Last of Us (2)

Didn't see another thread on search, thought I'd throw one up. Not sure how many people played the Last of Us and its recent sequel on playstation, which I just finished. I'd say there's a fair bit of controversy over the story on the internets with death threats and hate mail going out to some of the actors/actresses over how it ended. Anyway, for my take, I can't think of another game that had as strong of an emotional reaction to during and after the game as these two. That alone I think gives it some legitimacy. Now whether those emotions are positive or negative, that'll be up to the individual. For me I'd say I felt rather hollow at the end. But not all stories are happy, life doesn't always make sense and isn't always fair, and playing through a game alone that made me think and reflect on things is a sign for me of a game well made. Gameplay was pretty solid as well even if basically a retread of the first.

 

Thank you so much, I've been waiting for someone I can actually trust to just say something reasonable that doesn't fall under some tribal "us or them" spin. Just an honest take on the game.

I really, really liked the first one - it's a veritable masterpiece among games.

Spoiler: Last of Us 1

Especially the giraffe scene, that was just so perfect! And that's just the tip of the iceberg on a game that had such feel and mood.

 

I think part of what makes the Last of Us I and II great are the moments in between where the characters are talking and seeing sights. Don't get me wrong, #2 has some amaaazing set pieces as well and very Deadspace / Resident Evil vibey spots.

 

Yeah, I do agree they pushed the envelope a little too much with that. Especially when they made you push a button to attack or kill someone over and over again when they weren't necessarily a clear cut 'evil' person. If they were trying to make the audience uncomfortable they definitely succeeded in some cases.

 

I sort of hate this game, to be honest.

I know I had to professionally and otherwise look it up in any case - so no harm done - in part because of the controversy and all and I really have to say that much of the criticism was spot on.

Spoiler: Rant with mild spoilers

This is 'Woke As Fuck' of story driven game. May as well put the controller aside for a while as they roll in some super awkward "not sure if they're underage by the way" lesbian scenes and whatnot. "DUDE! WEED!" - every kid out there automatically jumps at the chance to ignore their actual role as 'guarding the settlement against zombies' and so on...

I absolutely hate the characters, I hate the story and I hate the "you can't help but stand audience to this" attitude from the developers who just want to indoctrinate people to their political-religious point of view.

So, in short outside of the spoilers - I kinda hate the game mechanics, the characters and the story.

It's also an antithesis to games like Detroit - Become Human. In Detroit you were doing what games should be all about - making meaningful decisions. Actual combat was almost cinematic like and more of a reflection of the outcomes of your decisions.

Whereas this game is itself a political rant on rails where the only control you'll have is in micromanaging the combat, whether your flashlight is on or if you're approaching someone crouched or fully prone, whether you'll use pistol or rifle: hint - you'll do the only sensible thing 90% of the time anyway and it's not interesting. The combat is rather tedious, annoying and frustrating than interesting or fun and considering it's the only thing you'll have any control over and when the story and characters are distasteful - it really makes for one really bad game. As opposed to games that are just not that interesting and which you have ambivalent feelings towards this game is as if designed by the lead designer to be as annoying as possible.

The big question that this game raises is - do the producer and lead designer want to kill the franchise itself?