ARTHUR MORGAN
I played the first Red Dead Redemption once when I was in middle school and I loved John Marston's story. I played RDR2 in 2021, going in completely blind, unsure how Rockstar would possibly be able to take this story any further. Come to find out, the game was a prequel and we wouldn't even be playing as John! I didn't mind, I had only played the first game once and didn't get terribly attached to John to the point where a new protagonist would irk me.My first playthrough, I breezed through, did all the story missions, some side missions here and there. If only I knew just how much I was missing, and what I'd lose when I finally finished the main story. When I did, I was devastated; I cried over Arthur like a close friend of mine died. I didn't want to be John, I didn't want to fix fences and clean cow shit, I wanted Arthur back. I cursed at myself for not spending more time meandering around, riding on that stupid little light brown Morgan horse I bought, or picking flowers, studying animals for the journal.
After I finished the epilogue, I couldn't bear to even think about the game, or Arthur, for that matter. It was only until this past January when I decided to finally, actually, play the game, explore the vastness of its map, spend more time with Arthur; I sunk about 250 hours on that single playthrough, high honor as always, doing as much side content as I could before I was forced to progress. And the events of the end were only a bigger gut punch; Arthur's farewell to his loyal horse (I had kept the black shire this entire time), his final conversation with John, and his death hit harder. I somehow managed to 100% the game, missing Arthur the entire time. I know he's a murderer, a thief, and not particularly the kindest, but the high honor route is so beautifully done and Arthur's complex character is fleshed out so well.
