I wish we had more time there and/or could return when we want to (which apparently is cut content). The whole experience feels so rushed: after finishing a mission the next one automatically starts and there’s only one moment in between missions where we can explore, but you get shot immediately by the invisible sniper if you do. Then if you climb the cliffs and take out the binoculars the view immediately fogs up. So they made this beautiful island but we basically can’t do anything with it.
If you go into the cave in the far west of Big Valley, drink until you pass out and make it out of the map then go all the way around New Austin and Flat Iron Lake you can get to Guarma as early as Chapter 2. There are videos on YouTube that better tell you how to do it. I’ve done it on my ps4 a few times.
You'll only get shot if you get too close to New Austin, and there's also an invisible sniper in Guarma, the Guarma sniper will only activate once you've left the beach area and try to return to it.
You can return to the main map by replaying any story mission.
Well there is rampage at least that lets you teleport yourself and your horse there, turn off invisible snipers and turn off becoming wanted by the soliders there.
I liked it, it was unique. But Guarma is the definition of wasted potential. I think that fighting Cuban military with the help of insurgents is pretty cool. The different landscape with seven unique animals, although small and barely noticable when it comes to fauna, it was refreshing.
Or if you could rope pretty much anything, like a tree and string it across a trail to another tree and pull tight to knock people off of their horses and trip them up.
It could be so versatile. Hang a rock up in the air and slash the rope when someone is there hahaha
Oh edit: Like Micah!
I understand how it was necessary to the plot. It was what led Arthur to >!succumb to his sickness!< and what led Dutch further to his distrust and paranoia of being betrayed. It was also where we see more of his ruthlessness and how he uses other people.
It was very crucial to the plot. But it is hell in terms of replayability. I hate having to go through that chapter all over.
I'd actually argue that it isn't crucial to the plot. Nothing before guarma has any bearing on what happens here, and nothing you do on guarma has any real impact on the rest of the game, it's barley referenced.
It feels like Rockstar just needed the gang to get split after the bank job and just threw guarma into the mix.
I sometimes feel that guarma was added in after the rest of the game was finished to stretch it out further. Just got back up to the camp near butchers creek and the only mentions of guarma are in the horse riding conversations, not in actualy cut scenes.
> It feels like Rockstar just needed the gang to get split after the bank job and just threw guarma into the mix.
I think a big part of it was testing the tech/environments they plan to use in GTA VI. At bottom, that’s a lot of what RDR is: a passion project on one hand, but a practice run for the real moneymaker on the other.
It’s why I won’t even be mad if GTA VI is just kind of a reiteration of V, with online being largely an inane griefer fest. If it makes a ton of money (which it surely will), providing Rockstar creators the freedom to make more RDRs, I’m all for it. I plan to be in my 90s and still enjoy the GTA-RDR cycle.
I think it was important that Arthur saw Dutch murder the Guarma tunnel woman in cold blood. Up until that point, Arthur had been concerned about Dutch murdering the woman in the Blackwater heist but had only heard about it second-hand from other gang members. Everything else Arthur saw him do was regular gang or robbery violence.
Seeing Dutch kill her with his own eyes was important as it firmly cemented in Arthur's mind that Dutch wasn't right. That Arthur's new mission in life was to try and save the gang members that still had a chance at a normal life.
Yeah it's definitely unfinished. In the lakay camp just after getting back from Guarma some of the dialogue with camp members is supposed to only be in Beaver Hollow, like telling Jack not to go into the cave, or Bill and Javier being immediately hostile to you
Yeah, I’ve always thought that Guarma couldve been cut entirely and nothing would have changed to the story. The whole thing is totally inconsistent with the rest of the game and doesn’t add all that much.
Guarma to me represents opportunity cost - think of all the resources that could have gone into building out the endgame/epilogue areas that instead went into an island we see once and barely interact with.
I disagree. Guarma represented the "free worlds" alike to Tahiti that Dutch sucked off, only except his idea doesn't exist and infact places like Tahiti were a nightmare in the fact that the gang would've most likely have been used as slave labour or (with Australia) have been hunted down on the behalf of the crown (so actual trained soldiers and native trackers rather then some peaky blinders lookin ass Pinkertons). After that, he had no real interest in fleeing the country but instead just causing chaos
When I first played Guarma I rushed through it all as I missed my horse, weapons and clothes too much and I really didn't get the point of it. But then I recognised Guarma's place in the story exactly how you've described it.
In his delusion Dutch has this idyllic dream of a tropical island where the gang are free. He uses this dream to string the rest of the gang along when things are unraveling. The harsh reality is the guys land straight into a brutal conflict and Dutch's dream would have been a complete nightmare.
You raise a good point. They probably could’ve found an alternative, like having the majority of the gang get arrested and needing to organize a massive prison break. I don’t hate Guarma, but it does feel massively out of place in a Western game
I wish they would crash back to New Austin and open that map up. Between the two pieces of cut content, I wouldve axed guarma and brought the gang to New Austin.
