[8][c] Red Dead Redemption 2's world features different landscapes with occasional travelers, bandits, and wildlife, and urban settlements ranging from farmhouses to towns and cities.

[12][13] The player may witness or partake in random events in the world, including ambushes, crimes, pleas for assistance, ride-by shootings, public executions, and animal attacks.

[11][14] They may partake in side activities, including tasks with companions and strangers, dueling, bounty hunting, searching for collectibles such as rock carvings, and playing poker, blackjack, dominoes, and five finger filet.

The choice of weapon and shot placement affect the quality and value of meat and pelt, and the player can skin the animal or carry the carcass, which will rot over time, decrease its value, and attract predators.

[33] Parts of New Austin and West Elizabeth were redesigned to reflect the earlier time: Blackwater is under development,[34] while Armadillo is a ghost town as a result of a cholera outbreak.

The gang includes Dutch's best friend and co-leader Hosea Matthews (Curzon Dobell), John Marston (Rob Wiethoff) and his partner Abigail Roberts (Cali Elizabeth Moore) and son Jack Marston (Marissa Buccianti and Ted Sutherland), the lazy Uncle (John O'Creagh and James McBride), gunslingers Bill Williamson (Steve J. Palmer), Sean MacGuire (Michael Mellamphy), Javier Escuella (Gabriel Sloyer), and Micah Bell (Peter Blomquist), Black-Native American hunter Charles Smith (Noshir Dalal), and housewife-turned-gunslinger Sadie Adler (Alex McKenna).

Arthur helps Rains Fall (Graham Greene) and his son Eagle Flies (Jeremiah Bitsui), both members of the Native American Wapiti tribe whose land is targeted by the U.S.

A torrential storm sinks the ship, and the men wash ashore on an island, Guarma, where they become embroiled in a war between tyrannical sugar plantation owner Fussar and the enslaved local population.

After helping the revolutionaries kill Fussar, the group secure transport back to the United States and reunite with the rest of the gang, though they are soon assaulted by Pinkertons whom they repel.

Faced with his mortality after being diagnosed with tuberculosis, Arthur reflects on his actions and how to protect the gang, telling John to run away with Abigail and Jack and openly defying Dutch by aiding the local Native American people.

[50] Daniel Lanois produced the original vocal tracks for the game, collaborating with artists such as D'Angelo, Willie Nelson, Rhiannon Giddens, and Josh Homme.

[49] Director of music and audio Ivan Pavlovich engaged saxophone player Colin Stetson, experimental band Senyawa, and musician Arca to work on the score.

[53][54] However, other Rockstar employees argued Houser's statements did not give an accurate picture of the company's culture, which included "mandatory" overtime and years-long periods of crunch.

Due to the salary-based nature of employment contracts, many employees were not compensated for their overtime work and instead depended on year-end bonus payments that hinged on the sales performance.

[63] A companion app, released alongside the game for Android and iOS devices, acts as a second screen wherein the player can view in-game items such as catalogs, journals, and a real-time mini-map.

[90] GameSpot's Plagge felt the new characters contributed to the story's quality[79] and Mike Williams of USgamer wrote they "feel like actual people" due to their varied personalities.

[26] IGN's Reilly praised the cultural variety and avoidance of caricatures,[81] and Giant Bomb's Navarro noted the characters possess humanity often lacking in other Rockstar games, particularly in the thoughtful portrayal of Arthur's internal conflicts.

[85] Polygon's Chris Plante found the political commentary shone when focusing on the Braithwaite and Gray families but considered the portrayal of Native American characters insensitive and confusing.

[91] Several critics considered Red Dead Redemption 2's open world among the greatest in video games;[5][80] EGM's Plessas said it "pushes industry boundaries in both size and detail",[11] and The Guardian's MacDonald praised the imitation of real American landscapes.

[79] GamesRadar's Meikleham called Red Dead Redemption 2 "the best looking video game of all time" with some of the most impressive lighting and weather systems,[14] and USgamer's Williams considered it one of the best-looking on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

[92][93][94] IGN's Reilly felt Arthur's movement did not feel cumbersome despite being "heavier" than Grand Theft Auto V's protagonists, and found the intimate battles more exciting.

[103] Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Matthew Castle lauded the adapted controls, particularly when painting targets in Dead Eye, though felt they took longer to familiarize oneself with.

[104] PC Gamer's James Davenport found the first-person perspective superior on the Windows version due to the responsiveness of the mouse[105] but noted the game crashed several times;[99] Jeuxvideo.com's Jean-Kléber Lauret echoed similar criticisms, observing the graphical and technical enhancements required advanced hardware.

[101] In November 2018, YouTuber Shirrako posted several videos of his player character murdering a female suffragette NPC, including feeding her to an alligator and dropping her down a mineshaft.

[112] Some critics questioned if Rockstar was partly to blame for the behavior, as the game does not limit attacks on the suffragette as it does other characters, such as children;[107][109] scholars Kristine Jørgensen and Torill Elvira Mortensen, writing in Games and Culture, acknowledged this concern, but recognized the responsibility ultimately lay with the player, and limiting attacks could be interpreted as both a political statement from Rockstar and a restriction on the player's freedom of expression.

[113] Writing for Public History Weekly, Moritz Hoffman noted the incident reflects a newer issue of open world games: granting freedom without penalties promotes disinhibition.

[149] In July 2018, industry analyst Mat Piscatella predicted Red Dead Redemption 2 would be the best-selling game of 2018, outselling other blockbuster titles such as Battlefield V, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and Fallout 76;[151] some industry commentators noted frequent franchises like Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty were launching their 2018 entries—Odyssey and Black Ops 4, respectively—earlier than usual, predicting an avoidance of competition with Red Dead Redemption 2.

[203][205] Several journalists recognized the uniqueness of successful legal action against media outlets;[202][203][205] Seth Barton of MCV/Develop called the outcome "an incredible development for games industry journalism" and felt it would result in hesitancy to leak information regarding Rockstar in future.

[228] In April 2022, GamingBolt's Ravi Sinha ranked Red Dead Redemption 2 the second-best game of all time, citing its characters, narrative, attention to detail, and visual fidelity, naming it Rockstar's "finest work".

[237][238][239] The event returned the following year as Black Hills Redemption, held in Deadwood, South Dakota, on June 21–23, with twenty actors present as guests.