Epilogue better than the rest of the game (spoilers)

So, I’m nearing the end of epilogue 2 and I have to say, I like this way more than the rest of the game. The main story was almost entirely ride somewhere, shoot some people, steal some stuff, ride back. In the epilogue we’re doing a bunch of the stuff that I loved about RDR1, simple things that make me feel more a part of the world like being a ranch hand and building up your own ranch.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the whole redemption arc of Arthur as he’s dying was really good, but it took a long time to get there and wasn’t broken up by much besides shooting people and stealing stuff.

Anyways what do you think about this? Did you like the epilogue more than the main story?

Edit: On a side note, the epilogue really makes me want the next Red Dead to be about Sadie Adler. She’s such a great character and could easily be the main character of a game.

I was hoping that the epilogue would be about Sadie, I managed to get there without being spoiled. I think a RDR3 with you switching between Sadie and Charlies and maybe someone new would be great.

As far as the main game being 'ride somewhere and shoot'. That is all I can every remember doing in RDR1, that and selling that fucking magic tonic.

I just loved role playing as Arthur and exploring. For me I enjoyed the main game over the epilogue because I never like John as a character, I actively disliked him in the previous game and was very disappointed when the epilogue opened with him, but to Rockstars credit they do make him more likable as the story progresses.

@theuprightman: Funny, all I can really remember about RDR1 was the ranching stuff at the Macfarlane ranch, I think because I liked that aspect of it so much. The rest of it has mostly disappeared from my memory.

@haneybd87: It is strange how our memory works, now that you have said it I remember John and the MacFarlane lady talking and John saying how much he was loyal to his wife, but that might have only been a small part of the story for all I can remember.

I disliked RDR1 a lot, so much that I was not sure I was going to buy the new one right up until release day when I happened to be in a Mall and just went for it, I suppose because my expectations where so low it was easy for the game to surpass them.

I got the GOTY edition of RDR1 last week, they repackaged it in a Xbox One box when it became available on backwards compatible so I am going to give it another go in the new year. I am interested enough in Dutch to see it to the end now.

I kind of appreciated the slow pace and slice-of-life elements of the epilogue, plus the writing was pretty funny. But it just felt completely redundant and unnecessary to me, including the contrived drama to justify the violence. The most self-indulgent finish to a game I've ever experienced, it goes on for SO LONG as well. Like you say, the actual arc of Arthur takes so long to reach its conclusion that I was already tired of the game by the time I got to it.

It also completely killed all the pathos of the ending of Chapter 6, one of the highlights of the entire game. The tonal shift was so jarring to me. It felt like I had started playing the post-game DLC by accident.

I can see that if you are in love with RDR1, and anyway loved RDR2, the epilogue would be wonderful service for you. But since neither of those apply to me, and I thought it was pretty bad.

I felt like the epilogue was incredibly self indulgent on Rockstar's part. They told a really good story that had a really good conclusion. We absolutely did not need to know via 10 hours of gameplay exactly how we got from the end of RDR2 to the beginning of RDR1.

I preferred the Arthur Morgan story. Really enjoyed the story arc for the whole gang. The epilogue was nice fan service stuff that tied up loose ends for fans, but it won't stick with me as much as the first section.

@nophilip: I agree with this sentiment. Everything we did in the epilogues was mostly covered already in RDR1. I was incredibly let down that you didn’t play as Sadie - I thought they were telegraphing that pretty hard and yet they went back to the same well.

Most of the epilogue was a drag for me. I got so bored in part 2 that I actually started a new game, because I wanted Arthur back and wanted the side content to feel meaningful again.

I eventually returned to the epilogue to finish it, and was really pleasantly surprised with the ending and credits scenes. I figured it was going to be a lame mission where you just kill Micah, so the return to the north was cool and I really liked Dutch’s appearance. And again, I really enjoyed the scenes during the credits wrapping up most characters.

I loved the epilogue with John trying to put together the "normal" life both Arthur and Abigail wanted for him, but he just could not completely change who he's been all this time no matter how hard he tries.

It also has some of the best sequences in the game with the house building (yes, that song is fucking perfect for that scene), Abigail and John's date in Blackwater and the final showdown with Micah (and its AWESOME music).

I normally don't agree with Brad much, but yes, this game was something special and Rockstar's best story by far.

I'm closing in on the epilogue, about halfway through Chapter VI with more Eagle Flies stuff.

Listening to the GOTY stuff sort of bummed me out on my experience with RDR 2 because I played it much how you describe, ride somewhere shoot some stuff.

Listening to Brad's experience and how he role played Arthur sounded almost magical, and something I feel like I missed out on. I've started in that direction with the time I have left with it.

