After finishing the story I've moved in to the epilogue and it's pretty cool. There are a series of missions to do as John starts his new life. Plus any side or stranger missions that you left undone are available, with a few exceptions. Plenty of random encounters too, of course. Some missions are only for Arthur, including all the ones that count for the Lending a Hand achievement, the "Honor Missions".

With the map opening up to me in the epilogue I've been able to explore it, and start to fill in some of my goals. One of these is Legendary fish. I now have almost all -- adding the redfin pickerel, rock bass and largemouth bass -- but the catfish looks to be impossible. Can you actually catch this fish. How? Spoilers OK with me.

I want to get Zoologist for studying every animal in story mode and I'm closing in, but these seem increasingly elusive. The last few will probably be quite difficult indeed.

Overall, I'm really enjoying the epilogue. For me, free roam was always my favorite part of this game - even if the story is exceptional -- and the epilogue is tailor-made. No more debuffs from ill-health, no more automatic bounty to restrict access. It's all open and alive. With limited missions it's left to the player to devise his own fun, and I've not had a problem with that in this game world.

A few tips for folks approaching, or preparing for, the epilogue, which I'll put in spoilers. Do not read if you want no spoilers!



I said earlier that I was ignoring some challenges that ran counter to Arthur's moral compass as I saw him. But it turns out, John has no such objections haha. So yeah, by shifting how I see each man, it's enabled me to press on and complete these without violating the character I've formed in my mind

I agree about the game's approach and pacing as it suits me to a T as well especially since I love history and the American West. That being said I'd love to see someone make something of equal quality but with focused emphasis on actual history and realism but with the same quality level of environmental design, story telling, wonderful horseback riding, slow world traversal and so forth.

I think you'll have fun playing as Marston. That was something I really looked forward to(along with seeing and interacting with Marston as Arthur)because I really enjoyed his character from the first game. There are quite a few meaningful missions with Marston but I would say take it slow as they are not that numerous compared to the base game obviously. That being said there's still plenty to do in completing new bounty missions or wrapping up certain missions that you started as Arthur. There was one in particular I did this way and it was really cool interacting with the same NPC as two different characters at two different times. The Western environment of the game map is also unique and beautiful and it was could to revisit that location in the sequel's new engine. I'll stick to my guns though in that I still thing the first game's engine is great and if they just ported it over as is to PC with options for widescreen resolution and uncapped 60fps it would be outstanding on the PC as is. It really is a beautiful game even though its over a decade old. Even on the older consoles you can clearly see this its just unfortunately held back in this current generation of what we are accustomed to because of the older consoles locked, unoptimized 30fps and 720p resolutions. The environments and weather and wildlife are great, the horseback riding is great, the gun play is great and would be exceptional on PC with 60fps and the game's euphoria animation and physics is great and so is the soundtrack.

Getting back to RDR2 though Marston has some great mission and let me tell you there's still tons of unique dialogue to be discovered. I also found new horses on that side of the map and there's also numerous mysteries. I even remember one that I would like to ask you about if you ever come across it. I don't know if there's any backstory to it but I'll just say its an occurrence that is startling if you happen upon it.

I would really love to see a third game or serious expansion that opens the whole map and adds even more territory. I really, really want to see a game like this that is about three times as big as it is even if its mostly wilderness with no missions because I really want a game where it takes a significant amount of in-game time to traverse the map on horseback. I want an area so big that if seems as if I'll always see something new and never see what I've already found in the same way because of the wonderful environment/weather and lighting design. I'd like a game that makes me feel that I'm really out there alone with nary a human in site. This would make camping a survival more interesting and potential encounters with friendlies or enemies more unique because they would be rare if the map was huge. I'd also like the ability to camp anywhere within reason. I didn't like that in the game you would pick a spot only to find that the game picks a spot for you and sometimes not even close to where you wanted to. I also would like to see a recreation and music mechanic added for camping and otherwise. For example I would love to see a whole list of songs that your character could sing while at camp or while out riding. I would also like to ability to play a guitar or harmonica and a game of solitare for those moments of solitude while out exploring the world.

I finished the epilogue, all the story missions, and it was good. Now it's exclusively free-roam. The ending was satisfying, tying up the final loose end and settling Arthur's debt. The player is well rewarded for seeing it through to the ultimate end. Impressively, 21% of the player base has done so. That's an epic game and a long haul to reach that point, 260 hours for me.

I had good luck with the Zoologist chase yesterday, and now down to about 22 animals left to find out of the 178 in the game. What and where are they?

Still haven't found a panther.....

