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One of the reasons why DICE updated Battlefield V to make it easier for new players was specifically to help the game appeal to new players–this did not go so well. After a wave of criticism from veteran players, DICE announced that it is rolling back the time-to-kill changes to restore the values to their original state. The Swedish developer has now also acknowledged that it has been a struggle for years now to get people into Battlefield games.

“It’s important to acknowledge that we have a challenge bringing new players into Battlefield V and onboard them to become more experienced Battlefield players,” DICE said in a Reddit post regarding the TTK changes. “It’s been a challenge across our games for a long time, as many will know.”

DICE’s overall ambition with Battlefield V is for it to appeal to new and veteran players alike, and the developer will continue to try to do this even after the TTK changes are undone. “How we get it right isn’t easy, nor will it be quick, and we appreciate when the community comes together and helps us on this journey,” DICE said.

The Battlefield franchise is generally understood to be relatively more difficult for new players compared to the series main competitor, Call of Duty. Activision’s franchise regularly outsells Battlefield. Back in 2013, EA management said it hoped Battlefield 4 would outsell that year’s Call of Duty game, Ghosts. It did not.

Other established franchises face the same challenge as Battlefield: drawing in new players while also appealing to veterans, and pleasing everyone. As DICE frankly said in its Reddit post and as evidenced by the rollback to the original TTK values, this can be a tough nut to crack. Marcus Lehto, who co-created the Halo franchise, recently said he believes Halo is in a no-win scenario now as it tries to appeal to new players and do right by veterans.

For its part, DICE has pledged to continue to listen to fan feedback and try to make Battlefield V appealing to everyone. How this works in practice remains to be seen.

Streaming company Hulu has announced all the movies and TV shows coming to and leaving the service for January. Starting with what’s coming to the platform, on January 1 you can ring in the New Year with Season 2 of Donald Glover’s hit show Atlanta, while the animated movie Antz and the beloved movie about a pig, Babe, also arrive on January 1.

Richard Curtis’ ensemble cast rom-com Love Actually premieres on January 1 as well, alongside the underrated Matthew McConaughey film Mud, 1969’s John Wayne movie True Grit, and the five Twilight movies if that’s what you’re into. The Natalie Portman sci-fi film Annihilation hits on January 5, while the much-anticipated sixth season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine comes to Hulu on January 11.

As for what’s leaving Hulu in January, the silly Jim Carrey films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and When Nature Calls exit the library on January 31, while Hostel 1 and 2, and Jerry Maguire also leave that day. Additionally, Hulu loses the 2010 Jennifer Lawrence movie Winter’s Bone on January 31.

You can see the full rundown of all the TV shows and movies coming to and leaving Hulu below. If you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can check out all the new content for January here.

Available January 1

Atlanta: Complete Season 2 (FX)

The Detectorists: Complete Season 3 (DRG)

Dot.: Complete Season 2B (Universal Kids)

Saints & Sinners: Complete Seasons 1-3 (Bounce TV)

X Company: Complete Seasons 2&3 (Sony)

54 (1998)

10 Years (2011)

2 Days in the Valley (1996)

9 to 5 (1980)

A Charlie Brown Valentine (2002)

A Simple Plan (1998)

A Walk to Remember (2002)

Alvin & The Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999)

Alvin & The Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (2000)

Antz (1998)

Babe (1995)

Bad Girls (1994)

Bangkok Dangerous (2008)

Basic Instinct (1992)

Beetlejuice (1988)

Beowulf (2007)

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)

Cake (2006)

Capitalism: A Love Story (2010)

Chicken Run (2000)

Children of the Corn (2009)

Chinatown (1974)

The Chaperone (2011)

The Colony (2013)

Cujo (1983)

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas (2009)

The Dead Zone (1983)

Deja Vu (2006)

Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995)

Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

Double Team (1997)

East is East (1999)

Extraction (2015)

Fifteen and Pregnant (1998)

Finding Neverland (2004)

Firstborn (1984)

Flight 7500 (2014)

Fly Me to the Moon (2008)

The Foot Fist Way (2008)

The Forgotten (2004)

For a Few Dollars More (1967)

Forces of Nature (1999)

