Both Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 are considered some of Rockstar's best games, but the duo have key differences, with the latter losing some of the features of its predecessor. Some of these lost features were a direct result of the change in direction to a more realistic experience, with the more game-like elements being left in the dust. No matter which game different players prefer, there's no doubt that there were some fantastic features left behind.

RDR2 is by no means an incomplete title, succeeding in delivering one of the best gaming experiences on the market, but with such large games there's always content left on the cutting room floor. Being from entirely different eras of gaming, there's bound to be plenty of differences in features and the overall game design from the two entries of the RDR franchise. John and Arthur themselves are two unique characters from each other, and despite their similarities, both have distinct struggles and personalities.

10 Invaluable Pardon Notes

Letting Players Beat The System

With the honor system making a return in RDR2, long time fans were surprised at the lack of Pardon Notes available for Arthur to find. In RDR1, these Pardon Notes were an incredibly rare but invaluable resource, allowing the player to instantly wipe out a bounty of any amount on John's head. Being such a valuable resource, they were quite difficult to find, being collected in safes, completing gang hideouts, or occasionally from looting chests.

Pardon notes could save players thousands of dollars, easily making them one of the most valuable items in the game. The removal of pardon notes was likely to give more weight to the player's choices, while also creating a more realistic experience. Unlike John's partnership with the government, with the Van Der Linde gang being consistently against the law it wouldn't make sense for Arthur to obtain these get-out-of-jail-free cards so easily.

9 Missing Horse Mechanics And Features

Limitations On Reliable Horses And Their Abilities

One of the few downsides to RDR2's realistic overhaul is the effect it had on the player's horses, being an occasional source of frustration for new fans. Unlike the first game, horse deaths are permanent without the quick use of a horse revival serum, resulting in some tragic experiences if left unprepared. Both games do allow players to tame wild horses found in the environment, with some horses in the prequel even being the best in the game compared to other options available for purchase.

Where the two differ is the ability to create horse deeds for these horses in the first RDR, making them a more permanent addition to John's arsenal, but the differences don't end there. When calling for a horse in RDR1, John's steed would ride alongside him while he ran, allowing players to quickly hop on and continue a chase without losing any momentum. In RDR2, horses aren't so forgiving, making Arthur do the legwork after showing up for a call.

8 Improved Dueling Mechanics

Bringing Classical Western Cinema To Life

Dueling is more of a seamless method of combat than anything else in RDR2, being serviceable for most encounters. What makes the duels in RDR1 stand out so much is how enthusiastically cinematic they are, taking great inspiration from classic Westerns. After starting a duel with a rude stranger, players will enter a short theatrical cutscene right out of a Clint Eastwood film, with all their classic camera angles and musical stings.

Duels act more as a minigame in RDR1 than a quick combat interaction, with the player needing to fill a bar in a quick time event to succeed. By locking onto different locations in time with a quick glowing reticle, John can easily outmatch most enemies in a duel, although it does take a bit of getting used to for new players. One thing that does carry over into both games is the ability to spare enemies in a duel, allowing the player to shoot the gun out of their opponent's hand to end a once fatal duel with honor.

7 Buying Custom Safehouses

Providing Additional Shelter Away From The Homestead

In the first Red Dead Redemption, safehouses were the only true respite from the dangers of the Wild West, if players had the money to spare. Unlike the campsites in RDR2, these bases were permanent structures players could purchase and rely on throughout the game, much like how apartments function in the crime-fueled GTA 5. One of the main advantages of this permanency is having a consistent method of saving and restoring John's supplies on long and arduous journeys.

Red Dead Redemption 1 has a total of 13 separate safe houses the player can purchase and own.

With the prequel's focus on community and character building, it's understandable why Rockstar opted for the evolving campsite in RDR2. Having a single consistent hub that follows the player is hard to avoid as a key part of its story, given its use as a meeting hub of all the colorful of the Van Der Linde gang. Despite this necessity, allowing Arthur to purchase his own individual safehouses would have been a welcome addition to RDR2, especially for completing its post-game content and collectathons.

6 Cheating In Card Games

Outlaws Never Play Fair, Especially In Card Games

Poker is an iconic staple of the Wild West, being a popular pastime for outlaws and settlers alike, but one of its more dishonorable features is missing in RDR2. In the original game, players could equip the Elegant Suit which would allow them to cheat during card games, being able to do so whenever John deals the cards for a table. Cheating isn't as easy as it sounds in Red Dead, as players need to be careful not to get caught by succeeding a balancing mini-game, preventing a quick and bloody end to a match.

