Red Dead Redemption 2 isn't perfect, no game is but especially not this despite what my rating suggests. The game is glacial and its hard to argue against people voicing critiques about it being too much despite me appreciating its slowness and is impossible to justify to material human cost to flesh out this kind of story. There are other things I could nitpick about, enough to make up a whole review, but those don't bring me down and stick with me to an even comparible degree to how moved I was by Arthur Morgan's story. Arthur isn't a good person, not really, he knows he's spent too much of his life inflicting pain and misery on others to really meaningfully redeem those actions. Arthur's redemption isn't about being a bad person and learning to be good, despite his cruelty, that goodness has always been there from that start of the game. in the kindness he'd show to his gang members (ultimately his family) and any other locals who need it, Arthur goes up and above to make sure those he cares for are safe and secure. His journey then is about doing good and helping with clarity and intent, away from the ultimately toxic filter of his gang and leader Dutch and building new relationships with different people. He learns that he is capable of giving parts of himself to others in ways that don't ultimately lead to misery and genuinely help others, illustrated beautifully with his relationship to Charlotte and the Veteran. It's a lesson for me that I find more and more meaningful as I continue to reflect into the epilogue and out of the game space, with Arthur long dead but still present. I miss the bastard, I want to go back and do another playthrough immediately, but I'm also content to allow the memory of his journey live a bit more in my head with that distance. I know Arthur Morgan, I know him like I know a distant friend, I know him and I love him. I hope he can do the same for you.