Friday Night Lights (2004)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

The German Doctor (2013)

Gimme Shelter (2014)

Girl in Progress (2012)

Girl in the Bunker (2018)

Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)

Gods and Monsters (1998)

The Golden Compass (2007)

Grizzly Man (2005)

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (1986)

He Got Game (1998)

Heathers (1989)

Hellraiser (1987)

Hot Pursuit (1987)

I Am Elizabeth Smart (2017)

I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (2003)

In A World… (2013)

Inside Out (2011)

Into The West (1992)

Kickboxer (1989)

Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas (2014)

Kiss of the Dragon (2001)

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

The Last Knights (2015)

Legendary (2010)

Lethal Weapon (1987)

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

The Limey (1999)

Love Actually (2003)

Maximum Security (1990)

Message in a Bottle (1999)

Mimic (1997)

Mud (2013)

The Neverending Story (1984)

The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter (1991)

New York Minute (2004)

No Holds Barred (1989)

Nothing Like the Holidays (2009)

The Other Man (2008)

The Others (2001)

Patch Adams (1998)

Payback (1999)

Penelope (2008)

Pet Sematary (1989)

Pet Sematary II (1992)

The Phantom (1996)

Pride (2007)

Prince of Egypt (1998)

Rain Man (1988)

Renoir (2013)

Rent (2005)

The Resident (2012)

The Reunion (2011)

Revolutionary Road (2008)

Right at your Door (2007)

Road to El Dorado (2000)

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997)

Ron White: A Little Unprofessional (2012)

The Running Man (1987)

Sabrina (1995)

Scent of a Woman (1992)

Shattered (2007)

Shirley Valentine (1989)

Shrek (2001)

Skipped Parts (2001)

Sliver (1993)

Stephen King’s Graveyard Shift (1990)

Stephen King’s Silver Bullet (1985)

Stephen King’s Thinner (1996)

Stone (2010)

Surf’s Up (2007)

Surf’s Up 2: Wave Mania (2017)

Tangerines (2015)

Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)

The Two Jakes (1990)

The Virgin Suicides (2000)

The Voices (2015)

The Way Back (2011)

The Way of the Gun (2000)

The Weather Man (2005)

This is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers (1988)

To Grandmother’s House We Go (1992)

Total Recall (1990)

True Grit (1969)

Twilight (2008)

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011)

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012)

We are Marshall (2006)

What’s Cooking? (2000)

Yours, Mine & Ours (2005)

Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

Available January 2

The Gifted: Season 2 Mid-Season Premiere (FOX)

Lethal Weapon: Season 3 Mid-Season Premiere (FOX)

Drinking Buddies (2013)

Available January 3

24 Hours to Hell & Back: Season 2 Premiere (FOX)

The Masked Singer: Season 1 Premiere (FOX)

The X-Files: Complete Season 11 (FOX)

Support the Girls (2018)

The Unicorn (2018)

Available January 4

Gotham: Season 5 Premiere (FOX)

The Titan Games: Series Premiere (NBC)

Sherlock Gnomes (2018)

Available January 5

Fresh off the Boat: Season 5 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Speechless: Season 3 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Annihilation (2018)

The Overnight (2015)

Available January 6

Disaster Movie (2008)

Available January 7

America Funniest Home Videos: Season 29 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Lodge 49: Complete Season 1 (AMC)

Shark Tank: Season 10 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Available January 8

America’s Got Talent: The Champions: Series Premiere (NBC)

The Bachelor: Season 23 Premiere (ABC)

Manifest: Season 1 Mid-Season Premiere (NBC)

Alright Now (2018)

The Commuter (2018)

The Last Airbender (2010)

Available January 9

Black-ish: Season 5 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

The Conners: Season 1 Mid-Season Premiere (NBC)

Ellen’s Game of Games: Season 2 Premiere (NBC)

Good Trouble: Series Premiere (Freeform)

The Kids Are Alright: Season 1 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

New Amsterdam: Season 1 Mid-Season Premiere (NBC)

Splitting Up Together: Season 2 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

The Rookie: Season 1 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Available January 10

Chicago Fire: Season 7 Premiere (NBC)

