I recently visited the dentist for my routine cleaning. The hygienist is a reader. Every six months, she asks, "How's the writing going?" with quite the expectant and hopeful look in her eye. And every time, I squirm. I promise. There are more Seodrassion Chronicles books coming. I'm still in revisions of Book Three. I have other projects running at the same time, and some other stuff happening. But I promise, it's coming.
Also, I'm interested in some feedback. I have a couple of Seodrassian novellas in the works. Is that something any of you would be interested in? The idea is to fill the space between books with some short tales of the adventures of our favorite characters. Some are Rhys and Daeg, but some are other characters from the books. Some are new characters. Anyway, let me know what you think.
Now I ask you to indulge my straight-up geeky side. Rhys is a video game designer because I love video games. So where have I been recently? Well, New Hanover, Lemoyne, West Elizabeth. Never heard of these places? That's because they're fictional. I have been drowning in Red Dead Redemption II (RDR2 going forward).
I can't get enough of this game so I wanted to give it a pretty thorough review. There will be SOME SPOILERS. I will try to keep them to a minimum, but some are unavoidable. Look away now if you are trying to avoid ANY SPOILERS. Readers, beware. This is an M-rated game and earned that rating. Lots of language, explicit content, bloody violence. Not for children.
Right up front, I will tell you I loved, loved, loved Red Dead Redemption. It is, hands-down, one of my all-time favorite games. So you can imagine how impatiently I've waited for Red Dead Redemption II. I promise you. The wait was worth every. single. minute.
Early on, there were rumors that the second game would be a prequel. This made sense to me as the first game takes place in 1911 as the old west dies out and gunslingers find themselves out of place. In order to keep that theme, Rockstar would have to rewind.
One of the first concepts I heard included the playable characters being Seth and Irish from the first game. I hoped that wasn't the case as I wanted to play a heroic character, and, frankly, those characters were funny side characters, but I didn't want to be them. John Marston's character was fascinating because he was a hero, but he did some pretty awful things - before the game and during the game. Still, his quest was noble, and I enjoyed being in his shoes.
Rockstar did make RDR2 a prequel, but the game follows Dutch Van Der Linde's gang. Once I knew that, my attitude changed. The first game hinted at what made John Marston into John Marston, but they only hinted. I wanted to know more. However, the idea of following Dutch's gang was also bittersweet for those of us who experienced the first game. You basically know everything's going to go to pot from the onset. Still, I wanted to know.
The release of this game hit at the perfect time for me since it came out just a few days before my charity 24-hour gaming marathon through Extra Life that raises money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (I busted through my goal this year, by the way!). I had read that RDR2 had at least 80 hours of game play so what better to play for 24 hours? And I absolutely played this game for the full 24 hours.
The first few hours, though, I wanted to cry. It was tedious. Boring, even. The game starts off in a ridiculously bad snowstorm. The gang has just escaped the law into the mountains and is simply trying to survive the snow and lay low. If you play this game, tough it out. It is worth it. This is how you learn the new controls - interacting with characters, shooting, choosing weapons, riding your horse, using "Eagle Eye," etc.
The game picked up once Dutch's gang finally left the mountain. You are Arthur Morgan, one of the senior members of the gang. Side note, I kinda fell in love with this character over the course of the game. Who knew Rockstar could be so romantic? Sometimes gross, but surprisingly sweet with Arthur.
Over the course of the game, the gang moves to several base locations where you can do chores to improve your Dead Eye capabilities, improve or ruin your relationship with fellow gang members, sleep, eat, shave, and craft over an open fire. You can hear interesting conversations between the others which give backstory and show the deteriorating mood of the group as time wears on.
Another awesome feature is your horse. Rockstar really put a lot into the horses. You start off with one horse and acquire another. Throughout the game, you can catch wild horses, steal horses, and buy horses. Important to game play is bonding with your horse and purchasing better gear. I spent a lot of time brushing my horse and feeding him. Also, you can pet the doggos you encounter, and I did a lot of that, too. What can I say? I love animals.
The map is ridiculously HUGE and dynamic. The towns are full of interesting people and "strangers." The lands are teeming with huntable wildlife and pickable plants. Now in my second play-through, I'm spending a lot of time just exploring and interacting with people and locations. Tons and tons of Easter Eggs (no shock there).
The writers did a fantastic job of making the slow fracturing of the gang gut-wrenching. My heart broke over some of the events, and I either got very attached to characters or really wanted them to meet their demise (at my hands, if possible).
There were at least two controller-dropping moments. I will not even give hints to them other to say they included gang members. One of which literally made me drop my controller. On my second play through, I recorded it so I could make others watch it and cringe with me. I'm a nice friend like that.
Honestly, there is sooooo much to say about this game. I could go on and on and on, but it's pretty obvious I love Red Dead Redemption II. Honestly, I would much rather have a really long wait and get a game like this than have a company rush a glitchy, half-done game out the door (cough, cough, Fallout 76, cough). This was worth the wait.
Anyway, hit me up in the comments if you want more discussion or have questions I didn't answer. Be careful with spoilers, though. I haven't been working so I had a lot of time to slug through the game. People with real jobs and lives will take a lot longer just because it's a really, really long story so let's not ruin it for everyone!
Happy holidays, friends!!!
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