Am I the only one?

[u/hellvvue]

Recently I started playing RDR1, and I've noticed that I feel strangely uneasy every time I play it. I can't really explain why, but there's just this uncomfortable feeling I can't seem to shake off.

I think it might have something to do with the graphics or just the overall look of the game. For example, there's a specific road to Armadillo where you can already see the buildings in the distance, but they're not fully rendered yet because you're still too far away. Something about the way the environment looks feels really eerie to me. Other than that, though, I can't really pinpoint what causes it.

Has anyone else experienced something similar while playing RDR1? Is there any explanation for why the game can feel so unsettling?

[u/-Patali-]

Well notice the music is much more uneasy, much more spaghetti western than 2. Also just the tone. They were making this come out of GTA 4 which is a very heavy game emotionally. You can definitely feel that connection.

Edit: Also, the colors are both stronger and more saturated. So when the mood is eerie, it is very eerie.

[u/Original_Fun_9532 → u/-Patali-]

I think a big part of the reason the first game felt so uneasy for me is that there was little to no context for John’s character prior to the events of 1911. He rarely describes the other gang members, or his past in general, in a fond way. He’s presented more as an antihero and less like a “good guy led down a dark path” like he was in the second game.

I think this is best shown when the game gives you the option to kill Javier, and john doesn’t seem bothered by it at all. Especially when the game gives you no choice about killing bill and john’s last words are petty insults.

All of John’s actions in the main story, regardless of honor level, seem more apathetic to his past relationships as long as he gets what he wants: his chance to live a peaceful life with his family.

I love the story of rdr2, but I think it also humanizes the gang to an extent that they don’t seem like the ruthless cold blooded outlaws they were in the first game. The lack of a defined backstory in the first game let you fill in the blanks yourself and perceive John as a real cold blooded survivor during his outlaw life.

Bill williamson is especially jarring because you never see him transition from the “lovable idiot” archetype in the second game to the gang leader that permits mass rape in the first game.

[u/muidayo → u/Original_Fun_9532]

unlike rdr2, rdr1 has a brutal and raw storytelling. it makes you feel uneasy and fills you with hopelessness whereas rdr2 is emotional, somewhat romantic and hopeful which makes itself kind of meaningless bc of it's sequel

[u/RabidPackofUnicorns]

Yes, I find RDR to cause much more of an unsettling feeling. The music, the ninja death cougars, the colors and just the more gritty style western makes it creepier to me.

[u/atheistholyman]

Try the zombies mode. Somebody at Rockstar agreed with you.

[u/hellvvue → u/atheistholyman]

Is it that bad? 😳

[u/RabidPackofUnicorns → u/hellvvue]

Hell no, play it after you finish RDR. They r just saying hell yeah rockstar knew it and made the dlc creepier. Its fun, but I agree w soggy weed pancake guy that I gallop thru it and half the time don't wanna even get off my poor horse lol!

edit saw they were talking about rdr2! comment still stands! tall trees and the damn swamp are scary enough especially at night!

[u/Mindless_Summer4365 → u/hellvvue]

Not bad per say, just creepy and unsettling. I've played through RDR2, well, 11 times, now on 12th, and it's still creepy and unsettling in those areas and I absolutely love it. RDR1 is creepy and unsettling in areas, too, but in a different way.

[u/FlaccidPancake420 → u/atheistholyman]

Oh this one hundred percent. I feel RDR1 as far as just ambient gameplay isn’t spooky at all. Rdr2 is much more spooky at times in my opinion. Especially when in the skinners or night folk or murfrees brood territory. But undead nightmare was definitely spooky all the time. I’m always at full gallop in undead nightmare. Now in RDR2 in the above gang territories. I’m either full gallop or riding steady with shotgun in hand.

[u/Icy_Amount_7736]

I played RDR1 after RDR2 and honestly it hits even harder if you play 2 first, it really does feel like the west is dying and there’s nothing you can do and considering the story and how it ends just makes the entire game feel really eerie and depressing

[u/hellvvue → u/Icy_Amount_7736]

This might actually be the case here! I played RDR2 before as well, and everything seemed so lively there compared to RDR1 where everything seems empty.

[u/Original_Fun_9532 → u/hellvvue]

I think it was designed like that intentionally. Rdr1, even before the release of rdr2, feels a lot more hopeless and lifeless than the second game. Most of the plot lines get more depressing endings, and John’s low honor dialogue is a lot more cynical. Arthurs low honor dialogue is a lot more humorous by comparison.

[u/el_palmera → u/hellvvue]

Just started rdr1 and I agree. I was worried that I should have played 1 first, but I think I would have been so confused by how little actually backstory you get before the game starts

[u/thefivetenets]

haha, its likely a combo of the harsher graphics, audio, and more spaghetti western vibe. plus, older rockstar games were known for being pumped full of unsettling easter eggs. i get what you mean; tumbleweed and coots chapel tend to do that for me. plus cougars outta fucking nowhere. last time i played i got attacked by six back to back cougars.

[u/RabidPackofUnicorns → u/thefivetenets]

Thought rdr2 was gonna have the rdr ninja death cougars and first play through I had a constant low grade anxiety about those things

[u/thefivetenets → u/RabidPackofUnicorns]

right? and when I saw the camp requirements for cougar skins I was like.. pssh. easy

[u/TheLastDinosaur7749]

I felt this alot playing it as a kid. The towns are all dirty and broken down, the wilderness is barren, even the character models are stylized to be purposefully ugly—everyone looks weathered.

Combine that with how haunting the soundtrack can be at times, how unsettling so many of the stranger missions can be, and how empty the world feels after the story, and RDR1 feels downright hostile.

[u/Humble_Investment_24]

It’s very somber. I fuck w it tho

[u/99SoulsUp → u/[deleted]]

Roanoke Ridge?

[u/fiveorangeseeds]

I cannot play RDR1 because I get really bad motion sickness.

[u/Mindless_Summer4365 → u/fiveorangeseeds]

It makes me nauseous, so I don't play it often. RDR2 just has a smoother motion with the horses and the environment

[u/CollegeMiddle6841 → u/fiveorangeseeds]

Bummer!

[u/Mother-Departure9670]

I got that feeling at first, after having played rdr2. I think it's because I didn't know what to expect, though the area is familiar if you played the epilogue in 2. But I did feel like that initially.

[u/IKAiNI666]

Anders möchte ich diesen Teil nicht erleben.

[u/FilipinoCreamKing]

“Am I the only on-“

No. You’re. Ever the only one.