Is anyone playing the Last of Us Part II? Thoughts? (Spoilers)

[cheezu]

I'm surprised by the number of negative reviews.
I think it's a solid game with an amazing story.
I find the fact that all the characters are portrayed as human and there's no clearcut sense of "black and white" or right and wrong very redeeming in these types of games. I suppose the first part will always be more special to me but I don't get all the hate tbh.

 

[MelodyRivers]

I’m not playing it personally but my hubby plays it and I like the story it’s good game with nice graphics. I was mad when the bad guys shot the horse though

 

[LuchaSloth]

The negative reaction to the LoU2 has pretty much been building since the first reveal they did with Ellie being a lesbian in the trailer. I don't know if the negativity is fully because people are that petty and intolerant...or if it was just that they didn't want a romantic angle in the game in any capacity...but, the negativity surrounding the game has been an ongoing thing since before it was even released. It's really a shame. The original game was one of the best games in the entire PS3 library...and I'm sure the second one is probably one of the best on the PS4. I will get around to playing it soon, but I have other priorities right now.

 

[mightyenites]

My fiance is playing it and I think it's good, I have some problems with the story but it doesn't deserve all the hate for sure. I didn't mind the death at the beginning, but I don't like the end

 

[cheezu]

I guess I didn't have high expectations for Joel back when the first trailer for the game was released - I had already assumed that the story would have a strong revenge element to it and that Joel was dead. Hence, I wasn't too surprised when they killed him off early on. I actually didn't even expect him to be there to begin with. Lots of people said that the way he was killed off was not realistic for his character but I think that that's just the nature of the apocalypse. You can be killed off at any time and human life is really fragile. All it takes is that one hit. So comments such as "Joel would never let this happen to him" make little sense to me.
I also didn't feel too shocked by it. Sure, it was really really sad and made me cry but it didn't ruin the story for me.
As for the other characters, again, as I said, I found the humanizing aspect redeeming. There were no heroes in the game because everyone had their own share of flaws. Also, I think it showed that certain circumstances can bring about the worst in any average person.
I guess I'm just tired of the "good guy against the world" trope that's often used in these kinds of video games or movies.

 

[therandompuppy]

I didn’t quite like how they ended the story for Abby, lev, and Ellie. Felt the writers did them all dirty. Additionally the revenge plot was a pretty boring narrative to follow along side what felt like torture gore happening to the character the entire time.

 

[Mick]

Finished my playthrough this morning. This game definitely has a change of pace from the first one, it's much darker but suddenly, motives were better implied, actions had consequences, and the non-chronological order of events made the plot harder to keep track of but at the same time, this was the order that made the most sense from a storytelling perspective where you want to provide the player with the right information at the right time.

It's getting a lot of hate for certain characters having bad things happen to them. The most important point I picked up from the first game though was that the characters you played as weren't necessarily the 'good guys' who deserved to win, they were simply pushing their own goals that you related with because you followed them over time. The new game built on that flawlessly, if you ask me.

Let's drop the story for a second. The music was good. The level design was great. The visuals were top tier. This alone made the game so, so worth it to me. It's easily one of the most unique pieces of media that I have ever touched and I doubt I will see anything quite like this for a looong time.

Looking back, it had so many tense and memorable moments. It was clearly made with a lot of effort and a lot of love, and dismissing that because people would have liked something with more plot armor and predictability, or basically wanted the same game as the first one (to then complain that it was the same but rehashed) is unfair to me.

Teal deer: This is good game if you ask me. Worth.

I'm going to stop writing and start my second run.

 

[LuchaSloth]

I'm playing it now. It's a masterpiece of a game.

I've only played for about 3 hours, but...I love the way the game directs your attention to things without just saying "this is the thing you should be looking at". There is such a fantastic subtlety to every scene, and the game really does a wonderful job of pulling your eye to one thing or another, without falling into the video game trope of "we made this obvious, so you can't miss it".