Yes, many great horses in the epilogue, and I'm riding the dark bay Turkoman. What a beautiful horse, great all-rounder. Very robust, good speed. I like riding Arabians, but once you notice how small they are it's impossible to unsee. Like riding a pony and the Turkoman towers over them. I'll get a good screen of my new mount, called Max. Ask away about what you mentioned Coot.

A few more random images I've snapped along the way. Sorry if some are too dark. They show well on my PC, but monitor settings might play in to it.

The southwest, unlocked in the epilogue



Fighting the legendary rock bass



I love the horses and trains in this game

Good luck. Usually you don't find panthers, they find you.

I can usually find them

Often they can be hard to spot and your fist indication they're around is when you get thrown from your horse. Using bait or pulling a recently killed boar or deer behind your horse will cause it to maybe go after that rather than you off the bat.

Thanks, yeah I know where to get them, the place you mention and also east of Lagras/Lakay.

I got one the first time I played RDR 2 no problem. This time I have spent several weeks of in-game time hunting in both of those places. I've been at night, and in the day. I've used predator bait and potent predator bait. I've brought carcasses for bait. I've sat still, and walked around, rode my horse back and forth. Slept to pass time. Camped nearby. Reload a save. None have spawned. I just spent four days near Owanjila looking for the Red Chestnut Arabian but again, no spawn.

Rotten luck I guess.

Originally I wanted it to get the last satchel to then get Legend of the East. But I could just buy that in the epilogue and now I need the panther to fill out Zoologist.

The second animal you mention in the spoiler needs hunting 9 to appear right? I'm not close to that yet.

Just noodling 'round the net and searched "RDR 2 Zoologist" and came across this page. It lists every one of the 178 animals, along with where they can be found. It's a gold mine because I can see in the compendium which spaces are blank, but can't tell which animal it is. If the empty space has dogs on either side, then I can infer it is a dog that's missing. But this doesn't work for all of them. So as I get down to the last ones at least I'll know if I am looking for a bird, or a snake or whatever. Otherwise it could take forever to find. Major spoilers in this link of course. Proceed at your own risk (of spoiling it)

All 178 animals needed for Zoologist achievement and locations

One interesting bit in that article is the mention that the Guarma animals are not needed, and that any you find will count as bonus animals, effectively counting toward the total, and meaning you don't need to find all 178 that do count. Since there are nine unique Guarma animals, you only need to find 169 on the mainland to trip the achievement if you studied all those on the island. Reading forum posts I've seen people going back and forth about whether the Guarma animals are needed. Yes they are, no they're not. But if this article is accurate then taking the time to find them in chapter 5 made this challenge easier.

Only one player in a thousand has this achievement.

Oh yeah, and about that.... dogs.

Not only do I think RDR 2 is the best PC game we've seen, the devs put in like fourteen different breeds.

And one cat.

Dogs are awesome. Rockstar agrees.

Top marks for loving dogs as much as I do

Some of the achievements I've seen in some past games that I've played were ridiculously difficult to get as evidenced by the miniscule percentage of players that got it. One that sticks out in my memory is an achievement for winning 2,000 deathmatches in either the original Serious Sam game or the second one. I would have to look in Steam again to be sure.

I got attacked as Marston near Gaptooth Ridge I think and I was not even hunting for one I don't think. It was somewhere near the farthest Western border of New Elizabeth I believe.

As far as the mystery I mentioned, I was out riding as Marston in the New Elisabeth western map area and as I was riding down a road a small outbuilding near the road just blew up out of nowhere startling me and my horse. I explored the aftermath but I have never come up with any explanation as to why this happened. I suppose I could look online but I kind of like the mystery of if and possible discussions and speculations that could be made. Was someone operating a still or storing nitroglycerin? The first game had lots of panthers out west and along the road leading to the bridge that crosses over to Mexico.

Speaking of Mexico, on the PS4 I was able to get Marston on the Mexico side along a shoreline but was unable to press inland because of how they designed it to be impassable. I suppose that was another disappointment for me because I had assumed or hoped they would also unlock all of the Mexico part of the map when you play as Marston since that is part of the first game's world map. I suppose they blocked it off so as to maintain some sort of story continuity as I guess we are supposed to believe that Marston only went to Mexico during the first game. They could have still unlocked at least part of the map such as the far, northwest corner with that little village and put a cantina there and card game and a few Mexico-side animals, horse and bandits to interact with as Marston. They could block the whole other area off with perhaps a standing Mexican army that snipes you every time you attempt to pass by or perhaps create and inexplicable storm or sandstorm that turns Marston around and forces him back.

Another interesting mystery is that there is the skeleton of a Jesuit missionary way out towards the western side of the map on the coast I think.

