@seikenfreak: a lot of the trapper’s gear from legendary pelts are frankly insane looking Davy Crockett type gear that looks like its fifty years older than the setting of the game, but perfect for wandering frozen mountains.

Everytime my horse runs into a tree or plows into a rock instead of jumping over it like it does a million other times I just want to shoot it in the face with my shotgun.... but then I think about having to walk all the way back to town.

If this game had real fast travel there would be so many dead horses...

Anyone finish the game yet? I think I'm going to tonight. I'm on part II of the epilogue. The game's story was great and I'm sure the game will go down as being one of my favorite this gen. The story isn't really original, so many of the things you see you'll probably go 'yeah, I've seen that happen a million times before', but it's so well done and at least in my opinion, does exactly what fans might want that it doesn't really matter if it's unoriginal. Although I wouldn't say it wasn't surprising in some cases, I felt like the game would go in a handful of predictable ways, and the way it went would have been my second guess. I can't wait to see what others have to say once they finish it, and I'd like to see some spoilercasts going on. I'm excited to finish it up tonight!

@ntm: Just finished it. Overall, a great game though I found the ending a bit underwhelming. I wanted a little more out of the final scene than John just riding up to the ranch and saying "it's over" with a fade to black. And I guess I should have expected this but I was really disappointed that you can't play as Arthur after you finish the game. I was hoping that after the epilogue was finished, the game would just say "okay, the story is over, you can go back to playing as Arthur now and here's your horse back." But I guess that was a silly thing to hope for considering how this game operates in every other facet.

@milkman: I'm watching the credits now. Yeah, that was slightly disappointing, but there's more during the credits. Ultimately, I'm satisfied with it. The fact that you basically have to start over with your moral, horse and clothing is a bit disappointing, but no biggy. Also, I'm curious what other kinds of endings for Arthur there are. I mean, where it all leads. I played the game as having the morals at the highest. What's going on in the credits is nice. I'm curious as to what else the game has to offer now. I'm definitely going to check out the first games' locations if I can; I didn't do that as I played through the epilogue.

@nodima Yea, 5 mins after mentioning that I went back and looked at what the trapper had again. The hats look so big and goofy though.. Eh we'll see.

Had two hunting jump scares yesterday. First one, I was just out on some rocks scoping the area with my binoculars when suddenly, with zero warning, a Ram came up and slammed into me from behind and knocked me off. Luckily, the drop wasn't too big so I survived but geez.. I nearly had a heart attack from that. So be careful near cliffs.

Second one was a damn Grizzly. I was hanging around this little section for a bit helping that nature photographer guy. I'm trotting around, I've got my bow on and I spot a squirrel I need.. Pull back and aim.. Then seemingly out of no where a loud ass roar, my horse freaks the fuck out like an idiot (I think my particular breed of horse is extra scared of everything, it's a race horse. Need to find something more practical), rears me off and it's happening so fast I have no idea whats going on. I think I've got a couple perfect pelts so I'm like "shit shit shit nooooo not now!" I don't even have time to look where this thing is before it's on top of me, fucking my shit up. Straight up Revenant on me. I was mashing buttons, stabbed that mofo, shotgun blast to the face and I manage to break free. I panic, don't see my horse anywhere as I'm whipping my camera around, bear is coming at me, I switch out my bow to my scoped rifle, aim and trigger Dead Eye, dude was moving so fast and was so close that I could barely pan my camera fast enough to keep up and then I just took a shot when the scope was a bunch of brown fur. Sucker dropped right at my feet and was still alive. Stood there a moment before shooting it in the head. Pelt was no good of course. Again, my heart was racing for a few minutes after that event.

And for those talking about Saint Denis: Don't worry, the place sucks anyway. Runs well enough on a Pro but it's just like going to a real city. Traffic and shitty roads etc. I honestly loathe having to do stuff in that area.

