Red Dead Redemption 2 is a tough game, and the large amount of hostile, rude, angry NPCs can make it feel even harder than it is. Even when Arthur is played as the nicest outlaw to grace the wild west, there is still no shortage of NPCs out to put him down. While it can make the world feel less inviting, it also makes one wonder why they are so hostile.
The world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the game's biggest drawing points.
Arthur can interact with almost every NPC in the game in a variety of ways. He can greet them, insult them, fight them, and even rob them. Of course, all of this is up to the player, and engaging in too much bad behavior can quickly get the law on Arthur's tail. Although considering how big Arthur's bounty in RDR2 is, players will end up spending eventually running afoul of the law whether they like it or not.
Reddit Arthur can abruptly lasso NPCs in RDR2, it can be difficult to blame NPCs for getting upset with misbehavior.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Full Of Unnecessarily Rude NPCs
Despite this, sometimes NPCs will be rude to Arthur for absolutely no reason. Even if the player walks by and offers a friendly greeting, they will insult him back. Campers will pull guns on him, and officers on duty will threaten to arrest him unless he backs away. Although RDR2's writing for its storyline characters is excellent, a lot of NPCs just seem to be unpleasant for the sake of it. As if it wasn't bad enough that Arthur can't be cured of tuberculosis in RDR2, he also has to deal with constantly being treated badly for no reason.
The most likely reason for this hostility is the fact that RDR2 is a Rockstar game. A large part of Rockstar's brand has been associated with crassness, often in the service of satire, and this type of NPC behavior is likely part of the same ethos. In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, pedestrians would insult CJ's clothes and tell him that he stinks, and the majority of Bully's cast was highly unpleasant. The simple fact is that in most games by Rockstar, most people that the player finds in-game will not be very friendly no matter what the circumstances. It's entirely possible that RDR2's NPCs are actually nicer than average for the studio, but even so, that still leaves a lot of unnecessarily mean NPCs wandering around, seemingly for no other reason than for the player to feel justified in having Arthur punch them. RDR2 and GTA are connected in several ways, apparently including NPC temperament.
Even when playing as a perfectly pleasant cowboy outlaw, there's no way to avoid unpleasant NPCs in RDR2. On the bright side, awful NPC behavior could give more moral players an excuse to perform their Bandit Challenges without feeling bad about it, and it gives players more of an excuse to be the outlaw they may want to be. Red Dead Redemption 2 can be full of unpleasant NPCs, but Arthur always has a way to fight back.
Source: vidiaplays/Reddit