Chicago P.D.: Season 6 Mid-Season Premiere (NBC)

Chicago Med: Season 4 Mid-Season Premiere (NBC)

Match Game: Season 4 Mid-Season Premiere (NBC)

Schooled: Series Premiere (ABC)

The Goldbergs: Season 6 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Modern Family: Season 10 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Single Parents: Season 1 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Kusama – Infinity (2018)

Available January 11

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 6 Premiere (NBC)

Future Man: Complete Season 2 Premiere (Hulu Original)

The Good Place: Season 3 Mid-Season Premiere (NBC)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 20 Mid-Season Premiere (NBC)

Available January 12

Blindspot: Season 4 Mid-Season Premiere (NBC)

Burden of Truth: Complete Season 1 (eOne)

Available January 14

Total Bellas: Season 4 Premiere (E!)

Forever My Girl (2018)

Available January 15

The Good Doctor: Season 2 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

The Passage: Series Premiere (FOX)

The Resident: Season 2 Mid-Season Premiere (FOX)

This Is Us: Season 3 Mid-season Premiere (NBC)

Another Time (2018)

The Snapper (1993)

Walking with the Enemy (2013)

Available January 16

You, Me and Dupree (2006)

Available January 17

Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls (Dubs): Complete Season 1 (Crunchyroll)

O (Othello) (2006)

Available January 18

90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?: Complete Season 2 (TLC)

A Million Little Things: Season 1 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Alone: Complete Season 4 (History Channel)

America’s Book of Secrets: Complete Season 3 (History Channel)

American Pickers: Complete Season 10 (History Channel)

An American Murder Mystery: The Staircase: Complete Season 1 (IDTV)

Beyond Scared Straight: Complete Season 3 (A&E)

Brockmire: Complete Season 2 (IFC)

Butterfly: Complete Season 1 (ITV)

Casey Anthony: An American Murder Mystery: Complete Season 1 (IDTV)

Cities of the Underworld: Complete Season 3 (History Channel)

Dance Moms: Complete Season 7 (Lifetime)

Disappeared: Complete Season 8 (IDTV)

Dr. Pimple Popper: Special (TLC)

Finding Escobar’s Millions: Complete Season 1 (Discovery)

Forged in Fire: Knife or Death: Complete season 1 (History Channel)

Found: Complete Season 1 (History Channel)

Four Weddings: Complete Season 9 (TLC)

Giada in Italy: Complete Season 2 (Food Network)

Grey’s Anatomy: Season 15 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

Hanger 1: The UFO Files: Complete Season 1&2 (History Channel)

Homicide Hunter: Complete Season 7 (IDTV)

How to Get Away with Murder: Season 5 Mid-Season Premiere (ABC)

JFK Declassified: Tracking Oswald: Complete Season 1 (History Channel)

Leah Remini: It’s All Relative: Complete Seasons 1&2 (TLC)

Married at First Sight: Complete Season 6 (Lifetime)

The Menendez Murders: Erik Tells All: Complete Season 1 (A&E)

My 600lb Life: Complete Seasons 5&6 (TLC)

Natalie Wood: An American Murder Mystery: Special (IDTV)

Nightwatch: Complete Season 4 (A&E)

Nostradamus Effect: Complete Season 1 (History Channel)

Project Runway All Stars: Complete Season 6 (Lifetime)

Spring Baking Championship: Complete Seasons 2&3 (Food Network)

Swamp People: Complete Seasons 6&7 (History Channel)

The Tesla Files: Complete Season 1 (History Channel)

Worst Cooks in America: Complete Season 10 (Food Network)

Available January 20

The Vatican Tapes (2015)

Available January 21

Stella’s Last Weekend (2018)

The Pagan King (2018)

Available January 25

Siren: Season 2 Premiere (Freeform)

Available January 26

Darling in the Franxx (Dubs): Complete Season 1 (Crunchyroll)

Available January 28

Rent: Special (FOX)

Cruise (2018)

Available January 31

Bad Reputation (2018)

Love Gilda (2018)

*The following are available with the Showtime premium add-on:

Closer (2004) (1/1)

Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) (1/1)