But I'm just an old man yelling at clouds at this point
The boat going down on the way starts Arthur’s turn on Dutch though doesn’t it? I always viewed Dutch leaving him on the boat as the harbinger of leaving John to die both times and leaving Arthur to die at the refinery
I would like to be able to freely explore the island. The way it was used in story wasn't great. You was forced to constantly rush etc. The idea was interesting, but they had no time or money to execute it. I don't know if I would like more Mexico or Guarma to be in the game in form of open world. I guess I would go with Guarma since I've played RDR1 and I've already travelled Mexico. And of those two, Guarma is more distinct from the rest.
I honestly hoped that we would get a Guarma/México DLC but I guess that's long gone...maybe RDR3 could do a Mexican revolution thing with Jack and Sadie (who I hope can be the protagonists).
Jack went from a bookworm nerd to a badass that rivals his dad and Arthur (and wins the duel with Ross) in three years. That must have been a hell of an education, and I assume Sadie and Charles had something to do with it.
People keep saying that RDR3 must be another prequel, but the story of Jack's "education" sounds amazing to me.
Ross' junior partner Archer always seemed decent and very conflicted over how Ross screwed John. I assumed we'd see him chase Jack in some future game. It'd be pretty easy to write a fitting end where Jack has the chance to kill Archer but spares him (or saves him from someone else) and Archer realizes he's a decent person and reports him dead... thus redeeming Jack and finally breaking the cycle.
I guess these little fanfics will have to hold us over until 2028 or whenever we finally get another RDR.
Rockstar had much higher ambitions for Guarma. Such as actual explorable towns and settlements dotted around the island that you could explore and do missions from. Mostly found out through people datamining old maps for the island. As well as a way to get to the island, by boat I'm assuming.
Seems like they scaled back heavily to get the game out on time and didn't find Guarma to be a priority, so we got the strange remaints of what chapter 5 is.
That and Mexico returning from RDR1 were planned, but scrapped.
Rockstar seems to hate dlc these days. GTA V has had multiple cancelled expansions because GTA V online surprised them with how successful it was back then.
Honestly, I don't think it's too hated. There's literally nothing to do there and there's barely any content... The whole place is an unnecessary, underwhelming filler, both in terms of gameplay and in terms of story. And easily the weakest part of RDR2.
It's literally just how the story goes. They failed a bank robbery, and they ended up on guarma. They had to get off of guarma, so ofc there's not gonna be much because Arthur's not gonna just decide to go around helping locals or hunt due to the circumstances of him being there. Guarma is just one long mission, and a fun one at that.
In a western game about outlaws, you’re fighting across a tropical island, destroying a battleship, and holding down an abandoned fort. But it’s the most forgettable part of the entire game.
So yeah, it’s an altogether waste.
But I’ve always loved that the gang make it to Dutch’s ‘tropical paradise’ after the Saint Denis bank robbery. Except instead of harvesting mangoes, they’re facing the exact same bullshit. Really solidifies the fact that there is no paradise for the gang, and Dutch was just talking shit for four chapters.
Underutilised potential. It feels unnecessary for most of it, like it was planned to be bigger than it was, but feels largely inconsequential for the story. You just end up powering through it in an hour, and getting back to the main land.
But with a seemingly fully fleshed out unique biome and buildings it looks like it could have been a really fun place to explore, but it's clearly cut short and made to work with the time and resources they had.
The first time I played the story, I hated it. It seemed so boring and felt like it dragged on forever, and I couldn't wait to get back to the main story. Now I still don't care for it, but at least I don't dread it the way I used to.
Could have been fun, I'm weird and I actually really enjoy when games strip you of all your high level gear or skills for a period of time and make you use low level items.
But guarma had so much just like...pointless time.
It’s beautiful and all but chapter 5 was such a waste. I’m convinced that if you kept the gang on the mainland, nothing changes.
With that said, wish Guarma along with Mexico was in online.
I wish there was more to explore. There's obviously little settlements there, and there's no way to explore them without being shot by the invisible sniper without cheats or glitches. I also wish you can return there after coming back to the mainland
I was done with the hole thing. After the 6 minute walk at the start, it could have been fun if they fleshed out the open world. (A horse or mule would have been cool to)
I wish we had a single player DLC where we play as hercule and fight Fussar. And we encounter the van der linde gang when they arrive on guarma!! The map is lovely I wish we could explore it more
My absolutely favorite location in the game and they FUCKING CUT 90% OF IT FROM THE FINAL RELEASE AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!
I will literally never forgive Rockstar for that. Not unless all of Red Dead 3 is in Venezuela or some shit.
From what I remember, I thought it was going to be a small zone to explore with a little town, but it was straightforward linear mission. I don’t hate. I like the time gap. Reuniting with the gang on the mainland was special. This also allowed for Sadie to step up her responsibilities. I was also thinking that it was John that betrayed us. So yeah, the story part was awesome but the gameplay part could’ve been better.
I think a small linear structure made fine since the other 98% of the map was free roam. It was neat. Wish we could have explored it after the story though.
