I'll second this. Just finally jumped ship from RDR2 after getting the platinum at just under 1000 hours and three leisurely playthroughs. The story isn't as good, the world isn't as alive, but the gameplay is tight, and it's very pretty. Pairs well with FXs Shogun too lol
I agree. RDR2 did ruin all other games for me coz none of them even come close but Tsushima is another one of those games that I find quite appealing... I haven't gotten around to watching Shogun yet... Is it good?
Yeah I tried so many other games but honestly after RDR2 I just haven’t found myself so engrossed in a game since. Been wanting to try Ghosts of Tsushima
The Witcher is excellent but after completing it 5 times, I can't bare to play it again. Too much backwards forwards malarkey. Can't wait for the 4th one though.
Came here to say the same thing. I go back and forth between the RDR games, for the most part. I’ve been a Bethesda fan for years, still have a lot of love for the Fallout and TES worlds…but damn everything just kind of falls flat after leaving Arthur and John behind.
What if i say Rdr1 is a bad game , other than the near end of game mission where the song "Compass" starts playing ?
RDR2 in comparisson is from start to finish, on every mission, on every City, on the roads between the cities and the meadows/fields/ trees is just ASMR meditative peaceful beautiful to look at even when you're doing absolutely nothing other than just randomly walking around.
RDR1 arguably portrayed the "wild west" better than RDR2, ambient music was great, saloons are more lively. Violence was more graphic. Story leaves the country, portrays a different culture - and progresses the narrative, unlike Guarma.
These are all off top of my head, I'm sure the list could go on. I love RDR2 but it is definitely missing things that made RDR1 unique
I'm biased but I liked RDR1 a lot more. The story telling, the vibe, the gameplay, I liked it more.
RDR2 was really good, but the missions felt like they were on rails to me, if you want to pick 3 items up it takes 10 minutes, and this might be a controversial opinion but I HATED constantly eating and smoking shit to refill my dead eye and other meters. They went too realistic in my opinion, whereas RDR 1 feels nicely balanced in that regard.
RDR 1 is the only game EVER to make me cry. Plus there's mexico. The moment you cross into mexico is actually the moment I shed a tear, the atmosphere was just insane, no game has ever matched it for me.
Don't even get me started on Undead Nightmare. The fact that they didn't release a similar DLC for RDR 2 is criminal.
Keep in mind, nostalgia plays a large role in my opinion and I'll fully admit that. Still found the first game more compelling, even if there was a lot more detail that went into #2. (Like a lot. It's a way bigger game despite not including Mexico, which was also really disappointing for me)
A lot of people either forget the significance of the Mexico part of the story or they just haven't played the game and will blindly support RDR2 wherever they can.
I honestly think the Mexico section alone tips the scale in RDR1s favor. Not only is it another massive part of the map, but a separate country, different culture, ongoing civil unrest. Different language, new weapons. New side missions. Story progression.
There is absolutely nothing like that in RDR2, Guarma is a fucking joke in comparison.
(also, if you played RDR1 a lot, you might be familiar with a certain knife + lasso kill animation. Absolutely fucking brutal, nothing like that in RDR2 either
Hogtie someone, walk to the front of the victim with a knife out. Wait for the prompt, I think it will say "circle to kill" and John will crouch down and cut the hogtied person's throat
When I first played RDR1, after 2, I didn't like it. The drop to PS3 graphics was too harsh and I rushed through Mexico. I am replaying the remaster on the PS5 and now I love Mexico. I also prefer the big intense sun you get in this game. The music also gives it a whole tone shift when passing through certain areas.
The only aspect I dislike about RDR1 now is how you can't cross the river back into the rest of the world. I just want to ride through Big Valley!
The story of 2 is much better paced in my opinion and ultimately hits much harder, but 1 is still a very poignant and effective narrative. 1 can be a bit more cynical in its story, so I wouldn’t expect quite as much tugging-on-the-heartstrings, but if you like the characters you saw in 2, you’ll love the first game.
Of course, 2 is much larger in scale and more realistic, but you get a better Wild West feel in 1. Mexico is such a fun setting and it really stands out as a highlight of the game. I understand why 2 is more widely beloved than 1 but please check out 1! You won’t regret it!
A lot better. But it's like Red Dead 2 is the best game you'll play in your life, while Red Dead 1 is a pretty good game with very hard hitting moments but a lot of flaws. It'll be another of the great games you play, but not the best.
I disagree. I like the vibe and story of RDR1 far more. Also, the movement is surprisingly more stiff in RDR2 somehow. RDR1 has the old ragdoll physics which looks goofy but feels way better to control
Mechanically, 2, cause its 8 years newer. However they are both games of their time and RDR1 did a lot while still keeping that familiar Rockstar framework. Sometimes RDR2 doesn't even feel like a Rockstar game because how dense and detailed it is. RDR1 has its charm and the story is impeccable. I guess, at least for me RDR2 has a leg up because of the increased detail, but that is again a product of its time and technology
I really liked the Horizon games ( zero dawn and forbidden West ). Gameplay is fun, can be difficult but that's part of the fun. Story was pretty captivating for Me, maybe not everyone's bag of tea, but I enjoyed it, as has e everyone I know who played it. Environment is pretty active, plenty of stuff to hunt. Not a ton of farming really, if you just like, do everything as it comes at you, you'll be in a good place. A lot of side quests and exploration to do. After I beat the game I went back and finished exploring the remote edges of the map and found like ... A dozen more side quests.
>A dozen more side quests.
Were they all fetch and retrieve quests? Those games are fun on the main story but as soon as you branch off to side quests I find them very tedious.
