Dog owners also get really pissed off if your horse tramples their mutt.

Also: try not to canter or gallop through towns, stick to the walk or the trot. If you run people over they can turn nasty.

If you want to get violent without serious consequences, do the debt-collecting for Levi Strauss.

And don't forget to brush, feed and pat your horse regularly... That's how you bond with them, and getting grade 4 bond with your horse is very handy.

Also: clean your weapons regularly.

I enjoy the gunfights, but Arthur can soak up a lot more punishment than most mortals I'm aware of, and that can sometimes break immersion. But there aren't many fights that you have to rush through, so you can take your time. At worst, you don't get a silver or gold medal for the mission, but you can redo them once completed, if you want to go for gold.

I've just made it to Chapter 6 (the final chapter) and I want to savour it. But I can see me restarting from scratch as soon as I've finished my first play-through. Do it all again on a more completist basis.

And it really is a game to savour rather than chug.

Like a fine single malt.

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

Yeah I’m taking it pretty slow. This evening I got into some fight in a bar, picked up a few debts and got ambushed a couple of times. I outran one but got killed in the other. Lost my hat in the process, which was odd. I don’t think I’ve progressed the plot at all, but I still feel I’ve got a shed load to learn so side missions are fine for now.

The GTA combat system is still annoying me, although I have just finished Horizon Zero Dawn which emphasised precision bow and arrow action, so I probably need to reset my expectations.

Again, the attention to detail is incredible. Even after a few short hours this game feels more ‘lived in’ than a lot of other games I’ve played.

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Norks

So this has happened to me a couple of times now:

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Norks

The bar fight sounds like the story mission one that you have to go through at some point, so don't worry too much about that.

You can get your hat back by sitting on your horse and opening your inventory. Hats are on the third wheel - press "R" to go through the wheels.

Plot/Story missions are identified by yellow icons; side-missions by white icons.

Also: when you do the horse-selling mission from the camp to Valentine, can I suggest you keep the shire horse rather than sell it.

I found the shire horse can take more punishment than the leaner ones, and the difference in speed between it and other horses available to buy in chapter 2 is negligible.

Plus, it's nice to be riding a big, black horse that towers over everyone else.

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

Thanks for the tips!

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Norks

Said the prostitute to the lepers....

Fuck this game. Whilst riding my horse I crashed into someone and he died and now I’m wanted for murder, and I had to kill the law who then chased me and my bounty in Valentine is like a zillion dollars.

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Norks

Go beat up the women's suffrage woman tie her up and put her on the train tracks
Watch the train run her over
Achievement unlocked lol
You will be wanted

Also have you stumbled upon the Klan rally at night?

Have you been raped yet?

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If gay marriage was OK ... then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog.

- Boris Johnson

None of the above. I did beat a guy until he paid a debt though.

The combat mechanics of this game really annoy me. Did I mention that?

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Norks

Which I'm reading as: "I can't ride a horse to save my life!"

Save your game regularly Slacks. Then when shit like that happens, you can peg back.

Don't know if you followed my tip about keeping the shire horse as your main Chapter 2 nag, but I found he usually emerged the better off from horse-horse collisions.

There's no option to not shoot the Law when they're on your tail, but the Law as an institution is surprisingly forgiving, when you've just slaughtered a dozen of its men. You can pay your bounty off with the winnings from a few rounds of poker... Or more quickly with the proceeds from debt collecting for Strauss.

Don't worry too much about incidents like this. They happen more than you'd hope to begin with, but they don't have any significant influence on your progress. It's character building stuff!

In other news:

I have started a new game.

I was into Chapter 6, and was starting to see The End in sight... And I had already decided that I was going to start a new game as soon as I finished. 'Cos I was still on my very first run through, and the experience I've gained makes me realise how much I missed out on.

And then I thought, fuck it, might just as well start a new one right away. So I have.

And I'm *REALLY* savouring things now. I thought I might want to rush through Chapter 1, because I didn't enjoy the snow the first time around. But when I noticed that the snow around the horse-hitching posts was stained yellow from horse-piss, I understood I just need to completely revel in what an awesome work of art this Game is.

So Imma really gonna take my Time now.

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

Once or twice.

I don't really see this as a combat game...

The brawling is a bit tedious, so I try to avoid fisticuffs wherever possible, which isn't too difficult.

The trick to the gunfights, I have found, is to not approach them like I would a more usual first-person shooter. Which mostly means no tanking.

