Finished RDR2 a few days ago. Something that surprised me is I remember how many people reported issues around the launch window, with crashes and stuff, but for anyone on the fence, I didn't have a single issue of the sort in more than 100 hours playtime. Maybe I was just lucky. Had a hard time maintaining 60fps with DFs optimized settings tho, but my PC is a few years old.
RDR1 was my GOTG together with Mass Effect 1 at the time. From this I wouldn't blame you if you assumed I prefer "story" over "mechanics", or at least thinking I'm able to make some concessions in the latter department if the former is done well, but to be frank, that's not exactly right. I'm not oblivious to some of the issues ME1, RDR1 and now RDR2 have in the gameplay department. The shooting, movement, inventory management, etc. and many others I'm too lazy too list are there. They don't bother me all the time, but they can be frustrating to me just like to anyone else. But in general, it's not "the story" that draws me into these games either, but the vision of the world, and seeing them ambitiously, partly or fully realized on screen.
When it comes to RDR2, my favorite things are probably the most boring to most people. I'm the kind of person to jump down from my horse and lead it on foot through a town. To stalk animals and hunt (I despise hunting irl) even without the reward of an outfit, or how not challenging in general it is as a gameplay mechanic. Just like in Mass Effect 1 my favorite moments happened on empty planets with massive sky boxes and the wind whirring through your suit with nothing actually mechanically interesting or story critical to do (a massive loss in the sequels), in RDR I enjoy the monotony of a certain type of lifestyle the games are trying to represent, but more than that, how committed they are to the simulation of it.
Or, failing that, that they simply allow me the opportunity to have a character just "exist" in them. Maybe that is why I groan so loudly at the barrage of "prestige" console games pulling me alone a story, constantly reminding me how its director wants to be the next Cormac McCarthy, how many ways they can "signal" or "disguise" the game's objective with environmental lights or yellow painted pipes, how many feelings I'm supposed to have with this perfectly choreographed sequence. I can enjoy that, but it is never a moment that exists for my benefit, where I am allowed to come at it on my own. At least it never feels like that's the point of them.
RDR2 is also filled with strictly controlled sequences, a contradictory approach to its sandbox world design, and when those moments play out wrong there, it is just as bad, believe me. No, I also don't need 3 different animations, menus, 2 unique items and 4 different key presses to drink a cup of coffee for an effect you can get without any of these things through another consumable item. Yes, it is annoying, even for someone who takes its time to set up a camp at night. No, I don't want to craft bullets and arrows one by one either. But it is these moments, when the game slows to a crawl, that allow me to enjoy it so much more and for so much longer without burning out.
I don't think the story is some sort of transcendental masterpiece in either of these games, especially in RDR2. It is emotional and well directed. Characters are memorable and very well acted, but there are way too many things that don't make sense, get stretched out for the sake of length. Dialogue tends to be redundant and there are many times when it is not even that. Characters go out of their way to say nothing in so many words, just for the benefit of the drama. It's not unique to videogames, or this videogame, but it is there. But it also kinda doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, just like it didn't matter in ME1 how many ways the universe and the narrative is derivative of better fiction. It exists in a way that it doesn't in other games, and that's what draws me so much to these janky ass, obnoxious, story based games that fill up my list of favorites. There is another spectrum of games, FTLs, Slay the Spires, Football Managers that round up that list too, but that's another story.
From the audio visual point of view, there is not much to say. It's probably the most expensive game ever made and it looks like it. For a long time I felt the music was so much better in the prequel, but I'm coming around to it after another hundred hours or so. And it's so beautiful, definitely Rockstar's crowning achievement, and probably PC's so far in a proper hardware config I'm not able to afford. I would definitely recommend this game, I've had a great time with it, even though past a certain point the side content begins to feel fruitless and the mood of the game is sour for so long, its narrative kinda defeats the other 80% of the roaming experience while you are waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Remains to be seen where it ends on my list, but it's a worthy sequel to one of my favourite games ever.