A few decades ago the masses believed video games were a waste of time for lackadaisical youths to pacify themselves while ignoring their responsibilities as both kids and young adults. As more and more people started understanding the benefits of gaming so too did the perception of what a video game is and, most importantly, the benefits gaming can bestow on a person’s life changed. Hi, my name is James Bullock and I am a gamer who has spent the better part of his existence testing the laws of physics, exploring the vastness of a world ruined, and been a champion inside various arenas courtesy of digitized worlds both driven by reality and created through pure unbelievable ingenuity unlike anything seen by human eyes. And as a gamer I’ve discovered something else video games provide: life lessons. Today I examine a game that stresses the importance of life’s intricacies, “Red Dead Redemption 2”.
Life is Full of Small Things
Rockstar Games’ return to the not-so-wild west saw characters either trying to stick to the lifestyle where shootouts & train robberies were the norm (or at least told obsessively by inebriated townspeople inside the local saloon) or attempting to embrace the change in society where civilized living didn’t involve hogtying a local & dragging them across the nearby field for the sheer thrill. One of the most interesting aspects about the original “Red Dead Redemption” was the little things that allowed the protagonist John Marston to showcase the hardships of life during a era before the obvious luxuries a majority of United States citizen enjoy today while appreciating the importance of loving one’s family. While family is still a major theme in the sequel & narrative prequel to “RDR”, in “Red Dead Redemption 2” the focal character Arthur Morgan isn’t fighting for blood relations; but his gang under the leadership of Dutch Van der Linde featuring a cast of characters ranging from the drunken old man who sits by the campsite fire, to a gaggle of women using their sexuality to plan robberies, to the one African American that certain members of the gang hate because of his skin color (or maybe it’s because he runs into firefights without using cover before getting shot and causing a mission to fail). While the characterization may sound rudimentary & almost underwhelming, the major (and even a few minor) characters Arthur interacts with are incredibly charismatic and almost prove to be the complete opposite of the game’s world & systems as wild scenarios like chasing down a bounty who jumped into the river or getting black-out drunk with your buddy are complemented by the relatively mundane actions connected to life then & now. One of the key things “Red Dead Redemption 2” makes players understand is the fact life’s full of many little details to accomplish the bigger goal.
One of the earliest things Arthur and thus the player learns is hunting for food. Arthur must travel beyond his home, track an animal that will be enough for his entire camp to live off of for a while, skin it & cook it before consumption. A majority of these actions, as expected, are only completed via certain button presses; but the process itself is a reminder to those who don’t appreciate just how much work goes into the simple methods of life including finding meals. Beyond cooking is bathing both Arthur & his horse, balancing a bank account, deciding to help a stranger stranded on the side of the road, and choosing whether or not Arthur should pay a bounty on his head like a parking ticket that could end with him getting thrown in jail if he refuses. Unlike so many video games that present an open world as a playground for absurdity with slight moments of realism being sprinkled in for good measure. “Red Dead Redemption 2” is actually an example of how realistic games can be without ruining the fun of playing a video game – making players appreciate just how much works goes into staying alive even if it means getting mauled by a bear or losing your hat in a bar fight.
Have you learned any major life lessons from playing “Red Dead Redemption 2” or any video game for that matter? Leave them in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.
