9 Awesome Video Game Moments That Didn’t Need To Happen

Red Dead Redemption 2 is an incredible achievement on many levels – the performances are powerful, the world is stunning and alive and it’s writing is genuinely top tier. 

Playing as member of the Van der Linde gang Arthur Morgan, you traverse the 1899 western landscape in a story rich with action and adventure, which ultimately concludes sorrowfully for Arthur (still one of the top video game moments which makes me cry!)

In the beautiful expansive open world, you are free to explore the many different quests that are available to you. Some give you greater insight into characters whereas others are designed to show off the more unique aspects of the game. 

And there’s one which includes just damn crazy fun and that’s when you go drinking with Lenny in the quest ‘A Quiet Time’.

A fun-loving and loyal member of the Van der Linde gang, Lenny is flustered with worry when another member of the gang, Micah, has been arrested in the town of Strawberry and he barely escaped being caught himself. Arthur agrees to take Lenny for a ‘quiet drink’ in the Saloon in Valentine to help calm his nerves.

What starts as a few drinks at the bar with Lenny (and dealing with a guy sitting next you who mocks you) ends up with you both getting absolutely wasted and hilarious drunken antics ensue. 

You lose Lenny and the bartender tells you he went upstairs. While looking for him in one of the rooms, you stumble upon a couple *ahem* getting down to business, before finding him leaning against the railing drinking. After spacing out, you come to find Lenny fighting on top of the bar and as you go to help him, you black out.

 When you wake to try and find Lenny, you wander through hazy moments between blackouts. These include everyone in the bar dancing in a line, everyone looking exactly like Lenny, more fighting, taking a leak and even drowning the guy who mocked you at the bar earlier outside. You can avoid being arrested by the law by running into the woods or Lenny will pay your fine if you end up getting caught.

The beauty of this mission is how much Rockstar Games fully leaned into it; giving life and humour to these characters, which in turn allows us to come to know and love them. 

This could have been a quiet moment between Arthur and Lenny as they reflected upon the job ahead, as we see strong moments between characters like this throughout the game. 

But nothing could prepare us for how much fun you have controlling a drunken Arthur through the hilarious moments of him simply trying to find his friend.

If you removed this quest entirely, things would play out the same as you free Micah from jail in the next mission ‘Blessed are the Meek’. However, drinking with Lenny is one of many examples of Rockstar Games employing an incredibly detailed and cutting-no-corners approach when developing games. 

Plus, it gives us a fun and rewarding time to have with Arthur before things take a darker and much more emotional turn later.