After finally playing Red Dead Redemption 2 years ago, the writer remembers being impressed by its technical craft—then increasingly bored by gameplay that leans hard into realism. Eight years later, the verdict is clear: it’s a standout achievement, but the m
When the game finally landed in their hands—at a moment that felt celebratory enough for the office to send them home for the day—the excitement didn’t last long. Within a few hours of slogging through the snow. setting up camp at Horseshoe Overlook. and discovering Valentine. the writer says they were “bored out of [their] skull.”.
This wasn’t meant as a contrarian takedown. The writer points to a deep personal benchmark: Red Dead Redemption’s final scene left them weeping. and Grand Theft Auto 5 remains one of their all-time favorites. So when Red Dead Redemption 2 arrived as one of the most anticipated games of all time. they expected Rockstar to blow them away.
What they got, they say, was a split experience—one part wonder, one part frustration. Red Dead Redemption 2, they write, was among the most detailed games they’d ever played. The world felt alive. The story was gripping. The characters were entertaining, personable, and sometimes relatable. Technically, they call it a masterpiece.
Then they land on the hunting.
They describe hunting as a point where realism becomes heavy. They cite “178 different kinds of animals. ” each with different habitats and behaviors. and note that many animals require bait to attract them while the player lies in wait. Their complaint isn’t that the game is detailed—it’s that the specific cadence of it is slow in a way that doesn’t feel engaging. Slowly following the scent of a bear. setting a trap. and then hiding in a bush for minutes on end. they argue. turns gameplay into something closer to endurance.
Looting, too, is singled out as breathtakingly granular but exhausting. The writer says the game lets you search through every individual drawer, and while they credit the commendable design choice of not simply opening an inventory screen through the UI, the process “takes so, so long.”
A similar mismatch appears in core movement and combat. The writer says they don’t expect driving-level precision from horse riding. because it’s a live animal with legs instead of wheels. But they say the game’s primary transport method should still feel smooth—and it often doesn’t. They describe it as easy over flat. open terrain. but frustrating in sharper turns. on narrow paths. and when engaging in combat while mounted.
At this point, they don’t claim the critique is universal. “Maybe it’s me. ” they write. adding that being unable to keep attention during these slower moments may be tied to ADHD. But they broaden the concern: with so many people consuming entertainment in shorter bursts—driven by short-form content and the sheer breadth of available media—the writer argues Red Dead Redemption 2 may land on the wrong side of the line.
Eight years later, that line is still the center of their argument: the game can be impressive without being fun.
They also connect it to what comes next. With GTA 6 scheduled to arrive before the end of the year. they say they hope Rockstar dials back the realism “a touch.” They point out that the GTA series has usually been more comical and over-the-top than the cowboy-themed sibling. With GTA 6 set in the modern era, they argue the world will naturally move faster anyway.
For the writer, the real challenge is balance—finding a tempo where entertainment doesn’t disappear inside the simulation. They say they’d like to give Red Dead Redemption 2 another go “time permitting. ” calling it wonderfully crafted but arguing that. by and large. they play games to enjoy themselves. In their view, the mechanics are “spectacularly realistic” but “far too cumbersome.”.
They add one more barrier: because it launched as a console exclusive, they haven’t revisited it on PC. With a mouse and keyboard—and maybe a few mods meant to improve the experience—they say they might finally understand why so many consider it one of the best games of all time.
For now, their conclusion is blunt. Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the best technical achievements of all time. It’s just not, in their hands, “a very good video game.”
Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar Games video game review GTA 6 realism vs fun hunting mechanics horse riding