10 Quality Of Life Changes That Would Make Red Dead Redemption II Even Better

As we outlined in our review, Red Dead Redemption II is a remarkable achievement that will likely go down as one of the best games of the generation. We scored it a 10/10 and think everyone should play it, but that doesn’t mean the game is wart-free. Here are 10 easy fixes Rockstar could make to mitigate those small moments of frustration we’re all experiencing. 

Offer More Fast Travel Options

We understand Rockstar made an aesthetic choice to limit fast travel options throughout the game; this is a world meant to be experienced, not rushed through. But fast travel already exists in the game via the camp upgrade, the trains/stagecoaches found in towns, and at the end of certain missions where your companion asks you if you want to ride back to camp. We don’t see the problem in adding a few more fast-travel options to cut down on the arduous travel through regions we’ve already explored at length. When we’re way out in the middle of nowhere, we would love a way to quickly get to our next destination, especially when the next missions are on the other side of the open world. 

Designated Weapon Loadouts

As we mentioned in our tips guide, you need to get in the habit of equipping weapons every time you ride out of camp. Otherwise, you may get pulled into an emergent event with just your pistols. The ability to designate the two weapons that fill those supplementary slots so we don’t need to do this all the time would be grand. While we’re talking weapons, we’d also love to clean up the weapon wheel by leaving some weapons back at camp. If we don’t want to carry around four versions of shotguns and repeaters, let us thin our arsenals.

Curb The Incidental Horse Fatalities

After a lengthy venture into the wilderness, you are finally galloping back into town ready to sell some pelts and buy some provisions. But while you’re cruising down the thoroughfare on your trusty steed you accidentally deliver a glancing blow to a pedestrian, who dies right there on the spot. Witnesses run to tell the sheriff, and now you’re wanted for murder, eliminating your access to the next mission in town until this manhunt ends one way or another. This exact scenario has played out to almost every GI editor at one point or another, and it seems unnecessary how often you have run-ins with the law. We’ve also noticed a lot of accidental collisions when using the cinematic camera to guide us to a new destination. Maybe those glancing blows should just knock the NPCs to the ground instead of killing them outright?

Add A Visual Indicator For Bad Actions

At the end of a massacre, you have an awful lot of bodies available for looting. The problem is you don’t know which ones you can loot without incident and which ones will knock your honor rank. The simple fix of making the looting prompt red would clear this up and let you know you’re about to take a reputation hit looking in the wrong pocket.

Increase Movement Speed In Camp

We get it – the Van der Linde gang’s camp is a place to slow down, interact with Arthur’s compatriots, and relax. But you know what? Forcing. Us. To. Walk. Super. Slowly. Gets. Really. Annoying. Sometimes we just want to grab a bowl of stew and head back out on the dusty trail.

Add A Bath To Camp

Whether it’s accidentally sliding down the side of a mountain or slipping on the muddy streets of a town, Arthur has a tendency to get dirty. You can clean off at one of the many hotels in the world, but why doesn’t the Van der Linde camp have a bath as well? Pearson and Uncle could certainly stand for an involuntary bathing... 

Slow The Day/Night Transition

The skybox in Red Dead Redemption II is remarkable – you can see storms roll in naturally, affecting one part of the world but not another. If we have one complaint about the skybox, it’s that time moves too quickly. This creates janky transitions and doesn’t give you enough time to appreciate some of the more beautiful moments, like the sunrise and sunset. This also adds an unnecessary degree of difficulty to capturing these moments in photo mode.

Less Suicidal Gang Companions

We don’t know what it is about Javier, Micah, and Sadie, but they can’t help but rush forward straight into the fray. Javy even saw Javier run headlong into a shotgun blast during a mission where he was raiding a cabin. Rockstar should take a page from a lot of modern games and follow the maxim that an A.I. companion should never directly cause a fail state during missions. 

Make The Greeting Camera Less Sticky

If you’re the friendly sort who likes to tip your cap toward strangers on the open road, you’ve probably had a few near-death experiences when the camera decides to stick to the person you are greeting even though your plan is to continue down the path. We’re not sure why Rockstar decided to force a camera transition here but we hope they reverse course. 

Add High Stakes Gambling Tables

For the sake of historical accuracy, we like that Red Dead Redemption II uses bet amounts more in line with the times for the poker, blackjack, etc. But there should still be one table somewhere in the world where the bets get outlandish and big money can change hands.

Do you have other small quality of life tweaks you think would improve the game? Share them in the comments section below.