And this is like saying you got a bad copy of RDR2, or went to the wrong retailer. You didn't, it's that same as every other copy. It also plays basically the same as every other rockstar game in the last 15 years. That shouldn't be a surprise, especially if you watched any amount of their prerelease content. Nothing that's in the game feels to me like it doesn't line up with what they showed or what I expected, based on their past games.

This is at once one of the best and worst games I've ever played. Obviously the atmosphere and presentation is second to none, but this game feels like it's constantly fighting against me in every respect. You can still have thoughtful opening or looting animations without having to make Arthur clumsily walk back and forth over his target a few times to make sure he is at the proper distance and angle. The aiming is total garbage as well, though I'm more used to playing GTA on PC with a mouse, so maybe that has something to do with it, but it still doesn't feel good.

Also, many folks have said that "rockstar games have always felt like this", which isn't true. Obviously it was a long time ago, but GTA 3 / VC / SA were a lot more responsive, at least in the movement. Seems like with GTA 4 they just decided "we demand our games be taken seriously" - and as part of that made the character control like you are dragging around a marionette.

Also, on a side note, the inventory shoulder button stuff, while not too difficult to adjust to, just fees needlessly complicated.

OH YEAH AND WHY DO I HIT SHOOT AGAIN TO COCK MY GUN? HOW MANY SHOTS AM I GOING TO MISS DUE TO THIS MECHANIC?

Sorry for the rant, just had to air those feelings out to someone.

@crazybagman: expecting the gameplay to be shit does not excuse the shit gameplay.

@lase: unfortunately double action weapons will have that requirement. Sort of like how playing some WW2 games will have you using weapons with bolt actions or quirky firing scheme. There are a number of weapon types (repeaters)in RDR2 that will fire in a single action.

Few tips that I picked up (and remember) that made my life easier

-If you want to talk first, shoot later, make sure that there is no reticle on screen when you press L2 to focus on people.(and there will be an on screen R2 prompt IF you want to bring out the guns)

-Never, EVER press o on it's own around people/horse unless you want to sock'em down.

-You can hold down o to quit a menu without going through multiple tap of o

-You can hold down square/triangle to search/pickup multiple items/loots

-Reduce deadzone

And I agree rifle cocking is kinda dumb. You don't cock your pistol to shoot again now, do you?

@merxworx01: Yeah, makes sense. I've just play hundreds of hours of Hunt: Showdown that manage to have slower paced combat with those type of weapons that don't throw in this oddity. Even WITH that feature, R2/RT for cocking just feels (like many of the controls) unnatural. If you don't cock after a shot, a pull of R2/RT both cocks and fires? The context switch with every button in the game drives me up a wall.

@merxworx01: You've got the definitions of double-action and single-action mixed up. They refer to the amount of actions a single trigger pull performs, not to how many actions it takes to fire.

A double-action firearm cocks and releases the striker when the trigger is pulled, a single-action firearm only releases the striker and require the striker to be cocked by other means.

@lase: yeah. Further time to get acquainted with the controls and making sure I know what I have in my hands by holding L1 before every attempt at a conversation is a must to even trying to enjoy the game. Which I very much am, but having the choice to fully map the controls would have been great.

@briarpack: thanks for the correction. I feel like this isn't the first time I've been corrected in this regard.

Is this going to be a game that scores 5 stars and then later it feels like everyone comes down from the high and really starts to actively dislike it?

I found this with Breath of the Wild, 5 star review, lots of praise, and then later the gaps and issues start to overwhelm the positives.

I find the controls to be fine for the most part. But I did accidentally shoot the hell out of a butcher from the hip when I pulled the wrong trigger.

And dueling makes no sense. Why would you need pull the right trigger to ready your gun when the game trains you to pull the left one first?

I absolutely love the first game but I am struggling to get into this one. The controls and movement just feel terrible. Everything is so heavy and slow. The systems are all convoluted I feel like I still don't understand half of what is going on with all the small systems in the game. I try to have fun in the open world and the game just seems to penalize me for messing around, like killing a murderer who threatened me, getting wanted for killing and then being killed by the police which results in me losing my animal and pelts I put on my horse, which of course took me like 15 minutes to get.

I see the fun, I see the greatness in the game, but I'm not experiencing any of it.

Also very notably GTA IV. And probably GTA3: San Andreas (I don't recall the ratings).

Reviewers always lose their shit over Rockstar games. You can't really pay any attention to the reviews for Rockstar games, it's just outlets competing to see who can get their 10/10 rating of the game out first. It'll take a little time before we get an accurate take on the game.

I would put Breath of the Wild the same way. I played it after the hype and I liked it, but never finished it because it just got to feel like a chore.

@mems1224: out of morbid curiosity I need to ask. You refuted a claim earlier in this thread that you didn't like this game.

What part of the "trash controls" and "shit gameplay" are you enjoying? Strictly using your terminology mind you.

Not enjoying any of the over animated shit gameplay or trash controls. i do like exploring the world and so far the story seems neat.

@mems1224: fair enough. For me, if I felt that way about a game I wouldn't be able to trudge through it.

