Red Dead Redemption 2 is larger than its predecessor in nearly every way. The two western epics span the American frontier and provide plenty of content for players to engage with. RDR2 is absolutely chock full of side content, but is missing an interesting activity that was in the first Red Dead Redemption - nightwatch missions.
In a few select Red Dead Redemption locations, John Marston was able to serve his community by patrolling towns in the middle of the night and rebuffing criminal activity. At Red Dead's MacFarlane's Ranch, Chuparosa, and Blackwater, Marston would be able to start a nightwatch mission in which he followed a patrol dog around and interrupted crimes or disturbances as they happened. This can involve stopping cattle rustlers, robberies, fights, coyotes trying to take chickens, and more. The player was always rewarded with cash for their efforts, and a boost to honor if the situations were dealt with in an honorable manner, such as hogtying robbers instead of shooting them on sight.
Red Dead Redemption 2 still had lawman-adjacent activities, such as bounty hunting, but the nightwatch missions were entirely absent from the game. This may be due to a slight difference in tone between the games. In RDR1, Marston is trying to absolve himself of his criminal past so he can live peacefully with his family. RDR2 has a much greater emphasis on living the life of an outlaw, even though Arthur is trying to live more honorably. The Van der Linde gang changes camps frequently as they maneuver to stay on the run and search for an opportunity to strike it rich. For one reason or another, it seems the developers didn't think nightwatch activities would fit into RDR2.
Nightwatch Missions Could've Been Interesting In Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2's map poses an interesting possibility for nightwatch activities that didn't get utilized - namely, larger cities. RDR2's Saint Denis is about as sprawling as it gets for a video game set around the turn of the 20th century, and in the universe that Rockstar has created, there's no doubt plenty of crime to be stopped there. Signing up as a nightwatchman would have given Arthur Morgan more opportunity to sleuth the streets of Saint Denis, and could've even been integrated into the story as a sort of reconnaissance for a future heist.
Ultimately, Red Dead Redemption's nightwatch missions felt like a way to deliver semi-random encounters to the player. Red Dead Redemption 2's detailed NPCs more than make up for the activity's absence, with encounters happening more or less organically all over the map. Prowling the streets of Saint Denis, Valentine, or Rhodes looking for ne'er-do-wells would have been fun, but seeing how nearly every other Red Dead Redemption activity made it into Red Dead Redemption 2 in some capacity makes it seem as though Rockstar felt nightwatch would have been an unnecessary addition.