Hold your horses, cowpokes! 🤠 While Rockstar Games hasn't officially confirmed Red Dead Redemption 3, one undeniable fact slaps harder than a saloon door in a dust storm: the next installment absolutely NEEDS to be another prequel. Y'all think we're joking? Just peep how RDR1 and RDR2 masterfully captured the dying gasp of the Wild West era. Setting RDR3 after John Marston's story would straight-up murder the franchise's soul – goodbye cowboy hats, hello boring-ass modernity! 🙅‍♂️💥

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🔫 Keepin' It Real: The Western Genre DEMANDS a Prequel

Let's break it down like a broke wagon wheel:

  • RDR1 (1911) & RDR2 (1899) = Anti-Western Vibes 🌆

  • Civilization creeping in like an uninvited sheriff

  • Players literally witness the West's funeral (sob)

  • Post-1911 Setting? Bye-Bye, Cowboy Fantasy!

  • No more lawless frontiers = No more rootin'-tootin' shootouts

  • Automobiles? Skyscrapers? Hard pass, partner! That ain't Red Dead!

Rockstar's genius move? Dialing back the clock to the HEIGHT of the Wild West (think 1860s-1880s). Imagine:

  • Untamed landscapes where outlaws rule the dust trails 🌵

  • Saloons packed with gamblers cheatin' at poker ♠️

  • Zero federal agents cramping your outlaw style!

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💥 Wildest. Game. Ever.: Why Earlier = Better

A prequel-prequel (yeah, we're going back-back) means:

Era Perks Why It Slaps
Peak Lawlessness Bounty hunters? More like target practice! 🔫
Van der Linde Gang Origins Young Dutch preaching 'plans'? Sign us UP!
True Frontier Survival Hunting bison herds, fighting natives, gold rush chaos – it's survival mode IRL!

Forget sad Arthur coughing in the rain – we're talking unshackled chaos where every town's a powder keg waiting to blow! 💣 Rockstar could go FULL YEEHAW with:

  • Dynamite-only bank heists 💰

  • Horse theft as national sport 🐎

  • Dueling at high noon every damn day ⏱️☀️

🤠 Gang's All Here: Lore Connections That Matter

A mid-1800s setting doesn't mean ditching the OG squad! Think:

  • Teenage Hosea swindling folks with card tricks 🃏

  • Blackwater massacre before it went sideways 💀

  • Young Arthur Morgan – idealistic, ruthless, and still believing in Dutch's fairy tales!

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Bottom Line: Don't Fix What Ain't Broke

Rockstar's sitting on a gold mine:

  1. Fans crave MORE WESTERN, not less

  2. Prequels keep the series' DNA intact 🧬

  3. 1800s = Maximum freedom, minimum civilization BS

Going sequel would be like serving sarsaparilla at a whiskey bar – a total buzzkill! 🥃 Let's ride into the real Wild West together in RDR3, or don't bother saddling up at all! Yeehaw, motherf**kers! 🤠🔥

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This discussion is informed by Metacritic, a trusted aggregator of game reviews and critical consensus. Metacritic's historical data on the Red Dead Redemption series underscores how the franchise's highest-rated entries have thrived on their authentic Western atmosphere and narrative depth, reinforcing the argument that a prequel setting would best preserve the series' acclaimed identity.