History YMMV / RedDeadRedemption2

** The residents of Van Horn and Beaver Hollow are (for the most part) violent jerks who will antagonize the player for no reason, and even if Arthur greets them, they will usually respond with an insult or SpitefulSpit. Even worse, if one of them starts a fight with the player, everyone else will join in no matter how it started. At some point, [[DirtyCoward one of them will pull out a gun and start shooting]], [[HiveMind causing the others to do the same.]] Needless to say, [[CatharsisFactor most players do not feel bad for killing them when this happens.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: The disappearance of the camp's dog, Cain (with it being strongly implied that Micah killed him) becomes a lot more tragic following the death of Einstein, the dog who provided Cain's motion-capture.

* HarsherINHindsight: The disappearance of the camp's dog, Cain (with it being strongly implied that Micah killed him) becomes a lot more tragic following the death of Einstein, the dog who provided Cain's motion-capture.

*** [[spoiler:Even before the epilogue,]] some people take issue with Sadie's reckless and foolhardy nature, her [[AxCrazy overly violent]] tendencies, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and her]] [[TomboyishVoice grating voice]]. It doesn't help that she's a mirror of Micah Bell, one of the most hated characters in the game (although in his case it's intentional).

** Even [[{{Jerkass}} Micah]] gets this, although to a much lesser degree -- there are a ton of theories about him [[spoiler:not being the rat, although part of this can be explained by some awkward writing and lack of payoff[[note]]The game suggests that the gang had a rat in chapters 1-4, but Micah only became one in chapters 5-6. It can be explained as bad luck, predictability and the law using psychological warfare to cause infighting within the gang, however[[/note]]]]. According to these theories, [[spoiler:it either really was Molly and that Milton lied to the already dying Arthur for some reason, or that Abigail and/or John were behind it for vague reasons (See RonTheDeathEaterBelow)]].

** Another bug that players tend to run into is at the end of [[spoiler: Jeremiah Compson's]] Stranger questline, where Arthur has the option of killing them, causing said person to fall into the fire in front of them and their corpse to catch alight. Which will continuously relight when the player tries to loot them even after the corpse has been charred.

* {{Fanon}}: It seems to be generally agreed that John & Abigail's unseen daughter [[spoiler:died in Yukon sometime between 1899 and 1907]], as this would explain why her grave never appears in the first game.

** Sheriff Gray and his deputies. While he is a grossly incompetent drunk, after [[spoiler:finding out that his new temporarily deputized citizens he hired were an outlaw gang that burned his family's tobacco fields and murdered tens of his men, he can't be blamed for ambushing them and killing Sean.]]
** To a lesser extent, Agent Milton. While he is undoubtedly smug, unpleasant, brutal and unstable, his cause is a noble one: trying to stop an outlaw gang from murdering and robbing across the country.

** "Aren't you cold dressed like that?" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Due to a bug in v1.26 that has since been fixed in v1.27, gang members would [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfIQvVmEn24 frequently comment]] that Arthur was not wearing appropiate clothes for cold weather, even if he ''was'' wearing winter clothes on Lemoyne[[/labelnote]].

** "Finally an Arthur without a long beard." [[labelnote:Explanation]] Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplays on Youtube usually have an Arthur with a long hermit beard, so when a gameplay has an Arthur with a short or shaved beard, in the comments there will be someone saying something like "Finally found an Arthur without a long beard".[[/labelnote]].

** "Finally an Arthur without a long beard."[[labelnote:Explanation]] RDR2 gameplays on YouTube usually have an Arthur with a long hermit beard, so when a gameplay has an Arthur with a short or shaved beard, in the comments there will be someone saying something like "I finally found an Arthur without a long beard".]][[/labelnote]].

** Jack Marston. He goes through all of the same TraumaCongaLine that the rest of the gang does, but is only a young child when it happens. This includes [[spoiler: watching several members of the gang die, which, judging by the fact that he refers to several members of the gang as {{Honorary Uncle}}s, is the equivalent to losing a huge chunk of his family.]] If that wasn't enough, he himself gets kidnapped for a big chunk of the game. It gives some perspective to his angst in the first game.