For example...the one segment I just played through...you're in the snowy woods, and it seems like you need to sneak past/kill some enemies. But as you begin to creep around, more and more appear...and I just knew at one point that I was meant to run. I knew that before I was being chased, and before the audio cue had the character say "time to run" or whatever. I just knew. And that is amazing game design. The game directed me, visually, to observe that there would be no possible way for me to eliminate all of the enemies with the tools at my disposal...it triggered my fight or flight response in real time...just as a real life scenario would. I was blown away, tbh. Literally the first time that a game has had that effect on me. Didn't even happen in the first game. I was talking to myself when it happened. I was like "How can I get around this many? Are we running? Oh! We're running! Definitely running!" Hahaha.

 

[LuchaSloth]

Double post, and bump.

But...I'm almost at the end of this. (At least, I assume it's the end)...because, it just has that "finality" that the ending bits of games always have (tonally). I'm sure it will probably take me a few hours to wrap up this last part...so, calling it "the end" is probably a stretch anyway. But, yeah...I feel that it's almost over. Not sure if I'll replay the game. Maybe sometime down the road. But...these games are hard for me to experience more than once. I always feel like the "reveal" is what makes games like Last of Us (1 and 2 both). It was a phenomenal game. And I'm sure the ending is going to knock me off my feet too. But, I don't know that I'll have it in me to grind trophies or anything. It would tarnish some of the beauty, IMO. That being said, I immediately had thoughts of wanting to revisit early locations as soon as I hit "post" on that. So...hahaha.

 

[Mick]

Double post, and bump.

But...I'm almost at the end of this. (At least, I assume it's the end)...because, it just has that "finality" that the ending bits of games always have (tonally). I'm sure it will probably take me a few hours to wrap up this last part...so, calling it "the end" is probably a stretch anyway. But, yeah...I feel that it's almost over. Not sure if I'll replay the game. Maybe sometime down the road. But...these games are hard for me to experience more than once. I always feel like the "reveal" is what makes games like Last of Us (1 and 2 both). It was a phenomenal game. And I'm sure the ending is going to knock me off my feet too. But, I don't know that I'll have it in me to grind trophies or anything. It would tarnish some of the beauty, IMO. That being said, I immediately had thoughts of wanting to revisit early locations as soon as I hit "post" on that. So...hahaha.

I also thought I'd reached the end a few times, but then the game just kinda kept going. I'm not going to spoil anything here obviously, but it's a very long ending, and I don't know exactly where you're at now, but it might not be over yet!

The ending is definitely one of those that makes you go "what just happened" and I did need some time to recover from it. It's... without spoilers, not one that I was expecting, nor the one I particularly wanted, but it was powerful and made me feel things in a way that only a few games have ever managed. It's a ride, for sure.

I have got to say, on a second playthrough the story hits a lot less hard, but it was still fun for me because the game has so many great sequences that are fun to play either for the area itself or because of the interactions... and so many things made so much more sense with the extra knowledge that you have from a first playthrough.

 

[LuchaSloth]

^^ Well...as far as where I am currently:

Spoiler

I just finished piloting the dinghy to the Ferris wheel. I'm about to enter the aquarium, I guess. With the big scary storm raging all around. Lol. I'm guessing there are still a few hours left. But, it feels like the "beginning of the end". I could be wrong. Hahaha.

 

[ReanimatedSorceress]

I'm not playing it because I can rarely afford new games, especially at their full price, but I have been watching a play through.

I'm admittedly really bad at the first game. I don't know why. I can play pretty difficult games but something about The Last of Us makes me stupid. I played about halfway through the game and finished the rest on YouTube because I'm far more interested in the story than the gameplay anyway.

 

[LuchaSloth]

I'm admittedly really bad at the first game. I don't know why. I can play pretty difficult games but something about The Last of Us makes me stupid.

I feel like people get caught up in the stealth factor, and they panic. I mean...that's kinda what I originally did in the first game...until I realized you could actually be pretty rowdy and do just fine. Lol. I mean...stealth is "important"...but, not necessarily paramount. On the standard difficulty, there are actually more than enough resources to just go balls to the wall for most of the game. Cause a ruckus...run away...hide somewhere, do it again. Lol. I only go full stealth for clickers...and usually only when I don't have a shotgun or molotovs. It took me a decent amount of time to realize that in the original game...and I would get stuck in these little standoffs where I would be crouched in "listen" mode...and I would take one step forward and then three backwards to avoid being seen. I never got anywhere like that. Hahaha.

