Gamers have long been obsessed with the small things, from the presence of bullets in fresh magazines in earlyBattlefieldgames to the muted background music in underwater sections ofMario Galaxy. This obsession, though, was taken to new heights with the release ofRed Dead Redemption 2. It’s true thatRed Dead Redemption 2isn’t the first game to implement a seemingly impossible amount of minor details, but it may well be the best to do it. At launch,Red Deadfans were hunting for these little imperceptible details, such as the sweat on their horses or the slippery nature of Arthur’s hat.
Red Dead Redemption 2ranks amongthe largest games on Xbox, PC, PlayStation, and more, but it’s easy to see why when looking at a list of the game’s minor features. These features became somewhat of a selling point forRDR2in the early days of its existence, with many fans intent on experiencing these features first hand, and hoping to be the first to find undiscovered ones. This trend of gamers turned feature and details hunters has extended far beyond the confines ofRed Dead Redemption.
RELATED:Red Dead 2 And Grand Theft Auto May Not Be in the Same Universe, But They Ought To Be
As has already been mentioned, the horses inRed Dead Redemption 2sweat, but this isn’t the extent ofRed Dead Redemption 2’shorse features. Horses are a big part ofRDR2, they are crucially important to the player’s navigation of the game’s map. As such, Rockstar saw fit to fill its ambitious revival of theRed Deadseries with features that would make horses rank amongst the most fleshed-out elements in the game. One of the most important details for would-be horse owners inRed Dead 2is the horse’s cleanliness. As players ride horses around the map, their horse inevitably gets dirty which essentially nerfs the horse, making it regenerate health slower than normal.
Roger Clark was perfect for bringingRed Dead Redemption 2’sArthur Morganto life, but the game’s minor details took this to another level. Similar to the game’s horses, the player has to maintain Arthur’s levels of hygiene. Arthur needs to be regularly cleaned to avoid NPC’s reacting negatively to his body odor, while his hair can also be cut and styled. Arthur is a gritty, masculine cowboy type, but he still needs to bathe. Another minor detail noticed by fans is that Arthur will actually sing to himself when riding his horse alone, a feature that goes against his aforementioned gritty, masculine cowboy persona.
This minor feature displays how small details can do wonders for the depth of a character. While Arthur may put up a tough-guy persona, he has a softer, more vulnerable side that he bottles up in the presence of others, as is shown by the uneasy, timid way in which he sings.
These are just two examples of many, many hidden details in the world ofRDR2.
Red Dead Redemption 2isn’t the only game with details fans are fixated on; more recently, fans have been combing through theminor details ofResident Evil Villagefor example. Fascinating minor details are varied and widespread among modern video games, with almost every new release being analyzed by fans, due in large part to the added visibilityRDR2brought.Days Gone,for example, had the player’s pupils dilate depending on the light levels the player was exposed to. In a similar vein,The Division 2fans noticed that if they were to shoot a bathroom sink, they would find fully realized and realistic plumbing underneath the shattered basin. It is very much in the spirit of hunting for these minor details for the details to add very little to the overall experience, as their needlessness is what makes them so laudable.
Call of Dutyis one of many franchises that now celebrate the implementation of ultimately pointless features.Modern Warfare, for example, features fully functional watches that display the actual correct time of where the player is. As well as this, foldable chairs can be found scattered around the game’s multiplayer maps that can actually be folded and unfolded should the player hit them from the right angle. With aCall of Duty/Die Hardcrossoverset to release this month,detail-obsessedCoDfans are set to receive a lot more small details and Easter eggs to comb through.
Developers have always hidden secrets and interesting little details in their games, butRed Dead Redemption 2took this to another level. Thanks toRDR2,these tiny details are being sought out and admired on a scale never seen before. In particular, fans are appreciating details that do little more than add to therealistic environments of video games, and that have little to no impact on gameplay whatsoever.Red Dead Redemption 2has made gamers far more vigilant when playing video games, which has led to a widespread appreciation for the little things that may ordinarily go unseen.
Going forward, it’s likely that gamers will be on the lookout for small details when playing their favorite games. What is being realized by gamers is that these inconsequentialdetails/Easter eggs in video gamescontribute to the sense of a fleshed-out, living, and breathing world. It appears that nowadays, as well as going forward, gamers will be putting just as much time into admiring the level of detail in environments as they do into other elements of the game such as the graphics or gameplay. Much of this is thanks toRed Dead Redemption 2for shedding a light on a previously unappreciated element of world-building.
Red Dead Redemption 2is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
MORE:Red Dead Redemption 2 Video Hilariously Makes Fun of Long-Standing Bug
