10 Realistic Features In Red Dead Redemption 2 We STILL Can't Get Over
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VOICE OVER: Aaron Kline
WRITTEN BY: Aaron Kline
Not many games have gotten world building and realism right quite like "Red Dead Redemption 2" has. For this list, we'll be looking at the most realistic features found in Rockstar's fantastic Western adventure. Our list includes the Lunar Cycle, the Ecosystem, Dieting, the Hygiene, and more!
Script written by Aaron Kline
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at the 10 most realistic features in “Red Dead Redemption 2”. It’s crazy to think that Red Dead 2 was released back in 2018 and still has one of the most realistic and lived in worlds in gaming. Not many games have gotten world building and realism right quite like RDR2 has. Saddle up and head to the comments to let us know of any features we missed.
Most open world games have NPCs with routines, but Red Dead put a little more detail into theirs. NPCs with jobs are a perfect example of this. Each NPC, depending on their occupation, will have a different routine. Farmers will wake up earlier than shopkeepers, for example. Even labor tensive jobs like lumberjacks include rest periods. Details within the jobs themselves are pretty outstanding too! If we pay attention to the railroad workers, we can notice that with each strike of their hammer, the rail spikes will get slightly hammered in. After it’s down, the worker will move on to the next.
While nothing new for a Rockstar game, your character’s appearance and abilities will change depending on your diet. The first thing we notice of course is the appearance of Arthur, who can become too skinny or a little heavy set. When skinny, we’ll have more stamina, but we’ll become weaker and won’t be able to take as much damage. When on the heavier side, we’ll be able to take more damage, but will have to take more breaks while doing physical activities. This feature has us paying more attention to what we’re putting into our digital body, both good and bad.
I always found it weird when games let you go from super short hair to a long ponytail with no explanation. “Red Dead Redemption 2” doesn’t have this strange feature. Our hair in Red Dead 2 grows in real time and the length of our hair will actually factor into what styles we can get when we visit a barber. The beards in Red Dead 2 are more realistic than in most games. The longer we let our beard grow, the more it will move. Beards actually have their own physics and will bounce around and move differently depending on their length. While these are small details, it’s these small details that really set the world of Red Dead above most games.
Customizing our character to make them feel like ours is nothing new. Piggybacking off of all the hair customization, our clothing can be customized pretty heavily as well. Each article of clothing can be tweaked. We can roll up our sleeves, tuck our pants into our boots, appear well dressed or look like a slob. Of course, we want to look as badass as possible, but our outfits will actually impact us more than by just making us look cool. If we’re in colder areas we’ll want to bundle up compared to warmer areas, as wearing the proper clothing will affect our health. We’ll also need to dress to impress, as our appearance will affect the impression Arthur makes on the NPCs we encounter.
Maintaining our six-shooters is a more intricate process in Red Dead Redemption 2. Not only do we need to know how to use them in combat, we must also ensure our weapons are cleaned and cared for. If we neglect them, our firearms may become dirty or even jam. As a result, a soiled gun will have a distinct appearance and sound compared to a well-maintained one. In addition to their appearance, we can also personalize our weapons by customizing various parts, such as the barrel or the material of the grip. It’s even possible to engrave designs on the guns.
We often take the sky in games for granted, as most games feature only a few clouds and a basic day-night system. Of course, Red Dead Redemption 2 goes above and beyond here as well. When we look up at the night sky in the game, we can observe actual star constellations. The detail doesn’t stop there; when stargazing in the wilderness, stars appear to shine brighter than in the cities. The brightness of the moon also affects the visibility of stars, as a brighter moon may dim the shine of nearby stars.
It’s hard to stay clean while in the Wild West. That being said, you can bathe in “Red Dead Redemption 2” and if for some reason you neglect doing that, it won’t go unnoticed. NPCs in the game can be heard discussing your hygiene, and the buildup of dirt on your face, clothes, and fingernails will become increasingly visible over time. Using Eagle Eye, you can even see your own body odor. If you arrive at camp without cleaning up, you may even be forced to do so.
Sometimes it can be entertaining to toy with NPCs and enemies in Red Dead Redemption 2. You can sink ships in the game by simply shooting a smaller boat, causing it to go under. When a boat sinks, the characters on board will begin to panic and attempt to swim towards the shore. If the boats are farther out at sea, it’s a little more difficult to see how this happens, but when we shoot a boat that’s closer, we can see water rushing into the hole we made. What makes this really cool is that if we shoot a part of the boat that is above water, it won’t do anything, other than make a hole. If we shoot the bottom of the boat, water will slowly fill it up.
Horses in Red Dead 2 have a lot of crazy details. Just like Arthur, our horse can get dirty. When we take off our saddle we will actually see the outline around it where the horse got covered with dirt. Your horse will be slowed down if it gets covered in mud, but running through water or grooming it will remedy this. Feeding and grooming your horse will strengthen your bond as well. Speaking of bonds, if you don’t build a relationship with a horse you won’t be able to just hop on it and take it for a ride, the horse will kick you off of it. We’ll end with the most unnecessary feature; when your horse is in colder areas, its nether regions will shrink… Like I said, unnecessary detail, but it’s there.
My personal favorite detail in “Red Dead Redemption 2” has to be its ecosystem. The ecosystem is fully detailed with a proper food chain including predators and prey. There are the obvious predators and prey like big cats hunting deer or bears catching fish, but the small predators are really interesting. We can see cats hunt for mice and smaller birds. Birds of prey are very detailed too. You can watch a large bird catch fish from bodies of water or scoop up small prey. If the bird grabs a snake we can even watch as it fights back. Even the scavengers will show up as dead animals start to decay. Watching the wildlife in Red Dead 2 can take up a lot of your time, and the more you watch, the more details you’ll find.