Another thing I found which I think was just simple instance of a random NPC being spawned but I took video of a mounted rider on the Mexican side up on a cliff that I spotted while playing as Marston. I just like to make up my own story to explain it other than a glitchy NPC that like got spawned over there by random chance or mistake. I like to think perhaps it was some mysterious character watching John, maybe a native or who knows. Maybe it was Landon Ricketts wandering by on the southern border wondering who this other lone character happening by was.

So it seems following the story in this is the best way to play? I'm still on the fence.

Meanwhile Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord consumes my time. Steam says I have 300 hours in it now... Truly a somewhat flawed masterpiece.

Maybe it is for some. But not for me.. It's a mix, with free-roam being my favorite part of the game. Both are great however, and the fact remains that the story unlocks abilities, horses, weapons and more. So it's best in my view to do both, and find your own balance between the two. For me I found that balance by taking it slow from chapters 2 through 4. This is the best time to explore and discover, sprinkling in occasional story missions. Then once I hit chapter 5 I accelerated the pace of the main story, and saw it through to the end and the epilogue that comes after.

Coot I haven't encountered the exploding building, and now I hope I do. Do you recall more precisely where this was?

This is my horse in the epilogue, a dark bay Turkoman I named Max. I also bought a silver dapple pinto Fox Trotter, and both horses are from the Blackwater stables. The Turkoman is one of the best horses in the game. Same speed as the Arabian, with slightly slower acceleration and very sturdy (high health). It is classified as a hybrid race/war horse. An ideal combination! The Fox Trotter is I think the fastest horse in RDR 2.






Cooking supper out on the trail. It's good to grab various plants you come across for crafting and cooking. Thyme especially for me, as using it for seasoning grants a bonus for the dead eye core, and you can see here it is gold.

Following the story is probably the best way to play. As you go through the game different weapons, horses, activities and areas of the map open up. So, even though it's fun to just run off and explore, hunt, collect bounties ect in the early chapters, you're really limited on what you can do and where you can go.
Plus, in the epilogue everything is opened up to you.

What I did was explore as much as I could in every chapter before progressing the story. But, I just like to play open world games like that. Ignore the story and just have fun in whatever sandbox I'm in.

Same, and it goes back to what I've (we've) been saying about how well paced RDR 2 is. And then I say, well, it's structured in such a way that the player has the freedom to seek his own pacing. And that's what it is really. The game has no intrinsic pace, just a rule set as it were, that allows the player to take things as he sees fit.

As long as there's a yellow mission icon on the map you've got time. Time to do whatever you want, for as long as you want.

Free roam is great, and I think playing it to chapter 4 and then hitting the brakes is a good approach because it gains the player a number of weapons and abilities and other stuff to fortify the game play. But there's nothing stopping a player from doing so from chapter 2 or whatever. Just go as you do.

I was reading back through some of the posts from a few years ago and this made me laugh. Here's that elusive panther. My horse, Ricochet, with game stowed and hanging, upon return to Shady Belle. The mojo from this shot should help me find him again haha.

These two mods look to be indispensable for the game:




Also, there's a bank robbery mod:


https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/167

And a damage overhaul:

https://www.nexusmods.com/reddeadredemption2/mods/184?tab=description

the only bad thing i have to say about the game is locking content...i cant steal enemies weapon like i usualy did in gta, but i think they removed that in gta v as well untill you reach a certain point

Horses and trains, yeah. Missouri Fox Trotter. I said this was the fastest horse in RDR 2, but as I made the rounds at some stables yesterday looking over the ones for sale I noticed that the Brindle Thoroughbred and a Nakota were also shown as 7 base speed.






Huntin' gators, and found the biggest one of them all

I was just thinking that if someone made a Westworld (HBO series not the 70's film) mod for this game I might be interested to play it!

By the way, there are gators in RDR 2? I thought the game took place somewhere in the American Southwest?

Ah man, you gotta play this one Panzer. The game world is a variety of biomes, from snowy mountains akin to the Rockies up north, to the plains in the center, to the bayou down south, to the desert out west (and more). It's amazingly diverse and beautiful. It's worth picking up this game just to ride around in the world.

Kind of, the edges are bordered by something like the Rockies on the North West, in the North East by maybe Appalachia or possibly the Ozarks and the South East by Louisiana with St Denis being a clear stand in for New Orleans.

Set in the old west is not accurate, now that we bring it up. Panzer had said he's not interested in that setting, but I think it would be more accurate just to say RDR 2 is set in 1899. And I didn't even see the 'west' until the epilogue.

Appalachia is a good call wormfood for the northeast part of the map.

Look back through the screenshots I've posted in this thread and you'll catch glimpses of most all of the varied terrain in this game. That big gator is in the bayou country of Lemoyne in the south and the shot of my horse Max above is in the heartlands of New Hanover.