If Red Dead Redemption 3 keeps an honor system similar to the last two games, then one change could be in order. As a whole, Red Dead Redemption‘s honor system makes sense. Not only is it a good tie-in to the cowboy theme, but it gauges what kind of person the protagonist is becoming. However, it’s still not a perfect system. There are a few areas that it can improve on even after Red Dead Redemption 2, some of which may be bigger than others. With that in mind, at least one fix feels appropriate ahead of the next game.
The Honor system in Red Dead Redemption acts as a karma meter for the game’s protagonist. Arthur, John, and the Red Dead Online protagonist all have their deeds judged by the honor system. Doing good deeds, such as helping strangers and being friendly, will raise the player’s honor. Meanwhile, sins such as robbing and killing innocents will cause their honor to drop. The player’s honor affects various details, such as the prices they pay at shops, or certain aspects of the story as their honor raises or lowers. Honor does its job in terms of adding some extra roleplaying elements to the game.
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Red Dead Redemption Players Understandably Lose Honor For Killing Unnecessarily
While there are many ways to increase honor in Red Dead Redemption, losing honor is still annoying for those aiming for high honor runs. Specifically, there is a caveat involving the loss of honor for killing characters that aren’t outlaws. Of course, this is obviously a bad thing that warrants punishment. However, the penalty also applies if said characters attack the protagonist first. Granted, this situation isn’t extremely common in the game. However, penalizing the player for self-defense feels like an odd choice in the grand scheme of things. Red Dead Redemption shouldn’t feel like it’s penalizing players for trying to survive.
Players Still Get Penalized For Fights Started By Others
One big issue in this regard comes from the lawmen of Red Dead Redemption 2. If the player is sufficiently wanted, or is spotted after winning a gunfight or committing another crime, lawmen will come after them. In this scenario, players will be forced to hide or fight unless they’re willing to be arrested, which will lead to a loss of cash. This makes the risk of getting wanted even more of a hassle. It doesn’t help that at certain points in Red Dead Redemption 2‘s story, the area around certain towns will become patrolled with lawmen, raising the likelihood of these encounters.
Red Dead Redemption 3 Shouldn’t Cause Honor Loss For Unintentional Fights
There’s one simple fix that can help solve this issue. If the protagonist of Red Dead Redemption 3 gets attacked by an NPC, then they should not face an honor penalty for shooting them in return. Of course, this should only apply when the NPC in question is the first to attack. This should be especially true for missions where lawmen and the like act as enemies that the player has to fight off. If the story requires a fight, then the player shouldn’t be penalized for going through with it. After all, the player didn’t choose to partake in those fights.
The honor system saw some changes after the first game, and it could still see more. For Red Dead Redemption 3‘s Honor system in particular, giving the player just a little more control over their status would be welcome. Of course, obvious crimes and terrible actions should still be punished. At the same time, the player shouldn’t be made to take penalties when they get attacked themselves outside of the fight’s own consequences. Honor in Red Dead Redemption 3 should reflect the player’s choices, not the situations they get dragged into.
