I Know You (Red Dead Redemption)
A violent, gritty western with heart. Red Dead Redemption knows how to weave a good tale, and this is particularly evident in some of the side quests you partake in. Whether it’s collecting flowers for the wife of a man who is later revealed to have dementia – a wife who has been dead for years – or assisting an ambitious inventor complete his flying machine, only to watch him immediately plummet to his death, there are genuinely touching and heart wrenching moments of storytelling to be found in the American frontier.
In one particularly fascinating quest that people continue to analyze to this day, the protagonist John Marston comes across a strange man in a jaunty top hat, who seems to know a great deal about his past. The man sends him on a series of missions that test his scruples (can the common man really fend off the temptations of the flesh, and rob a nun for a laugh?) before leading him to an unassuming area out in the desert. He makes note of how beautiful the area is, then begins to opine about being an accountant, not knowing his own name, and the apparent fact that he’s not particularly popular. John gets sick of his ramblings, and solves this the old-fashioned way; by pulling out his pistol and firing a few bullets directly at him.
None of them have an effect, and the strange man walks away. There’s either something very spooky going on, or he’s a lot more evasive than we gave him credit for. In the game’s final act, poor John is done in, and you can visit his grave site as his son, Jack. Where do you think that resting place happens to be? Exactly where the strange man leads you in the side quest. It’s a rather eerie realization that brings the dapper gent’s true identity into question.
