The Last Of Us Part II

[CauZuki]

I just finished the game earlier today. It's a phenomenal game, not sure it's as emotionally resonate as the first one was for me, but it's up there

I went into the game on media blackout (meaning I hadn't seen any of the trailers past the one where Joel is revealed to be in the game, and I avoided 100% of the leaks from the hack), and it was worth the wait

Hive minds , review bombing and cancel culture are some of the most toxic things coming from social media. I almost didn't buy because I let myself believe the reviewers were paid shills and the "fans" knew best...I'm glad I took the plunge , yeah the first big scene hurt but it made me appreciate certain aspects of the game as we were meant to feel like we were mourning an important character from the 1st part. The mindset is sadness , revenge and the meaning of it all during an apocalypse. Their take was perhaps not to everyones taste but the depth of the criticism is unmerited.

 

[Papa Francouz]

Hive minds , review bombing and cancel culture are some of the most toxic thing coming from social media. I almost didn't buy because I let myself believe the reviewers were paid shills and the "fans" knew best...I'm glad I took the plunge , yeah the first big scene hurt but it made me appreciate certain aspects of the game as we were meant to feel like we were mourning an important character from the 1st part. The mindset is sadness , revenge and the meaning of it all during an apocalypse. Their take was perhaps not to everyones taste but the depth of the criticism is unmerited.

Just wanted to comment on the bolded: the truth is always somewhere in between. The majority of game reviewers don't play games except to review them, so their lens is smudged due to a lack of experience of what gamers want in games. Fans, typically, put their favorite games on a pedestal and have unrealistic hopes for what sequels to their favorite games need to look like.

I think a big part of this "controversy" is that there's a pretty big disconnect between what gamers want in a game and what reviewers want in a game. That's why a place like Metacritic doesn't really work for me (on top of them giving outlets like IGN heavier weight in the overall score of a game) and why I prefer finding a reviewer who's opinions and desires mirror my own.

Figured I'd throw that out there since this game has sparked a bit of a battle between reviewers and gamers. Glad to hear you're enjoying the game, though.

 

[wingsnut19]

I just finished the game.

Spoiler

I liked the general content of the ending, but this game suffers from pacing issues like I've never seen in a story driven game before. Quite disappointed, given how incredible the first half was. I was actually quite interested in playing as Abby, because unlike some of the other people who expressed she isn't compelling, I was really interested in getting her perspective and she felt like a character that would be pretty easy to build off of. I really think Naughty Dog just failed her by not surrounding her with a more interesting story. Pretty much everything to do with Lev and Yara just fell completely flat for me. I recognize that it was all done to build to giving Abby a reason to not kill Ellie, but it just didn't work for me. I think every time I was playing as Ellie, I was 100% more engaged than when I was playing Abby, solely because the story written around her was more interesting. I also don't get why they didn't just leave it at the natural ending of her falling out with Tommy and living a life with Dina. She is still going to live a life of trauma and regrets. Making the player go to Santa Barbara to try and drive that point home again, that life won't be better having successfully gotten your revenge, was just exhausting. Especially since this gameplay is just not built to be interesting for the duration of a 25-30 hour game.

The one thing I will give the Abby section is that it had the only interesting boss fights, being the Rat King, Tommy, and Ellie.

Anyways, it is still a game far better than average, but not with the same focus as the first. It has the same quality peaks, but the pacing of the second half really destroys all of the emotion and tension built in the first.

 

[Shareefruck]

Yeah, the game seriously suffers from never-ending ending syndrome-- I found it very self indulgent. Just eloquently make the point and let the idea hang and be interpreted instead of beating it to death.

 

[Rowlet]

There were pacing issues early on, but I really liked it. There were about 4 different times I thought it should have ended, but overall I see it not as a 10/10 masterpiece, but a must play title.

 

[Beau Knows]

I find that most games are too long, when I was a kid and couldn't afford to buy every game I wanted, I'd want games to last me as long as possible.

Now it's rare that I appreciate a game being 10+ hours long, they usually run out of ideas long before then. I've been replaying the Tony Hawk games lately, and there's something really rewarding about being able to beat them in less than an hour once you've mastered them. Those games (the first 3 anyways) don't waste any of your time.

I find it hard to replay these type of story based games since you spend so much time walking or doing other mundane things that were riveting in the first play through. Not saying they aren't good games, I just find them more disposable in that way. I'll play them and likely never pick them up again.

 

[Gnova]

I find that most games are too long, when I was a kid and couldn't afford to buy every game I wanted, I'd want games to last me as long as possible.

