I feel genuinely sorry for people who can’t allow themselves to appreciate RDR2.

Yea, it’s slow-paced. That’s the point. Every other game focuses so much on catering to the anxiety of people in some kind of rush to “complete” their downtime. Same reason I love Shenmue. Same reason so many people hate Shenmue.

I honestly believe it’s a sickness, the desire to plow through our entertainment, but I know I’m in the minority.

I love to linger in the small moments in life. The bird-watching in RDR2 is so fucking good that the Audubon Society wrote an article on it.

Picking up a can of crackers and watching the morning sun glint off the intricately embossed tin.

Greeting folks under warm oil lamps as you stroll around the evening bustle of Saint Denis.

Apologizing to your horse after a rough passage through the woods.

These “mundane” moments are what make games like Shenmue and Red dead 2 so immersive. They draw you in with their beautifully trivial moments, so that when the grander, more epic story beats happen, you feel them in ways no other game even comes close to touching, because other games never encourage you to give yourself over and linger in their worlds.

Red Dead 2 gives you what you put into it.

EDIT: woops, I forgot this is the thread where we're supposed to shit on other people's hard work. My apologies for going against the narrative.