 

[ReanimatedSorceress]

@LuchaSloth I also wrestle with the controls a lot, they seem different from other 3rd person shooters I've played

 

[LuchaSloth]

@LuchaSloth I also wrestle with the controls a lot, they seem different from other 3rd person shooters I've played

Really? That's interesting. I never really noticed them being all that unique.

I'm gonna have to think about that the next time I play now. Hahaha.

 

[LuchaSloth]

Okay...so I'm starting to understand that I'm nowhere near the end of this now. Lol.

 

[Jhine7]

I have played it a little bit, so far so good! Definitely worth it.

 

[Mick]

Okay...so I'm starting to understand that I'm nowhere near the end of this now. Lol.

Yeah, you were still quite a way off It feels like two and a half games in one, it just keeps going and going and going

 

[ThomasNLD]

I stopped playing it near the end. Game is great, gameplay, graphics, even story I suppose. I just can't really enjoy it. I miss the road trip feel of the first game. I don't like the revenge/hate plot and I don't like the way the story unfolds. Its a good enough plot, but I don't play videogames to feel like I'm being lectured on life lessons every sane human being already knows.

I feel like its pushing a narrative down my throat.

 

[LuchaSloth]

I feel like its pushing a narrative down my throat.

You're entitled to this...even though I hate this mentality with a passion. It's a narrative-driven game. The first one was a narrative driven game. It's an experience. I mean...you're entitled to not want to experience a narrative. But, then...why would you play this to begin with? Just saying. Especially if you are going to stop short of actually completing the game and still complain about it without actually knowing how it ends...

I would also be interested to know the specific part you actually stopped at...to judge how much of the narrative you've actually missed as a result. Admittedly, the game dragged for me at certain parts...but, it was well worth pushing through in the end.



Anyway...I did finally complete the game today. Below are my thoughts (with lots of spoilers):

Spoiler

I personally thought the ending was well done. Even if it took forever to get where it was going. Ellie losing two of the fingers on her guitar hand was her just-dessert for being hell bent on revenge. I think the two fingers were also meant to be symbolic of losing Dina and JJ. It was kind of like the culmination of losing everything through her own blind hatred. I also enjoyed the swapping back and forth between Ellie and Abby. I did like Abby in the end. I heard a lot of people saying they didn't. But...I really did. Especially after taking down the rat king.

It also hit pretty hard to see the dogs in the kennel at the stadium. Reading the board with their names on it. Getting to actually know some of them (dogs that Ellie definitely murdered earlier). The game had a lot of twists, and it seems like most of the complaints come from people who simply lacked the patience for this aspect. And I'll admit...my patience were tried a few times when the game kept going and going...but, I was happy in the end.

In the final chapter, I felt like everyone was on some sort of path. And I was fine with that. Abby and Lev are going to find the fireflies, I guess. And Ellie will either return to Jackson or just venture off on her own. If they make a third game, I'm guessing we will play as a slightly older Lev, with Abby in the role of a surrogate Joel. And that will probably be a decade away (if it happens at all)...but that seems like a decent story to me. I liked Yara and Lev a lot...and I'd be more than happy to play as Lev in the future.

I also thought it was clever how they handled the Lev situation. Like...I immediately thought it was a girl. Then they said it was a boy. Then it kind of slowly became obvious that it was a girl who shaved her head and changed her name, who associates as a boy. Which...is not really a storyline that I have any personal connection to. But, it was well done. It wasn't like "oh yeah...this character is transgender"...even at the end of the game, you could have missed it if you weren't paying attention, IMO. I mean...I assume the lesbian angle with Ellie/Dina, and the transgender angle with Lev are what people are referring to as "forced down our throats"...but, maybe the problem is with you if that is how you think. It should just play out as a story with regular people. Because, that's what it is. I found it very easy to look past all of that, because it really didn't matter. It's a story about second chances, third chances, giving people the benefit of the doubt, growing, treating people with respect, cult mentality, the reasons why people choose sides, etc. And I don't know how any of that comes off as "forced down our throats". It was a good story. Too drawn-out at times. But a good story. And definitely more than just a cliche tale of revenge.