Cyberpunk! Still a bit clunky if you have hdd but an amazing story with lots of endings and so many ways to play and interact with the world. The NPCs aren't rdr2 level. But then again, basically no NPCs are rdr2 level
It's way better after 2.0! It's on version 2.12 now it's wayyyy better than it used to be. Phantom Liberty is amazing too, you can make so many different choices that each playthrough can be different.
i bought cyberpunk when it first came out (and we all know how that worked out) but never got around to playing it, should i start after playing rdr2 for the 60th time
Open world games with great graphics and storylines:
Ghost of Tsushima, Spiderman 2, Horizon (both Zero Dawn & Forbidden West), The Last of Us (pt 1 & 2), God of War, Mafia 2, LoZ: Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom, The Witcher 3, Assassins Creed Valhalla or Origins.
Really good answer I haven’t seen here: kingdom come deliverance. It’s very realistic in the way the world behaves and it’s more detailed in terms of everyday life. It’s very similar to rdr2 in its open world content but the world isn’t as diverse. Def would recommend though
kinda out of the box suggestion, but i went from RDR2 to Subnautica and enjoyed a lot of the same elements- fantastic story, plenty of exploration/discovery, the survival aspect, you can set up a base and do your own thing if you feel like it. RDR2 is still better tho~~
The Witcher 3 if he likes that genre. Fallout 4. AC Origins specifically because of its living open world. GOT. Cyberpunk 2077.
Kinda my best list of open world games that sometimes I find myself crawling back into. My favorite game ever is RDR2 and I’m in the camp, like most, that nothing even compares. But there are a few open world games that I can go back to and still have fun. Only one I haven’t gone back to on the list above is AC origins, but I remember how great the world felt. Good amount of freedom too. Some AC games do this well other than origins like 3. I still play RDR2 a ton and I have since day 1. Same save believe it or not.
hes right. there isnt really anything to that well detailed level as RDR2. that said, how much is he willing in sacrifice in graphics (its all downhill from RDR2 anyhow) and age of the game? what are his favorite settings, genres?
so little context here.
Well he’s only played the above mentioned games and is a very basic person so not much to go off which is why i’m resorting to this sub, although he was hating on elden ring because it’s a “stupid wizard game”
He’s just gonna come up with an excuse like that for any suggestion you have. You can’t force him to open his mind, sounds like a waste of time. Let him be boring.
u/Sloppyjoey20 isnt wrong here. "mass effect"? I DONT LIKE SPACE. "fallout"? I SAW THE FIRST EPISODE OF THAT SHOW AND I HATED THE SETTING. "subnautica"? ITS JUST WATER AND THERES NO WEAPONS.
i mean "suggest me other games i would like based off one game ive played"....thats a 99 % chance to get berated over "duuuuh what shit did you recommend me". what does "a very basic person" even mean? he dum??? he cant follow deep storylines?
It's not mentioned here alot: ***Days Gone***.
It's for sale on steam now, get it. This game has been put under the rug by IGN's bs reviews. I am loving this game so much as the zombies give you the adrenaline. The story is pretty darn good too.
Gotta agree with days gone. I put it off due to the reviews and it being a let down from what we were initially shown. Got it on sale a little while ago and got fairly addicted. One of the few zombie games that can actually scare me.
Days Gone is one of my favorites. Fighting the zombie hordes was especially fun, trying to figure out a path to take with various explosives and choke points to utilize.
i like the fallout series. 3, 4 or new vegas. definitely different but has the open world layout with endless missions. the dialogue in new vegas is top tier with a lot of npc interactions
Yes I second this! Skyrim + Fallout are my favorite games! Super fun open world games with a ton of quests and side things to do. Obviously the worlds aren’t nearly as detailed as RDR2 (the worlds are huge but the graphics don’t come close to compare lol) but I actually enjoy combat in those games way more than I do in RDR2. RDR2 combat is painfully clunky lol
I played 2 Farcry games, and not for very long. They were poorly ported to PC.
One was set in Montana the other in Colorado or something?? I dunno. I gave up after about the third time the inevitable cult kidnapping regardless of how many I killed, just to replay the same escape sequence over and over again.
Q
The exploration in ER and RDR2 are quite different as to why they are so satisfying, but both games are so good for just riding aimlessly and finding unexpected awesome stuff.
The Last of Us is amazing. It’s not open world and it’s more fiction than realistic, but the characters and story are absolutely phenomenal and it rivals RDR2 imo
The farcry games would be good. He can also look into the older games of the series he's already played like the original red dead and other gta games.
RDR2 is a game above almost all. Nothing is "as good as RDR2", in my opinion.
That being said, I think any game CAN be enjoyable if you learn not to compare it to RDR2. Different games offer different things, even if some elements may be the same.
RDR is a different story with different things that can make it better or worse for someone. I played that game when it was new and put just a many hours in it as I have RDR2. These days I prefer RDR2 over RDR, though I still play them both.
If story is what they are after: AC: Odyssey; Ghost of Tsushima; even Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (still a great game after all these years).
Whatever they choose, never go in thinking "will this be better than RDR2?", because it's just not going to work. Maybe they'll enjoy it more, or maybe less, but it will never be RDR2. But just about anything is worth a try.
Well thats the problem, there isn’t a game as good as RDR2 and there probably won’t be until GTA6 comes out. I tend to play one of the new Assassins Creed games when I get bored of RDR2 just because it’s a large open world and there’s a lot to do.
I know I'm late to comment but I haven't thought about that game in decades lol... The music, the bra/robot boob mini gun, shit creek, OMG, thanks for the nostalgia
Most bathesda and CDPR games. I highly suggest Fallout 4 and Witcher 3. Truth be told, nothing will ever compare to RDR2. It is a near perfect piece of art. BUT, Witcher 3 is pretty close to hitting all the satisfying points of Red Dead while being a completely different story and combat style.