Now it's rare that I appreciate a game being 10+ hours long, they usually run out of ideas long before then. I've been replaying the Tony Hawk games lately, and there's something really rewarding about being able to beat them in less than an hour once you've mastered them. Those games (the first 3 anyways) don't waste any of your time.

I find it hard to replay these type of story based games since you spend so much time walking or doing other mundane things that were riveting in the first play through. Not saying they aren't good games, I just find them more disposable in that way. I'll play them and likely never pick them up again.

I find 20 hours to be close to the sweet spot for main quest story driven game length.

Any less and I don't feel I got $80 worth and that includes games where they tack on a multiplayer part to add value.

 

[guinness]

That's awesome! I was watching Dunkey's review earlier today and noticed the Convention Center, which means they must have put at least a little bit of Westlake into the game, as well, I would imagine. They must have not gotten permission from Cheesecake Factory to put them in the game, though

I can't really tell from your post, but would it be safe to say you're enjoying it? I remember a few pages back you were just hoping for some improvements in the gameplay - has Part II met your expectations on that front? That's one of my biggest issues; I didn't think the gameplay in TLoU was any fun, and I don't want to drop $60 on this new game if the gameplay isn't fun (on top of the story issues I've already read about). Really my only interest in it is to see a post-apocalyptic Seattle come to life, so I might wait for a big price cut in a few years just to see what that looks like.

I like it, but I may be playing it too much, too fast though, I'm currently in day 3 in Seattle, and the pacing/story made me stop last night.

Ellie's decision at the point irritated me, and the game made no choice as but how to proceed...I could slog through and clear it, but I'm not in the mood at the moment. It's a combination of that decision and level design that's honestly grating/grinding.

As for the story so far, it's coming together, and just curious to see where it ends ultimately ends up, trying to avoid spoilers and whatnot.

As far as the sightseeing, eh, it's OK, but not worth the money just for that.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Spoiler

I finished it at about 6:30 AM, I had planned to play it again but after finishing it, I don't know, my suspension of disbelief only goes so far and when a character gets shot in the back of the head they are f***ing dead that's how that works, this character does not have magical powers, they do not get to rise from the dead, for reasons and walk around like nothing happened.

 

[Fantomas]

Some spectacular set pieces in the second half of the game. But most of the time I was just wishing you-know-who were in them instead.

 

[Kcb12345]

Just finished it tonight. Incredible and extremely frustrating/brutally sad game story-wise. Don't expect any feel-good stories in this one

​

That ending just leaves me so frustrated though.

Spoiler

I will say however, that I reallyyy want a 3rd game now and I know they're considering it as their next project, but it's so frustrating cause I've also seen theories that this is the end of Ellie's story and that another game would be about someone else, possibly Abby. I wouldn't mind a cheaper standalone game about her like Uncharted: Lost Legacy but TLOU3 needs to continue Ellie's story, or at least wrap it up properly. They just left it so open and basically as bad as they possibly can for her. Not entirely sure how they will make another game with an emotional story revolving around Ellie though without having something happen to Dina or JJ, and at that point it's basically beating a dead horse by continuing the same brutal mental beatdown on Ellie. I just think we need some more closure on the story not an open end like they left it. Sorry, just had to rant since I just finished the game and everyone I know is still playing so I can't talk about it with them lol. Time to wait another 6+ years for a sequel I suppose, and that's IF they choose to do it as the next Naughty Dog project.

 

[JoVel]

Just finished it tonight. Incredible and extremely frustrating/brutally sad game story-wise. Don't expect any feel-good stories in this one

​

That ending just leaves me so frustrated though.

Spoiler

I will say however, that I reallyyy want a 3rd game now and I know they're considering it as their next project, but it's so frustrating cause I've also seen theories that this is the end of Ellie's story and that another game would be about someone else, possibly Abby. I wouldn't mind a cheaper standalone game about her like Uncharted: Lost Legacy but TLOU3 needs to continue Ellie's story, or at least wrap it up properly. They just left it so open and basically as bad as they possibly can for her. Not entirely sure how they will make another game with an emotional story revolving around Ellie though without having something happen to Dina or JJ, and at that point it's basically beating a dead horse by continuing the same brutal mental beatdown on Ellie. I just think we need some more closure on the story not an open end like they left it. Sorry, just had to rant since I just finished the game and everyone I know is still playing so I can't talk about it with them lol. Time to wait another 6+ years for a sequel I suppose, and that's IF they choose to do it as the next Naughty Dog project.

