The Power of Storytelling, Character Arcs and Red Dead Redemption 2

When I was growing up, video games were mindless fun. Lots of fun—to tell it like it is—but not exactly deep experiences. Things have definitely changed. In addition to featuring incredible graphics, some modern video are masterpieces of storytelling. Writers are as good, if not better, than those working to create the best TV series and movies out there.

It was while playing Ghost of Tsushima that for the first time I was moved by a video game. Truth be told, I love being moved by stories and cry at pretty much anything. So, admittedly, it wasn’t that hard to push my emotional chords, but the incredible storytelling in Ghost of Tsushima got me all teary-eyed over a video game.

Fast forward to Red Dead Redemption 2.

Due to my passion for history, I more or less exclusively play historical video games: every Assassin’s Creed ever made, Far Cry Primal, Ghost of Tsushima, etc. In light of that, the great Alexander Von Stenberg from History Impossible podcast gifted me a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2. The setting is the twilight of the Old West in U.S. at the end of the 1800s.

After playing about 60-70% of the game, I felt like maybe it wasn’t for me. I live for great storytelling. The ability to craft a story that moves and inspires people... the ability to create powerful characters... I can't get enough of it. The game was obviously beautifully done but I wasn't feeling it. The recurring thought was "I don't care for the lead character. He's dumb, makes terrible choices and is often kind of a dick." The overwhelming number of people you run into are awful, and the whole storyline felt pointless and depressing. Friends kept telling me it was an amazing game, with one even saying it made him cry and “made me want to be a better person.” I didn’t get it. I was ready to file the whole thing under 'missed opportunity', so I decided to give up on it.

But since I was curious enough that I wanted to know how they concluded the storyline, I went on YouTube and watched the videos of all the cut scenes I was missing. By the time I finished, I was… you guessed it… teary eyed. And then I watched all the cut scenes again. And again. And again. And again. I had a ton of deadlines for work but I just didn’t care. For the following three days, I did pretty much nothing but eat, sleep and obsessively re-watch the videos of the last phases of the story on a loop. The way the last part of the story arc changed my perception of everything that had happened until that point caught me by surprise. Never once in fiction (whether books, movies or TV series) had a story’s ending made me love a tale that I didn’t care for until close to the ending.

In light of this, I’ll make productive use of my obsession and present to you the key elements in the latter part of the storyline for people who may be curious about it, but are not gamers or don’t want to play for dozens of hours. If you plan on playing the game, you may want to stop here since spoilers follow. Let me preface by saying, it’s very possible that the emotional arc hits so hard precisely because the ending comes after you have gotten to know each of the characters in depth. So, it’s entirely possible that my summary won’t have the same impact. Perhaps, it’s precisely because you have seen the lead character fuck up countless times that it’s so powerful when he changes. But having said that, here we go…

To give you a bit of context, the lead character, Arthur, is part of an outlaw gang that has seen better days. The gang is made up of about 20 people (men and women) on the run from the law. Making a living as an outlaw in the late 1800s is getting increasingly more difficult since the expansion of civilization is closing down the lawless places that characterized the Old West. The law is becoming faster and more effective at chasing the gang down. Pinkerton agents are breathing down their necks. The gang’s leader is Dutch van der Linde. This guy here:

Once upon a time, Dutch was a first-class outlaw inspiring his followers with an anarchist philosophy that made them feel like they were more than a bunch of robbers and killers. But it’s clear that his leadership qualities have taken a nosedive by the time the game begins. He keeps promising his followers that the next score will be the one that will get them set for life, but instead he keeps making terrible decisions further complicating the gang’s prospects.

The lead character in the tale is Arthur: This guy here:

Just like many people in the gang, Arthur was a young runaway who was found by Dutch and more or less raised by him. Every scene featuring him suggests he is rough around the edges and not the smartest guy ever. But he is certainly tough as hell, and he’s one of the gang’s main enforcers. As the game progresses, he begins to realize that Dutch is leading them to ruin but he can’t seem to break away from him because of his long-standing loyalty. Here’s a little video that gives you a taste of his personality:

Here are a few other important characters. This is John. He’s more or less a younger version of Arthur:

John is one of the best characters in the gang. He’s in a relationship with a lady named Abigail. This lady here:

The two of them have a kid named Jack.

My favorite character in the game is Charles Smith. He’s part African American and part Native. He’s clearly smarter and more honorable than most in the gang and he’s possibly the first to realize things are heading to a bad place.

Micah, on the other hand, is clearly the most awful character in the gang. From the get-go, the writers are not subtle presenting him as a horrible human being—racist, selfish, and insulting to anyone who comes across his way. Many of the gang’s problems go back to the fact that Dutch doesn’t seem to realize how poisonous Micah’s influence is, and even begins following his advice.  

Another character worth mentioning is Sadie Adler. She’s found by the gang after a rival outlaw gang has killed her husband and invaded her home. In the throes of heavy grief and not knowing what to do, Sadie joins the van der Linde gang. After a suitable interval of time, she undergoes a major transformation, turns into a serious badass and takes an active role in the gang’s operations. She’s among the best characters in the game.

I won’t bother you with all the other characters. There’s a zillion of them and some are very interesting but I don’t want to write a book. The only one I’ll mention here is Leopold Strauss. His business in the gang is running a loan sharking operation taking advantage of poor, desperate people. Arthur is the muscle sent by Strauss to beat up those who are late on payments. And it’s exactly while beating up some poor guy that Arthur catches tuberculosis when the man coughs up blood in his face. Arthur won’t find out about the TB for a long time but this will play a key plot point in the game.

This guy here is Leopold Strauss:

Having said all this, let’s start with a few videos. This is the moment when the whole game turns. Arthur knows he’s dying of TB and runs into a nun he has helped in the past. It’s the first time we see him being vulnerable.

This one is a long video in which Arthur runs into a widow and helps her by teaching her how to survive hunting on her own. Since the video is rather long, feel free to skim to the parts when they talk to one another.

In this one, Arthur helps Sadie to get revenge against the bandits who had killed her husband. You can check out the first 3 min and 20. Then it’s a bunch of shooting until the dialogue picks up again around the 7 min mark.

Check out the first 2 min and 45 seconds of this one. It’s the first time that Arthur changes his attitude and doesn’t beat up someone who owes the gang money:

 
We see his commitment to changing his ways in this one too:

After this moment, Arhtur kicks Strauss out of the gang. He is disgusted with himself for having gone along for so long with Strauss’ schemes.

Here, Arthur goes to help the son of the guy he had beat up (and who has since died) from whom he got TB:

He's Just a Goddamn Boy!

This is one of the most intense moment. He goes to help the widow of the guy from whom he got TB. The mother of the young man in the previous scene. Ever since her husband’s death, the lady has become a prostitute in order to keep herself and her son alive. For understandable reasons, she hates Arthur with a passion. Arthur accepts this and is not trying to make her change her mind, but he’s trying to help her anyway.

Red Dead Redemption 2 - Mission #69 - Do Not Seek Absolution II [Gold Me...

This is the big final sequence. I have skipped a bunch of events in my summary, but to give you a little context, Dutch’s choices has led to many Natives getting massacred by the Army. And during a fight, he left Arthur at a critical moment without even trying to help him. During a robbery, it looks like John may have died.

Since you can never go wrong with Johnny Cash, here are three beautiful videos featuring Johnny Cash music and scene from Red Dead Redemption 2. Two of them are montages made to “Hurt” and one to “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”.

Hurt 1:

Hurt 2:

God’s Gonna Cut You Down:

And here’s twenty minutes of gamers crying while watching the finale.

And with this, I’m done :)