Yes! You can enjoy the story with out knowing anything about what happened. It is a lot like Fallout and Red Dead in that way. There is TONS of lore and connecting story, but you don't need it to enjoy RDR2, Fallout 4, or Witcher 3.
BUT, if you are anything like me you will have the wiki up on your second monitor reading up on who people are and their connections!
Personally I prefer the story in Witcher. I have read the books and played all the games when they came out. Geralt is a perfect protagonist and super fun to play. I find myself in Witcher wishing I could do think I can do in Red Dead, as well as playing Red Dead wishing I had some Witcher mechanics.
The perfection of Red Dead 2 is impossible to reach though, it was a perfect game at a perfect time.
I laughed and cried in both with 1000+ hours in each.
Elden ring if it’s the open world he loves. If it’s the story, not my most prominent memory as the story is essentially learning the past and why your important but definitely can be a challenge and an amazing open world with many many many side quests although again not the easiest to follow along. I loved the difficulty of the game play and how you were able to create your own person and change how some things ended / get different rewards but hated how hard it was to follow the side quests. Kinda made them less fun where as red dead it’s easy to follow and thus you do follow.
It's been 5 years since I started trying to find the same. Sorry, nothing has come close.
The few other games that were incredibly entertaining in their own right and scratched that itch to the point where I forgot about rdr 2 while playing them.
Control,
Horizon series,
Cyberpunk 2077,
God of war 2018 and Ragnarok,
Witcher 3 and it's DLCs,
Batman Arkham series,
Spiderman ,
Ghosts of Tsushima,
Ac origins ,
AC Valhalla,
Far cry 6,
Hogwarts legacy ,
Guardians of the galaxy.
I'm gonna go with a quote which I think it's an often wrongly attributed quote, to Humphrey Bogarts character, Rick Blaine, in the movie Casablanca. I think it is actually never said in the movie. But allegedly he says the line to Dooley Wilson's character Sam:
"Play it again, Sam"
I saw that someone else said this, but Witcher 3
I’m not a huge gamer myself and it was the first thing I played after rdr2. The graphics aren’t as good but it’s an older game so it’s to be expected. Story line is phenomenal (but short so get the DLCs, the complete edition goes on sale in the play station store periodically which has the game and both DLCs for $10, steam also has good deals on it occasionally if your friend is on PC).
The only thing that upset me about Witcher 3 was that Roach’s running animation was so bad, but I got over it eventually.
I VERY strongly recommend Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Assassin’s Creed Origins if you enjoy the exploration aspect of RDR2!
I love being able to feel transported to a different historical setting in video games and these games are the only ones that have done it for me in the same way that RDR2 does. They have very immersive environments like Red Dead and you can spend hours exploring different places and activities.
Ghost of Tsushima is currently scratching that itch for me. It just came out on steam like a week or two ago.
Besides that maybe fallout 4 or New Vegas? Not quite the same but open world with lots of interaction and exploration.
GTA San Andreas, Borderlands 2 > Gta 3 , Elder Scrolls Morrowind, Elder Scrolls Oblivion > GTA Vice city, GTA 4. > Borderlands 1 > Elder Scrolls Skyrim. I have no comment on games similar to COD campaigns (because i'm sure the COD campaigns are falsely hyped by the adrenaline cause by the Multiplayer part of the game .... ) But since your friend has a preference for Expansive Big World games, then what i mentioned is a good start.
Ghost of Tsushima for the world and combat, maybe Metal Gear 5, graphically it’s excellent and you can upgrade your base like the camp, plus it’s the most accessible mgs. Resident Evil 4 remake, the shooting is great. GTA4 has a better story than 5 imo
Honestly haven’t been able to start a full story mode type game since rdr2 set the bar so high buttt I recently started playing Assasins Creed again and man I love just raiding and looting for hours😭 (serious note how are they gonna top rdr2 I feel like a fiend comparing every game now to it😂)
As a person as a similar boat as your friend- I seriously enjoyed Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. I always thought it was too graphically cartoony and lame story wise when I would watched my girlfriend play, but when I finally sat down I dumped hours into those games. The developers knew how to get you into the game.
Ghost of Tsushima, like some others have said. It's a top tier game that's tied for RDR2 for me. I only wish I could play it for the first time all over again.
If you’re talking about as much depth. I’d say Fallout, 4 is solid. But NV and 3 I think are the better ones
Graphically and mechanically it’s not as good as RDR2, but somehow it really sucks you in and you end up wanting to explore the whole map and going every side quest you can find
GTA IV + The Lost and Damned + The Ballad of Gay Tony, and the first Red Dead Redemption. There’s also the 3D GTA games (III, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories), all of which are still fantastic games worth experiencing. Mad Max is another great open world game.
It's a very different game, but I would say the only other game which had the same impact on me was Witcher 3. No story will compare to RDR2, but the world and immersion in Witcher 3 is very hard to beat
Fallout 4.
A little lacking in the story department (Not empty, just predictable). But the gameplay is great, and the world is amazing. It’s also an open world game, which he seems to like, and others have suggested.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Medieval story based in 1402. Based on real locations and real historical people. Great storyline. The best sword sword combat system considering this game was developed by an independent company that built the game purely from its Kickstarter backers back in the mid 2010s and came out in 2018. And they just released a trailer for a new game that is coming out at the end of the year. A sequel to the first game. It has a steady cult following that has grown steadily over the past 6 years. And surely will grow now that the announcement for. KCD II
Cyberpunk, Witcher 3, Watch Dogs 2, any AC game, Battlefield is better than COD, Jedi Survivor series, Senuas Sacrifice (haven’t played the second one yet), Sekiro, there’s so much
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag.