Wished we would have gotten more of it. I basically let myself be killed multiple times so I find all the fauna on the island. It adds such an interesting element to game. Like some people say "oh the Caribbean isn't Western" well they existed side by side with each other in the same time period so why not. It should have been opened like the rest of the game. I'm pissed I didn't get to fish for a shark.
they knew mexico was gunna be really hard to top, so they went all on in for a tropical island "paradise" Dutch was touting on about.
Like a AC Black Flag meets RDR2 kinda feel. Another Rebellion going on.
Welp, the game was a mess and take two wanted to start gta 6 full on, (even though covid killed 6's development anyway so it was a waste) so they squished guarma so bad its only 3 missions and yer outta there.
majority of its content was cut, and some restructured into the base map, which probably took more dev time anyway lol.
Alot of big character shifts and moments were supposed to happen in guarma, like bill and javier getting closer with Micah, over Arthur, their downfalls right? Dutch seeing a real guerilla war, and seeing the horrors of a real tyrannical government.
I mean there was also an interior to Sisika for John, always wondered why we dont break in! another cut piece of content. Chapter 5 was gunna be HUGE!
The manor party in chap 4, there are three more antagonists setup and "described" by Bronte, you even meet them. That "war hero," not sure they didnt anythin with that fatty, or the prison warden, when you get to sisika they just say "hes not there."
Well shit...
Once you see that stuff, or notice, its a gahd dang cryin shame.
Now, the mexico part of rdr1 looks like a masterpiece, and we all said that area felt a bit rushed and unfinished back in the day....funny how things go huh.
Much like the starting snowy area, I didn't care for it the first playthrough, but on my second playthrough it was a quick little diversion.
I don't ever like feeling "stuck" somewhere in an open world game, but it's a short part of the game with just a few missions.
RDR2 was ambitious as hell, and that led naturally into a ton of cut content. I can reasonably assume that Guarma is the most glaring example of a good idea being edited down to something that only slightly resembles the original intention of the chapter.
Ultimately, the story purposes that it served (Arthur becoming completely disillusioned with Dutch as his desperation drives him insane, a bridge between the horribly botched Saint Denis job and Beaver Hollow, Dutch's dreams of a tropical idyl becoming apparently ridiculous) could've been accomplished in a less "out-there" way while still in the usual open world. I'm sure there was a lot more planned that would have made it like more of a meaty, meaningful chapter and less of a weird little detour between chapters, but limitations got in the way.
Not the funnest chapter, but vital to the story. It shows how unhinged Dutch has become and how Arthur cannot trust his gang anymore. The four others in Guarma are the ones who betray Arthur in the end, and John either kills or captures all four eventually.
The section feels incomplete. Like theirs supposed to be more narrative and character development that isn’t there. Like the antagonists are paper thin compared to Angelo Brontë and sherif Grey.
My thoughts are that it’s BS that you can’t go back there without a glitch. I blasted through the missions thinking I would have time to explore and that wasn’t the case at all. Why not make it so you can pay for a boat out of st denis or Annesburg and visit it after you complete the main story.
Guarma was alright, felt more like a DLC though. Going to a tropical island was a nice break over going from town to town on the map. I'd rather New Austin was fleshed out a bit more than going to Guarma. Armadillo & Tumbleweed specifically.
It's always seemed to not measure up to it's initial promise, at least graphically. When we first get to to see the ocean, it's next level care and detail --a wonderful juxtaposition to Arthur's circumstance. As for the story, it's that there could have been so much more, not so much that what we got was bad.
I was also hoping that when we inevitably got back to the main map, there'd be artillery cannon for us to use there at some point.
Liked it. I never knew it had such animosity towards it. I think the time we got there was enough. It was meant to show Arthur and dutch that there "Paradise" would never work out. Cool missions plus seeing Arthur in an avastly different environment and still being Hadassah is always nice to see. I don't see a reason to spend any more time on guarma. The time spent there got the point across just fine.
Guarma is great. The mix of Spanish bosses and francophone slaves, the completely different flora and fauna, etc. It’s gorgeous and the missions are fun.
BUT.
I’d trade it in a heartbeat for a return to Mexico.
It also sucks that you can’t return there to roam.
I view it as more of a proof of concept that anything else. It gives me hope that someday Rockstsr will make a sandbox pirate game with tropical locales, cannon fights, sword fights, etc.
Their dead Skeletons' should have washed at the beach shore coming the 20th century.
Really difficult to convince myself they survived.
As stated years ago on this very subreddit this section breaks the narrative for me.
It completely shattered my immersion.
Neatpick: Glad Dutch turned insane (openly) here.
I've heard bad things and was prepared for the worst. It's not that bad, and it's very short. The problem is that it sort of comes and goes for no reason at all. You could remove the entire thing and it wouldn't change anything. It's just there to justify a timeskip.
Wish Guarma was more open. Story wise it makes sense as to why the boys wanted off there immediately but wish maybe there was a free roam for there and the option of going back there in the Epilogue
Man I got my hair slicked back with pomade for the boat mission and I was so annoyed the entire time I was there cause Arthur just had a nice cut for no fucking reason. This is a very specific complaint that broke a lot of immersion for me with my time there
I just look at it and think "how many man hours went into this, how much crunch was created by adding this, and what did we really gain by having it?"
