9 Reasons Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Better Than GTA 5
6. Actual Tone & Weight To Your Actions
Maybe you don't want consequences to your actions in a game called Grand Theft Auto, and the endpoint of that idea gives us the mighty Saints Row 3, but clearly Rockstar don't want GTA to be so cartoonish, so we got GTA V's hand-waving of everything you do.
Now, in RDR2 you can travel to any Post Office and pay off a bounty, no matter if it's for accidentally running someone over with your horse, or massacring an entire homestead. Clearly this is a game-ified "reset button" on your actions though, as bounties are hefty, and Red Dead has a town-by-town wanted system that's also reflected in dialogue and NPC animations.
If you did massacre said homestead, the world will let you know about it. Wanted posters, people fleeing from the sight of you - others taking up arms to bring you down. Even after paying off a bounty, there'll be murmurs of you being someone not to mess with.
In GTA there's zero permanence to anything. Escape the feds, watch those stars disappear and you're back to living as before.
Clearly, these two approaches come from different attitudes during development, but one enhances the overall sensation of living in a digital world, and the other cheapens it.