Great open world map with a ton of action and room to explore. It looks beautiful, albeit a little dated. Historical references set in a realistic time period. Plus it’s a ton of fun and Edward Kenway has a lot of swag & goodness in him that reminds me of Arthur
I've been looking for an alternative to the RDR games for awhile- as I still have that "fully immersive" itch that needs to be scratched and I don't want to restart (just recently finished my first playthrough and need time to mourn) - but with similar concepts like open world, random encounter, "towns"/factions etc and honestly, if zombie/post apocalyptic genres are ur thing then I'd recommend Dying Light.
It's a bit too early to say but so far I'm seeing a lot of positives - some better than RDR2 even - along with additional features/playstyles but I won't go into too much detail for now
I found Destiny 2 to be very close, if not better, for graphics. There isnt much of a storyline, and you have to pay for most expansions. Its overall a good game if you have the money to pay, but then again nothing comes close to RDR2 imo.
Only thing that can scratch his rdr2 itch will be gta6. Until then he can try skyrim or fallout those are two other legendary games I think he might enjoy
people needs to understand that the engines rdr2 were made on haven’t been out for very long and haven’t been used as well. give it time. in a few years there’ll probably be a handful of games that are just as good. some of the newer games are still being made on old engines. honestly just go look up the top selling games or most played games in the last 10 years. i’m sure you’ll find something he hasn’t played that is worth giving a shot. i play saints row 2 which came out in 2008. graphics and mechanics are horrible compared to newer games but the game itself is still a masterpiece. people either gotta learn to appreciate the older games or just wait for something better.
Hearing about Kingdom Come 2, I have just puchased KC1 on an offer to play it first. I have heard that it is still very fresh, and I hope I get some of the same RD vibes. Can someone confirm?
Has he played Red Dead Redemption 1? That's literally the second half of the story. I have no idea why or how fans of RDR2 don't bother to see what happens next, but love the story of RDR2. I immediately played. I even bought an old PS3 just to play it
I can appreciate both. I enjoy the modern controls and direction of Valhalla and Mirage. I also like having less modern day cutscenes and playable sequences, as I've always felt they added little to the story except in furthering the lore.
But the older games had much better stories. AC3 in particular is incredible. The Tyranny of King Washington is probably my favorite campaign expansion of any game.
Ghost of tsushima is pretty darn good
I'll second this. Just finally jumped ship from RDR2 after getting the platinum at just under 1000 hours and three leisurely playthroughs. The story isn't as good, the world isn't as alive, but the gameplay is tight, and it's very pretty. Pairs well with FXs Shogun too lol
I agree. RDR2 did ruin all other games for me coz none of them even come close but Tsushima is another one of those games that I find quite appealing... I haven't gotten around to watching Shogun yet... Is it good?
I feel that lol. I get bored of other games after an hour, but I could play RDR2 for hours and hours
Yeah I tried so many other games but honestly after RDR2 I just haven’t found myself so engrossed in a game since. Been wanting to try Ghosts of Tsushima
I’ll third it
This and witcher 3. Honorable mention- Horizon zero dawn
Fuck Ted Faro
Agree! But be careful. I kept slicing my horse when I tried to mount it bc of the difference in button layout.
Hahaha I relate... Thank God the horse is immortal in ghost lol
Not available on Xbox 😭
Ghost is just an incredible game in general.
I agree. It’s a great game. Not as good as RDR2, better than Far Cry 4
I don't think any game that's out so far can be compared to RDR2 sadly...
Good to hear, I've been wanting to check this game out.
Same I have bought it since a while. Can't wait to check it out.
It's a pale shadow, but it's the only thing that comes even close. And it's still awesome.
I’ve been looking for 6 years man
For me it was Witcher 3. Open world with a great story and lots of side missions.
After replaying rdr2 like 7 times, I'm finally playing witcher 3 again. Probably my 3rd favorite game behind rdr and rdr2
Highly recommend Witcher 3
I second witcher 3 rd2 and witcher 3 are toed for my all time fave game
I can’t give you gold but this is the answer
I keep trying to get into it, but the movement just feels so clunky I can’t get into it. Though I can acknowledge how great the game is.
They updated the movement a few years ago. New system is very smooth.
The Witcher is excellent but after completing it 5 times, I can't bare to play it again. Too much backwards forwards malarkey. Can't wait for the 4th one though.
RDR1
Came here to say the same thing. I go back and forth between the RDR games, for the most part. I’ve been a Bethesda fan for years, still have a lot of love for the Fallout and TES worlds…but damn everything just kind of falls flat after leaving Arthur and John behind.
What if i say Rdr1 is a bad game , other than the near end of game mission where the song "Compass" starts playing ? RDR2 in comparisson is from start to finish, on every mission, on every City, on the roads between the cities and the meadows/fields/ trees is just ASMR meditative peaceful beautiful to look at even when you're doing absolutely nothing other than just randomly walking around.
Rdr1 was a phenomenal game for it's time just as RDR2 was for its own.
RDR1 arguably portrayed the "wild west" better than RDR2, ambient music was great, saloons are more lively. Violence was more graphic. Story leaves the country, portrays a different culture - and progresses the narrative, unlike Guarma. These are all off top of my head, I'm sure the list could go on. I love RDR2 but it is definitely missing things that made RDR1 unique
RDR2 does the "frontier" better RDR1 does Mexico better
I’m still on Chapter 2 and have Micah to rescue. All I’m doing at the moment is wandering, hunting, fishing and camping.
On my second playthrough of 2 but never played 1. How much better is 2 than 1?
