The Last of Us Part II (2020)

This is the start of me keeping public updates (that are basically just reviews but I don't want to label them as reviews), I would go back and make the rest public too but that's too much work, honestly don't know why I made them private in the first place. Anyways, to start talking about TLOU2.

Going into this game, I obviously knew it was divisive, but after playing it, the people who hate it for Joel's death and having to play as Abby are stupid. There are some fair criticisms I could listen to, but overall, I thought the game was excellent, one of my favorites ever. The graphics are insane, the characters are great (and with their being so many more than in TLOU1, it allows for a lot of things to get fleshed out), and the story is really solid, with a great (if not, kind of unsatisfying? I felt like there should have been something a little more for Abby) ending. The only "complaint" I would have for this game, and it is the same for TLOU1, is that the gameplay is just servicable. It's not bad and I had a fun time with it, but it's not what I'll remember about the game. Especially because I felt like there were no particularly cool combat experiences.

Another thing to just note down, I honestly might have enjoyed Abby's story more than Ellie's. It connects you to more characters and then gets you to care mroe because you know the fate of these characters just moments after Abby leaves, idk I think the first half of Ellie's time in Seattle just wasn't that interesting, once Ellie and Dina make it to the Movie Theater, Ellie's part gets better.

Overall, I think this is a great game, I had a great time, the story was fulfilling, and while the gameplay was nothing crazy, it was still almost always fun. Also, it's just so breathtaking to look at. Light 10/10 for me. I like it more than TLOU1 because I consider this basically TLOU1 but slightly better in story, gameplay, characters, and game length.

I ran credits on this game yesterday morning. It took me over two years to finish it. I played the first large chunk on PS4, taking a long break, fueled by the game requiring me commit a murder I thought I should have had some choice about. I applaud the game for allowing you to pretty well stealth your way through most encounters with humans and animals - until the game wants to make a statement on the human condition and what scarcity and trauma might influence how someone acts.

I picked the game back up on PS5, with the remaster - no issues booting up a mid game save, by the way. I had had the major beats of the story spoiled for me, and the more I learned about what transpires, the less I wanted to play the game. I'm still glad I played it for myself.

I still don't agree with the overarching argument put forth by the game's story, or at least, the elements they had there were not think there's a better sequence of events that could have me come along better for the ride. The whole time I was questioning Ellie's motivation for her revenge spree and 'final' spree in Santa Barbara and I couldn't find it in myself to feel the same way. She finally feels some remorse, and visceral regret after one of her fatal encounters, but when given the choice to continue down the line, not out of any need for self-preservation, chooses again to murder.

Listening to Waypoint Radio's spoiler cast on the game (RIP - long live Remap) felt very validating! I agree that the elements to a great story are there, they could just be re-ordered and slightly tweaked to make a truly surprising and unexpected. For example, Emmanuel Maiberg made this point originally but it unlocked well what I was feeling towards the story we learn too late, literally the last flashback of the game, that Ellie and Joel were starting to make up before the patrol that led to their encounter with Abby and his death. Having that information maybe helps some people understand her decision to so doggedly chase after Joel's killers. Their relationship was complex and that tidbit helps better situate her decisions .

Let's see how ND brings these characters back for a, what feels like, inevitable third entry. Can ND imagine a post-apocalyptic world where violence takes a back seat to other aspects that are present equally in the human condition? What might it look like if Ellie was to lead with an olive branch instead of a pocket knife?

Finally finished The Last of Us Part II. To me, both games are 7/10's. I like Part II inspite of one heinous aspect of the gane.

• Too many plot contrivances.
• Part II's story is more flawed than Part I's, but I like it more because it has a lot more to chew on rather than just Zombie Pixar's Up, therefore, more fun for me to look into.
• Mel is easily my least favorite character. She exists to be pregnant in order to parallel with Dina and then die in order for Ellie to feel guilt. It's still stupid for her to be out there while being 8 months pregnant. Her character in general just feels contrived.
• I know that these character developments are supposed to be foils to each other, but I liked Ellie's section much more than Abby's despite her downfall. Ellie is losing her humanity while Abby is regaining it by caring for Yara and Lev. As much as I prefer Abby's setpieces, I just loathe the focus and portrayal of the Seraphites in Abby's section. I also like the bow the most out of every weapon in the game.
• The sins of the father theme wasn't as fleshed out as I was hoping. This is due to Abby's section being about her regaining her humanity and her father influencing Abby to do good things like helping the kids. He indirecly helps Mel save Yara. However, when it comes to his influence on Abby, I find it to be very dry and that is due to how much little he has to work with.
• Owen is the best character.
• I don't think Abby is a nuanced anough character. Her arc is literally Joel's and I get why people like her, but the things she does in her campaign are just positive, positive, positive. She doesn't really do anything heinous in her section. The worst thing she does is kill Joel and not much else. I feel it is leaning a bit too hard on trying to make us like her. It's not as yin and yang as I feel the game wanted it to be.
• Killing is fun. I really like the pacing between scavenging, exploration, and combat so that once I got to fighting, it was an opportunity for me to release and go all out. The jungle gym arena design, the gunplay, the progression, and Hard difficulty was good enough for me where it felt not too hard to get back in and out of stealth where it didn't made me locked into one spot unlike Uncharted 4. Ludonarrative dissonance, yada yada. Killing is still fun.
• DOOM Eternal is still the best game of 2020.

The story did not touch me as the first one, but it’s a hell of a sequel. (Spoilers ahead).

Playing as Abby and Ellie through the game made us feel like each one. The climax, for veteran players — regarding that — was the end of Abby’s Day 3 when you raid the theater and want/have to kill Ellie. I just didn’t want to do it, but i understood the reasons. The theme of the first one is parenthood. This one talks about how violence attracts more violence. And no matter what, things will be lost because of that. Ellie loses her partner, two fingers and a hobby after already losing Joel in the first place.

Talking about gameplay, major improvements from the PS3 Era. You can now dodge, crawl and all. It’s different when you play with Ellie and Abby. I kind of felt that Ellie required more finesse of me and Abbie a brutal gameplay. The weapons reflected that.

Not as good as the first one is not a demerit. The first one is the GOAT of videogames for me. It’s still a 5 star game. Amazing story, gameplay and the right length.

Finally replaying this with the PS5 remake. I get that it wasn't really "necessary". But honestly, for me the 10$ upgrade from the PS4 version was worth it just to have the haptic feedback. The feeling of the bow and arrows?!

The "No Return" part is really humbling me, I'm having trouble completing runs on Light? (And well, I'm not a "good gamer", and especially not shooters, but I have finished the game on Moderate before, and I'm playing Hard+ currently without too much trouble). Quite fun to play as other characters than Abby and Ellie though!