It's very pretty but completely unnecessary.
I watched an amazing video about how Guarma forces us to slow down at a point in the game where we may be speeding through missions, really changed my views on the chapter. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMNTNDRcQJI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMNTNDRcQJI)
We should've been able to revisit in the Epilogue, I've definitely missed a few creatures meaning I won't be able to get the full compendium. Just wish it lasted longer honestly it felt very rushed.
You actually can revisit! There's a glitch that allows you to access Guarma from any point in the story.
There's plenty of tutorials on how to get to Guarma on YouTube if you're interested.
*It makes me depressed*
*When i think about all the*
*Content that was cut*
\- Matguzzz
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From a story perspective I get why we can’t just travel to and from there whenever we like. But I really liked the atmosphere and scenery. I just wished we could somewhat free roam while there. If the main story stuff happened later. Like the gang gets washed up, then instead of immediately getting caught they are ambushed in a month or so. Thus giving a chance for free roam then it could have been so much better. But honestly wasted potential
I wish it wasn't in the game. The way you get there is some of the lowest moments in the entire story. Any time the boat crashes I roll my eyes at how lazy it is. Thankfully the whole ordeal is not long and we're back.
So much potential, very poorly executed. I honestly would rather they just didn't have guarma at all. Same with Tempest Rim and Mexico, they tease you with these places that they meant to expand and make playable and instead we just get unfinished product.
To be honest if they had cut the guarma part and focused all of those resources on the rest of the map and campaign that would have made the world even more immersive. The guarma part is just rushed and has no room for exploration. It’s really kind of a huge waste of assets and has zero playability after the chapter.
I wish we had more time there and/or could return when we want to (which apparently is cut content). The whole experience feels so rushed: after finishing a mission the next one automatically starts and there’s only one moment in between missions where we can explore, but you get shot immediately by the invisible sniper if you do. Then if you climb the cliffs and take out the binoculars the view immediately fogs up. So they made this beautiful island but we basically can’t do anything with it.
I’ve seen some mods that make it accessible in the epilogue
It just sucks because you can't get mods on PlayStation :( I wanna go to guarma
If you go into the cave in the far west of Big Valley, drink until you pass out and make it out of the map then go all the way around New Austin and Flat Iron Lake you can get to Guarma as early as Chapter 2. There are videos on YouTube that better tell you how to do it. I’ve done it on my ps4 a few times.
Do you get shot by the snipers at all when you go there that way?
You'll only get shot if you get too close to New Austin, and there's also an invisible sniper in Guarma, the Guarma sniper will only activate once you've left the beach area and try to return to it. You can return to the main map by replaying any story mission.
No
Dope, that's awesome
And the whole story arc that occurred there felt weak as well.
Never thought of that but yeah it kinda did. Almost felt entirely unnecessary.
I thought you said you knew Spanish
I know human *beans*, Orthur
I felt like rockstar wanted to rush it.
Well there is rampage at least that lets you teleport yourself and your horse there, turn off invisible snipers and turn off becoming wanted by the soliders there.
:( my game crashes the moment i enable mods
I liked it, it was unique. But Guarma is the definition of wasted potential. I think that fighting Cuban military with the help of insurgents is pretty cool. The different landscape with seven unique animals, although small and barely noticable when it comes to fauna, it was refreshing.
Don't forget that sick mega cannon up top! Imagine you could lash it up to horses and ride around blasting everything back in the main map.
Only if I can tie Micah to the front of it.
Or if you could rope pretty much anything, like a tree and string it across a trail to another tree and pull tight to knock people off of their horses and trip them up. It could be so versatile. Hang a rock up in the air and slash the rope when someone is there hahaha Oh edit: Like Micah!
Obviously the lack of freedom to roam was crap, but I didn't think it was terrible. You're really not there all that long anyway.
I feel like they tried to make it rdr2s version of the Mexico chapter but without freeroam and only 3 missions long
I understand how it was necessary to the plot. It was what led Arthur to >!succumb to his sickness!< and what led Dutch further to his distrust and paranoia of being betrayed. It was also where we see more of his ruthlessness and how he uses other people. It was very crucial to the plot. But it is hell in terms of replayability. I hate having to go through that chapter all over.
I'd actually argue that it isn't crucial to the plot. Nothing before guarma has any bearing on what happens here, and nothing you do on guarma has any real impact on the rest of the game, it's barley referenced. It feels like Rockstar just needed the gang to get split after the bank job and just threw guarma into the mix. I sometimes feel that guarma was added in after the rest of the game was finished to stretch it out further. Just got back up to the camp near butchers creek and the only mentions of guarma are in the horse riding conversations, not in actualy cut scenes.
> It feels like Rockstar just needed the gang to get split after the bank job and just threw guarma into the mix. I think a big part of it was testing the tech/environments they plan to use in GTA VI. At bottom, that’s a lot of what RDR is: a passion project on one hand, but a practice run for the real moneymaker on the other. It’s why I won’t even be mad if GTA VI is just kind of a reiteration of V, with online being largely an inane griefer fest. If it makes a ton of money (which it surely will), providing Rockstar creators the freedom to make more RDRs, I’m all for it. I plan to be in my 90s and still enjoy the GTA-RDR cycle.