** Once the game came out, Arthur's constant use of the word "boy" (usually rendered as "boah") became this, especially since, if you ride a male horse, he'll be saying that a lot. It helps that there was [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 another game]] released earlier the same year that also spawned memes based on the main characters constant saying "boy", leading many people to joke that 2018 was the year of the boy.

** "Aren't you cold dressed like that?" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Due to a bug in v1.26 that has since been fixed in v1.27, gang members would [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfIQvVmEn24 frequently comment]] that Arthur was not wearing appropiate clothes for cold weather, ''even'' if he was wearing winter clothes on Lemoyne[[/labelnote]].

* HarsherInHindsight:
** Every time you hear Arthur wheezing a bit here and there since Chapter 2? [[spoiler:It becomes a lot grimmer once you realize that those were probably early symptoms of tuberculosis.]]
** In ''Red Dead Redemption'', [[spoiler: Dutch van der Linde is finally cornered at the top of a mountain with John pointing a gun at him. Jokingly, he states that they "...have got to stop meeting like this". The last time the two saw each other, they were at the top of a mountain, with John once again pointing a gun at him.]]
** Remember how in ''I'' Jack kept angsting over John's constant absence from his life? We get a bit of backstory on this. Supposedly he abandoned Abigail and Jack ''for an entire year'', and [[spoiler:once the Marstons settle down in West Elizabeth, the player no doubt participates in John's disappearings by simply ''playing the game'']].
** A new player may see the "Sicknesses" section of the Player menu and think "Neat, Arthur can get sick? That's a nice realistic touch." [[spoiler:He indeed does. But instead of a randomly occurring temporary disease that goes away on its own, it's something much, [[YourDaysAreNumbered much worse]].]]
** The van der Linde gang's portrayal here can be a lot harsher, especially for those who have played the first game. A tightly-knit group that you work, fight and celebrate together here become a mere shell of its former self years later is quite painful to see. This is quite so for Dutch himself; the charismatic and well-dressed leader of his gang reduced to a shriveled wreck by the first game.
** In one camp interaction in Chapter 6, Jack is searching for the family dog, Cain, and asks Micah where the dog is, only to be met with a rude "Cain's gone." This is even sadder when you realize that Einstein Barnes, the dog who portrayed him, [[https://www.pcgamer.com/einstein-the-dog-who-played-cain-in-red-dead-redemption-2-has-died/ died in June 2023]].
** Marston's interactions with Javier and Bill in this game acting all chummy with each other becomes this for those familiar with what happens between them in the first game. One conversation between John and Javier particularly stands out, where John wishes to one day visit Mexico and Javier hopes that he will. Years later, John ''will'' visit Mexico, only that he would be there to hunt down Javier dead or alive.
** All of the epilogue showing how hard [[spoiler:John works to build the ranch for his family, as well as his and Abigail's heartwarming moments as a couple including John's marriage proposal and their subsequent wedding is this to anyone who's played the first game and knows how it all turns out for them. It makes it hard to tell if playing the epilogue is meant to touch you or just gut-punch you several times over]].

** This game isn't [[Series/AgentsOfSHIELD the first time]] that Tahiti has become a meme.
** The fact that West Dickens' tonic upgraded your Deadeye in ''I'' meant that his potions were actually good for something after all; [[spoiler:But since John [[GameplayAndStorySegregation can use Deadeye level 5 in this game]], it now seems that Marston was just rusty[[note]]Especially since the Level 1 of the first game's deadeye is a part of this game's max level, meaning John remembered some of the skill[[/note]] and that Mr. Dickens' poison '' completely reset'' his Deadeye skills, giving John a very good reason to be angry with him.]]
** Jack Marston was considered one of the worst characters in the last game for a multitude of reasons... and not only is he RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap here, but since [[spoiler:some members of the gang survive the events]], many now want to see how they'd interact with adult Jack in 1914. Some even wish that if there's ever any single-player DLC, he should be the protagonist thanks to the story potential it would have. [[note]]And of course, many wish Mexico was tied to this as well, so single-players could have a potential Mexico map expansion without violating canon.[[/note]]
** For Bonnie Tyler: It's either this or HarsherInHindsight, but try to watch the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWcASV2sey0 music video for]] "Music/HoldingOutForAHero" after playing this game, [[spoiler:especially if you get to the end of Chapter 6.]]

