Your horse, too, is not only your transport and companion but your mobile base of operations, carrying all your supplies, outfits, favourite hats and large weapons. Like cars in GTA you can get new horses and customise them as you like, but unlike cars you'll have to earn their trust first, and lug your saddle full of gear from animal to animal.

Many of the characters, but especially Dutch, Arthur and John (the protagonist of the original game) have incredible, almost literary personal story arcs over the course of the game, and this is easily the most emotionally interesting game Rockstar has produced to date. But big narrative moments are spread thin over the 60 hours or so you'll spend with it, and most of the time you're just helping your friends survive. By doing crimes.

Every person in the world is an opportunity to make money by robbing or killing but, apart from the fact that you can easily end up dead yourself from self-defense or the law, it's often more worthwhile to talk to them. Some will just grunt or tell you to leave them alone, but others have surprisingly pertinent things to say that can lead to further quests or intrigue.

Whether you're chatting with folks on the trail, engaged in a massive shootout or just enjoying the outdoors, the level of detail on display in this game is mind-boggling. Random people will gossip about your past actions in the game, or remark on a sudden turn in the dynamic weather. Snow and mud moves realistically when you walk through it, and Arthur's clothes become dirtier the longer you wear them. Set a dog off barking, and you'll soon hear other dogs responding in the distance. Shops are filled with items for you to walk around and browse — be they weapons, food, or tonics to restore your health, stamina or time-slowing "dead eye" ability —or you can leaf through the catalogue that shows all the prices and describes services, complete with old-timey ads. It would be impossible to list all the little details and touches I've noticed here, but it all goes toward making this feel less like a video game and more like a world.

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Along a similar vein, coming from more interactive open world experiences like Breath of the Wild and Assassin's Creed Odyssey makes Red Dead's world feel quite hands-off, without a lot to be gained from venturing off the many roads and horse-worn paths. Creating a "fun" or "satisfying" experience doesn't seem to have been the main focus here.

Indeed, a lot of the game can feel like work. You need to shave, eat and bathe regularly, for example. You need to brush and feed your horse; constantly, rhythmically tapping a button to keep it at a pace that's fast but that won't exhaust it. Remember to put your mask on while committing crimes to avoid becoming a suspect. Stop at a campfire to spend some time cooking meals to keep in your bag for later. In one mission you have to literally shovel pig crap out of a sty and into a wheelbarrow (although you do get to blow it up with dynamite later).

I had a bit of trouble adapting to all this at first, especially when missions are so far apart that you regularly need to spend ages riding on horseback to get there, and random events in the world sometimes mean those missions will be locked when you arrive and you'll need to come back later. But the more I played, the less oppressive it felt; you just have to accept that this is a world you live in, not one you play through.

For one thing the long rides are often in the company of another gang member, and the conversations on the trail are engrossing. You can also strike up conversations by riding alongside strangers, or stopping to help someone. Even when you're alone, if your path takes you by a town you might stop to play some poker in the saloon, take a bath or buy some new clothes. You could also spend some time hunting, as long as you have a plan to get the carcasses to a butcher or back to camp before they rot on the back of your horse. Just spending time living is likely to introduce you to optional challenges, "strangers" (who give side quests) and the many different kinds of collectibles, my favourites being the sets of illustrated cigarette pack cards.

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In many open world games these side activities can feel superfluous, but that isn't the case here. Since you always need to bring money and food back to your camp, and need to keep yourself well equipped too, these distractions have real worth. Even your incidental interactions with other people out in the wild are often interesting. You might pass a criminal in the back of a police wagon begging you to let him free, or witness a man being robbed or a woman being abducted. Helping folks can be rewarding, although it's also fraught too. People will try to con you in order to lure you into an assault or robbery, but on the other hand you might (like I did once) kill someone you'd previously agreed to help because you came to suspect they had ill intent. I still don't know whether that guy was trying to rob me or actually did just need a lift to town.

When you're out in the world you're constantly struck by the beauty of nature. From valleys and streams to dense swamps and more arid regions, it all looks absolutely incredible and the slow pace of travel, optional cinematic camera angles and western film inspired soundtrack encourages you to soak it all in. As with some great westerns that have come before, the hero here is a bad guy but largely redeemed by his desire to live a simple life close to nature. I loved setting myself up for the night under the stars on my way across the state, even as I felt terrible about the fact I was going to beat up a farmer that hadn't paid his debts in the morning.

Of course there's a stark melancholy here as well, as the America we now know, for the most part, no longer looks anything like this. The sprawling eastern city of Saint Denis, with its massive smoke stacks spewing filth into the air, its squealing trams and its dirty stone streets, is the most obvious indication of human excess making its mark on the lovely world around it, but then there's also the train tracks cutting through the natural homes of deer and birds, and the senseless hunting of big game. Paired with the incredible amount of violence, this aspect of the game might be read as another critique of America from the Scottish Rockstar, but it feels much more like a commentary on people in general than does GTA.

Like GTA, and like the previous Red Dead, this is also an astonishingly male game. It's not entirely uncritical, though, and certainly the style puts it in line with its inspirations both historical and cinematic. But from the drunken bonding and fragile egos to the preponderance of facial hair and grunty dialogue (and from the awkward eroticism of the bath scenes to the oddly realistic horse testicles), the game revels in and exudes masculinity throughout. Even as it does a good job of softening Arthur (mostly through his quiet thoughts reflected in his journal), it's less successful at elevating its female characters beyond a single dimension to match the interesting depth and diversity of the boys, with the exception of one notable woman. The crass humour of GTA returns as well in parts but, again, suits the setting.

One of the only actual complaints I have about the game is that, as a downside of there being so many things you can do, there a lot of different functions crammed onto the same buttons on the controller. For example it's very easy to try to examine something and accidentally draw your gun, or even fire a shot. I've committed heaps of crimes that were totally unintended, whether that's tackling a person when trying to get on my horse or killing someone when I only meant to rob them, and every time that happens I ended up having to flee and potentially accept a bounty or go into total slaughter mode to eliminate witnesses. In some situations you can start an all-out gunfight by accidentally drawing your weapon or brushing against someone else's horse with your own. Given the bounty system and the financial penalty for dying, these can be expensive accidents.

But while it has its flaws, it's hard to argue that Red Dead Redemption 2 is not a masterpiece. The end result of the meticulous detail, wonderful writing and stunning looks is an open world that sets a new bar for believability, and a time and place I can't stop thinking about or wanting to be a part of. This piece of America's past might not have ever existed, for all I know, however this game not only makes it feel real but fills it with meaning, emotion and — of course — horrible, exhilerating crime.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is out now on Xbox One (reviewed) and PlayStation 4.