I can put up with a garbage playing game if it is doing interesting things in other areas. so far the other stuff has been enough to put up with how awful everything in the game feels. we'll see how long that lasts i guess.

It took me nearly 10 hours to get really acquainted with how the game controls and moves, and probably another 5 to pin down the sensitivity/dead zone options to a spot where aiming doesn't feel like a complete and total chore anymore. I really think the first chunk of this game is straight up awful. If you can acclimatize yourself to the controls/animations long enough to finally get the story going and for the characters to start getting fleshed out, I think there's definitely a lot about the game to like. But man, that first bit is just some of the roughest I've experienced in recent memory from a game.

I also have a really hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Rockstar continues to use the exact same tutorial system as they have since GTA 3. Flashing a pop-up of plain text up in the upper left side of the screen, usually during the part of the game where I need to know that info the most, and then having it completely disappear into the ether is just insane to me. There are so many systems in this game I've been flat out ignoring or unaware of just because I missed a tutorial. It took me until a sidequest earlier today to finally figure out how to actually play the fishing mini-game, for example. Its just bizarre all around.

Yeah, controls are bad. There's FPS controls for the first-person view. I'm trying to get reacquainted with the new controls after using the default scheme for hours.

Also the performance of this game on a PS4 Pro is ridiculously bad, I should have probably picked it up on X, but once again I believed when people said that the slowdowns didn't bother them. The whole damn game is a slow down, and does not look good in motion and the HDR is a joke. How this game got 100/100 from so many reviewers, is another joke.

I was in love with this game for the first 8 hours, now I'm getting GTA flashbacks with Retry mission stuff, and just the graphic performance is... abysmal. I'd rather the game "looked worse" and ran at a steadier frame rate. I guess as long as I'm not doing the missions, I'll still have fun with the game.

[Edit: I've moved from playing in FPS mode to only using FPS only every now and then, and the performance and the experience is much better.

(I played GTA single player fully in FPS mode so I was hoping I was able to do the same here, but that was on a high-end PC, so I guess I should have known what I was in for...) ]

I'm surprised this thread is so negative. Between this game, Spider-Man, and God of War I think this year saved this gen, which is a gen that has been largely disappointing. The only time the controls have annoyed me was when looting and I'd have to angle myself just right to pick up something I wanted. The shooting is better than the last Red Dead or any GTA. I don't know why pushing A or X to sprint would annoy so many people. I'm loving the game, too bad so many people here aren't liking the controls.

I'm having a real mixed bag experience with RDR2. It's equal parts amazing, funny, and entertaining, and the constant frustration caused by varied ridiculous fail states and way overly sensitive wanted triggers, along with some really terrible control design decisions. Here's just one: why would they decide to put the contextual action/reaction and drawing your weapon on the same LT? Maybe the silly fails are part of the intended design, but it really tears away at the immersion and the weight of the story and interesting side content for me.

I loved RDR, one of my fav all-time games. This one I'm not feeling and it's becoming a chore more than fun. Not giving up yet but I hope the story momentum builds up soon and carries me through...the awkward and frustrating gameplay mechanics be damned.

I guess everybody wants different things because playing this game after Assassins Creed is like a breath of fresh air. I've never liked the controls in AC games and after playing the entirety of Origins I cant think of a moment in that game where I was really enjoying it due to how it controlled. I've been enjoying this since I started it despite some of the weird button choices because it's controlled fine for me so far.

I can understand why Rockstar would make the decision for such a slow paced game. Take a look at all this world building we did. But the swimmy feeling controls are abysmal, even more so than other Rockstar games. Obviously a lot went into making this game and it shows. I enjoy the story and the characters somewhat but I believe this game is way overrated. There are no actual parts of the gameplay that are enjoyable. Shooting is crap, hunting is crap, mini games are crap, inventory, etc. Feels like 10+ year old gameplay mechanics that were never enjoyable to begin with were laid as the foundation, then they spent years making the characters and the world look good. I just feel sorry for the people that spent years of their life making this game and then not getting any credit for it. I actually feel shame for even purchasing this game. #BOYCOTTRDR2

Other than people saying there is huge input delay (I am definitely not having that issue, playing on a regular PS4) I can understand the complaints about the controls but I got used to them after a couple hours. That said, even though I wouldn't touch it, I wouldn't mind seeing an update give better controller customization.

Well this post sure escalated

@brunothethird: Right ! or at least move it to l1, the side of triggers ive always associated with brake or reverse. Im constantly riding by shit cause im just pulling out my gun instead of stopping my horse.

It doesn't bother me, to me 90% of all 3rd-person games have clunky control schemes, so it's simply a learning process. Also, perhaps people haven't played the first game (which was slow as well)? perhaps people are used too used to playing fast-paced action games, not adventure games? I don't know. It's not the best controls I've had in a game like this, but it's far from being bad, it's just more complex than most others.

Going to Necro this thread like this game has done to the fun factor.

It took me this long to beat this wretched game due to the horrendous controls and pacing of this game. Good riddance it's over.

Please don't bump old topics unless you have something relevant to add.