@milkman: I don't really want to turn this thread into a spoiler thread, but I honestly can't believe they decided to have two epilogues and then don't go into how Marston got captured and turned. With the inclusion of the first game areas in the game they had the perfect scenario to make this game end with Marston getting on the train leading straight into RDR. And yeah, resetting a lot of your progression (and dumping the camp that you've worked to build up) is just strange.

@glots: Yah sadly these are more than slowdowns - it’s pretty gross how poorly the game runs in that town. I guess the only plus is that my PS4’s fan surprisingly doesn’t spin up all that much during gameplay.

After having done the story and (as far as I know) all the stranger missions, and seeking out all the locations, I can say that without a doubt the game is one of the best games of this gen, but I am not so sure it's one of my favorite (at least compared to my top games from this generation). Rockstar did an exceptional job in creating variety and quantity in the same things you can do throughout the world, mainly in terms of dialogue as opposed to actions taken. That said, not all dialogue is totally varied either as you'll notice in your ability to talk to characters in the world; Arthur and others will say the same thing in consecutive interactions.

There are moments where characters in the world will get bitten by a snake. In most open world games that'd be some random NPC and it'd play out the same way each time, but in this, there could be the same man getting bit again hours later, and the dialogue will show that. It doesn't change the fact that that plays out the same way, but it gives it more personality since it was someone you've met in the world already and everyone acknowledges that it had happened before. Characters remember who you are. On the other hand, there are times when you can run across people cleaning their horse's hoof, and if you don't interact with him, the horse might kick him to death, but if you do, the horse will run and you will be able to bring the horse back. It shows that while it's not entirely varied, they play with it a bit more than other open world games.

After hours of play, the way the world logic works does become evident, but for the most part, it, compared to every other open world, it's exceptionally well done. I also think the world feels more real due to just how much Rockstar put into how much dialogue there is. I think if you play it long enough (and I mean hours upon hours), you could probably run into moments of repeat, or simply nothing at all. I think RDR 2 is a better game than the first, but I definitely have fonder memories of going through the first. The first is a game I could play just to explore the world (which I was still doing, just before RDR 2 came out). I'm already at the stage of wondering to myself whether I should keep exploring this world, or move onto other games, which generally isn't a good thing to me as a game should keep pulling me back in. I know there is probably a lot more random encounters to see, but I'm at the stage I feel where I've seen what I wanted to see from this game.

It's an impressive game, but definitely not so impressive that you won't start seeing through its facade at some point. Honestly, I think the thing that impressed me most was just being able to walk into a theater to watch a short movie (in which there is a myriad of) or a play. In previous Rockstar games, it was buying a ticket, the screen fades to black and now you're sitting down watching something. I love the attention to detail, and to make it feel like you're actually walking in that world. I played it all in the first person and really liked it that way. I'm going to keep going with this game and see what else it has to offer, but I'm not sure how much longer. I am not sure if this is like GTA 5 (remaster) and RDR1, where I'll play it on and off for years after its release.

I’m amazed the story is still going for me, though I imagine it can’t last *that* much longer anymore (not that I’m complaining). I really hope they won’t go the GTA V route and only focus on Online stuff with the DLCs, I want to return to this world with a narrative, be it normal stuff or something like Undead Nightmare.

I’m thankful I don’t have to argue about any GOTY lists with others, because the top three is kind of a struggle between this, God of War and Spider-Man now...and possibly Hitman 2 soon. Pretty good year gaming wise.

@glots: Where are you in it story wise? Want me to tell you how much further you have to go? I won't spoil anything.