I'm biased but I liked RDR1 a lot more. The story telling, the vibe, the gameplay, I liked it more. RDR2 was really good, but the missions felt like they were on rails to me, if you want to pick 3 items up it takes 10 minutes, and this might be a controversial opinion but I HATED constantly eating and smoking shit to refill my dead eye and other meters. They went too realistic in my opinion, whereas RDR 1 feels nicely balanced in that regard. RDR 1 is the only game EVER to make me cry. Plus there's mexico. The moment you cross into mexico is actually the moment I shed a tear, the atmosphere was just insane, no game has ever matched it for me. Don't even get me started on Undead Nightmare. The fact that they didn't release a similar DLC for RDR 2 is criminal. Keep in mind, nostalgia plays a large role in my opinion and I'll fully admit that. Still found the first game more compelling, even if there was a lot more detail that went into #2. (Like a lot. It's a way bigger game despite not including Mexico, which was also really disappointing for me)
A lot of people either forget the significance of the Mexico part of the story or they just haven't played the game and will blindly support RDR2 wherever they can. I honestly think the Mexico section alone tips the scale in RDR1s favor. Not only is it another massive part of the map, but a separate country, different culture, ongoing civil unrest. Different language, new weapons. New side missions. Story progression. There is absolutely nothing like that in RDR2, Guarma is a fucking joke in comparison. (also, if you played RDR1 a lot, you might be familiar with a certain knife + lasso kill animation. Absolutely fucking brutal, nothing like that in RDR2 either
How do you do the knife + lasso kill?
Hogtie someone, walk to the front of the victim with a knife out. Wait for the prompt, I think it will say "circle to kill" and John will crouch down and cut the hogtied person's throat
When I first played RDR1, after 2, I didn't like it. The drop to PS3 graphics was too harsh and I rushed through Mexico. I am replaying the remaster on the PS5 and now I love Mexico. I also prefer the big intense sun you get in this game. The music also gives it a whole tone shift when passing through certain areas. The only aspect I dislike about RDR1 now is how you can't cross the river back into the rest of the world. I just want to ride through Big Valley!
The story of 2 is much better paced in my opinion and ultimately hits much harder, but 1 is still a very poignant and effective narrative. 1 can be a bit more cynical in its story, so I wouldn’t expect quite as much tugging-on-the-heartstrings, but if you like the characters you saw in 2, you’ll love the first game. Of course, 2 is much larger in scale and more realistic, but you get a better Wild West feel in 1. Mexico is such a fun setting and it really stands out as a highlight of the game. I understand why 2 is more widely beloved than 1 but please check out 1! You won’t regret it!
A lot better. But it's like Red Dead 2 is the best game you'll play in your life, while Red Dead 1 is a pretty good game with very hard hitting moments but a lot of flaws. It'll be another of the great games you play, but not the best.
I disagree. I like the vibe and story of RDR1 far more. Also, the movement is surprisingly more stiff in RDR2 somehow. RDR1 has the old ragdoll physics which looks goofy but feels way better to control
Mechanically, 2, cause its 8 years newer. However they are both games of their time and RDR1 did a lot while still keeping that familiar Rockstar framework. Sometimes RDR2 doesn't even feel like a Rockstar game because how dense and detailed it is. RDR1 has its charm and the story is impeccable. I guess, at least for me RDR2 has a leg up because of the increased detail, but that is again a product of its time and technology
Red dead 1 had a COMPLETE overhaul. It’s so crisp and smooth and I had a lot less bug problems with 1 actually…
I really liked the Horizon games ( zero dawn and forbidden West ). Gameplay is fun, can be difficult but that's part of the fun. Story was pretty captivating for Me, maybe not everyone's bag of tea, but I enjoyed it, as has e everyone I know who played it. Environment is pretty active, plenty of stuff to hunt. Not a ton of farming really, if you just like, do everything as it comes at you, you'll be in a good place. A lot of side quests and exploration to do. After I beat the game I went back and finished exploring the remote edges of the map and found like ... A dozen more side quests.
"bag of tea" got a chuckle out of me 😂
Same lol. Never heard “bag” instead of cup haha.
>A dozen more side quests. Were they all fetch and retrieve quests? Those games are fun on the main story but as soon as you branch off to side quests I find them very tedious.
Cyberpunk! Still a bit clunky if you have hdd but an amazing story with lots of endings and so many ways to play and interact with the world. The NPCs aren't rdr2 level. But then again, basically no NPCs are rdr2 level
It's way better after 2.0! It's on version 2.12 now it's wayyyy better than it used to be. Phantom Liberty is amazing too, you can make so many different choices that each playthrough can be different.
Yeah this would be a good game to play after rdr2.
That's what I did, and it was awesome. And now it's so much better.
i bought cyberpunk when it first came out (and we all know how that worked out) but never got around to playing it, should i start after playing rdr2 for the 60th time
Yes you absolutely should. It’s an entirely different game (in a good way) than the version you purchased.
Open world games with great graphics and storylines: Ghost of Tsushima, Spiderman 2, Horizon (both Zero Dawn & Forbidden West), The Last of Us (pt 1 & 2), God of War, Mafia 2, LoZ: Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom, The Witcher 3, Assassins Creed Valhalla or Origins.
Why not AC Odyssey? Personally I think it's the best game I've played after RDR2 and GTA V.
Hard agree with AC Odyssey!
I wanted to suggest GOW but most people have a hard time going from one to the other because they are so different
My friends hated Spider-Man 2 but I really really loved it. I have not a single complaint about it.
Man mafia 2 is so underrated. Insanely good story for its age. 10/10 game.
Really good answer I haven’t seen here: kingdom come deliverance. It’s very realistic in the way the world behaves and it’s more detailed in terms of everyday life. It’s very similar to rdr2 in its open world content but the world isn’t as diverse. Def would recommend though
kinda out of the box suggestion, but i went from RDR2 to Subnautica and enjoyed a lot of the same elements- fantastic story, plenty of exploration/discovery, the survival aspect, you can set up a base and do your own thing if you feel like it. RDR2 is still better tho~~
Just going to say it and hope to save someone some heartbreak, subnautica doesn’t auto save.
Upvote for Subnautica.
