I think the Kotaku review described the movement system of RDR2 pretty well
I only rarely found Red Dead 2 to be fun in the way I find many other video games to be fun. The physical act of playing is rarely pleasurable on its own. It is often tiring and cumbersome, though no less thrilling for it. No in-game activity approaches the tactilely pleasing acts of firing a space-rifle in Destiny, axing a demon in God of War, or jumping on goombas in Super Mario Bros.
Red Dead 2 continues Rockstars longstanding rejection of the notions that input response should be snappy, that control schemes should be empowering and intuitive, and that animation systems should favour player input over believable on-screen action.
Pressing a button in Red Dead 2 rarely results in an immediate or satisfying response. Navigating Arthur through the world is less like controlling a video game character and more like giving directions to an actor. Get in cover, Ill tell him, only to see him climb on top of the cover.
Did I press the button too late? Did my button-press register at all? Dude, get down, Ill cry, as his enemies begin to open fire. Hell slowly wheel around, then slide down to the ground with an elaborate stumbling animation. GET IN COVER, Ill command, pressing the take cover button for what feels like the sixth time. Hell haul his body weight forward, then finally crouch behind the wall.
Arthurs horse adds yet another degree of remove. With a press of a button, Arthur coaxes his horse forward. Pressing it rhythmically in time with the horses hoofbeats causes him to urge the horse to a gallop.
But youre still controlling the man, not the horse. Mind your direction, for it is perilously easy to broadside a passing civilian and instigate a firefight, or to collide with a rock or tree, sending man and horse careening catawampus to the ground. Red Dead 2s horses are meticulously detailed and gorgeously animated, and move through the world like real animals, right up until they dont. Get too close to a boulder or crosswise to a wagon, and the realistic facade crumbles, leaving you with a grouchy, unresponsive horse with its head clipping through a tree.
Almost every interaction must be performed through the same gauzy, lustrous cling-wrap. Firefights are chaotic and random, and aiming often feels wild and unmanageable. Rifles require separate trigger-pulls to fire and to chamber a new round.
Enemies move quickly and melt into the worlds overwhelming visual milieux, and my resulting reliance on the heavily magnetised aim-assistance turned most fights into pop-and-fire shooting galleries.
Arthur moves slowly, particularly while in settlements or indoors. Its also possible to make him run too fast, crashing through doors and into civilians. Navigating this world is arduous, heavy, and inelegant. Even the simple act of picking an object up off the floor can require two or three moments of repositioning and waiting for an interaction prompt.
It's pretty spot on. I remember looting some enemies early in the game and Arthur randomly decided to climb over this fallen post in a building and almost trapped himself in there. ---