@ntm: One level of detail thing that has amazed me going back after finishing the story is (ENDING SPOILERS) how the dialogue in the stranger missions changes so much when you come back as John. For example, when I finished the game, I was through 3 parts of the stranger mission called The Veteran, in which Arthur befriends a one legged veteran and they do some hunting and fishing together. I came back with John to do the final part and get an entirely unique cutscene where John explains that he read about him in Arthur's journal and how he passed away a few years back. The veteran then shows John a fish mounted on the wall and says Arthur caught that and then shows him an wolf head on the wall and says that Arthur helped him kill that. That on its own isn't that remarkable until you consider just how many different scenarios that Rockstar has to account for here. What if I had only done 2 parts? Then you need a new scene for 3 and 4. What if I had only done 1? What if I purely mainlined the story and done zero stranger missions? You need new stuff for every single one of them. It is absolutely staggering the amount of work that was put into this game, which is both amazing and kind of disconcerting considering what we know about the working conditions surrounding the game.

@milkman: Yeah, that is very cool. I did that mission and basically every other one as Arthur though, aside from one, which I was unsure of whether you could even see unless you reach the end that deals with a book writer. You might know what I'm talking about. It's the amount of detail they put into it that is impressive.

Hey, not sure if anyone is familiar with the cooking youtube channel Binging with Babish but he made a bear stew from RDR2 and it looks so damn good

Because some of you already seem to have finished the game (I'm still in chapter 2, so that is going to take a while) you might be able to answer this question: Do failed chance encounters respawn at some time? They might be one of my favourite parts of the game (how much dialogue - and even good dialogue - is sometimes included in these is amazing to me, and then I think about the "100 hours a week-thing"), but I have run into a few where the controls or other weird things made me fail. I was supposed to escort a man to Strawberry and on the way another rider forced my horse to the left, into the man, who immediately fled, another time my Dead Eye "overreacted" and shot the good guy I was supposed to protect. And I would really like to experience these encounters as they were supposed to be experienced.

Or will I just have to live with the fact that fucked up things happen in this world sometimes and that some encounters will not go the way I'd like them to?

@knurrunkulus: They return. Even completed ones do, although with a slight change.

Hey, how many times have you guys gone to the theatre in Saint Denis? I've been about four times now, once being story related, but it's really cool because so far each time has done something a little different. I'm curious what you're guys' experiences are with it. The first time I went, the magician (which isn't always there on subsequent visits, just as others) asked for someone to shoot him because no bullet could harm him. I shot near him to continue the fallacy, and I just didn't want to kill him (not sure if you can or not, but I'm guessing you can), and this latest time I was asked to be pulled on stage by a strong woman who said no one could beat her. She 'walloped' me and I was thrown out of the theater after a fade to black. It's super neat.

@ntm: I was hoping that if you heckled them enough something bad would happen, like they lost their concentration and fucked up. I saw a few different shows and they were all somewhat tame. Not to sound too evil, but a little accident would've spiced things up.

I just beat the game, kind've pissed that apparently I didnt do all the honor missions and now I (presumably) cant.

I have the same opinion of this as I do the first game, in that it nails the atmosphere but falls short pretty much everywhere else. I will say that I thought the characters and the writing were better this time round.

I have been playing 3-4 hours every night since this game came out and I am still in Chapter 2. I haven't even unlocked fishing yet. "No, dude, I don't want to race you now in the opposite direction I am going. I have to get this perfect elk pelt back to camp to make a new fashionable bag." "I knew you was yeller!"

How do you access that little submenu that lists the robbery tips and various side missions you have available? I thought there would be an alternate way to get to it via the journal, map, or pause menu, but nope.

@shiftygism: Are you talking about when you press the D-pad left?

@ntm: Yep, that's it! Thanks.

I have a few questions that the game doesn't make clear if anyone knows the answer

1) Does it matter who you sell your perfect pelts to? I know the trapper get the Legendary pelts but in order for Pearson to be able to craft with the perfect pelts, do I have to specifically donate to the camp? Can I just sell them to any vendor that will take them? Also if I sell crafting mats to the fence will it still count toward crafting the talismans?

2) How the heck are you supposed to get a perfect squirrel pelt. I spent 4 hours hunting the little bastards and every time I found a 3 star it would only give me a poor pelt. You can barely see them in the grass so how are you supposed to target their vitals for a clean kill? I am using the small game arrow but the reticule is constantly moving even in deadeye.