Remember the Titans (2000) (1/1)

Star Trek: Generations (1994) (1/1)

Star Trek: First Contact (1996) (1/1)

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) (1/1)

Den of Thieves (2018) (1/4)

Molly’s Game (2017) (1/5)

I Feel Pretty (2018) (1/12)

Warning Shot (2018) (1/16)

What’s Leaving Hulu

January 31

2001 Maniacs (2005)

28 Days Later (2003)

A Fistful of Dynamite (1972)

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)

Afternoon Delight (2013)

Alice (1990)

Amelie (2001)

An Eye for an Eye (1966)

Bachelor Party (1984)

Borgman (2013)

Candyman 3: Day of the Dead (1999)

Comic Book Villains (2002)

Death Wish (1974)

Desperate Hours (1990)

Dysfunktional Family (2003)

Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)

Existenz (1999)

Fire with Fire (2012)

Four Rooms (1995)

Gloria (2014)

Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)

Happy Christmas (2014)

Hostel (2006)

Hostel 2 (2007)

Italian for Beginners (2000)

Jane Eyre (1996)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

K2 (1991)

Kill Me Again (1989)

Like Water (2012)

Little Black Book (2004)

Little Odessa (1994)

Made (2001)

Map of the Human Heart (1992)

Never Back Down (2008)

Night Moves (2014)

Phantoms (1998)

Pleasantville (1998)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)

Searching for Sugar Man (2012)

Serendipity (2001)

Starship (1997)

Supercop (1996)

Teen Wolf (1985)

Teen Wolf Too (19787)

Up in the Air (2009)

Winter’s Bone (2010)

Wonderland (2003)

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, one of the best, most affecting games of 2017, is now free on Xbox One for people who have an Xbox Game Pass membership.

Those playing on Xbox One X can enjoy special features made possible by the console’s extra power, including better visuals, and High Framerate and High Resolution modes. High Framerate mode increases the frame rate to 60 FPS, while High Resolution makes the game run at the highest possible resolution instead of a dynamic resolution scaling.

Hellblade was developed by UK studio Ninja Theory, which Microsoft acquired earlier this year. It is also available on PlayStation 4 and PC.

Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s subscription service on Xbox One that lets you play titles from a catalog of more than 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games for $10 USD/month. New subscribers can sign up with an introductory offer of $1 USD for the first month.

More games are added to Xbox Game Pass on a regular basis. Mortal Kombat X, Pro Evolution Soccer 19, and Spintires: Mudrunner arrived earlier this month, while Ori and the Blind Forest (December 20) and Shadow Warrior 2 (December 20) are coming later this month. Additionally, the brand-new games Ashen and Below launched into Xbox Game Pass earlier this month.

All first-party Xbox games launch into Xbox Game Pass, which means subscribers will get Gears 5, Halo Infinite, and all other exclusives in the time to come at no extra cost.

Xbox Game Pass is currently only available on Xbox One, but Microsoft is bringing it to PC in the future. On a longer timeline, the company wants to have Xbox Game Pass on “every device.”

A wild new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate glitch has been discovered, and it really is a sight to behold. As shown off by Master0fHyrule on YouTube, the glitch spawns an apparently infinite number of Waluigi Assist Trophies, which makes the game descend into some kind of purple nightmare.

You can try to trigger the glitch for yourself by getting two Isabelle characters on a stage and, at the same time, deploy the fishing rod on a Waluigi Assist Trophy. If you do this correctly, and maybe get a little lucky, one of the Isabelles will continue to use the Assist Trophy again and again and again, until presumably the end of time. This apparently works with not only the Waluigi Assist Trophy, but numerous others as well. Take a look at the video below to see it in action. The infinite Assist Trophy glitch was apparently discovered by TheAfrowJow, and you can watch their video on the glitch here on YouTube.

Waluigi is not a playable character in Smash Bros. Ultimate, but Nintendo is aware of the groundswell of interest in putting him in the game. Whether or not that ever happens remains to be seen, however.

Smash Bros. Ultimate launched earlier this month, and it enjoyed a record-breaking start in Japan where it had the highest launch sales in the history of the Smash series in Japan. Sales figures for the United States and other parts of the world haven’t been announced.