*** If the player chooses to have Arthur antagonize Dutch in camp, one of the lines he can pull is "Everyone sees you and Hosea [[UnusualEuphemism 'reading']]."

* HoYay: Among other moments, Hosea explicitly refers to himself and Dutch as being Arthur's parents by calling themselves and Arthur "the curious couple and their unruly son." Dutch doesn't object to Hosea implying, even jokingly, that they're a couple.
** If the player chooses to have Arthur antagonize Dutch in camp, one of the lines he can pull is "Everyone sees you and Hosea [[UnusualEuphemism 'reading']]."
** During Sean's return party, the player can find Dutch and Hosea conversing away from the others, and Dutch can be seen [[https://i.redd.it/jjcxengw99621.jpg resting his hand on Hosea's]] several times.
** They can be seen holding hands again in an [[https://twitter.com/DutchVanDerKill/status/1657057507875930112 out of bounds cutscene]] as well.

* TierInducedScrappy: Among the high-tier horses, the Arabian, while having the best all-around stats, is notoriously skittish, scares easily, often bucking the player off even with maximum bonding, and is smaller compared to other horses making them less visually appealing for some players. For these reasons, players tend to gravitate towards either the Turkoman (comparable stats and doesn't scare easily) or the Missouri Fox Trotter (a bit faster than the Arabian) when they become available. With fixes to various glitches/exploits that allowed players to access high-level horses early, Arabians are now the only practical go-to for any player looking for a fast horse early on.

** Out of all the camp upgrades, the moose antlers are widely agreed to be the most frustrating to attain--since they require finding and killing a bull moose, which is one of the most elusive animals in the game. Moose only spawn in a tiny handful of locations on extremely rare occasions, so finding one is often a simple matter of luck--and male moose (the only ones with antlers) are even rarer than their female counterparts. As a nice bonus: one of the only places where moose can be reliably lured with bait is Cairn Lake--where, due to a bizarre quirk of the game's programming, only ''female'' moose ever spawn.

** Out of all the camp upgrades, the moose antlers are widely agreed to be the most frustrating to attain--since they require finding and killing a bull moose, which is one of the most elusive animals in the game. Moose only spawn in a tiny handful of locations on extremely rare occasions, so finding one is often a simple matter of luck--and male moose (the only ones with antlers) are even rarer than their female counterparts. As a nice bonus: one of the only places where moose can be lured with bait is Cairn Lake--where, due to a bizarre quirk of the game's programming, only ''female'' moose ever spawn.

** Due to their similar roles in the story, Guarma is often compared negatively with Mexico. In terms of storytelling, John ending up in Mexico felt natural and tied to the general plot pretty well, but Guarma has been accused of feeling very shoehorned into ''II'''s plot - while it has it's place ([[spoiler:It worsens Arthur's disease and shows how Dutch's dreams aren't as good as he thinks they are]]), many players have still expressed belief that those plot points could have been integrated in other ways. In terms of gameplay, Mexico gave players a large area to explore that looked and felt different from America without distracting from the core gameplay, while Guarma is a tiny, briefly seen area with a bunch of PermanentlyMissableContent that punishes exploration and has very little mission variety, giving players the feeling that the game is {{Railroading}} them. As such, while Mexico [[BrokenBase was divisive]] in ''I'', it's very rare to see players claiming they like Guarma as it appears in the final product [[note]]It was seemingly intended to be explorable, much smaller and could be returned to, with much more unique animals; several of the island's detractors feel this sounds much more interesting than what the final game offered[[/note]] - some have even expressed confusion why Guarma was even used, as Mexico could have been used in it's place. [[note]][[spoiler:Likely because Guarma's humid climate has a negative effect to Arthur's health, while the dry desert climate of Mexico would be much better for him - his TB had to be sped up somehow for the plot.]][[/note]]

** Similar to Survivalist 7 is Weapon Expert 5, which requires you to kill 5 mounted enemies with 1 throwing knife each. Since it;s harder to get in close to horsed enemies to knife them during missions, and hostile gang members are very rarely riders in the open world, it's much easier to just kill random strangers on horseback and take the Honor hit.

-->'''Sadie:''' ''[to Arthur]'' Aside from my Jake... you're the best man I've known.