Red Dead Redemption 2 vs. The Witcher 3: Which Is the Open World King?
Story
Both games feature malleable main characters, to some degree. Arthur Morgan is unquestionably a bad man that had made poor decisions in his past, but how bad he is, and how much he has learned from those decisions, is at the discretion of the players and how they choose to play him.
Similarly, Geralt is an antihero, though not necessarily as bad of a person as Arthur is in general, you can easily push him into the direction of being at that level. Both games tell the stories of flawed people doing their best in situations that go beyond their ability to handle.
Red Dead Redemption 2 tells the story of outlaws being pushed out of life in the wild west, in favor of having a more uniform life controlled by laws and law enforcement groups. The gang’s way of life is being destroyed, and a compelling story is told about having to come to terms with a world that no longer has a place for people like him and the other members of Dutch’s gang.
Arthur Morgan realizes this and has mostly come to terms with the fact that the decisions he’s made in his life have led him to these moments, yet he chooses to continue with it either in an effort to protect those around him from that realization, or to protect himself from having to properly face his failings. It’s a nuanced story that is easily understood and supported by the many side missions and sub plots in the world surrounding it.
The Witcher 3 tells a story of fatherhood (a popular theme among games as of late). Geralt is on the hunt for his adopted daughter, Ciri, in an effort to protect her from her supposed fate. It is an epic quest that spans many different regions and environments across the world of The Witcher universe. There’s a compelling story here about caring for and taking in someone to be your own regardless of blood ties.
However, the essence of that story often gets obscured by the world surrounding the game; there is simply too much to do that has nothing to do with the quest to find Ciri. It causes the player to neglect the main story and lose the meaning behind what they’re doing at times. It’s a strong story when you’re on the trails of it, but it quickly loses steam when going off into one of the many side quests or jumping into one of the expansions that the game has now.
Red Dead Redemption 2 manages to strike a balance between its side missions and main stories, because the story is about the changing state of the world itself. On a micro level it does focus on Dutch’s gang, but everything you observe and learn in the side missions is easily applicable into the grander story of what’s happening to the wild west during this era. The same just can’t be said about The Witcher 3. It can feel more like a season of a shippuden anime with a bunch of filler episodes, whereas Red Dead Redemption 2 feels more like Band of Brothers, where the story and all of its subplots are all leading in one direction with a common thread between them all.
For those reasons, Red Dead Redemption 2 manages to edge out The Witcher 3, in terms of story.