The game has a massive character roster, and it’s getting more fighters with post-launch character expansions–including Piranha Plant and Persona 5‘s Joker. We have our own list of characters we want to see.

In our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate review, Edmond Tran gave the game a 9/10, writing, “An inconsistent online mode and situational downers don’t stop Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from shining as a flexible multiplayer game that can be as freewheeling or as firm as you want it to be.”

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One of Disney’s next live-action remakes of an animated classic, Lady & The Tramp, filmed at least some of its scene with actual dogs, it has been confirmed. Why is this notable? The first trailer for Disney’s new Lion King movie billed the film as being “live-action,” but those aren’t real lions or elephants you’re seeing, but instead very visually stunning CG creatures. For Lady & The Tramp, however, Disney used real dogs–at least for a part of the process.

Actor Thomas Mann, who plays Jim Dear in the new Disney movie, confirmed to Collider that real, tail-wagging dogs were used on set for the new Lady & The Tramp.

“The dogs were there. We shot with the dogs, every day,” he explained. “They were on set and they weren’t even trained. They found these dogs and started training them about three months before. They just wanted to find the perfect dogs. The main dog’s name was Rose, who played Lady. It was crazy because they didn’t know they were working, so they would run off in the middle of a take, and then come back over. You have to be extra patient because you have to be good every time for when they are good once. It was a lot of fun. It was so cute, every day, to just have a bunch of dogs to play with. It made the job a lot less stressful.”

One of the most memorable scenes from the 1955 original was when the two main dogs shared a bowl of spaghetti and kissed. Apparently the movie-makers recreated this with the real dogs for the remake.

“Who doesn’t want to see two real dogs kiss over a plate of spaghetti? That is the main draw for me. You get the charisma of real dogs in there,” Mann said.

What’s unclear at this stage is how much post-production effort will go into the new Lady & The Tramp specifically for the dogs. Presumably there will be significant visual effects to help make their speaking sequences and other cues look more believable.

The new Lady & The Tramp features the voices of Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux in the title roles, with Janelle Monae, Benedict Wong, Kiersey Clemons, and Ashley Jensen also appearing in the film. It’s directed by The Lego Ninjago Movie director Charlie Bean. No release date has been set yet.

It’s just the latest remake from Disney. The film giant has already released reboots of Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Beauty and the Beast. In addition to Lady & The Tramp and The Lion King, some of Disney’s other upcoming remakes include Dumbo, Mulan, Aladdin, and Pinocchio, among others.

Over the next few days, we will reveal what we believe are the 10 best games of 2018, organized by release date. Then on December 19, we will reveal which of the nominees gets to take home the coveted title of GameSpot’s Game of the Year. So be sure to come back then for the big announcement, and in the meantime, follow along with all of our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in our Best of 2018 hub.

Tetris is time-tested, ubiquitous, and as a result, it’s usually taken for granted. Developer Enhance Inc. is here to remind us all that Tetris is a game worthy of our appreciation in 2018, and more importantly, that it has plenty of untapped potential.

In simple terms, Tetris Effect is a rhythm-game tinged version of the classic puzzle game. You aren’t forced to act in time with the music, but every time you flip a tetromino or complete a line, the game will produce a sound at the nearest-neighbor beat. So even though you aren’t intentionally filling in the notes of a song, you do contribute to the music. With enough experience you may find yourself trying to play along, however, acting out and flipping puzzle pieces just to hear the rapid fire instrumentation and appreciate your mastery of the game’s pacing and demands. This of course happens simultaneously as you race to clear lines, consequently harmonizing Tetris Effect’s two halves.

The moving soundtrack encompasses a wide range of musical styles that may be unusual to your ears but are nonetheless infectious. The procession of one rhythm or orchestra to another is handcrafted to make you feel something different from level to level, and the push and pull of it all is unquestionably effective. Some stages help you relax and experience momentary bliss, while others drive you so hard and fast that you practically need to catch your breath before jumping into the next challenge.

