I thought Messiah was chatting bullshit but I too shot two beavers with a shotgun and they did seem to disintegrate.
Several points:
1) I loved Reyes' line about not wanting to marry a peasant girl 'with a tight cunt and the hands of a farmer.'
2) Being able to jump onto moving trains whilst on horseback is a great feature.
3) The end of the Deadulus and Son mission is brilliant. In general, I love the sense of macabre in this game, really feels of the time.
4) I know this is faggy in the extreme, but I had one of my best experiences in gaming for as long as I can remember earlier. First time I ventured into the West Elizabeth region, it began to really pelt with rain (one thing I noticed that you probably all have already - if you pan the camera towards the sky, the screen gets droplets on it). I got to the Manzanita outpost when some woman asked me to look for her wagon. It was dark and I found myself in bear country, and bottled going into the heart of it, so I turned back, failing to find the wagon. With a fierce storm brewing, I moved south and found a camp with three men being attacked by a bear and boar. I dispensed with them, but the three fags decided they wanted a bit, so I offed them also.
Then I went nearby to finish the 'I Know You' stranger mission. I won't spoil it for those who haven't got there yet, but the way this played out, with the storm raging in the night, was fantastic. I almost got chills watching it, topped off the whole experience for me. If I was playing this in the early hours of the morning, on my own in the house, I'd have probably shit myself at the whole eerie ambience of it all.
I love this game. I can't remember the last time I fagged out to a game like this.