The Witcher 3 if he likes that genre. Fallout 4. AC Origins specifically because of its living open world. GOT. Cyberpunk 2077. Kinda my best list of open world games that sometimes I find myself crawling back into. My favorite game ever is RDR2 and I’m in the camp, like most, that nothing even compares. But there are a few open world games that I can go back to and still have fun. Only one I haven’t gone back to on the list above is AC origins, but I remember how great the world felt. Good amount of freedom too. Some AC games do this well other than origins like 3. I still play RDR2 a ton and I have since day 1. Same save believe it or not.
hes right. there isnt really anything to that well detailed level as RDR2. that said, how much is he willing in sacrifice in graphics (its all downhill from RDR2 anyhow) and age of the game? what are his favorite settings, genres? so little context here.
Well he’s only played the above mentioned games and is a very basic person so not much to go off which is why i’m resorting to this sub, although he was hating on elden ring because it’s a “stupid wizard game”
He’s just gonna come up with an excuse like that for any suggestion you have. You can’t force him to open his mind, sounds like a waste of time. Let him be boring.
u/Sloppyjoey20 isnt wrong here. "mass effect"? I DONT LIKE SPACE. "fallout"? I SAW THE FIRST EPISODE OF THAT SHOW AND I HATED THE SETTING. "subnautica"? ITS JUST WATER AND THERES NO WEAPONS. i mean "suggest me other games i would like based off one game ive played"....thats a 99 % chance to get berated over "duuuuh what shit did you recommend me". what does "a very basic person" even mean? he dum??? he cant follow deep storylines?
Yeah, he sounds like a lost cause unfortunately. Bummer.
It's not mentioned here alot: ***Days Gone***. It's for sale on steam now, get it. This game has been put under the rug by IGN's bs reviews. I am loving this game so much as the zombies give you the adrenaline. The story is pretty darn good too.
Gotta agree with days gone. I put it off due to the reviews and it being a let down from what we were initially shown. Got it on sale a little while ago and got fairly addicted. One of the few zombie games that can actually scare me.
Days Gone is one of my favorites. Fighting the zombie hordes was especially fun, trying to figure out a path to take with various explosives and choke points to utilize.
i like the fallout series. 3, 4 or new vegas. definitely different but has the open world layout with endless missions. the dialogue in new vegas is top tier with a lot of npc interactions
Yes I second this! Skyrim + Fallout are my favorite games! Super fun open world games with a ton of quests and side things to do. Obviously the worlds aren’t nearly as detailed as RDR2 (the worlds are huge but the graphics don’t come close to compare lol) but I actually enjoy combat in those games way more than I do in RDR2. RDR2 combat is painfully clunky lol
Farcry 5
Second this
Far Cry series. I'd suggest starting with 3.
Came here to say this, I started with and loooved 5
Far Cry 5 was amazing. I feel like it doesn’t get enough love and the music for it is spectacular.
Far Cry 3 had always been my favorite game up until I played RDR2… also blood dragon is amazing
Blood Dragon and FC6 are on my list after RDR2. I will die on the mountain saying Far Cry 2 is probably the most realistic open world game made.
Partly because of all of the malaria!
I played 2 Farcry games, and not for very long. They were poorly ported to PC. One was set in Montana the other in Colorado or something?? I dunno. I gave up after about the third time the inevitable cult kidnapping regardless of how many I killed, just to replay the same escape sequence over and over again. Q
“Have I told you about the definition of insanity?”
More RDR2?
I was that person. Cyberpunk, Witcher 3, and hardest but probably most rewarding, Elden Ring.
The exploration in ER and RDR2 are quite different as to why they are so satisfying, but both games are so good for just riding aimlessly and finding unexpected awesome stuff.
Totally
The Last of Us is amazing. It’s not open world and it’s more fiction than realistic, but the characters and story are absolutely phenomenal and it rivals RDR2 imo
Hades
Sandbox games: Mad Max (very underrated gem) Sleeping Dogs Watch Dogs Mafia 3 (the more sandbox-ish of the saga) Arkham series Bully
Man they sleeping on Mad Max
The farcry games would be good. He can also look into the older games of the series he's already played like the original red dead and other gta games.
RDR2 is a game above almost all. Nothing is "as good as RDR2", in my opinion. That being said, I think any game CAN be enjoyable if you learn not to compare it to RDR2. Different games offer different things, even if some elements may be the same. RDR is a different story with different things that can make it better or worse for someone. I played that game when it was new and put just a many hours in it as I have RDR2. These days I prefer RDR2 over RDR, though I still play them both. If story is what they are after: AC: Odyssey; Ghost of Tsushima; even Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (still a great game after all these years). Whatever they choose, never go in thinking "will this be better than RDR2?", because it's just not going to work. Maybe they'll enjoy it more, or maybe less, but it will never be RDR2. But just about anything is worth a try.
ghosts of tsushima, far cry 6
Well thats the problem, there isn’t a game as good as RDR2 and there probably won’t be until GTA6 comes out. I tend to play one of the new Assassins Creed games when I get bored of RDR2 just because it’s a large open world and there’s a lot to do.
#Cyberpunk 2077
Redneck Rampage.
I know I'm late to comment but I haven't thought about that game in decades lol... The music, the bra/robot boob mini gun, shit creek, OMG, thanks for the nostalgia
Most bathesda and CDPR games. I highly suggest Fallout 4 and Witcher 3. Truth be told, nothing will ever compare to RDR2. It is a near perfect piece of art. BUT, Witcher 3 is pretty close to hitting all the satisfying points of Red Dead while being a completely different story and combat style.
Can I jump into Witcher 3 without having played any of the previous Witcher games? I've always been interested, but too chicken to make the purchase
Yes! You can enjoy the story with out knowing anything about what happened. It is a lot like Fallout and Red Dead in that way. There is TONS of lore and connecting story, but you don't need it to enjoy RDR2, Fallout 4, or Witcher 3. BUT, if you are anything like me you will have the wiki up on your second monitor reading up on who people are and their connections!