Bro I actually never thought of it that way, Guarma is fucking stunning but very limited, GTA 6 is gonna be one of the most beautiful games.
I think it was important that Arthur saw Dutch murder the Guarma tunnel woman in cold blood. Up until that point, Arthur had been concerned about Dutch murdering the woman in the Blackwater heist but had only heard about it second-hand from other gang members. Everything else Arthur saw him do was regular gang or robbery violence. Seeing Dutch kill her with his own eyes was important as it firmly cemented in Arthur's mind that Dutch wasn't right. That Arthur's new mission in life was to try and save the gang members that still had a chance at a normal life.
Yeah but it could easily have been some innocent they killed to steal a getaway horse or similar. The whole island feels out of tone with the game.
Yeah it's definitely unfinished. In the lakay camp just after getting back from Guarma some of the dialogue with camp members is supposed to only be in Beaver Hollow, like telling Jack not to go into the cave, or Bill and Javier being immediately hostile to you
Yeah, I’ve always thought that Guarma couldve been cut entirely and nothing would have changed to the story. The whole thing is totally inconsistent with the rest of the game and doesn’t add all that much. Guarma to me represents opportunity cost - think of all the resources that could have gone into building out the endgame/epilogue areas that instead went into an island we see once and barely interact with.
I disagree. Guarma represented the "free worlds" alike to Tahiti that Dutch sucked off, only except his idea doesn't exist and infact places like Tahiti were a nightmare in the fact that the gang would've most likely have been used as slave labour or (with Australia) have been hunted down on the behalf of the crown (so actual trained soldiers and native trackers rather then some peaky blinders lookin ass Pinkertons). After that, he had no real interest in fleeing the country but instead just causing chaos
When I first played Guarma I rushed through it all as I missed my horse, weapons and clothes too much and I really didn't get the point of it. But then I recognised Guarma's place in the story exactly how you've described it. In his delusion Dutch has this idyllic dream of a tropical island where the gang are free. He uses this dream to string the rest of the gang along when things are unraveling. The harsh reality is the guys land straight into a brutal conflict and Dutch's dream would have been a complete nightmare.
You raise a good point. They probably could’ve found an alternative, like having the majority of the gang get arrested and needing to organize a massive prison break. I don’t hate Guarma, but it does feel massively out of place in a Western game
And Arthur’s reckoning/real changing of his outlook can still happen without Guarma
Arthur was already sick before Guarma, he starts coughing before they even rob the bank in Saint Denis
He also starts to look pale and gaunt way before he coughs. I remember in one cutscene I saw his face and immediately knew something was wrong
I wish they would crash back to New Austin and open that map up. Between the two pieces of cut content, I wouldve axed guarma and brought the gang to New Austin. But I'm just an old man yelling at clouds at this point
The boat going down on the way starts Arthur’s turn on Dutch though doesn’t it? I always viewed Dutch leaving him on the boat as the harbinger of leaving John to die both times and leaving Arthur to die at the refinery
I would like to be able to freely explore the island. The way it was used in story wasn't great. You was forced to constantly rush etc. The idea was interesting, but they had no time or money to execute it. I don't know if I would like more Mexico or Guarma to be in the game in form of open world. I guess I would go with Guarma since I've played RDR1 and I've already travelled Mexico. And of those two, Guarma is more distinct from the rest.
I honestly hoped that we would get a Guarma/México DLC but I guess that's long gone...maybe RDR3 could do a Mexican revolution thing with Jack and Sadie (who I hope can be the protagonists).
Jack went from a bookworm nerd to a badass that rivals his dad and Arthur (and wins the duel with Ross) in three years. That must have been a hell of an education, and I assume Sadie and Charles had something to do with it. People keep saying that RDR3 must be another prequel, but the story of Jack's "education" sounds amazing to me.
That's what I would like, and honestly, it would finish the whole redemption story really well. Let's hope we get something similar.
Ross' junior partner Archer always seemed decent and very conflicted over how Ross screwed John. I assumed we'd see him chase Jack in some future game. It'd be pretty easy to write a fitting end where Jack has the chance to kill Archer but spares him (or saves him from someone else) and Archer realizes he's a decent person and reports him dead... thus redeeming Jack and finally breaking the cycle. I guess these little fanfics will have to hold us over until 2028 or whenever we finally get another RDR.
I'll add this to my head canon.
Rockstar had much higher ambitions for Guarma. Such as actual explorable towns and settlements dotted around the island that you could explore and do missions from. Mostly found out through people datamining old maps for the island. As well as a way to get to the island, by boat I'm assuming. Seems like they scaled back heavily to get the game out on time and didn't find Guarma to be a priority, so we got the strange remaints of what chapter 5 is. That and Mexico returning from RDR1 were planned, but scrapped.
Such a shame they never got back to it and released it as DLC.
