Tag Archives: Red Dead Redemption

Digital Playground

Summer 2025 Post Mortem

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Introduction

At the beginning of summer, even before I conducted my final class, cleaned my room, and stepped out of the school for, well, for only two weeks because of summer school, I put together a list of 5 games I wanted to play over the summer. I knew, as you probably did, that list would not be completed. However, maybe I should have played more than one of them for an extended period of time. That might make Summer 2025 Post Mortem a bit less depressing.

It’s not that I didn’t play video games. In fact, I discovered a web page that superimposes achievements onto older video games. As a result, I spent most of my free time in Europe playing Mario vs. Donkey Kong to beat that game. When we got back, I went to one of my favorite games of all time, Frostbite. I need only one achievement there in order to “complete” that game. More recently, I picked up Super Mario 64 again. One of the greatest games ever made. Can’t hate me for that.

The Game(s) I Played

As mentioned, I played a tiny amount of both Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Last of Us. Literally only played through the introduction of both games. Hey, it just gives me a head start on Games for Winter Break. Or, maybe Summer Break 2026. Who knows, maybe I’ll get really crazy and play them without a vacation or one pending.

I played a ton of Hades. Made it to Meg a couple of times. Unlocked the vault or whatever its called where you get kudos for meeting the gods, getting different bonuses, etc. Both of those made me want to play the game even more. If I have time, maybe I will upload some of that play to the YouTube in between Pokemon, Truck Driving, trying to 100% Mario vs. DK and Doors. So, there’s another one I promised!

The Verdict

I said this Summer 2025 Post Mortem might be depressing. I suppose, in retrospect, that makes sense. You rarely go into a post mortem thinking that it will be bright and rosy. However, there are a couple of ways to approach it. I’d rather celebrate the good that I accomplished than worry about the bad or what I didn’t.

Digital Playground

Red Dead Redemption II: Cowboy Up!

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Introduction

I never played any Grand Theft Auto. Imagine my surprise then when GTA 3 released. I searched and found the first two games were top down racers. Then it made sense why I never played them. But, I played the heck out of 3 and then Vice City. I stopped playing during the San Andreas days. I actually forgot about Rockstar Games until the first Red Dead Redemption. Then, over Christmas break, I remembered that I owned Red Dead Redemption II.

I know the game doesn’t technically fit into the New Year, New Games theme of the month. Liam watched me play briefly and said, “This game looks really good. Makes me even madder that Pokemon is so buggy.” I replied, “Yeah, and it’s a four year old game.” But, I only recently discovered and started playing it. Plus, I needed another digital playground article for the month. And, so, Red Dead Redemption II gets included. Besides, it’s my page. I can do what I want.

Humble Beginnings

I thought I might not even get a chance to write this article. As I played through the tutorial and introduction, I got increasingly irritated and more bored. Then, during the chase quest, after I failed, I restarted the entire quest. Christine remarked when I said how much I liked the game, “Oh yeah, it sounded like it as you swore at it this morning.” But, once I figured out how to start the specific quest and not the whole chain, it got better.

Plus, I got to play with the lasso a bit more in that quest, so no harm, no foul.

I only finished a few more quests. I got to the part where the snow finally starts to melt before Aiden took the XBox back upstairs. As a result, I probably won’t play much more Red Dead Redemption II until Febrary break. Quinn and Aiden both have commitments (soccer for Aiden and swim and scouts for Quinn), so we won’t travel during that break. We planned on going to Niagara Falls for April, but nothing in February. I can come back then to update on my progress.

The Verdict

Initially, I joked that Red Dead Redemption was just GTA with horses. After playing it, I enjoyed it so much more than I ever liked GTA. Other than GTA 3, I never beat any of those games. I played the original RDR until I beat it and then I played after to finish up some other Easter eggs in the game. I probably bought RDR II shortly after that. But, with the XBox in Aiden’s room most of the time, I never played it until this past Christmas. I plan to bring the XBox back downstairs during February break and you better believe that I’m going to play cowboy during that week off.