5/5 ★ – Trapazt's review of Red Dead Redemption II.

*SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW** ———————————————————————- Easily my second favorite game of all time. No other video game had me love a main character the way this one did (Arthur Morgan), no other character made me hate two villains at once like this one did (Dutch & Micah) and no other game made me look at things from a large amount of different perspectives which is what I find most fascinating about this experience. The Pinkertons, to me, were not the actual villains of this story nor was Cornwall cause he’s simply an idea. He embodies the idea of rich America. This is the perfect tale of the Old West dying and turning into the America we now live in. It also shows how some of the issues we face as it pertains to crime in this day and age was much better handled in rural towns than in big cities through the lens of Red Dead 2. This game’s story is so captivating that I had to get up from my seat when Arthur Morgan died. Furthermore, it took me TWO gameplays of the game to understand the psyche of Dutch Van Der Linde and finally see through his clear manipulation, self engrandisement & selfishness. Rockstar did a great job making you feel like they’re a family and then slowly breaking them up one by one cause it came for your heart, they wanted emotion. No video game can make me cry but this was really the closest cause I needed to take a breather when Chapter 6 concluded, as previously elaborated. My only major criticism of this game that I can think of is that Chapter 5 feels quite incomplete and New Austin + Mexico feel rushed/incomplete. The graphics, realism, attention to detail are out of this world fascinating. A true masterpiece.