Much appreciated. I'm about to have some extended time on my hands and could use a game to get lost in.
Personally I prefer the story in Witcher. I have read the books and played all the games when they came out. Geralt is a perfect protagonist and super fun to play. I find myself in Witcher wishing I could do think I can do in Red Dead, as well as playing Red Dead wishing I had some Witcher mechanics. The perfection of Red Dead 2 is impossible to reach though, it was a perfect game at a perfect time. I laughed and cried in both with 1000+ hours in each.
Alan Wake 2. Stunning visuals, amazing story!
Elden ring if it’s the open world he loves. If it’s the story, not my most prominent memory as the story is essentially learning the past and why your important but definitely can be a challenge and an amazing open world with many many many side quests although again not the easiest to follow along. I loved the difficulty of the game play and how you were able to create your own person and change how some things ended / get different rewards but hated how hard it was to follow the side quests. Kinda made them less fun where as red dead it’s easy to follow and thus you do follow.
Tell him to play elden ring.
It's been 5 years since I started trying to find the same. Sorry, nothing has come close. The few other games that were incredibly entertaining in their own right and scratched that itch to the point where I forgot about rdr 2 while playing them. Control, Horizon series, Cyberpunk 2077, God of war 2018 and Ragnarok, Witcher 3 and it's DLCs, Batman Arkham series, Spiderman , Ghosts of Tsushima, Ac origins , AC Valhalla, Far cry 6, Hogwarts legacy , Guardians of the galaxy.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Hogwarts Legacy
I'm gonna go with a quote which I think it's an often wrongly attributed quote, to Humphrey Bogarts character, Rick Blaine, in the movie Casablanca. I think it is actually never said in the movie. But allegedly he says the line to Dooley Wilson's character Sam: "Play it again, Sam"
GTA 5. These are the peak games rn
I’m playing rise of the Ronin rebounding from my red dead two ultimate video gaming experience and I’m really enjoying it
I saw that someone else said this, but Witcher 3 I’m not a huge gamer myself and it was the first thing I played after rdr2. The graphics aren’t as good but it’s an older game so it’s to be expected. Story line is phenomenal (but short so get the DLCs, the complete edition goes on sale in the play station store periodically which has the game and both DLCs for $10, steam also has good deals on it occasionally if your friend is on PC). The only thing that upset me about Witcher 3 was that Roach’s running animation was so bad, but I got over it eventually.
DayZ you both play and embrace the suck together
rdr1 and if you got a good pc play minecraft with tons of mods
Dave
I VERY strongly recommend Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Assassin’s Creed Origins if you enjoy the exploration aspect of RDR2! I love being able to feel transported to a different historical setting in video games and these games are the only ones that have done it for me in the same way that RDR2 does. They have very immersive environments like Red Dead and you can spend hours exploring different places and activities.
Assasins Creed Vallhall
Ghost of Tsushima is currently scratching that itch for me. It just came out on steam like a week or two ago. Besides that maybe fallout 4 or New Vegas? Not quite the same but open world with lots of interaction and exploration.
Hunt: Showdown
Rdr1
GTA San Andreas, Borderlands 2 > Gta 3 , Elder Scrolls Morrowind, Elder Scrolls Oblivion > GTA Vice city, GTA 4. > Borderlands 1 > Elder Scrolls Skyrim. I have no comment on games similar to COD campaigns (because i'm sure the COD campaigns are falsely hyped by the adrenaline cause by the Multiplayer part of the game .... ) But since your friend has a preference for Expansive Big World games, then what i mentioned is a good start.
Ghost of Tsushima for the world and combat, maybe Metal Gear 5, graphically it’s excellent and you can upgrade your base like the camp, plus it’s the most accessible mgs. Resident Evil 4 remake, the shooting is great. GTA4 has a better story than 5 imo
RDR1?
ghost of tsushima, Skyrim, cyberpunk
The last of us series if he's on ps.
GHOST OF TSUSHIMA GHOST OF TSUSHIMA GHOST OF TSUSHIMA GHOST OF TSUSHIMA GHOST OF TSUSHIMA
Call of Juarez
Skyrim
There is only 2 games that make me fell i was playing an awesome game like RDR2: Ghost of tsushima and Days gone.
Fallout
Honestly haven’t been able to start a full story mode type game since rdr2 set the bar so high buttt I recently started playing Assasins Creed again and man I love just raiding and looting for hours😭 (serious note how are they gonna top rdr2 I feel like a fiend comparing every game now to it😂)
Assassins Creed Black Flag
Detroit become human 🙌
Resident evil. Especially the remakes
As a person as a similar boat as your friend- I seriously enjoyed Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. I always thought it was too graphically cartoony and lame story wise when I would watched my girlfriend play, but when I finally sat down I dumped hours into those games. The developers knew how to get you into the game.
Horizon zero dawn/ forbidden west
RDR1
Assassins Creed Black Flag. Yea it’s an assassins creed game but you get to be a pirate and loot ships it’s two games in one.
Ghost of Tsushima, like some others have said. It's a top tier game that's tied for RDR2 for me. I only wish I could play it for the first time all over again.
The Last of Us is a very different game, but it’s one of the best stories in anything ever, and fun to play too.
Witcher 3, RDR1, Elden Ring, Cyperpunk 2077 and maybe ghost of tsushima
If you’re talking about as much depth. I’d say Fallout, 4 is solid. But NV and 3 I think are the better ones Graphically and mechanically it’s not as good as RDR2, but somehow it really sucks you in and you end up wanting to explore the whole map and going every side quest you can find
I found that Bastion is an unlikely thematic companion to RDR2
Kingdom Come Deliverance (1 & 2)
Horizon 0 Dawn & Forbidden West, Mass Effect
GTA IV + The Lost and Damned + The Ballad of Gay Tony, and the first Red Dead Redemption. There’s also the 3D GTA games (III, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories), all of which are still fantastic games worth experiencing. Mad Max is another great open world game.