Spoiler

I'd rather have them do a prequel. Perhaps something from the first 20 years of the pandemic with some flashbacks to the start of the outbreak after Joel lost Sarah.

I don't see how Ellie's story would continue from here without it feeling forced.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Just finished it tonight. Incredible and extremely frustrating/brutally sad game story-wise. Don't expect any feel-good stories in this one

​

That ending just leaves me so frustrated though.

Spoiler

I will say however, that I reallyyy want a 3rd game now and I know they're considering it as their next project, but it's so frustrating cause I've also seen theories that this is the end of Ellie's story and that another game would be about someone else, possibly Abby. I wouldn't mind a cheaper standalone game about her like Uncharted: Lost Legacy but TLOU3 needs to continue Ellie's story, or at least wrap it up properly. They just left it so open and basically as bad as they possibly can for her. Not entirely sure how they will make another game with an emotional story revolving around Ellie though without having something happen to Dina or JJ, and at that point it's basically beating a dead horse by continuing the same brutal mental beatdown on Ellie. I just think we need some more closure on the story not an open end like they left it. Sorry, just had to rant since I just finished the game and everyone I know is still playing so I can't talk about it with them lol. Time to wait another 6+ years for a sequel I suppose, and that's IF they choose to do it as the next Naughty Dog project.

Spoiler

They're 100% going to make a third game, you don't have to worry. The game is selling like gangbusters, and the ending is left open to make another. They would be silly not to make one.

Druckmann played coy for years about them making a part 2, saying "we're not sure if we want to do it". But he admitted in an interview I watched yesterday that he had the basic outline for part 2 done around the time the original game came out. He pitched the idea of the second game to Ashley Johnson (who plays Ellie) in the same meeting they pitched her the Left Behind DLC, which would have been sometime in 2013.

This was in the works for a while.

I'd be very surprised if Naughty Dog doesn't already have a basic story for a third game, or at the very least the wheels are starting to turn to begin writing it.

And I don't expect it to take 6+ years for part 3 to come. Have to remember that while it did take 7 years for TLOU 1 and 2 to come out, Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy both came out in those 7 years.

My bet would be 3/4 years for the next game. 4 years was the amount of time between Uncharted 4 and TLOU 2

 

[Papa Francouz]

I like it, but I may be playing it too much, too fast though, I'm currently in day 3 in Seattle, and the pacing/story made me stop last night.

Ellie's decision at the point irritated me, and the game made no choice as but how to proceed...I could slog through and clear it, but I'm not in the mood at the moment. It's a combination of that decision and level design that's honestly grating/grinding.

As for the story so far, it's coming together, and just curious to see where it ends ultimately ends up, trying to avoid spoilers and whatnot.

As far as the sightseeing, eh, it's OK, but not worth the money just for that.

Huh, that's interesting. I had heard from one of my buddies that the pacing was questionable at times and didn't hear it again until reading a few responses on this page. Seems like it's becoming a more common criticism; that, and the egregious amount of flashbacks.

Hope you like the story once it's all said and done. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts once you make it through the game.

Thanks for the heads-up on the sightseeing aspect, too. I was leaning this direction initially, but I'll probably wait for a few years until it's available for $20, or something, just to see the Seattle they've created. I am pretty stoked to see a post-apocalyptic Seattle, though.

 

[Kcb12345]

Spoiler

I'd rather have them do a prequel. Perhaps something from the first 20 years of the pandemic with some flashbacks to the start of the outbreak after Joel lost Sarah.

I don't see how Ellie's story would continue from here without it feeling forced.

I wouldn't mind seeing that. Lot of options really

Spoiler

They're 100% going to make a third game, you don't have to worry. The game is selling like gangbusters, and the ending is left open to make another. They would be silly not to make one.

Druckmann played coy for years about them making a part 2, saying "we're not sure if we want to do it". But he admitted in an interview I watched yesterday that he had the basic outline for part 2 done around the time the original game came out. He pitched the idea of the second game to Ashley Johnson (who plays Ellie) in the same meeting they pitched her the Left Behind DLC, which would have been sometime in 2013.

This was in the works for a while.

I'd be very surprised if Naughty Dog doesn't already have a basic story for a third game, or at the very least the wheels are starting to turn to begin writing it.

And I don't expect it to take 6+ years for part 3 to come. Have to remember that while it did take 7 years for TLOU 1 and 2 to come out, Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy both came out in those 7 years.