Reloading is realistic, so I try not to be too trigger-happy. Dual-wield was a blessed relief, because it gave me more shots between reloading.

And I try to work with my NPC team more, where I'd usually try and effectively solo everything.

On non-story missions, sniping from a distance using the rolling block rifle is easily my preferred form of combat. Take everyone out from a way-aways, then move in with a shotgun to loot and search.

Keep at it Slacks: you'll find your own cadence soon enough.

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

I’m definitely going to stick with it. I dig the immersiveness and attention to detail. The voice acting is great too, and I’ve not noticed any repeating dialogue with background NPCs, which is nice.

I’m not on the horse mission yet but will keep the shire once I get there.

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Norks

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Norks

That's about right.

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

I can feel your pain Slacks...

Imma always want to be a good guy in open-world RPG games - I'm the most helpful person ever to exist in Tamriel!

But I guess we've got to accept that the premise of the game is that we're a member of an outlaw gang. Trying to bend Arthur Morgan into a goody two-shoes, is I guess, more unrealistic than the frequent confrontations he stumbles into in Valentine and elsewhere.

However, from what I've played through up to Chapter 6, as best as I can tell, the only advantage we get from having Arthur being the most noble White Hat to ever ride the Range, is the unlocking of a few firearms and some clothing. And lost honour is easy enough to regain, if needed.

It's not like we can expect townsfolk to be throwing flower-petals in our path, every time we ride into town feeling like Roy Rogers.

So can I suggest you embrace Arthur's intrinsic outlawishness?

You won't ever be as much of a cunt as Micah, no matter how hard you try.

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

Also, Toppest Tip so far:

When you're travelling a-ways to a specific point, set it as a "Waypoint" on the map.

Then, get your horse up to cantering speed (3rd gear), and press "V" to go into Cinematic Mode". Then release "W" and your horse will maintain its speed and follow the path determined when you set the waypoint.

You can do it in 4th gear (galloping) as well, but that'll drain your horse's stamina quite quickly.

When you get the first proper camp set-up outside of Valentine, go around to the map that is on the other side of the wagon to your bed, and you can use that to fast travel.

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

You can go into slow motion in a gunfight

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If gay marriage was OK ... then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog.

- Boris Johnson

Indeed.

Sweet memories of "Max Payne"!

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

I’d like to see a Max Payne 4. The third had a different feel being based in South America and all, but it was still a lot of fun.

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Norks

I've only played the original and its sequel - more than 20 years ago now, IIRC.

I feeel old...

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

Really getting into this now I’ve got used to the slow pace. I’ve mostly been doing side missions along with the occasional hunt. Quite a chill way to pass the time.

I do need money to pay off some bounties though. I can’t sell valuables at the moment (stores won’t take them because dodgy goods) until a bit later in the story when a new type of vendor appears (Fences?). Otherwise not sure how to rake in some good amounts of cash.

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Norks

Yeah, you gots to find your own pace...

It's testament to what a stunning work of art it is that it really can be played according to player choice. I could see it would be cool to play as a Berserker... Just the meanest, tootenest, low-down, no-good son-of-a-bitch that ever walked the Trails.

Or some rain-soaked angel, rescuing poor souls from bear-traps, tending to snake-bit victims at the side of the road-side, or being exploited as a free taxi service.

Or just playing Horse-Whisperer....

Epic Game is Epic.

Meanwhile:

Get to the Fence mission as soon as you can. It's the easiest and most manageable way of getting cash. Hunting and skinning is predictable, but can obviously be a bit of a grind.

If your idiom can bear it, try stealing horses and carriages. $10-20 per horse may not seem much, but when you think of how easy it is to steal horse, ride it back to camp and go steal another... The bucks do mount up.

But yeah: activate the Fence, then you can slow the pace down even more.

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

Spent some time looking for this before giving up and Googling it. Requires a camp upgrade first.

Not in any rush to unlock it in any event given how chilled it is just to ride and look around.

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Norks

Yup, definitely only a nice-to-have.

I have only used it between mission stages

Cinematic waypoint following is my preferred mode for longer distance travel, trains for the longest.

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“Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.” - Billy Connolly

Started my bounty huntin’ career today. So far so good.

Also hijacked my first cart. Unfortunately the rider put up a fight when I released him so I had to stab him to death. Then I had to kill a witness, and dragged their corpses into a bush. The cart was shit as it turned out and only went for $15.

Anyway, good times.

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Norks