Red Dead Redemption II is a controversial game, to say the very least. There are as many people claiming it’s a masterpiece as there are people calling it a disappointment. My cousin recommended this game so highly that I decided to give it a shot. I was talking about playing the game soon with my friends, and one of my friends said the opposite. He claimed the game was terrible, and that, “people were just saying it was good to justify their 60$ purchase.” I’ve seen reviewers both love and hate this game. And after all of this reading, I finally realized that I would just have to play it myself to see what I think.
I’ve tried to remain as neutral as possible on this one. I’ve never played a Rockstar game before, and there was no hype that I felt for this game. I was a passerby, not really invested in Rockstar’s material, but aware of the company and what they are known for. I got this game as a gift, so I spent no personal money on this game. I suppose the only real bias I have is I’ve read about the terrible working conditions of the Rockstar employees, but that kind of gives me a bias on both sides; if I hate it, I’m hating the work that these employees put their literal lives into, but if I love it, I’m supporting this kind of publisher behavior. I suppose another bias would be hearing some story spoilery stuff, but not really that much, and nothing on the ending.
I’m really interested in seeing this game, for its flaws and accomplishments, and maybe through this I’ll get a better understanding of Rockstar, AAA games, game criticism, and game design as a whole. I’ve never done something like this before, so I hope it will be helpful to get all of my thoughts on this game.