint Denis that is slightly better than the white one.  Due to my previous cheating (AKA looking up a guide to find a hidden treasure--something I usually try to avoid), my Arthur was pretty flush with cash, so I purchased said horse.

About 99% of the time your horse is pretty indestructible....it's that 1% that sucks.  And really, does your horse matter that much?  It's nice to have a speedy horse for quick getaways, but the default horse would probably be just fine.  But oh no...gotta have the best horse!

4.) I just want to take screenshots!

I've complained about this before, but I'm gonna bring it up again because I think it is one of the dumbest parts of the game.  The game includes a nice photo mode and it's a visually gorgeous game.  Personally, I like snapping some nice pics of my adventures.  In fact, I wanted to snap a nice pic of my new black Arabian horse with its snazzy panther saddle.  (In past playthroughs I haven't done the trapper crafted saddles, but I would highly recommend the panther saddle--it's probably the best of all of them stats wise and it's cosmetically a pretty saddle)  Then I remembered that even if you upload your screenshot to the social club then it downloads in this stupid file format.  I even thought I could use the Windows screenshot--no dice there, it saves a black square (*if you're playing on Steam, which I am not, you can use their tool or the NVIDIA overlay screenshot tool).

I just don't understand why they feel the need to make this such a headache.  Wouldn't you want players to be able to easily snap screenies and share them?  It's like completely free publicity!  Yeah, I know that they undoubtedly want to draw people into the social club and Red Dead Online, but it just sucks.

I'm getting close-ish to finishing up my current playthrough of RDR2.  It's a fantastic game, even with these minor annoyances.  Due to the screenshot nonsense, I would recommend buying it on Steam.