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at the 10 most realistic features in “Red Dead Redemption 2”. It’s crazy to think that Red Dead 2 was released back in 2018 and still has one of the most realistic and lived in worlds in gaming. Not many games have gotten world building and realism right quite like RDR2 has. Saddle up and head to the comments to let us know of any features we missed.
All In A Day’s Work
Most open world games have NPCs with routines, but Red Dead put a little more detail into theirs. NPCs with jobs are a perfect example of this. Each NPC, depending on their occupation, will have a different routine. Farmers will wake up earlier than shopkeepers, for example. Even labor tensive jobs like lumberjacks include rest periods. Details within the jobs themselves are pretty outstanding too! If we pay attention to the railroad workers, we can notice that with each strike of their hammer, the rail spikes will get slightly hammered in. After it’s down, the worker will move on to the next.
Dieting
While nothing new for a Rockstar game, your character’s appearance and abilities will change depending on your diet. The first thing we notice of course is the appearance of Arthur, who can become too skinny or a little heavy set. When skinny, we’ll have more stamina, but we’ll become weaker and won’t be able to take as much damage. When on the heavier side, we’ll be able to take more damage, but will have to take more breaks while doing physical activities. This feature has us paying more attention to what we’re putting into our digital body, both good and bad.
Barber Shop
I always found it weird when games let you go from super short hair to a long ponytail with no explanation. “Red Dead Redemption 2” doesn’t have this strange feature. Our hair in Red Dead 2 grows in real time and the length of our hair will actually factor into what styles we can get when we visit a barber. The beards in Red Dead 2 are more realistic than in most games. The longer we let our beard grow, the more it will move. Beards actually have their own physics and will bounce around and move differently depending on their length. While these are small details, it’s these small details that really set the world of Red Dead above most games.
Stylish
Customizing our character to make them feel like ours is nothing new. Piggybacking off of all the hair customization, our clothing can be customized pretty heavily as well. Each article of clothing can be tweaked. We can roll up our sleeves, tuck our pants into our boots, appear well dressed or look like a slob. Of course, we want to look as badass as possible, but our outfits will actually impact us more than by just making us look cool. If we’re in colder areas we’ll want to bundle up compared to warmer areas, as wearing the proper clothing will affect our health. We’ll also need to dress to impress, as our appearance will affect the impression Arthur makes on the NPCs we encounter.
Arsenal
Maintaining our six-shooters is a more intricate process in Red Dead Redemption 2. Not only do we need to know how to use them in combat, we must also ensure our weapons are cleaned and cared for. If we neglect them, our firearms may become dirty or even jam. As a result, a soiled gun will have a distinct appearance and sound compared to a well-maintained one. In addition to their appearance, we can also personalize our weapons by customizing various parts, such as the barrel or the material of the grip. It’s even possible to engrave designs on the guns.
Lunar Cycle
We often take the sky in games for granted, as most games feature only a few clouds and a basic day-night system. Of course, Red Dead Redemption 2 goes above and beyond here as well. When we look up at the night sky in the game, we can observe actual star constellations. The detail doesn’t stop there; when stargazing in the wilderness, stars appear to shine brighter than in the cities. The brightness of the moon also affects the visibility of stars, as a brighter moon may dim the shine of nearby stars.
Hygiene
It’s hard to stay clean while in the Wild West. That being said, you can bathe in “Red Dead Redemption 2” and if for some reason you neglect doing that, it won’t go unnoticed. NPCs in the game can be heard discussing your hygiene, and the buildup of dirt on your face, clothes, and fingernails will become increasingly visible over time. Using Eagle Eye, you can even see your own body odor. If you arrive at camp without cleaning up, you may even be forced to do so.
Down With The Ship
Sometimes it can be entertaining to toy with NPCs and enemies in Red Dead Redemption 2. You can sink ships in the game by simply shooting a smaller boat, causing it to go under. When a boat sinks, the characters on board will begin to panic and attempt to swim towards the shore. If the boats are farther out at sea, it’s a little more difficult to see how this happens, but when we shoot a boat that’s closer, we can see water rushing into the hole we made. What makes this really cool is that if we shoot a part of the boat that is above water, it won’t do anything, other than make a hole. If we shoot the bottom of the boat, water will slowly fill it up.
Giddy Up
Horses in Red Dead 2 have a lot of crazy details. Just like Arthur, our horse can get dirty. When we take off our saddle we will actually see the outline around it where the horse got covered with dirt. Your horse will be slowed down if it gets covered in mud, but running through water or grooming it will remedy this. Feeding and grooming your horse will strengthen your bond as well. Speaking of bonds, if you don’t build a relationship with a horse you won’t be able to just hop on it and take it for a ride, the horse will kick you off of it. We’ll end with the most unnecessary feature; when your horse is in colder areas, its nether regions will shrink… Like I said, unnecessary detail, but it’s there.
Ecosystem
My personal favorite detail in “Red Dead Redemption 2” has to be its ecosystem. The ecosystem is fully detailed with a proper food chain including predators and prey. There are the obvious predators and prey like big cats hunting deer or bears catching fish, but the small predators are really interesting. We can see cats hunt for mice and smaller birds. Birds of prey are very detailed too. You can watch a large bird catch fish from bodies of water or scoop up small prey. If the bird grabs a snake we can even watch as it fights back. Even the scavengers will show up as dead animals start to decay. Watching the wildlife in Red Dead 2 can take up a lot of your time, and the more you watch, the more details you’ll find.