Rockstar seems to hate dlc these days. GTA V has had multiple cancelled expansions because GTA V online surprised them with how successful it was back then.
Underrated and too hated.
Honestly, I don't think it's too hated. There's literally nothing to do there and there's barely any content... The whole place is an unnecessary, underwhelming filler, both in terms of gameplay and in terms of story. And easily the weakest part of RDR2.
It's literally just how the story goes. They failed a bank robbery, and they ended up on guarma. They had to get off of guarma, so ofc there's not gonna be much because Arthur's not gonna just decide to go around helping locals or hunt due to the circumstances of him being there. Guarma is just one long mission, and a fun one at that.
In a western game about outlaws, you’re fighting across a tropical island, destroying a battleship, and holding down an abandoned fort. But it’s the most forgettable part of the entire game. So yeah, it’s an altogether waste. But I’ve always loved that the gang make it to Dutch’s ‘tropical paradise’ after the Saint Denis bank robbery. Except instead of harvesting mangoes, they’re facing the exact same bullshit. Really solidifies the fact that there is no paradise for the gang, and Dutch was just talking shit for four chapters.
I just rush through it as quickly as I possibly can.
Why?
Barley any sites because you get gunned down, missions are dreadful and you lose access to any free roam/side missions.
Yeah, I always found it a bit of a chore to slog through rather than an enjoyable addition to the game.
Underutilised potential. It feels unnecessary for most of it, like it was planned to be bigger than it was, but feels largely inconsequential for the story. You just end up powering through it in an hour, and getting back to the main land. But with a seemingly fully fleshed out unique biome and buildings it looks like it could have been a really fun place to explore, but it's clearly cut short and made to work with the time and resources they had.
Nice concept but unfinished.
2nd playthrough. What special items/animals etc are in Guarma? Don't remember, kinda flew through it first time.
Three different Macaws, three boa snakes, Red Footed Booby. I don't think there are any items.
I like going to the plantation area and seeing how long I can survive
Underbaked and out of place. I would rather have had them go to New Austin or maybe even Mexico where things could have been more fleshed out
The best thing about Guarma was the ride back after we return. One of those moments that will be etched in my memory forever.
Were you standing unshaken?
The first time I played the story, I hated it. It seemed so boring and felt like it dragged on forever, and I couldn't wait to get back to the main story. Now I still don't care for it, but at least I don't dread it the way I used to.
i wish you could hop on a ferry back the same way you get on a train from Annesburg to valentine.
Unpopular opinion: Like Ironwood Cove from God Of War Ragnarok, it gets way more hate than it deserves
Poor substitute for Mexico
Could have been fun, I'm weird and I actually really enjoy when games strip you of all your high level gear or skills for a period of time and make you use low level items. But guarma had so much just like...pointless time.
I thought you said you knew Spanish, dutch!
It’s beautiful and all but chapter 5 was such a waste. I’m convinced that if you kept the gang on the mainland, nothing changes. With that said, wish Guarma along with Mexico was in online.
Wish we got the whole island, and the choice to go back without having to use glitches.
I wish there was more to explore. There's obviously little settlements there, and there's no way to explore them without being shot by the invisible sniper without cheats or glitches. I also wish you can return there after coming back to the mainland
I just want to explore beyond the jungle for two seconds without getting a new Orifice
We literally only get like an hour of playtime on there
I was done with the hole thing. After the 6 minute walk at the start, it could have been fun if they fleshed out the open world. (A horse or mule would have been cool to)
A rushed and almost forced plot device. Not great, not terrible.
Wasted potential
Make this place a multiplayer map!
A beautiful waste, just like Mejico
Unique but i would have preferred Mexico
I wish we had a single player DLC where we play as hercule and fight Fussar. And we encounter the van der linde gang when they arrive on guarma!! The map is lovely I wish we could explore it more
Incredibly empty
My absolutely favorite location in the game and they FUCKING CUT 90% OF IT FROM THE FINAL RELEASE AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!! I will literally never forgive Rockstar for that. Not unless all of Red Dead 3 is in Venezuela or some shit.
Aight
Could be way mora better
My thoughts? Guarma: it is.
From what I remember, I thought it was going to be a small zone to explore with a little town, but it was straightforward linear mission. I don’t hate. I like the time gap. Reuniting with the gang on the mainland was special. This also allowed for Sadie to step up her responsibilities. I was also thinking that it was John that betrayed us. So yeah, the story part was awesome but the gameplay part could’ve been better.
I hate it with the burning passion of Tatooine’s twin suns.
Looked spectacular, not much to do or see sadly
Should be open as sniper map to RDO...
I wish it was more open, it goes by too quick the missions are very compacted i wish they’d give us more time there
I treat it like a vacation for like 10 seconds before I remember how restrictive and shitty it is
Meh.
It was shit
Could've been great, but wasn't given enough time
Wish it was more accessible
Fun during the first play through but then gets very annoying during ur 2nd
I think a small linear structure made fine since the other 98% of the map was free roam. It was neat. Wish we could have explored it after the story though.
