The Last of Us Part II

[Kreashko]

Wikipedia - The Last of Us II

[GameDesigner14]

One of the games i'm looking forward to. I loved the first one but this one seems to insinuate that Ellie is looking to get revenge on those who killed Joel. Not sure but it seems that way to me and alot of other people.

[Hanley!]

Not sure what to think of there being another one. It's a strange situation, because the last game finished the story so perfectly that it feels like they can only hurt that story by continuing it now.

On the other hand though, the game was so good that it's hard not to be excited at the prospect of another one. Hope it lives up to what they delivered the first time.

Part of me wishes that they had gone with a new character, so Ellie's story could have been left alone. But at the same time, I've developed an emotional attachment to that character so if the game revolved around someone else, I might feel her absence a little.

So I'm a tad conflicted, but overall pretty damn excited. The Last of Us was easily one of the top 5 games from the last generation, in my mind.

[EmperorWu]

You had me at Last of Us 2.

[Daz]

Not sure what to think of there being another one. It's a strange situation, because the last game finished the story so perfectly that it feels like they can only hurt that story by continuing it now.

On the other hand though, the game was so good that it's hard not to be excited at the prospect of another one. Hope it lives up to what they delivered the first time.

Part of me wishes that they had gone with a new character, so Ellie's story could have been left alone. But at the same time, I've developed an emotional attachment to that character so if the game revolved around someone else, I might feel her absence a little.

So I'm a tad conflicted, but overall pretty damn excited. The Last of Us was easily one of the top 5 games from the last generation, in my mind.

This is pretty much how I feel. The first one is my favourite game of all time and ended perfectly. Re-opening the story seems like a mistake, and I'm not sure how they live up to expectations, but that being said, I'll gladly revisit the world again. It doesn't hurt that the trailer was excellent.

[Twister]

I can't wait for this, my only worry is that it will be a huge let down. Although Naughty Dog generally have a pretty track record so fingers crossed.

[Circled Square]

Story doesn't need to continue. It's a cash grab. If they somehow pull off a story that doesn't feel forced, it'll be quite the achievement.

[Kreashko]

Did anyone end up playing this?

I did/have in two days and over 24 hours. All I can say is wow. It's my 2020 Game of the Year for sure!

[Hanley!]

I warmed up to the idea of there being a second game in this franchise, but I thought this was inferior to the first in almost every way. The gameplay was a lot of fun, and I will revisit it at some point. But the story in the sequel was pretty bad. And the story and the gameplay did not work in tandem whatsoever, which was part of what made the original game so great.

Joel and Ellie relied on each other and the bond they slowly developed over the course of the game was reflective of what the player experienced during gameplay. The player was encouraged to feel protective over Ellie, and had the opportunity to act that out. The story in the Last of Us 2 is totally disconnected from the player. The game forces you to act out sequences that you don't want to act out, and to constantly work against your instincts.

The theme that the game beats you over the head with from the start is that KILLING IS BAD. Revenge creates an unending cycle of violence and death, which again IS BAD. But the game forces you to kill basically everyone you meet, in complete contradiction to the story's theme. The ending feels incredibly unearned as a result. By forcing the player to play as Ellie's enemy, they want you to feel bad about not empathising with this character just because you didn't know her. But the game itself treats every other human enemy as shallow and evil, which is very jarring.

The story is also trying to be much too clever. Changing between characters was enough of a gimmick. The flashbacks and the weird Tarantino-style sequencing makes the story a bit confusing to follow, particularly if you complete the game over the course of a few weeks. When playing as Abby, I was often trying to figure out exactly where I was in relation to Ellie's story.

It's hard to vocalise a negative opinion of the game though, because so much of the discourse around it has been poisoned by misogynists and transphobes. Losers trying to convince people that the game sucks because they think it's impossible for a woman to be that strong. It's hard to judge what people genuinely think of the game, and how much of their opinions can be attributed to awful political beliefs. I actually wanted more of the Ellie/Dina relationship, and wished that could have been the game's core relationship. And the transgender character was my favourite character in the game. If DLC was to come out, I'd want it to be based around him.