Throughout all 2016 I had first really started getting into watching movies. A big mix of getting Netflix and the majority of Quentin Tarantino’s filmography set me on such a blazing path where I genuinely didn’t go even one week without seeing at least something. During this wonderful time, a genre that always captivated me was Westerns. My dad had always loved Westerns but I didn’t really like watching them as a kid. I loved cowboys, I loved horses, revolvers and the sort but the movies really seemed much too old to me. I loved bounty hunter characters and the cowboy aesthetic was probably my favorite thing growing up, whether I knew it or not. So keeping all this in mind, I had Red Dead in mind for a while as something that I wanted to play but never really got the chance too. Now as the year had ended , my passion for Westerns was at all time high and thanks to Black Friday, I was able to get Red dead for $10 and I was ecstatic! Rockstar is my favorite developer, the story is always praised, and it’s probably my favorite setting, what could go wrong?! To this day, I am not sure what had me burned out on Red dead but it was something that never clicked. Now contrary to my log dates, I did beat it about 5 days before Red Dead 2 but I only now just beat the epilogue during a morning of being hungover. I’m frankly surprised I even beat the game but I can’t remember the characters, my favorite memories of John and Dutch are mostly from the sequel nowadays, and the setting just seemed so boring. It’s such a stark contrast to what I would expect me to say. It saddens me so much but I just saw this game as a disappointment. The game felt a bit too clunky compared to GTA 5, the story dragged on with quests that felt meaningless and tedious. I remember feeling aggravated as I thought this was gonna be THE cowboy game and it just never clicked. In my head, this game came and went and registered as just a appetizer for the sequel and that was that for many years. Yet, on that drunken evening I decided to just finish that epilogue and yet I had the time of my life that entire morning just taking down camps and taming the West with these bandits. Instead of just boring dry deserts, I saw new life and vast landscapes that I wanted to ride to. The game finally clicked, 7 years later and an entire play-through later. I have picked up the new remaster and I’ll share my thoughts once I’m finish with the second play through but for now, I will leave my score to reflect my experience I had the first go around.

as with GTA IV, this has its moments where it doesn’t quite balance the meaningful story that it wants to tell with all the quirky characters that inhabit a typical Rockstar production. It’s also bookended by almost entirely joyless ranch missions. while the sequel improved on everything in a significant way, Red Dead Redemption is still a worthy achievement with great writing, amazing atmosphere and the wonderful Euphoria physics engine in full effect, and i’m super nostalgic for the online side of things as I have fond memories of playing Liars Dice and fucking around with with friends for hours in the old west.

the less said about Undead Nightmare the better