I’ve spent more hours than I’d like to admit just trotting through the heartlands of Red Dead Redemption 2, letting the mud gather on my horse’s flanks while the sky does that impossible amber-to-violet fade. Even in 2026, it remains a masterclass in open-world atmosphere. But as much as I adore Arthur Morgan’s slow, wheezing ride toward redemption, Rockstar’s next trip to the frontier needs to treat a few of RDR2’s rough edges like a blacksmith treats a bent horseshoe: heat them up and hammer them straight.

The Map Should Open Like a Sunrise, Not a Prison Gate

For a game about freedom, RDR2 sure loves to keep you on a leash. Early on, the map dangles New Austin and Blackwater like a mirage, but the game walls them off until the epilogue. That design choice felt like being a mule tethered to a hitching post with the whole prairie shimmering just beyond reach. I kept nudging Arthur toward the border, only to have invisible snipers or an angry law posse remind me that my curiosity was not welcome.

RDR3 should fling those gates open early. A short introductory stretch is fine — Colter works beautifully as a cold, claustrophobic prologue — but once the real game begins, the entire frontier should be rideable. If the story needs the protagonist to stay out of a region, let me put on a disguise, swap horses, or switch characters. Restricting the map until the final hours doesn’t build intrigue; it builds resentment.

The Wanted System Needs a Steadier Hand

RDR2’s Wanted system is as twitchy as a sunburned rattlesnake. I have robbed a lone traveler at midnight in a gully, only for a witness to materialize out of thin air like a ghost with a telegraph. Even more absurd, I’ve been identified as Arthur Morgan while wearing a mask and riding a stolen horse. The simulation’s logic collapses at the exact moment you try to be an outlaw, which is a problem for a game about outlaws.

In Red Dead Redemption 3, the law should behave like actual frontier law — imperfect, slow, and responsive to evidence. If no one sees the crime, there should be no instant investigation. If a witness only catches a glimpse of your horse, maybe the description is fuzzy. Disguises should actually work. And the punishment should match the offense. Bumping into a pedestrian shouldn’t trigger a firing squad. Lawmen could brawl with you, lasso you, hogtie you, and haul you to jail without instantly turning every petty scuffle into a massacre. Lethal force should be reserved for murder or gunfire.

Give Me a Posse, Not Just a Campfire Story

The Van der Linde gang is the emotional engine of RDR2, but outside scripted missions, they mostly sit around camp like decorative lanterns. I can share a drunken night with Lenny, but I can’t ask Charles to ride out with me for a week of hunting. In Red Dead Redemption 3, companions should be more than set dressing between cutscenes.

Riding with a posse is as essential to the Western fantasy as a six-shooter on your hip. Imagine choosing a companion or two from camp, using a version of the dialogue system to invite them along, and then letting emergent chaos unfold — a fishing trip becomes a stagecoach ambush, a simple ride into town becomes a two-person bank robbery. That would turn the open world from a solo campfire ballad into a full-throated campfire chorus. Depending on the story, those companions could be younger versions of Dutch’s gang or entirely new outlaws, but either way they should have legs and opinions, not just tent-side dialogue.

A Few Final Thoughts From the Trail

RDR2’s open world is still a place I visit just to hear the wind move through the pines, but its flaws are as visible as a campfire on a moonless night. Letting players into the whole map early, making the Wanted system fair instead of omniscient, and adding real open-world companions would be like oiling a stiff revolver — the next shot would feel cleaner, quicker, and far more satisfying.

Rockstar hasn’t officially confirmed Red Dead Redemption 3 as of 2026, but when that next ride begins, I hope I can explore every inch of the frontier without a leash, a glitchy witness, or an empty saddle beside me.

• 🌵 The whole map should open early, with narrative workarounds instead of invisible walls.

• 🤠 The Wanted system should rely on witnesses and evidence, not omniscient lawmen.

• 🐎 Companions should ride with you as living, reactive partners, not just mission cameos.