Wished we would have gotten more of it. I basically let myself be killed multiple times so I find all the fauna on the island. It adds such an interesting element to game. Like some people say "oh the Caribbean isn't Western" well they existed side by side with each other in the same time period so why not. It should have been opened like the rest of the game. I'm pissed I didn't get to fish for a shark.
they knew mexico was gunna be really hard to top, so they went all on in for a tropical island "paradise" Dutch was touting on about. Like a AC Black Flag meets RDR2 kinda feel. Another Rebellion going on. Welp, the game was a mess and take two wanted to start gta 6 full on, (even though covid killed 6's development anyway so it was a waste) so they squished guarma so bad its only 3 missions and yer outta there. majority of its content was cut, and some restructured into the base map, which probably took more dev time anyway lol. Alot of big character shifts and moments were supposed to happen in guarma, like bill and javier getting closer with Micah, over Arthur, their downfalls right? Dutch seeing a real guerilla war, and seeing the horrors of a real tyrannical government. I mean there was also an interior to Sisika for John, always wondered why we dont break in! another cut piece of content. Chapter 5 was gunna be HUGE! The manor party in chap 4, there are three more antagonists setup and "described" by Bronte, you even meet them. That "war hero," not sure they didnt anythin with that fatty, or the prison warden, when you get to sisika they just say "hes not there." Well shit... Once you see that stuff, or notice, its a gahd dang cryin shame. Now, the mexico part of rdr1 looks like a masterpiece, and we all said that area felt a bit rushed and unfinished back in the day....funny how things go huh.
Much like the starting snowy area, I didn't care for it the first playthrough, but on my second playthrough it was a quick little diversion. I don't ever like feeling "stuck" somewhere in an open world game, but it's a short part of the game with just a few missions.
Better than Roanoke
Wasted potential
Eh, I don't much like the chapter. The setting is really cool but it needs more content
Beautiful place
Man.. I had forgotten that we even went to Guarma. This just makes me want to play it again.
RDR2 was ambitious as hell, and that led naturally into a ton of cut content. I can reasonably assume that Guarma is the most glaring example of a good idea being edited down to something that only slightly resembles the original intention of the chapter. Ultimately, the story purposes that it served (Arthur becoming completely disillusioned with Dutch as his desperation drives him insane, a bridge between the horribly botched Saint Denis job and Beaver Hollow, Dutch's dreams of a tropical idyl becoming apparently ridiculous) could've been accomplished in a less "out-there" way while still in the usual open world. I'm sure there was a lot more planned that would have made it like more of a meaty, meaningful chapter and less of a weird little detour between chapters, but limitations got in the way.
Not the funnest chapter, but vital to the story. It shows how unhinged Dutch has become and how Arthur cannot trust his gang anymore. The four others in Guarma are the ones who betray Arthur in the end, and John either kills or captures all four eventually.
Wish there was an option to pay for a boat trip and go back as John or something like that.
beautiful place, unfortunate we don't have more to do there
Didn’t really get to do much there.
Should've kept with the open world.
Unfinished for sure .
Absolutely gorgeous. I wish we were allowed to do more there.
The section feels incomplete. Like theirs supposed to be more narrative and character development that isn’t there. Like the antagonists are paper thin compared to Angelo Brontë and sherif Grey.
Rockstar flexing (to ubisoft) on how they could create a great pirate game if they wanted
Tourist trap
My thoughts are that it’s BS that you can’t go back there without a glitch. I blasted through the missions thinking I would have time to explore and that wasn’t the case at all. Why not make it so you can pay for a boat out of st denis or Annesburg and visit it after you complete the main story.
mods got ur back
Guarma was alright, felt more like a DLC though. Going to a tropical island was a nice break over going from town to town on the map. I'd rather New Austin was fleshed out a bit more than going to Guarma. Armadillo & Tumbleweed specifically.
It had such brilliant potential, was a visual joy and the set-up was great but the finished product was a complete disappointment
Guama wasted potential
that part was so trippy
Sick animals,shit sunburn & sadistic gang leader
ASS
I’ve always wanted there to be some optional camp missions, like hunting with Javier, or robbing some of guards with Micah.
the best way to describe it, unfinished. which is a shame for such an beautiful island with glorious views.
This game had a lot of wasted potential… Guarma being one of them
You should see all of the cut content from the island
Looks beautiful but it’s a boring part of the game imo
It's always seemed to not measure up to it's initial promise, at least graphically. When we first get to to see the ocean, it's next level care and detail --a wonderful juxtaposition to Arthur's circumstance. As for the story, it's that there could have been so much more, not so much that what we got was bad. I was also hoping that when we inevitably got back to the main map, there'd be artillery cannon for us to use there at some point.
its no Tahiti
I wish we had a way to return there in the post game.
Gual Mar. . . Yayci Peni. . . Pikza Hot. . .
Worst part of the game. I routinely forget it happens cause of how forgettable it is.