3) Why does the game keep unequipping my weapons when I get off my horse? Also why does the quick equip keep defaulting to the pistol when I just used the rifle a few seconds ago?

4) I accidentally murdered the entire logging camp because for some reason I was "trespassing" after I saved a dude from an accident. I didn't want to reload my save because I had a legendary pelt on me and I hadn't saved recently but the entire camp aggro'ed me and I was surrounded. Is that questline over?

5) How do you pull up your event log? The game will give you clues when I stumble across something to do later and the only way I can see the entire list is if I hold down options when it pops up, but I am usually in the middle of something when it pops up so I can't pull it up. I looked in all the menus and can't seem to find it.

6) Is there a way to re-enable Deadeye auto targeting? I don't like having to push R1 to paint targets because I keep pushing R2 instead.

@puchiko: Yes, the trappers and camp keep separate count, so if you deliver a perfect pelt to one only that one can use it. Squirrels might require the varmint rifle, if you check the compendium it should say what weapon is optimal. Event log is either hold or click left on the d-pad. Can't remember which it is, but one is event log other is journal.

@ares42: I'm pretty sure small game arrow is what's needed for the squirrel. Even the IGN guide and youtube videos mention it. I really wish you could just buy the pelts at a vendor at some point as this is just frustrating.

Didnt think I'd enjoy playing in first person, but I'm pleasantly surprised. This bodes well for cyberpunk.

@puchiko: the game says small game arrows but varmint rifle works much better in my experience, at least with rabbits. I haven’t tried it on squirrels but my guess would be it’s the same.

First post(Have listened to the podcasts for years now) This game is hard to quantify for me...Funny things happen, but learning all of the controls to get the most out of the game isn't fun. I guess I was expecting a little more leeway in doing menial tasks like eating , horse maintenance , and collecting. I much prefer the way W3 did it. This game would be so much more fun if it had an F5 key, just the tedious saving is a killer.

So as a big PC gamer , the ability to modify a few mechanics, would have made the game more fun. I expect after getting further in and some weapons upgrades the fights might get better. Also when did a bullet to the head of an animal become more destructive than an arrow? Head shots are head shots...

I had to buy a PS4 Pro to play this so its literally a $422.94 game

@puchiko Definitely need the small game arrow. I believe the way I get my squirrel pelts is just by spotting them when they run out on the road because of my horse, aim, deadeye, and then go for the head. Usually that means leading the target slightly. So that's the most obvious and thus unhelpful info for you. Squirrels are easy compared to snakes.

Snakes are stupid bastards. Maybe the easiest way to get a snake skin is to find one in the water (typically the swamp areas) but close to shore. Gives you some time to stand there and take shots at its tiny head. Once dead, you should be able to pick up the dead snake and/or move it on land to skin it. If the water is deep, assuming you killed it close to shore, you should be able to carefully swim into it to push it into shallow water where you can pick it up.

@seikenfreak: I finally got one last night and whoever said a varmit rifle would work is dead wrong and wasted an hour of my time cause I tried it and it always knocked off one star on the pelt. I figured out the issue and it was because I wasn't pulling all the way back on the bow.

@seikenfreak said:

Or if you get lucky like I did and notice hawk/eagle picking up a snake. Shoot the bird out of the air and voilá - a perfect snake skin.

I finally made it through chapter 6. I tried to jot down my subsequent impressions several times over the past two weeks, but my feelings on the game changed nearly every time I played. So it's safe to say that I'm a bit conflicted about it.

Generally, I think the game is at its best when it bucks the trends of mainstream game design and only falters when it pushes back on what initially appears as its uncompromising vision of putting you in the shoes of an outlaw, living on the outskirts of "civilization."

