Because when it comes time to hunt something exotic, the last thing you want is not knowing whether you’re looking at grizzly tracks or squirrel tracks. And not just the animals you intend to hunt. Tracking animals down and then studying them is an important part of hunting. Also, using eagle vision will highlight anything interactive. It will make it much easier to see what you’re looking at. But when it comes time to gather loot, whether it’s opening cupboards, looking into drawers, or collecting the spoils of a shoot-out, switch to first-person mode. Of course you’ll want to play Red Dead Redemption from the third-person perspective, because otherwise you won’t be able to admire your fancy clothes. Just hold down the circle button to get straight back into the game. When you’re several layers deep in places like the compendium or challenges, you don’t have to laboriously exit out one screen at a time. If you’re having trouble with something, make sure you’re not tapping instead of holding, or vice versa. Tap the X button to kick your horse so he’ll go a little faster, but hold it to match speed with a companion. Tap the triangle button to dismount your horse, but hold it to hitch your horse, even in soft ground. For instance, a fundamental part of horse management is the difference between a tap and a hold. It applies in a lot of places you might not expect or get accustomed to.

But this is an important part of the controls across the board. You’ll be told early enough that tapping and holding a button can do different things. And since none of them are spoilers, I pass them on for you to use as you start playing. So here are a few helpful things that I had to figure them out on my own. You might then die and now you’ve lost your favorite Appaloosa. You might then hitch your horse when you meant to get up on it.

You might then find a town full of folks shooting at you. You might accidentally shoot someone because you mixed up your L2 and your R2. But sometimes, you’ll find yourself wrestling with the controls or not quite understanding how something is supposed to work. It just wants you to spend time with it while it tells you a story. For the most part, it’s not a challenging game and it’s not trying to be. Red Dead Redemption 2 will talk you through most of what you need to know.

Red dead redemption buttons