# Red Dead Redemption 2 28 Hacker News commenters recommended Red Dead Redemption 2 and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Praised for its immersive world, deep systems and story-driven single-player play, and widely called one of the greatest games. Critics often cite a repetitive story and slow, grindy missions. ## Why people recommend it - Runs well on Linux and Steam Deck (5 comments): "I can confirm I finished RDR2 in story mode in Bazzite, zero issues." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46003385)) "RDR2 has a gold rating: https://www.protondb.com/app/1174180" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45905650)) "I have finished RDR2 on Bazzite (story mode), zero issues." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45905762)) - Widely acclaimed among the greatest games (4 comments): "RDR2 has numerous accolades and there is multitude of reasons why it was so widely praised." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48668282)) "RDR 2 is widely considered to be among the best games ever made." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48664532)) "RDR2 is highly rated as one of the greatest games of all time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48667562)) - Immersive world and deep systems (2 comments): "the amount of awe I get from the systems in the game and the immersion it gives me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48663316)) "People don't like RDR2 because of its gameplay but story, immersion and feeling." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48671499)) - Rewarding side activities and chores (2 comments): "While just a tiny part of the game, you improve your relationship with the rest of the gang by doing chores like splitting wood" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48530923)) "spent a LOT more time enjoying the game than touching the main story and cinematics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48819085)) ## What people warn about - Repetitive, trite story and dialogue (3 comments): "The ending of Red Dead II was actually quite trite, especially in terms of dialogue and narrative" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850526)) "despite thousands of hours of (high quality) voice acting, it can become quite repetitive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48783449)) "I genuinely cringed at the end of RDII due to the dialogue just feel the need to mention that again" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45850712)) - Slow pacing and tedious missions (5 comments): "Red Dead 2 has an absolute assload -most of which will bore folks to tears" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49631693)) "RDR2's intro absolutely did not respect my time. I sat down with an hour free to play it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49633784)) "Almost all of the story missions are: walk/drive/ride to this place" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49632416)) - Feels more like a movie than game (2 comments): "RDR2 is a wonderful movie, but a pretty poor game." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48811003)) "RDR2 is very much a movie game so ofc it's popular" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48670096)) - Launcher bugs and crashes (2 comments): "wasted hours of progress for a launcher bug that is corrupting savegames that Rockstar very well knows about and decided to never fix" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48669520)) "I find many people on the forums that can't resolve the crashes in Red Dead Redemption 2" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47611731)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Helldivers 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/helldivers-2.md): 50 recommend - [Triple-A Minesweeper](https://hackerapproved.com/p/triple-a-minesweeper.md): 40 recommend - [Quake II](https://hackerapproved.com/p/quake-2.md): 33 recommend - [Grand Theft Auto (1997)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grand-theft-auto.md): 28 recommend - [The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/witcher-3.md): 25 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Red Dead Redemption 2", https://hackerapproved.com/p/red-dead-redemption-2/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).