My bet would be 3/4 years for the next game. 4 years was the amount of time between Uncharted 4 and TLOU 2

Spoiler

Good point. Hope you're right. My fear is that the sequel will be about Abby and Lev though and have nothing to do with Ellie. It'll be an entirely new story. Idk where else they could really go with Ellie's story but a trilogy just feels right now because of that ending.

 

[JaegerDice]

Finished the game.

I know it's not Naughty Dog's style, but it would have been cool if they had given the player a choice in the final decision.

It's a well made game, and the story was bold if not completely successful.

I still believe The Last of Us was a game that didn't need a sequel. I don't think Last of Us 2 hurts the legacy of the original or anything ridiculous like that, but I can see myself replaying the original again in the future. Hard to imagine playing this one again.

 

[Shareefruck]

Finished the game.

I know it's not Naughty Dog's style, but it would have been cool if they had given the player a choice in the final decision.

It's a well made game, and the story was bold if not completely successful.

I still believe The Last of Us was a game that didn't need a sequel. I don't think Last of Us 2 hurts the legacy of the original or anything ridiculous like that, but I can see myself replaying the original again in the future. Hard to imagine playing this one again.

I don't think that sentiment is ridiculous at all, personally. While I'm not a fan of the first one, it's a story best left alone as a singular statement, and this does hurt the legacy it would have had if it did, however little, IMO (even if the sequel happened to have fewer flaws, that'd be the case).

In general (and this isn't directed at you), I find that people always push that "whatever material you add to something won't take anything away from the original" narrative, and it makes no sense to me-- of course it does-- Anything that you add to any property affects how one iteration of it feels. The way I see it, it's no different in principle than ending a story at the wrong point or dragging it out longer than it should be-- it isn't the be all end all (and there's an additional layer of separation that makes it easier to ignore when it comes to a franchise of games rather than parts of a single game), but it does have an effect that matters, IMO.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Going woke = going broke amirite..

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Honestly having watched videos and play throughs of the game....I lost all interest in buying the game. Not for me.

 

[Fantomas]

This game is gonna be collecting dust on my shelf for a long time. I'm so glad I didn't buy any of the expensive editions.

What an absolute bummer.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Just beat it. Definitely one of the best games I've ever played. 2nd best game this gen next to Witcher 3. This game toys with your emotions, and is the definition of a roller coaster ride. Bravo Naughty Dog.

I thought the 2nd half was better than the first tbh, and in pretty much every way this game was better than the first for me.

 

[Cheddabombs]

I finished it at about 6:30 AM, I had planned to play it again but after finishing it, I don't know, my suspension of disbelief only goes so far and when a character gets shot in the back of the head they are f***ing dead that's how that works, this character does not have magical powers, they do not get to rise from the dead, for reasons and walk around like nothing happened.

Spoiler: Spoiler

He got shot on the side of the head, at Ellie's house later he eye is all f***ed up (looks like he may have lost it even) so I don't know if it's entirely unrealistic. He didn't get shot directly in the back of the head though.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Spoiler: Spoiler

He got shot on the side of the head, at Ellie's house later he eye is all f***ed up (looks like he may have lost it even) so I don't know if it's entirely unrealistic. He didn't get shot directly in the back of the head though.

Spoiler

Fair enough it looked like the back of the head when I first played it, even still from that range that character is dead, except that he's not because reasons that are never explained

 

[JoVel]

Beautiful scene at the start of Seattle, which is possible to miss. No spoilers in it, but I'll put it in spoilers just in case.

Spoiler

 

[syz]

I don't think that sentiment is ridiculous at all, personally. While I'm not a fan of the first one, it's a story best left alone as a singular statement, and this does hurt the legacy it would have had if it did, however little, IMO (even if the sequel happened to have fewer flaws, that'd be the case).

In general (and this isn't directed at you), I find that people always push that "whatever material you add to something won't take anything away from the original" narrative, and it makes no sense to me-- of course it does-- Anything that you add to any property affects how one iteration of it feels. The way I see it, it's no different in principle than ending a story at the wrong point or dragging it out longer than it should be-- it isn't the be all end all (and there's an additional layer of separation that makes it easier to ignore when it comes to a franchise of games rather than parts of a single game), but it does have an effect that matters, IMO.

The story of the first one was never going to be left alone as a singular statement because they made sure to shoehorn in an awful ending for the sole purpose of being able to make sequels. In hindsight it seems like the series was compromised from the start in that sense. Given how blatant they pulled the same thing in Part 2 I'd be surprised if that wasn't the plan all along. Making a new IP in the AAA space costs too much money and requires ideas that I'm not sure ND has at this point.