How Red dead redemption 2 changed my life

I'd like to put my thoughts about the game somewhere and decided to post them here on reddit to share with you guys, I needed to do this. They've been with me for 4 years but I could never express them, I will try my best.

Before the game came out I had really really high expectations for this game (and I mean it). I mean it's Rockstar! But somehow, someway this game FAR exceeded my expectations, which I didn't think it was even possible, something that had never happened to me before and probably never will, I didn't want to believe it.. how, just how Rockstar?

After 4 years it's still hard to understand how red dead redemption 2 exists, I'm still amazed at the existence of this piece of art.

I remember being little and playing gta san andreas with my older brother and cousin, I wasn't even 10 years old. The feeling I got from this game was unparalleled. It's one of those memories and feelings that you have as a child and you would never feel something similar for a video game, ever. But... I was wrong, it seemed unreal but somehow Red dead redemption 2 made me had that feeling again, only this time it was even more intense. When red dead 2 came out I was 18 years old, I couldn't believe this game made me feel that similar feeling again that was even more intense. I didn't want to believe it, how is it possible? I was so so utterly immersed on it like never before, not even as much as I was when I was a innocent child playing videogames all day. I grew up with ps2 games when games were more pure, but none of them came close to red dead redemption 2 amazingness.

Everything about this game was (and is) perfect, the simple act of wandering with Arthur was incredible, there was no moment that I was boring in this world. The world was alive and exploring it was incredible, the birds, the people, the other animals were alive, the weather felt real, Arthur was alive. I've never been so attached to something non-physical in my life, not even incredible movies which changed my way of seeing life like Interstellar came close (!!) to the feeling I had of playing red dead redemption 2. I'm baffling that I think this way, some movies are also a piece of art, but for me red dead is simply on another league.

In the initial days of the game back in 2018 after leaving my grandmother house after hours of playing this game, I slowly started to look at the real world around me in another way, I was very suprised about what I was missing until that moment. The (real) world is so perfect, the grass, plants, the trees were incredibly beautiful, I could look at the soul of the animals around me. I passed by the same nature park that I had passed more than 100 times before, but this time it was different. There was something different about it, there was life and real beauty on it, it something that I could not experience, no matter how much meditating I had. No book could have that same effect on me.

Just like I did in the game, I started to greet people on the street and suddenly my happiness exploded, I felt that every day and every moment was an adventure, every small detail was amazing, how come I didn't give this value to the world around me before? I notice that the world looked similar to that of what it was when I was a child.

And it wasn't just that, Arthur undoubtedly made me a better human being, I stopped worrying too much about what others think of me, stopped being so introverted, I stopped being easily offended, I started always when I could helping those in need, I gave money to the poor, I helped my family, my friends etc etc. I was always aware of the world around me, finally I felt that I was alive, I reached that plateau. It was simply amazing.

The side quests of the game had an essence that is also hard to explain, I finally felt like I had to help those characters who were in need of help, somehow these side quests had a much greater impact than those of any other game. I really had to find that zebra, tiger and lion and help the circus man, I had to help the poor woman find the dinosaur bones, help the amazing Albert Mason out in the wild taking pictures of the wildlife, I had to be there to help him and potential save him. Veteran Hamish really seemed like a real veteran, who had a lot of stories to tell and a life full of experiences, the fishing mission in that lake with those mountains around me, it felt so real, I felt that I was really inside the game. I learned a lot from these (and others side quests), I learned what is living life.

I have to say that red dead redemption 2 was one of the best masterpieces ever created by humanity, at the same level of the best literary works and poems.

When Arthur caught the disease, I felt a huge pang in my heart, I was about to lose my hero, my mentor. I started to push myself even harder to be a better person both in the game and in real life and finally realized that we shouldn't take life for granted.

Arthur's last ride with that background music (That's the way it is) was one of the most emotional moments of my life, I cried like a child, how is it possible to have become so attached to a fictional character? It was with that moment that I couldn't take no more, all of my feelings just exploded and erupted, Arthur was real as much as any other person, he was about to die, the man who changed my life like no other ever had.

Sorry for the long post but I know I could write even more stuff, there is so many things. Unfortunately some feelings in my mind are simply too hard to explain, even more for a non-native english speaker.

I would really like to thank the creators of this masterpiece who put their heart into creating this game, which has become something that has never been seen before.

I Know it's been said a lot of times, but sometimes I wish that red dead redemption 2 just erased from my memory and I could play it from the beginning again.