In any case, Austin wrote an excellent piece in which he mentions that the frequent "speed bumps" that halt the player's progress are one of RDR2's defining aspects. While I agree with him, I think the more engrossing (or at least, the gamified) roadblocks such as camp upkeep and the other minimal survival elements either subside or you quickly learn that neither the benefits nor penalties they carry amount to much. Some will probably say that the mechanics are there and that I could still role-play the Arthur I want, but I've always believed that a choice that's motivated by a system, and initiated by the player, is more meaningful and satisfying to fulfill.

The quality of the writing fluctuates from mission to mission (often depending on the featured characters), which may be par for the course in a lengthy game. That said, I think it's at its best during quieter moments when the dialogue and delivery are more naturalistic (Charlotte's missions are a good case in point). Unfortunately, there are still eye-rolling attempts at satire.

I generally enjoyed the game though and how it played. Call me a pretentious asshole, but I switched back to the default control scheme because I felt it better simulated the arduousness of certain activities, even though the alternate schemes were admittedly more intuitive.

@puchiko: A perfect squirrel pelt is possible with a varmint rifle if you have the legendary buck trinklet. It's gives you better chances of getting perfect pelts. To get it you need to kill a legendary buck and go see a fence about the trinklet.

A lot of things can be said for the mosey-like pace of this game and the control issues and general Rockstar gameplay fatigue, but I think Arthur Morgan is the greatest, most well acted and fully realized protagonist I've ever seen in a video game. I was definitely skeptical going in, because of how incredibly well done the character of John Marston was in the first game, playing as this person who wasn't even so much as mentioned in the previous game was definitely a little off-putting. After pretty much finishing the game I can definitely say they far surpassed an already great performance.

There are both side & main missions in the back third of the game where I couldn't help but tear up at his reactions to things. The emotion in his eyes and face really come through in the motion capture. His general want to repent, but being unable to think he is even deserving of repentance after the life he has lead. His melancholic nature and the writings in his journal. Roger Clarke deserves a whole plethora of awards and recognition's this year. It really is an achievement.

Anyone completed the Special Edition content? It's on sale on PSN so it's an extra $9 over the regular edition. Regular isn't on sale. Which should I get?

Not that silly, I too held out hope for exactly that and was a little bummed when I realized it wasn't happening.

@barrock: If you're mainly interested in the story mission, then you're looking at 10 minutes worth of additional content, if that. It's by no means a bad mission, but the game already has 100 missions of roughly the same quality.

After about 15-20 hours in this game I have to say I’m with Dan on this one. The game looks amazing (I’m on XB1X) and the story is good and the world is so well realized but I just can’t stand the gameplay. Everything takes forever to do and it just feels awkward most of the time. I really want to see more of this world and take in more of the story but actually playing the game makes that prospect seem so daunting and tedious.

Saw credits roll yesterday afternoon. I must've put close to 80-100 hours into the game. There is definitely something weird looming over my feelings on this game.

I liked everything about RDR2. I think? It's masterpiece on everything from visuals, sound, voice actors etc. I loved the gameplay. Never had any problems with the default controls. Spent tons of hours just hunting and exploring. I got most of the legendary animals and a bunch of the fish. I think I did just about every side/stranger type mission I could find.

The only complaints I can come up with are that some of the characters and I guess the whole concept of the story was kinda dumb to me? I get frustrated when a story feels so simple.. Like the characters are oblivious to the most obvious stuff. Common sense things. Happens a lot in movies. I liked Arthur though, Sadie was great, Charles was great. And my only gameplay related complaint is, that as far as I've have seen, you can't take a wagon out and use it to load up with pelts and stuff. I would've liked to have gone out "camping" and hunting for periods of time but I pretty much had to ride back to camp or a trapper after every big kill. Maybe you can, because I haven't tried it, but I've mentioned it before and no one told me otherwise. So wagons are just something you have no reason to use as far as I can tell.

