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Blog entry by Iola Leppert

Red Dead Redemption 2 Needs to Avoid Hollywood Tropes

Red Dead Redemption 2 Needs to Avoid Hollywood Tropes

Due to all of this, it is of no surprise that Red Dead Redemption 2 is gearing up to be one of 2017’s most hotly anticipated games of the year. Despite Rockstar’s pristine record of releasing great quality games, they’ve set quite a high bar for themselves in attempting to outdo the lightening in a bottle they caught with RDR . However, if they stay true to the atmosphere and tone of the first game, and follow this advice, they’ll be releasing an even more legendary game than its predeces

Kill the old man, and you return the deed to the prospector covered in blood, to which he expresses warranted disgust in your choice to violently obtain the deed. Rightfully so, you didn’t have to kill a helpless old man, but you did anyway. You mons

One of the key features that made Red Dead Redemption such a critical success was the freedom that Rockstar allowed gamers in their conquest of the untamed West. You could clear out bandit hideouts, break wild horses for your own mount, or send John Marston skipping merrily through the dessert, picking flowers. Really, the choice was yours. With that choice came the opportunity to play out all types of evil fantasies on the unsuspecting, innocent NPCs inhabiting the untamed wilderness and even more feral to

Aside from the numerous options to customize Arthur's physical appearance and gear, the other bloom Core Genshin relationship that players will develop throughout the game is that of Arthur and his horse. Red Dead Redemption 2 has expanded immensely on making your horse more than just a mode of transportation, and there are numerous ways that players can invest time into developing their bond with their horse and, as a result, increasing its ability to take players through this world. These actions start as simply as riding the horse and utilizing its saddle to store all of your equipment and gear between missions, but as you spend more time for your horse and care for it -- feeding it, brushing its fur, petting it, etc. -- you'll be able to increase its stamina and health.

Aside from the story and character-driven moments that the camp offers, the camp also provides a wealth of supplies for Arthur to utilize over the course of the game, such as food provisions, ammo, medicine, and tonics. While it starts out with a meager offering of items at the game's beginning, the player can contribute to the gang's supplies by donating items and loot found across the world, contributing cash, or going out to hunt and fish to keep morale at the camp high. In return, the camp's funds and supplies can be used to upgrade its food, medical supplies, and ammo stashes, provide more hitching posts for horses, and more comfortable amenities for the rest of the gang to enjoy.

There's a bit of a debate around this one. Just Northeast of Bacchus Bridge and Southeast of Donner Falls lies a hole in the ground. A somewhat familiar looking hole in the ground, for Tolkien fans. That being said, something about the whole house seems... off. Other than the obvious similarity of being a literal house in a hill, there isn't much about the house that seems like its Lord of the Rings counterpart. Style-wise, they're pretty disti

Both Red Harlow/John Marston fit the narrative perfectly; both were men born of the west and knew only a certain way of life. This solidified their stories even more. While Red Harlow sought to seek out the killers of his parents, John sought out closure for a life he had perpetuated on to himself. These stories have western tale written all over them and succeed by showcasing these separate tales in realistic ways, while still playing in to the western tropes people know and love. While there were some bigger set pieces show casing these tropes, i.e. certain shoot outs, they kept the west relatively tame. Especially Red Dead Redemption.

The Red Dead franchise succeeds because it's playing into the most American fantasies of what the Wild West was, while keeping it grounded. It was a time were America was still getting its footing as a new nation. Things were being discovered by a people who had largely still never seen most of what the land had to offer, thus appropriately titled, the Wild West. It seemed like a hellish dreamscape where those from the east coast talked of savages and wild beast, men who idealized the same sort of lawlessness discussed among certain circles. Yet, it was none of these things, for a people having just arrived to a nation, it was much tamer than one might imagine. Instead, it was a place not overly populated and begging for people to settle its lands (I hope we see Natives in this game). The west was a place of opportunity and discovery, somewhere one could make their mark in a relatively easy way (for the time).

Perhaps the most defining characteristic of the Wild West is the vast amounts of wildlife that call it home. Red Dead Redemption did a great job of introducing this by giving players the opportunity to hunt (or get hunted by) animals like bears, coyotes, and wild boars. It would be amazing to see Rockstar expand upon this feature. Imagine the player not only being to able to bait a falcon, but then be able to train it and help the player hunt and explore. Maybe the player could also break in unorthodox animals to ride, like a moose or buffalo. Or instead of just coming across a black bear or two, get to see a large sloth of them moving across a meadow knowing full well if they sense you, you’re d

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