'Red Dead Redemption 2' Video Reveals The Complex Life Of An NPC

One of the standout features of Red Dead Redemption 2 is its living, breathing world. Whether truly dynamic or excellent scripting masquerading as dynamism, in Rockstar Games open-world western, every NPC, every animal feels like a relevant part of the world that interacts with other characters and the larger ecosystem independent of whether Arthur Morgan is there to witness it or not. And that's because that's exactly what happens.

To capture this, YouTube channel, Defend The House, has posted a new video that follows three different NPCs for an entire day. And while the average NPC in Red Dead Redemption 2 has quite the boring and simple existence – a juxtaposition to the lives Morgan and his posse lead – they have a life that goes beyond simply being background dressing for whenever a player is around.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the average NPC may go to the Saloon for a drink, fulfill the tedious requirements of their laborer job, or talk to another fellow NPC before going to sleep and waking up and doing it all over again.

One NPC wakes from a room rented in the Saloon and then proceeds to go to work on a local farm. It takes the character 2 hours to get where they're going. From here, the NPC works on the sheep yard before moving to another farm to help move bags for livestock until the work day is over. Then the NPC heads to the Saloon for a couple of drinks and then retires to bed. It's a boring day, but kind of faithful to the average life of a real-person, especially back in 1899. Wake up. Work. Eat and drink. Sleep. Repeat.

For a random NPC, it's a pretty complex life, especially compared to what most NPCs do in other open-world games, which is usually just walking around and repeating the same few animations over and over again.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. At the moment, there has been no word of a PC port nor a Nintendo Switch port, though the former has been leaking right and left, suggesting it's in the pipeline.

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