That all being said, I want to call this is my GOTY.. But for some reason I have like a melancholy vibe coming off of it. I think I am with other people that say there is a point in the story where I just kinda started focusing on story missions just to progress and move on? Like it started to overstay it's welcome or something? I don't know. All I know is, I loved spending time in that world and taking things slow. I know there are various cool secret or side things that I never found that I see in the guide (I bought the hardcover guide, but pretty much didn't use it at all. I just like hardcover books I guess) and I liked hunting the legendary stuff so I should have a reason to keep playing but.. I feel ready to move on? Maybe I'll come back to it at a later date to mess around.

At this point, it's either Red Dead Redemption 2 or BattleTech as my GOTY. One is nearly perfect and the other is technically flawed in all sorts of ways.. yet I was so engaged and loved my 170 hours with it. And those are ranked above Monster Hunter which was fantastic and consumed about 250+ hours of my life, and God of War and Spider-Man which were both excellent games for various reasons.

Also, has anyone seen Gavin? I'm looking for my friend Gavin.

@seikenfreak: If you're talking about Dutch I think you're on to the same track that sorta completely broke the story for me. I don't really know how much we should discuss it in this thread, but the portrayal of that character is something worth a long deep discussion. As I've said earlier, either it's a complete masterpiece or it's the thing that sabotages the whole story.

@seikenfreak: As I've given the game a small break and come back to it to do some hunting or whatever, I do think it's most enjoyable when you just wander around and take things in at your own pace. The problem is that the endgame starts giving you the impression that you should start wrapping things up.. and then that endgame persists for a good several hours of gameplay. I don't know about others but I certainly felt a bit of fatigue towards the end that continued to grow as I mainlined the story and it simply didn't end quick enough. The most fun I had was in the mid-section where I would do a few side missions and then progress the main bits, rinse repeat. That endgame portion that brings with it a sense of urgency and at the same time dampens the levity you felt up to this point can funnel you into beelining the story way ahead of when you should be doing so.

After putting 10-15 hours into the game, I think I’m giving up. I loved the first one, played through single player several times and put a ton of hours into multiplayer with a friend, but this game never clicked with me. The characters were either dull or despicable. John Marston never came off as despicable to me, but Morgan, Dutch, that damned strung-out preacher (who, if I were a genuine 19th century murderous old-west criminal would have been the first person I shot and buried), every woman from ththe camp, the cook, just...everyone but John Marston lacked any redeemable qualities. Maybe it gets better but I will never know. They all seemed like irredeemable dirtbags to me and I had no desire to help them.

Realistically, the bigger problem is that I couldn’t distract myself from that and just have fun. Why did they put systems into the game that prevent you from having fun? Examples: I went into one of the big towns and was riding through the street. Some random stranger walked in front of me, I trampled him with my horse, and suddenly I was wanted and had a price on my head of about three times the cash I had in hand. I had to reload and lose an hour or more of progress. The whole wanted/crime system is frustrating. I can put on a full hood and a different outfit, ride a stolen horse and go into a town where no one knows me, but if I tear the tag off a mattress they immediately know who I am and put a price on my head. How is that fun? At least in GTA, you can either escape the people chasing you or die and get a reset on your wanted status. In RDR2, you’re wanted unless you pay up. Did anyone enjoy that aspect of the game? How is that fun? I actually spent several hours just trying to acquire money for my inevitable bounties. Not for upgrades to my weapons or camp. Not for new outfits or a new horse...just so I could have money in the bank so when I tried to have some fun in the game I would be able to bail myself out.

I tried to go hunting to make some cash only to find if you kill anything bigger than a dog you have to find a salesman or a trapper between kills because you can only carry one hide. Okay, in a a metaphysical sense that adds up, the horse you ride is only so big, but in terms of fun it sure is a downer.

Why does camp have a special set of rules that won’t allow me to run? I just...it’s not a bad game. It’s not. It’s a technical marvel with some great aesthetics, wonderful writing and voice-acting, probably a well-thought story and a billion activities to do, but to me, it wasn’t any fun. I’m really disappointed because this should have been the game of this generation, but it just wasn’t entertaining to me.

