'Red Dead Redemption 2' And Why Frozen Horse Balls are Important

The topic of horse ... um, genitalia has come up once or twice before but who knew that the changing size of a certain body part on the horses actually could mean something important?

We already knew that Rockstar Games paid special attention to detail in their upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2 and it definitely paid off! The individual rendering style makes this game visually stunning and realistic on even the smallest of levels. With the feature where the testicle of the horse changing upon weather, this at-first-glance comedic mechanic is actually very helpful in terms of gameplay.

The impact that nature has on the horse's anatomical size is another indicator for the player in this open-world environment. Being heavily influenced by the changing environment, this level of detail is highly indicative of the level of immersion players will feel. If something as a small change in weather can have an immediate response, we know that the rest of the world is even more reactive to the evolving stimuli. This makes it easier for players to navigate choices made in-game as well as pivot their actions based upon a desired outcome.

Rockstar has already mentioned that Red Dead Redemption 2 is a highly tailored experience. Where I might meet one NPC and have a specific interaction with them, there's no promise that you yourself will meet the same NPC.

So how are frozen balls important? Well, they're not - at least in terms of the players suddenly having superpowers due to shrunken testicles. But they are important for what they mean, for the reactive experience that gamers have been craving ever since technology in gaming has becomes so incredibly immersive.

With parts of the title working independently while still within the confines of the world outside, this dynamic shift in detail is paramount for the future of gaming. Such a small detail could easily be overlooked both by gamers and the developers, and it's not. Our fascination with these details could spurn the industry back from rushed releases and day one patch fixes and back into the mindset of craftmanship.

The devil is in the details is a saying for a reason and it's small details like this that definitely add up to a stunning bigger picture.

Interested in learning more about the upcoming game? Check out our full Game Hub here for more on the open-world adventure coming October 26th for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Also, thanks for the unique perspective PlayStation Lifestyle! It got us thinking!