While poker unsurprisingly returned to RDR2, not every mini-game was so lucky enough to make the cut. Being familiar to fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Liar's Dice was another engaging mini-game John could gamble on throughout the game. Similar to Poker, it's a game of deception and betting, bluffing in front of other players to win the pot, with players being able to cheat during it just as easily as poker.

5 Wearing Disguises To Hide John's Identity

Exploring A Different Playstyle Without Repercussion

One of the most unbelievable elements of the realistic cowboy simulator is how easily recognizable Arthur is, even with an entire disguise. Arthur is still able to partially obscure his identity to civilians when wearing a bandanna, but they'll still incur honor losses for engaging in heinous acts. After committing crimes while partially masked, the accumulated bounty will get added to an unknown identity counter, but lawmen will see through his disguise in an instant to put a quick end to the deception.

While masked in RDR1, all actions that would alter either the honor or fame meters are completely unaffected, but a bounty will still be placed on John. While the prequel attempts to balance the honor system with lessened bounties while disguised, it defeats the main purpose behind the sandbox benefits from the bandanna. With a pardon note and a disguise, players wouldn't have to worry about any actions devastating their financial or honor levels, letting players explore the darker roleplaying features the Wild West has to offer without long-lasting punishment.

4 Expansion Into Mexico

Unique Environments With a Completely Different Feel

There's no doubt that RDR2 dwarfs the size of the original map and is filled with things to do, but bigger doesn't always mean better. While the prequel has a range of different environments to discover, from the swamps of Lemoyne to the snowy peaks of Amarino, it's missing the ability to visit Mexico from RDR1. Traveling between Mexico and America easily is an excellent way to make the world feel more expansive and varied without actually increasing the size all that much.

Players were originally able to visit both Mexico and New Austin early in development, with some leftover areas being accessible through the use of glitches.

With varied NPCs, locations, and environmental designs, it gives the player a greater sense of exploration than just visiting different parts of America. Even if the Mexican landscapes weren't drastically different from the deserts of the Wild West, the different buildings, NPCs, and overall feel helped sell the immersion of traveling to a new country. A third game in the franchise could always head north instead, letting players explore the wilds of Canadian forests.

3 Fast Traveling Between Campsites

Making Travel And Collecting A Longer Time Investment

Similar to the safehouses lost with the evolving Van Der Linde campsite, fast traveling between temporary encampments is a sorely missed convenience in RDR2. It's true the American west of Red Dead is filled with stunning landscapes and interesting encounters, but they can get tiring after a while. For players running from one side of the map to the other for quests or hunting, the distances can be painfully slow even on the fastest horse.

Fast travel isn't completely missing from RDR2, however, it's just more limited in how freely it can be used compared to the original campsites. Players can eventually unlock the ability to quickly travel to their single camp later in the game, or pay to use public transportation with trains and stagecoaches. It's likely Rockstar Games intentionally cut out this feature to aid in immersion, forcing players to interact with the world and explore more naturally.

2 Bounty System And Replayability

Offering An Endless Stream Of Content For Dedicated Players

One of the best features for replayability in RDR1 was the inclusion of unlimited randomly generated bounties. While the bounties may get repetitive after a while, the amount of variation and freedom to engage with bounties gave many players hours of enjoyment from the post-game. Given one of the few complaints about RDR2 surrounding its lack of end-game content after the main story, unlimited bounties would've been an easy way to entertain players for longer.

Rotating bounties were a great way to consistently make extra money in RDR1.

Red Dead Redemption 2 decided to scrap these randomly generated bounties in favor of eight hand-crafted by the developers themselves. Deciding to focus more on telling a story and creating memorable characters, the bounties were made of higher quality at the cost of being drastically reduced in numbers. It's unfortunate Rockstar couldn't find a middle ground, including the excellent story-driven bounties on top of optional randomly generated ones for players to tackle if they were craving more.

1 Robbing Banks For Cash

Immersive Ways To Make Money As A True Outlaw

John had no limits on his bank-robbing ventures in RDR1, being able to hit any bank in the game for some quick cash followed by an exciting escape sequence, or a clean getaway if planned properly. Despite being released years prior, RDR's bank robberies were more than simple cash-and-grab jobs like the convenience stores in the monolithic GTA 5. Players could bribe witnesses or distract lawmen by starting gunfights elsewhere, leaving the bank and its contents ripe for plundering.

Players using bank robbing mods should do so at their own risk and back up their saves, with reports of players losing game progress.

RDR2 has its fair share of heart-pounding heists, but these are entirely limited to specific story missions. Being arguably the best cowboy game on the market, it's a massively missed opportunity not to let players engage in their own bank robberies throughout the world. Thankfully, some dedicated players have created mods to enable this functionality in the game, but they still don't compare to the real thing. While there are core differences between Red Dead Redemption and RDR2, they remain the best of their genre.