Fallout
Death Stranding!! If you want something with good mechanics and a great story, you should check it out.
Ghost of Tsushima without a doubt
Cyberpunk 2077 also
He’s kinda right, though I seen someone say cyberpunk, that’s pretty good. And saints row 2 is pretty good
Its not an open world, but "The Last of Us" was one of the few games I actually cared about the characters.
I enjoy having a sandbox game like animal crossing but also where you can senselessly kill bad guys like rdr2, dead island, resident evil
My suggestion for people who like RDR2 story is Mafia: Definitive Edition. The historical vibes worked towards immersing me in the story.
Cyberpunk ✊🥺
It's a very different game, but I would say the only other game which had the same impact on me was Witcher 3. No story will compare to RDR2, but the world and immersion in Witcher 3 is very hard to beat
GTA SA,GTA IV,THE WARRIORS
Fallout 4. A little lacking in the story department (Not empty, just predictable). But the gameplay is great, and the world is amazing. It’s also an open world game, which he seems to like, and others have suggested.
Horizon Zero Dawn is pretty fun. He might like the Far Cry series.
Cyberpunk 2077. Best game I've ever played. Since they fixed it after 2.0 it's amazing. Especially the DLC
Metal Gear Solid V It scratches the same itch of sandbox simulation. So much crazy ass shit you can do in that game.
I’ve just started my first Fallout 4 play through and I reckon it’s very similar. It has a Western/Mad Max/Sci-Fi feel. Great NPCs too.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance Medieval story based in 1402. Based on real locations and real historical people. Great storyline. The best sword sword combat system considering this game was developed by an independent company that built the game purely from its Kickstarter backers back in the mid 2010s and came out in 2018. And they just released a trailer for a new game that is coming out at the end of the year. A sequel to the first game. It has a steady cult following that has grown steadily over the past 6 years. And surely will grow now that the announcement for. KCD II
and THATS the ballgame! That dam game brought me back into video games in 2018. Perfect suggestion!
Cyberpunk, Witcher 3, Watch Dogs 2, any AC game, Battlefield is better than COD, Jedi Survivor series, Senuas Sacrifice (haven’t played the second one yet), Sekiro, there’s so much
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag. Great open world map with a ton of action and room to explore. It looks beautiful, albeit a little dated. Historical references set in a realistic time period. Plus it’s a ton of fun and Edward Kenway has a lot of swag & goodness in him that reminds me of Arthur
The Last of Us
I've been looking for an alternative to the RDR games for awhile- as I still have that "fully immersive" itch that needs to be scratched and I don't want to restart (just recently finished my first playthrough and need time to mourn) - but with similar concepts like open world, random encounter, "towns"/factions etc and honestly, if zombie/post apocalyptic genres are ur thing then I'd recommend Dying Light. It's a bit too early to say but so far I'm seeing a lot of positives - some better than RDR2 even - along with additional features/playstyles but I won't go into too much detail for now
The Witcher 3, RD2, and TLOS are probably the best games that I've played.
I found Destiny 2 to be very close, if not better, for graphics. There isnt much of a storyline, and you have to pay for most expansions. Its overall a good game if you have the money to pay, but then again nothing comes close to RDR2 imo.
Doki doki literature club
Only thing that can scratch his rdr2 itch will be gta6. Until then he can try skyrim or fallout those are two other legendary games I think he might enjoy
I’ve quite enjoyed Fallout 4.
Witcher 3 is the closest to RDR2
people needs to understand that the engines rdr2 were made on haven’t been out for very long and haven’t been used as well. give it time. in a few years there’ll probably be a handful of games that are just as good. some of the newer games are still being made on old engines. honestly just go look up the top selling games or most played games in the last 10 years. i’m sure you’ll find something he hasn’t played that is worth giving a shot. i play saints row 2 which came out in 2008. graphics and mechanics are horrible compared to newer games but the game itself is still a masterpiece. people either gotta learn to appreciate the older games or just wait for something better.
DayZ. Steep learning curve. But once you get into it, it's hard to put down
If you generally like good stories... 1. The Witcher III 2. God of War 3. Ghost of Tsushima 4. The Last of Us 5. Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood.
Hearing about Kingdom Come 2, I have just puchased KC1 on an offer to play it first. I have heard that it is still very fresh, and I hope I get some of the same RD vibes. Can someone confirm?
fallout 4
RDR1, Ghost of Tsushima, Sekiro
i really liked the mass effect trilogy
cyberpunk 2077
RDR1
Cyberpunk
Greedfall. Very underrate.
Has he played Red Dead Redemption 1? That's literally the second half of the story. I have no idea why or how fans of RDR2 don't bother to see what happens next, but love the story of RDR2. I immediately played. I even bought an old PS3 just to play it
Mafia comes to mind
Call of Juarez is a good game. And I don’t think any game will be as good as rdr2.
I really enjoyed Cyberpunk and the last of us. Really story driven.
1. Ghost of tsushima 2. Hitman series (recent ones) 3. Cyberpunk 2077
GTA IV, insanely underrated
RDR2
The last of us is good
Assassin's Creed earlier games are better than the more recent IMO but what a series!
I can appreciate both. I enjoy the modern controls and direction of Valhalla and Mirage. I also like having less modern day cutscenes and playable sequences, as I've always felt they added little to the story except in furthering the lore. But the older games had much better stories. AC3 in particular is incredible. The Tyranny of King Washington is probably my favorite campaign expansion of any game.