Given the success and popularity of Red Dead Redemption 2, it is no wonder that eyes are already turning to a potential sequel. With each installment to the franchise sensibly aiming to improve on its predecessor, there are a huge range of lessons that a sequel could take from the 2018 game.
One of the biggest benefits of analyzing Red Dead Redemption 2 in the context of a sequel comes from the many mainline and side missions that the game boasts. In particular, the "Duchesses and Other Animals" mission poses a very good lesson for the franchise going forward, with its confusing nature and attractive rewards offering a very interesting dynamic.
Red Dead Redemption 2's Duchesses and Other Animals Mission
Duchesses and Other Animals is one of the many stranger missions within Red Dead Redemption 2, with these experiences often containing wacky and outlandish premises. This mission in question sees the player become acquainted with the eccentric Algernon Wasp, who owns a highbrow store specializing in fashion and botany.
Algernon sends the player on an encumbering mission to obtain some of the rarest flora and fauna in Red Dead Redemption 2, spanning right across the game's extensive map. In total, the player has to collect 182 items, ranging from rare bird feathers, eggs, and a variety of vibrant orchids. This fetch quest is split into five parts, being an arduous task for even the most dedicated players.
Once all these items are acquired, the player is rewarded with a striking exotic hat, as well as the unique Algernon's Revolver weapon. This quest is one of the most infamous within Red Dead Redemption 2 thanks to its time-consuming nature and the high likelihood that players will have to turn to guides to find the many rare items. The rewards for the quest are quite impressive, offering an interesting caveat to just how stressful the mission itself can be. The amount of discussion and memorability behind the quest puts it in good stead to be examined by Rockstar in the making of Red Dead Redemption 3, with the mission having many lessons to teach a potential sequel.
Duchesses and Other Animals' Lessons for Red Dead Redemption 3
Quests such as Duchesses and Other Animals serve a great purpose in showcasing the full breadth of Red Dead 2's immersive and breathing world. The mission is the ultimate showcase of the game's variety in locations as well as what populates them. This is definitely something that should carry forward into a potential Red Dead Redemption 3, although the missions themselves should not become too demanding of its player base.
Duchesses and Other Animals is rightfully critiqued in its length and ambiguity, and these criticisms would absolutely carry over to a similar mission that matches the likely bigger scale of RDR3. The mission also definitely holds a place in the minds of RDR2's completionists, with it being an essential pre-requisite behind attaining 100% in the game. Though it offers a needed contrast to the other gung-ho and explosive quests of RDR2, allowing the player to become immersed in nature and temporarily escape the darker themes of the wider title, it did not need to be as long or as convulted as it was.
Going forward, it seems important that a Red Dead Redemption 2 sequel maintains the same kind of grindy but rewarding quests as Duchesses and Other Animals. As long as these missions do not overstep the mark of what can reasonably be expected of a player by requiring guides to complete, they are worth keeping around, and RDR3 would be incomplete without a similar quest that poses an addictive challenge and showcases the full range of the title's content.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