What is the post game like, in terms of finishing up side stuff/goofing around in the world? I never finished RDR 1 so I don't know how they handled it. Does it just sort of load you back to before the last mission or something or does it just end?

@reap3r160: Post game follows the events of the epilogue and you can continue playing to hunt the remaining wild animals or find the rock etchings etc. Since you're in this thread I assume you've spoiled yourself on this but just to be sure, there is a point of no return where you never play as Arthur again despite being able to keep playing the game after it ends. As such certain side quests will naturally close out and if you haven't followed them through to the end they are gone forever. On the flipside you can visit some old contacts (although they won't be indicated on the map) and get a neat little encounter out of it.

@reap3r160 - Some of the side quests/stranger missions will actually reset. After I'd finished the epilogue and went back around just looking for more I re-encountered Mr Black and Mr White outside of Rhodes. Pre-epilogue I had gotten at least as far as giving them medicine when they show up sick and now they're back outside Rhodes asking me to take down bounty posters again. The cutscenes with them are redone too to suit the events.

@humanity: For clarity's sake - if I were to finish the last story mission of the second epilogue, would I then still be free to do some of the more freeform things like legendary hunts? Or is it a situation where once credits roll, it's over and I'd need to go back to an earlier save before that final mission to wrap those things up?

@asmo917: Yes, you can free roam after the epilogue and do almost all of the freeform things, and some side missions (but not all).

100% this topic. The main game, minus the epilogue, was already one of the best games I’ve played and the epilogue further cemented that for me.

I dug the extra time paid to the Marstons, Charles, and Sadie. I also enjoyed the story and pace even more than the main game.

@asmo917: yup there is free roam at the end. There is no hard cut-off.

I certainly didn't enjoy it more than Arthurs story, but thought it was excellent. Hearing everyone shit on the house building during GOTY talks was frustrating because it was one of my all time favorite moments in gaming. Don't enjoy free roaming as john though, weaker voice, terrible beard, just feels wrong.

@sahalarious: The house building thing is great but when it's taken out of context it does sound dumb. I loved that moment in the game and I wish it had more things like it. The music is dumb and hokey but it works in the moment. Taken out of that moment and just played to people with no frame of reference to it, it's silly.

@sahalarious: The house building was the only part of the epilogue I actually enjoyed apart from the Sadie missions - Sadie was one of the best new characters of 2018.

I definitely prefer Arthur to John, but I do agree that John's missions are more diverse on average.

That being said, there are a lot fewer missions in the Epilogue than in main campaign. There were missions where Arthur was doing something other than murdering/stealing, but they were typically side quests.

Got to the epilogue last night. Absolutely love it. I seriously want a Red Dead spinoff based around the gameplay of the ranch missions. I know that, along with the cattle herding of the first game isn't everyone's jam, but I can't be the only one that would want a Harvest Moon like experience in that incredibly detailed and immersively relaxing world. Like I could mend fences for days.

Also, those moments coming out of Blackwater where you'll run into an attacked buggy or horse full of dead bodies and arrows is a super haunting image, especially with how open the vista is on that particular road. I swear the weather is even dynamic in those moments as a thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere when I got off my horse to investigate. I'm interested in seeing if they continue or if they were just tied to the bounty mission you pick up in Blackwater.

I've probably sank a hundred hours or more into the game already, and I honestly can see myself sinking another hundred in it just screwing around after I finally wrap up all of the mission content. I hope the house building is as as neat as the fence mending. Fence mending was the forklift driving moment of 2018, and that's a good thing.

@shiftygism: I’d pay 30 for that type of DLC. Even a farming simulator with that engine and dynamic story telling with the weather and random encounters I’m sold.

Too bad we won’t get it and this won’t be released on pc so there won’t be mods. A man can dream

So I finally beat the game last night, and after spotting the McFarlane Ranch on the map during one of Sadie's bounty missions, I went exploring...thinking there would be a barrier of some sort past there because there's no way they would've included the full RDR1 map in this...

HO-LY SHIT.

Super jaw dropping moment.

They gotta be doing an HD remaster DLC of the first game, there's no way they'd just toss something in that huge without really using it and it probably remaining a secret to a lot of folks that have played the game to completion.

Give me one year to answer, waiting for the PC version.

My biggest issue with Red Dead was what they had you do in the main story missions. Ride somewhere. Shoot 50 people. Ride away while shooting. Ok we're in the clear.

Thinking back on it, that was Red Dead 1 too. I'm not sure what they can do to get around it - the setting does make it challenging.

I did enjoy the epilogue but yeah, a big part of me wanted to see that as Sadie