How Do You Know When You’ve Finished "Red Dead Redemption 2"?

It’s complicated.

In case you hadn’t noticed, Red Dead Redemption 2 is bloody yuuuge.

Well, of course you noticed. You’re still out in St. Denis trying to find the 'Night Folk' and getting nervous that the rest of your life will be spent traversing this game’s massive map.

When you save, you’ll see your percentage of completion, and feel despair at how hours of gameplay only moved you forward by 0.7 per cent. It's at this point you'll realise that finishing the journey of Wild West outlaw Arthur Morgan will require a monk-like commitment to Red Dead and only Red Dead.

Family? Forget 'em. Friends? Don’t need 'em. Nourishment and self-care? Out the window. (jk, gaming addiction is real, so make sure you’re balancing RDR2 with a fulfilling and active life. If Arthur sometimes needs to sleep, that means you do too!)

The point being, getting to the actual end of Red Dead Redemption 2 may seem like an impossible task. That’s certainly how I felt, inching forward only a few percentage points every night, over the course of literal months. I blame myself for spending too much time fishing and hunting. All those hours lost like sand in an hourglass, when I could have just visited a butcher!

However, at around the 55 per cent mark, I found myself facing a very conclusive-sounding in-game mission titled "Red Dead Redemption". And given how a lot of the story’s threads seemed to be wrapping up, I had to ask: "Was I about to finally (and unexpectedly) finish this thing?"

Turns out yes. And no.

Spoilers ahead for Red Dead Redemption 2: Chapter 6.

At the end of Chapter 6, a tuberculosis-riddled Arthur Morgan makes a last-ditch attempt to save John Marston’s kidnapped wife Abigail, and then safely evacuates John from the clutches of an encroaching police force and your turncoat ex-pals. That means confronting (seriously, spoilers ahead) the traitorous Micah, all while keeping the trigger-happy Pinkertons at bay.

Before facing off against Micah, Arthur sends John off with a touching farewell, even giving him—oh boy, here come the waterworks—his hat.  At this moment, the end certainly seemed nigh. And with Arthur’s death, either from illness or gunfire, apparently imminent, I’m ashamed to say I started to get excited. If my avatar carked it permanently, I’d be freed to go back to the less existentially-taxing Spider-Man or NBA2K. (Don’t get me wrong: I’ve loved playing RDR2. But also, y’know, I got other stuff to get to!)

Soon, my dark wish came true. Micah shot Arthur in the face, and the score swelled to a climactic crescendo. Apparently, if you played the game honourably, Micah spares you, and you expire while watching the sunset. Either way: The end?

Except, it wasn’t. Despite the fact that the main playable character of the game had been sent to his reward, I was still stuck in Red Dead Redemption 2. Now, "some years later", I was… another dude (I’ll keep the identity secret to not spoil anything further). And my new missions? Working a farm. Milking a cow. Birthing a foal. I wondered, "What is this bulls***?" I was off by one animal. A few moments later, I was literally being tasked with shovelling horses***. This was anticlimactic, to say the least.

Fine already! Just tell me when I’ve actually finished!

What I’ve described is the opening stage of Epilogue: Part I. According to IGN’s exceptionally detailed walkthrough, there’s still Epilogue Part 2 to follow. And then that’s it. However, if you’ve similarly reached this point and are needing some psychological support to plough through the remainder of Red Dead after the tragic end of Arthur’s arc, take heart: you’re almost there, even if your 'completion percentage' says otherwise.

By now, if you’re like me, you’re probably somewhere in the mid-60s, percentage-wise. The only way to get to 100 per cent in Red Dead Redemption 2 is to finish every side mission and challenge on offer, and to snag all those collectables hidden across the wilderness. Some of these tasks are easy. One, for instance, is to simply take a bath. Others, like finding 30 hidden dinosaur bones, not so much. Importantly, you don’t need to do all those things to finish the main story.

If you’ve swerved those side jobs and herb-collecting assignments to power through the core narrative, you’ll most likely reach the end of the game at around the 75 – 85 per cent mark. You may then feel that personal pride and satisfaction you've delayed (and worryingly tied to the completion of a video game).

You’ll also get the chance to go back and strive for that perfect 100, if that’s what you need to do to feel as if you’ve truly finished Red Dead Redemption 2. Seriously though, tell your loved ones they won’t see you again for another full year, because you’ll be going even deeper into Red Dead than before. Have fun seeking out that desert sage and oregano for your campsite crafting!

Read More:

How to Fish (and Where to Find Them) in "Red Dead Redemption 2"

How to Hunt Like a Pro in "Red Dead Redemption 2"

How to Find the Zombie-Like 'Night Folk' in "Red Dead Redemption 2"

Header Image: Rockstar Games