20 Dumb Video Game Restrictions Players Hated

2. Can't Swim As John - Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is the prime example of Rockstar’s obsession with realism. The dedication to making the Old West as immersive as possible is definitely worthy of praise, but sometimes it can get in the way of fun.

Especially when immersion takes away an ability you had full access to before.

Those who played the original Red Dead Redemption 1 know that John Marston is canonically unable to swim. The game’s mechanic that prevented the player from accessing certain areas by making John drown in the water was explained by his inability to swim.

This trait is carried over to Red Dead Redemption 2, obviously, but for most of the game you play as the new protagonist Arthur, who is a perfectly good swimmer.

With Arthur you are able to explore pretty much every body of water on the map, but once, spoiler alert, Arthur dies and the game puts you in control of John, you suddenly lose this ability completely.

It makes sense that John wouldn’t magically learn how to swim in his past life, but from the gameplay perspective, this sudden restriction of the player's movement is definitely annoying.