Something minor but great about this game that no one has mentioned are the shacks. The one north west of Strawberry with the bloody grizzly in it and the one in the swamp area to the north west of Saint Denis with the hick who has his way with you were some of the most memorable.

Yeah, me too. I did almost none of the side stuff or hunting so I'm going to do a second playthrough and do all of that as I go through the story this time. It feels more appropriate that way.

My thoughts on the story: I was quite sad when Arthur's horse dies at the end, and it was a nice touch to have him say goodbye to his horse. I was all bummed out about the horse and then Micah shows up and then I realized what was going to happen. I thought the John Marston portion was actually really cool and wish it would have been longer. The two characters I wanted to live outside of Mary-Beth and Tilly lived so I was happy for that too. Charles and Sadie are the best. I watched the video Vinny and Alex did where Alex played the first hour of this game or so, and it's insane how much Arthur's character changes by the time he dies. He's basically a different person. Though I played Arthur as though he became super charitable after he got sick and honourable throughout. Dutch being a piece of shit and Micah working with the government are both apparently a lot more obvious on the second playthrough. Apparently there's several times where you can see Molly wanting to talk to Dutch about Micah working with the government but he refuses to talk to her.

Honestly, it sounds crazy but I could totally go for another prequel to this game. Even one where it's just the gang doing a bunch of crazy stuff, before everything started to go bad. It would be basically the formation and early years of the gang in a post-Civil War (as in 1870s) United States.

@ben_h said:

This approaches the era of single shot rifles and front loading revolvers (in reloading you insert black powder, bullet and a cap separately), so historic accuracy might start to conflict with the game play. However black powder shoot outs with heavy smoke clouds would be kind of neat.

I've had a couple of interesting things happen recently.

I was in camp making the rounds. I got distracted by a stray thought and looked away from the screen. "Arthur! Stop daydreaming!" I snapped my attention back to the game and saw that Dutch had walked from his tent over to where I was idling. "I need you to be that man of action I know you are. Now get after it!" He was talking to Arthur, but he was also talking to me.

I spent most of yesterday up in the north, just about as far from camp as you could get. The plan was to follow one of the rivers north west to look for beaver so I could get Pearson to make me a satchel. Of course I got distracted. I found a trapper, did a lot of hunting, killed a man for his treasure map, and followed all three maps to the treasure. I found a stone carving, a dinosaur bone, a beautiful field of flowers, a couple of hermits, and the aftermath of several unfortunate events. Anyway, I had made my way east while doing all that, and was headed south out of Annesburg to get back to camp. I looked at the clock, saw that it was time to do something else, and was trying to decide if I wanted to go all the way back to camp before shutting the game off.

Just then I hear "Arthur!" I stop my horse and turn around and it's Bill!
"Arthur! Dutch has been worried. He sent folks out to find you."
"Yeah? I've been busy."
"At least you're alive. Alright then, I'm going back to camp. Want to come?"
"Sure."

Fade to black. I'm back in camp. I was equal parts impressed and freaked out by the absolutely perfect timing of it.

A friend is having a strange issue with this game. He loaded it up this morning and all of his stabled horses are the same horse, and all of his custom outfits are the same outfit. Anyone else come across this?

This has happened to him once before. Loading different saves didn't help, but resetting the Xbox did. I'll have him try clearing the cache instead of resetting the whole box next time.

@bane: Yup. I had an issue where all my outfits were the same. It wasn't a big deal since I still had access to the clothes and just had to remake and save the outfits again at camp.

The stable issue sounds a bit more problematic though...

Am I near the end? Just blew up a bridge with John. Funny RDR 1 is maybe my fav game...ever. And I'm struggling to get thru this. I'm just finding it so tedious and boring. Played through about half of RDR 1 again on Backwards Compat and still find it quite enjoyable.