So, quite a while ago when the first Red Dead Redemption game was only two years old, my 7 year old self became obsessed with the game. Though, I was too young to care for the storyline, so most of the time I played and just shot things. Messing around.
When I was 12 or 13, I revisited the first game. Playing all the way until the ending, and crying my little adolescent heart out for John Marston when he had been killed. I was indulged in the game, the story, the characters.
So, you can only imagine how ecstatic I was over the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. I had a bit of a distaste for the change of protagonist, but I ended up adoring Arthur Morgan even more than John. Naturally, I fell in love with the game. The graphics were beautiful and unlike any game I've ever played! The world was so open and everything was gorgeous. I cried so hard witnessing the death of Arthur Morgan. My first playthrough, I received the high honor ending. The saddest, in my opinion. The low honor ending is just infuriating! I've never hated anything as much as I hate Micah Bell.
RDR2 is by far, my favorite game ever. Considered one of the best games of all time, the game sold millions more copies than RDR1 within the first week of its release. One of the most expensive games ever designed, costing nearly half a million to create, its revenue made up for it. RDR2 undoubtedly earned Rockstar the Game of the Year award, fair and square.
I could go on for hours about this game and it's series, and the affect it had on my childhood. (Despite the fact it's probably inappropriate for a 7 year old little girl to play a game about commiting crimes and shooting people). I could immerse myself in the fandom for hours.
I love watching RDR2 fails, Easter eggs, theory videos, etc. Actually, not much can hold my attention, but the storyline of Red Dead most definitely can.
That all being said, I have to wonder, if Rockstar Games releases a Red Dead Redemption 3, what will it be about?
I watched a video about this, actually! Theorizing that RDR3 would be about a young Arthur Morgan, settling into the flow with Dutch and Hosea. Playing as Arthur at that young of an age, you'd be watching how each member eventually becomes a part of the gang. Seeing their backstoried with more detail, and being able to tie emotion into other characters that aren't just the protagonist. However, I have to think, if Rockstar changed the protagonist from John to Arthur, will the protagonist change again? Who will it be?
We may not play as a younger Arthur learning to read, hunt, and survive. Instead, what if we played as Javier or Sean? The idea of Javier being a protagonist may be odd, considering he's an antagonist in RDR1, but he wasn't always an enemy for John. I think it'd be fairly interesting to see Javier's life through his eyes. How he left Mexico and made it to the gang, and how he went about everything.
There's another consideration for plot of RDR3, that you'll play as Jack Marston, John's son, after the events of RDR1. However, the video I watched made a point of saying that following Jack's life would be too far fetched. The wild west is modernizing by that time, outlaws are being hunted, and the storyline would be far too different from the first and second games. This is true! However, would it not be interesting to follow Jack's life? To know what happens? What if the government is hunting him down for his murder of Edgar Ross? What if Mary-beth and Tilly are still alive and able to meet the older version of Jack? Or Pearson? What if Jack attempts to join a gang of his own, looking for the family he had when he was just a little boy in RDR2?
The possibilities are endless, and I'm excited. The RDR storyline feels unfinished, like there needs to be more. So, I hypothesize that RDR3 is gonna be a thing within due time. Maybe it won't match the same amazement that RDR2 captured, but it will satisfy people that fell in love with the series. Myself included.
Rockstar outdid themselves with the creation of RDR2, and it'll be difficult to match the beauty of it when creating a third game. However, I feel it'll be at least just as good. Rockstar is very capable, obviously.
Some questions I wish I had the answer to would be: What happens to Jack after the events of RDR1? How did Abigail Marston pass away? How did other characters react to Arthur's death? Did Tilly, Charles, Sadie, or Mary-beth hear of John's passing? Who is the man from the "I Know You" mission? And what is he?
The video I mentioned earlier brought about an interesting point, that Jack is the saddest character in the game. Growing up in a gang that deteriorates overtime, losing everyone he knew as his aunt's and uncles, having a father that never really understood him but still loved him, and witnessing his father's dead body? That's all extremely depressing. The video describes Jack as a vengeful and impulsive persona, with no real care for his own life. He was the most upsetting character because, despite everyone's efforts to lead Jack to grow up into someone that wasn't a killer, he grew up and shot Edgar Ross under the reasoning of revenge. (Well deserved, but I digress).
Yet, some people hypothesize he grew up to be a writer. Married, died by heart disease.
I saw an idea that he served in WWI.
Many different things!
The one I think makes the most sense, is that he's vengeful and impulsive. While it's easy to romanticize the idea of Jack becoming a writer after being an avid bookworm in RDR1, he's gone through so much that it's hard to think he'd easily go back to normal. At least, if he does become a writer, he spent years enraged and insecure beforehand. Commiting crimes, writing to cope, until he eventually strays from the criminal and angry lifestyle and dedicates himself to becoming an author. Possibly in his late 20's or early 30's. Keep in mind, he was only 19 when he shot Edgar Ross. So, years should go by before he makes a turnaround.
Oh, and what comes of Mary, Arthur's love interest? Does she hear about his death? Is she hardened by it?
There are so so so many questions and hypotheses to come up with, and so many ideas to brainstorm. In the end, you can only wait and choose what you want to believe. That's part of the beauty, I think. Yet I catch myself feeling like Hazel Grace Lancaster when she yearned for the real ending of An Imperial Affliction. I'm thirsty for more of the story!
