A long, long pause in Red Dead Redemption II

 

It’s getting on nearly a year since I last picked up Red Dead Redemption II for more than just a few minutes.  It’s not that I don’t like the game.  In fact it’s one of the greatest games I’ve ever played, and I think about it and the narrative all the time.  The problem is that I know where it’s going.  Arthur, that beastly rapscallion who grows a heart despite his thuggish past, was deep into decline with tuberculosis the last time that I played.  I’ve read enough about the game to know that, much like John Marsten in RDR, Arthur does not make it to the end of the game.  Maintaining the illusion of a vital Arthur so far is worth the delayed gratification of seeing the game through to the end.