Astounding world and encounters that never repeated in the near 100 hours I put into it. Memorable characters, an impactful story, and satisfying gunplay. This game is a benchmark for games as a storytelling medium. I tend to dislike Rockstar's game design, such as how buttons are always changing the actions they perform, so you can never truly feel like you've learned how to play the game. You are taught in the early game that pressing triangle is to pick up an object - like your hat on the floor. Later, you see some other object on the ground you wanna pick up? Well you have to press square to pick up that object, fuck you.

What stands out the most to me with RDR2 is the amount of polish that went into it. It's incredibly detailed in terms of the mechanics, missions, and just the general interactions you have with NPCs and the world. The story and voice acting is topnotch, although I'm in the camp that feels that Dutch did get a little repetitive at times. There's also something that is so satisfying about the freedom you have to explore and decide how you want to interact with the people and places you discover. And the landscapes are drop-dead gorgeous.