The change to the dungeons affect the game, and whether that’s positive or negative kinda comes down to you.
There are four real “dungeons”, five with the dlc that I haven’t played yet, and then 100 mini dungeons. Personally, I found the main dungeons to be fun, but kinda lacking in comparison to past dungeons. Due to the story, there’s a bit of sameness to them. It’s not really something that bothered me while playing, only in reflection. Even with that, it doesn’t really matter, they’re excellent, inventive, and oh so fun.
The mini dungeons are really great, imo. They’re fun little tests of ability and thinking. Apart from a couple of them that were just frustrating, they’re a welcome reprieve, and hunting them down is a lot of fun.
The game really shines in the exploration though. The world, the whole world, is open to you, and that is both daunting and exciting. Just exploring the world is… I can’t describe it. It captured this feeling I’ve been hunting since I was a child… I really cannot explain the sense of joy this game gave me, even in its most frustrating moments. Add to that the fact that, as a long time Zelda fan, I know a lot of the lore and history, there were a ton of little (and not so little) callbacks that added to the age of the world, to its sense of history…
Seriously, it’s amazing.
I keep trying to get into RDR, but keep getting distracted. I want to play it, but other stuff keeps taking my attention…