Why Red Dead Redemption Worked?
So I get it. Rockstar's RDR2 have built up quite a hype train and it has finally been released after years of waiting. I took my time and was finally able to play through it this weekend. I felt that I have to grab my laptop and start writing somethings down. A review perhaps, but who am I to tell you how good a game is while there is already hundreds of reviews focusing on that? However, this game amazed me so much that I think I have to write something about it.
So, here we are.
Instead of giving the general review, I want to talk about the game's story itself in detail. Why it worked so well? And why I think it is the best storytelling in a video game that I have ever seen? I think it comes down to the details. We all agree that the most integral part of writing a perfectly engaging story is its characters. Plots should always be supported by its characters. Audiences have to be grappled by them in order to care about what happens in the story.
Unlike most games, it does not have the problem of making its lead playable character stand out too much from the rest.
I mean just admit it, out of all forms of storytelling, games might be the biggest victim of this problem: the player is everything. Although there are many games which perfectly brought lots of likeable characters with distinctive characteristics that gamers remember them by (such as The Witcher franchise, Call of Duty -RIP- franchise, and anything that Naughty Dog made), they all couldn't help but focusing on the player's character for the most part. However, RDR2 dared to do differently. The little Van der Linde Gang is not just another "bunch of supporting characters". Instead, the game tells their story through countless well established details from dialogues, actions, side quests, and items. The point is not having Arthur as the protagonist. The point is having the entire gang as the protagonists. And in a wild west world the game is set in, even the protagonists die casually.
Details is what this game truly perfected open-world storytelling.
Without spoiling too much, the main plot twist of the game was so well written and seamlessly blended with the major storyline. It's a twist that does not feel out-of-placed. Rockstar was known by their insane amount of detailing that they put into their games. While this time's gameplay was detailed to a jaw-dropping level, the details in the story were so well presented that when the story reached its turning point, audiences realize what the previous foreshadowings truly means. And it makes perfect sense. It does not break the fluency. And most amazingly, it adds into the gameplay as something that players had to consider for themselves just in a way like how Arthur would have to do in real life, as a person.
And there is even more smartly written scenes that presents themselves as symbolic moments than some of the movies.
Let's face it, one of the most important element in any forms of art is the symbolism. Why does the creator show this? Does it resonate with something in the story? I really cannot giveaway the biggest symbol in the game without spoiling the main storyline for RDR2 too much, but there is one scene that I felt it was truly crafted to perfect resonation with the ending for RDR1. When Jack first met Agent Ross, he was fishing by a river. And when Jack went to Agent Ross for revenge (the ending of the first game), Ross was fishing by a river. See the connection? It was tiny yet well-crafted moment like this that makes the storytelling of this game stand out so much. It is truly a seamless transition into the events of the first game.
The main protagonists' arc is actually players' own arc.
The bridge connecting a virtual character and the audience is often difficult to grapple for many creators. Movies and books often lack the connection between the characters in it and the viewer when compared to the video games. (Don't get me wrong, a great book or movie often does have fascinating characters who audiences can connect and fall in love in. However games are easier to achieve so since there is a layer of direct interaction between players themselves and the character.)
In RDR2, the main protagonist Arthur Morgan's character arc came later in the game. But it came as a surprise so well-built up to that left me going through the similar emotions that Arthur is experiencing. It made me reconsider my previous choices and actions. Through Arthur's little journal, I could get to know more of Arthur as a person. And that is how I truly was able to connect, with this 3-D rendered unreal character in a virtual world. His arc became my arc, and I am touched by it.
It is definitely one of, if not THE, best storytellings that I have ever seen in any form of entertainment. And as a guy who have spent countless hours on these things, that is saying a lot.