Inspiring moments like these are great in isolation; when experienced for prolonged periods of time, playing stage after stage in the game’s Journey mode, they accumulate into something greater. To succeed at Tetris Effects’ later levels requires almost subconscious planning and execution, where thinking too hard may cause unintentional obsession with misleading opportunities. It sounds almost counterintuitive, the idea that you should think less to achieve more, but that’s exactly what Tetris Effect is trying to draw out of you, and exactly why you should give yourself up to the feelings it tries to instill.

It’s an unforgettable experience that marks a new chapter for one of the medium’s most familiar and beloved properties, and when people talk about Tetris from now on, Tetris Effect will undoubtedly be used to reference the original game’s timeless appeal.

We often think of VR games as means to travel to new worlds or embody fictional characters. Tetris Effect leverages the inherent immersion that comes from shutting yourself off from the outside world to induce synaesthesia, combining sight and sound into a seamless composite. Until you’ve experienced it for yourself, it’s difficult to understand just how powerful this effect can be, but it’s the secret sauce that makes you good at the game. All it takes to locate that mindset is a little persistence and an open mind. The more you can isolate your senses, the better, so you should absolutely play Tetris Effect with PSVR if you have the option.

Tetris Effect is unquestionably the prettiest version of Tetris there is and it uses that aspect of its personality to enhance the core draw of the puzzle game within, making it easier for you to find that unspeakable bond between mind and game. It’s an unforgettable experience that marks a new chapter for one of the medium’s most familiar and beloved properties, and when people talk about Tetris from now on, Tetris Effect will undoubtedly be used to reference the original game’s timeless appeal.

Over the next few days, we will reveal what we believe are the 10 best games of 2018, organized by release date. Then on December 19, we will reveal which of the nominees gets to take home the coveted title of GameSpot’s Game of the Year. So be sure to come back then for the big announcement, and in the meantime, follow along with all of our other end-of-the-year coverage collected in our Best of 2018 hub.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a lot of things–methodical in its pacing, ambitious in nearly every department, overwhelming in its scope–but most of all, it is contradictory. Its open world presents you with any number of outlaw activities to take on, but its story is a series of largely linear missions where there is no freedom of choice. The world is expansive and seemingly never-ending, but getting from place to place is a slow, laborious process. But those contradictions work in tandem to develop Red Dead 2’s narrative on a deeper level, and it’s thanks to those opposing ideas that we gained such an intense connection to its characters and world.

Arthur Morgan’s story is not unlike John Marston’s story; in Red Dead Redemption, John was working to escape his old life of crime and find a better life for himself and his family. In the prequel, Arthur is torn between two versions of himself: the better man he wants to be and the flawed man he is. This is represented by an honor scale that shifts depending on your actions, like greeting passersby politely or looting an innocent corpse. But in practice, no matter how you’re trying to play, you’ll always find yourself doing something you didn’t want to do. If you’re trying to be honorable, you’ll inevitably end up doing a homicide-required story mission that tanks your honor score. If you’re aiming to be a true outlaw, you’ll have to avoid donating to your camp–and miss out on important upgrades, including one that unlocks partial fast travel–if you don’t want to gain honor points.

The feeling of inevitability is exacerbated by the tension only a prequel can bring: knowing how the story ultimately ends. Over 50 or so hours, you’re forging relationships with people who you know won’t make it to the events of Red Dead Redemption. Something hopeful becomes bittersweet, and in turn, sad events take on an optimistic light. There’s something beautiful in knowing there’s nothing you can do to save someone or avoid the tragic outcome–but that you have choices all the same. Your decisions might not change the ending much, but the give and take of trying and failing makes each step on your journey feel like your own.

It can be frustrating, in an open world game, to be forced into actions you didn’t want to take. Red Dead 2 gives you a ton of choices but very few outcomes; there’s often nothing you can do to change how a story mission ends. It can feel like you’re fighting against the game, but that’s why it’s brilliant. Your weariness and your frustration are also Arthur’s, and that gives you a greater understanding into the inner turmoil he experiences throughout the story. Those feelings draw you into him, his relationships, and his world, and that’s a connection that’s hard to shake when it’s all over. Of everything about Red Dead Redemption 2, from its responsive, living world to its most meticulous details, that is its greatest achievement.