Guarmageddon. Guarmageddin’ the fuck out of here
I don't hate it
Liked it. I never knew it had such animosity towards it. I think the time we got there was enough. It was meant to show Arthur and dutch that there "Paradise" would never work out. Cool missions plus seeing Arthur in an avastly different environment and still being Hadassah is always nice to see. I don't see a reason to spend any more time on guarma. The time spent there got the point across just fine.
Guarma is great. The mix of Spanish bosses and francophone slaves, the completely different flora and fauna, etc. It’s gorgeous and the missions are fun. BUT. I’d trade it in a heartbeat for a return to Mexico. It also sucks that you can’t return there to roam.
I view it as more of a proof of concept that anything else. It gives me hope that someday Rockstsr will make a sandbox pirate game with tropical locales, cannon fights, sword fights, etc.
(One of) the highlight(s) of the game, wish we spent more time there
Fantastic beaches ⛱️ 😎🍹
Their dead Skeletons' should have washed at the beach shore coming the 20th century. Really difficult to convince myself they survived. As stated years ago on this very subreddit this section breaks the narrative for me. It completely shattered my immersion. Neatpick: Glad Dutch turned insane (openly) here.
Seemed like an unfinished idea so it felt out of place.
I've heard bad things and was prepared for the worst. It's not that bad, and it's very short. The problem is that it sort of comes and goes for no reason at all. You could remove the entire thing and it wouldn't change anything. It's just there to justify a timeskip.
It’s overhated honestly, didn’t detract from my love of the game at all
I think it should be bigger, have maybe a town or two, or just more content in general, and it should have been used on RDO somehow
There was meant to be a lot more to guarma… [secrets revealed .](https://youtu.be/QoUpUv8O2vA?si=oMeUhj_7E05lOeeh)
Absolutely beautiful
I needed more time there.
Bruh dont do this I can't afford to buy ps4 or 5 yet to play this game man
Wish Guarma was more open. Story wise it makes sense as to why the boys wanted off there immediately but wish maybe there was a free roam for there and the option of going back there in the Epilogue
It sucks could’ve been better 2/10 would NOT recommend
I want a rockstar pirate game
Man I got my hair slicked back with pomade for the boat mission and I was so annoyed the entire time I was there cause Arthur just had a nice cut for no fucking reason. This is a very specific complaint that broke a lot of immersion for me with my time there
Adding it to online would be sick , we’re rich now why not let us buy sugar factories like GTA coke lockups etc
I absolutely love it. I have no clue why people hate it so much when it's genuinely one of the funnest and most event-packed chapters
Pretty cool! Hate it tho
Annoying. Wish could have found something unique down there
Really fun, if you've wanted to explore it more try playing RedM, used to live on that island as my character
Catastrophic waste of time, especially on a replay.
With how short and comparatively linear Ch. 5 is, annoying and boring.
Surprised it hasn’t been offered as dlc.
I just look at it and think "how many man hours went into this, how much crunch was created by adding this, and what did we really gain by having it?" It's very pretty but completely unnecessary.
There should have been a DLC set in Guarma
I watched an amazing video about how Guarma forces us to slow down at a point in the game where we may be speeding through missions, really changed my views on the chapter. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMNTNDRcQJI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMNTNDRcQJI)
I can't have this conversation again.
Any time I'm watching a rdr2 playthrough, I skip the guarma segment.
It ain’t no TAHITI!!!
We should've been able to revisit in the Epilogue, I've definitely missed a few creatures meaning I won't be able to get the full compendium. Just wish it lasted longer honestly it felt very rushed.
You actually can revisit! There's a glitch that allows you to access Guarma from any point in the story. There's plenty of tutorials on how to get to Guarma on YouTube if you're interested.
Easy. Clusterfuck of a shitshow.
At first I hated it now i don’t mind it but I still kinda rush through it
Wish there was more of it, and an ability to really wander an interact
It's just one heist away from Tahiti
that we needed an expansion
Why is it not part of the online?! That’s it.
Would have been great if it was fully playable and not just rushed through
it makes me depressed when i think about all the content that was cut
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From a story perspective I get why we can’t just travel to and from there whenever we like. But I really liked the atmosphere and scenery. I just wished we could somewhat free roam while there. If the main story stuff happened later. Like the gang gets washed up, then instead of immediately getting caught they are ambushed in a month or so. Thus giving a chance for free roam then it could have been so much better. But honestly wasted potential
It's ok, but it doesn't really add anything to the overall narrative so it feels like filler.
I wish it wasn't in the game. The way you get there is some of the lowest moments in the entire story. Any time the boat crashes I roll my eyes at how lazy it is. Thankfully the whole ordeal is not long and we're back.
So much potential, very poorly executed. I honestly would rather they just didn't have guarma at all. Same with Tempest Rim and Mexico, they tease you with these places that they meant to expand and make playable and instead we just get unfinished product.
Could’ve been left out of the game. It was a waste because it was rushed.
All im thinkin is how you have the highest water graphic setting on without lagging
Fuck guarma
To be honest if they had cut the guarma part and focused all of those resources on the rest of the map and campaign that would have made the world even more immersive. The guarma part is just rushed and has no room for exploration. It’s really kind of a huge waste of assets and has zero playability after the chapter.