I don’t have a lot of memory with the first Red Dead Redemption game but I remember a lot of the basics in regards to the story. When I played the second game the first time around, I didn’t really enjoy it and ended up with a low-honor ending.
Before Christmas, I decided to give it another go. I didn’t think I’d be here 2 months later just finishing a second playthrough. When I played through it again, after Arthur’s death, I couldn’t continue in the epilogue. I ended up fully restarting the entire game again, something I’ve never done before and I’ve been gaming for over 25 years.
Naturally, as I’ve been playing through, I’ve gone back through YouTube to watch clips from the original Red Dead game. Dutch, Javier, and Bill’s scenes, John’s death, his son getting revenge, and more. There’s one glaringly obvious thing that’s missing, Arthur Morgan. Obviously, he’s dead but there’s no mention of him.
Logically, this will be due to the fact Arthur Morgan was unlikely thought of when Red Dead Redemption was in development and Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel to that game. I often see theories thrown around that John deliberately doesn’t mention him but I struggle to believe this theory. In the epilogue of the second game, John frequently mentions Arthur.
This is where a remaster of the first game could come into play. I know Rockstar is on a fast path now to Grand Theft Auto 6 but a remaster of Red Dead 1 could work thereafter. There are multiple reasons why I’d prefer a remaster.
1. It’s a damn right brilliant game
As always with games from Rockstar, they’re often well ahead of their time. GTA 5 still plays beautifully today, Red Dead 2 is over 6 years old and still plays better than most AAA titles out today. The first game still plays okay but it definitely feels dated now. This is why a remaster could work, adding in an honor system and adding in a lot of the stuff that made the second game so great.
2. Fill in the inconsistencies
A lot of the old gang members are never mentioned. Sadie and Charles are pivotal in John getting his ranch, paying it off, and getting his ultimate revenge on Micah are never mentioned. The glaringly obvious Arthur Morgan and more. There are inconsistencies elsewhere but by doing a remaster and pulling in some of the voice actors back, they could add more dialogue and enhance some of the scenes a bit. In the scene where Dutch finally meets his end, it would be nice to reference Arthur as well. After all, the story is John Marston hunting old members of the Van Der Linde gang, Arthur was effectively a high-ranking member who did a lot for the gang. The fact he’s not even discussed during the end for Dutch is crazy.
3. I struggle to see how Red Dead Redemption 3 would work
This is why I’d prefer resources to go into not just remastering the game but truly enhancing the story around it to make it properly fit into Red Dead 2. After the events of Red Dead Redemption 1, all of the Van Der Linde gang is effectively done, John’s dead and it’s all finished. Of course, they could go down the route of a new character or follow Jack but honestly, (this is my opinion) I just don’t think I’d really care for it. Once Jack gets his revenge, I feel like the game ends fine. They could opt for another prequel, going further back so we can play as Arthur again, exploring the early days of the gang but again, I’d struggle to care for this because we know exactly how that plays out.
To be truthful, I’m not usually a fan of the Wild West. I don’t typically care for cowboys or gunslingers but Red Dead Redemption is this rich story that delves further than that. We get this emotional connection to characters that you genuinely feel some sort of grief when they pass. I did this with Arthur Morgan and also John Marston. You feel the same with some of the side characters dying too like Lenny, Hosea, and even Sean.
Rockstar has this ability to tell a grounded story that is so different from the over-the-top, goofy nature we get from GTA. The Red Dead series could translate into live-action and do fantastically well. It’s genuinely something I’d love to see happen.
By providing us with a remaster, it fills in the blanks and allows us to once again play as John in the current generation of the franchise. Both games are masterpieces, no doubt about it but some of the things that were present in the second game were so much more advanced than the first.
What do you think? Would you like to see a remaster of the first game with the mechanics of the second and added dialogue? Let me know in the comments below.
