Gaming The Last of Us Part II (PS4)

[anant]

Just finished it - brilliant game. Just had a couple of complains about it:
1. The story seemed unnecessarily stretched. There were points where you felt - "this part is serving no purpose" or "you're making this fight much longer than it needs to be" and so on
2.

Spoiler: ENDING

The ending seemed off. There was no mention of the rattlers anywhere in the story, and suddenly these guys come up and there was no explanation about what their motivations are. They definitely could have added more context there

 

[Paxi]

Just finished the prologue.

Spoiler

Why in the hell would they bash Joel’s head in with a club in front of his brother and daughter figure and let them live after? It’s literally the dumbest shit I’ve seen. Talk about plot armour.

If you know Tommy is Joel’s brother, and he lives in a fecking City and thus he probably has a lot of men and women who will be looking revenge, surely you’d weigh up the probabilities, and come to a conclusion that he is going to come after you if you let him live, seeing as he’s his kid brother and all. Also Ellie screaming that she’s going to them all.. surely that would set off alarm bells?

Another thought; are we supposed to feel sympathetic towards Abby for enacting revenge on Joel by kneecapping him first and then making his cranium into mushy peas? Surely just shooting him would suffice or else she just looks like an absolute psychopath.

It’s a decent story so far but it relies on pulling the players heartstrings and shock value rather than any meaningful plot.

If I wanted to be really overly critical, I could say that they dumbed Joel and Tommy down in order for them to follow Abby back to the lodge. I’m pretty sure having lived around the area for 4 years and going on patrol, Tommy and Joel could escape some infected rather walking into a group of people whom are of course hostile. Tommy and Joel go from being bonafide survivors with 25 years experience to being ambushed in the own backyard. Again, I’m a big fan of this story. It’s just lazy in my opinion.

You know, as bad as those things are, at least they're predictable. It's the normal people that scare me. You of all people should know that.

Bill Last of Us

 

[el3mel]

Just finished the prologue.

Spoiler

Why in the hell would they bash Joel’s head in with a club in front of his brother and daughter figure and let them live after? It’s literally the dumbest shit I’ve seen. Talk about plot armour.

If you know Tommy is Joel’s brother, and he lives in a fecking City and thus he probably has a lot of men and women who will be looking revenge, surely you’d weigh up the probabilities, and come to a conclusion that he is going to come after you if you let him live, seeing as he’s his kid brother and all. Also Ellie screaming that she’s going to them all.. surely that would set off alarm bells?

Another thought; are we supposed to feel sympathetic towards Abby for enacting revenge on Joel by kneecapping him first and then making his cranium into mushy peas? Surely just shooting him would suffice or else she just looks like an absolute psychopath.

It’s a decent story so far but it relies on pulling the players heartstrings and shock value rather than any meaningful plot.

If I wanted to be really overly critical, I could say that they dumbed Joel and Tommy down in order for them to follow Abby back to the lodge. I’m pretty sure having lived around the area for 4 years and going on patrol, Tommy and Joel could escape some infected rather walking into a group of people whom are of course hostile. Tommy and Joel go from being bonafide survivors with 25 years experience to being ambushed in the own backyard. Again, I’m a big fan of this story. It’s just lazy in my opinion.



Bill Last of Us

Spoiler

Totally agree about making Joel and Tommy really stupid here. Tommy introduced himself to Abby then to her group like nothing and Joel followed him on as if it's not a big deal. You'll think Joel spending 4 years with his brother would have taught him basics of survival in the wilds or something, like how he taught Ellie in the first game but nope. As for letting both live, continue the story and they'll explore this scene again later on with more details. It's not for any strong reason though to not get your hopes you. You can guess the reason they let them live on your own actually.

 

[Paxi]

Spoiler

Totally agree about making Joel and Tommy really stupid here. Tommy introduced himself to Abby then to her group like nothing and Joel followed him on as if it's not a big deal. You'll think Joel spending 4 years with his brother would have taught him basics of survival in the wilds or something, like how he taught Ellie in the first game but nope. As for letting both live, continue the story and they'll explore this scene again later on with more details. It's not for any strong reason though to not get your hopes you. You can guess the reason they let them live on your own actually.

Spoiler

Im definitely going to keep on playing. I don’t really mind Joel’s death, in fact I was almost certain that it would happen but I just expected something with a bit more thought put into it. Ah well, this is what happens when you fire you best writer and start drinking your own cool aid.

Spoiler

Have you played Red Dead Redemption 2? Now that’s a death done properly...

 

[el3mel]

Spoiler

Im definitely going to keep on playing. I don’t really mind Joel’s death, in fact I was almost certain that it would happen but I just expected something with a bit more thought put into it. Ah well, this is what happens when you fire you best writer and start drinking your own cool aid.

Spoiler

Have you played Red Dead Redemption 2? Now that’s a death done properly...

Spoiler

Agree too. Joel's death was always predicted even since the first trailer. All fans were putting theories on how he'll die in this. It was executed poorly.

Yeah played RDR2 for sure. One of the best stories I have experienced in this gen, and Arthur and Dutch are 2 of the best and well written characters I have seen for a long time.

 

[Paxi]

Spoiler

Agree too. Joel's death was always predicted even since the first trailer. All fans were putting theories on how he'll die in this. It was executed poorly.

Yeah played RDR2 for sure. One of the best stories I have experienced in this gen, and Arthur and Dutch are 2 of the best and well written characters I have seen for a long time.

Spoiler

Yeah I guess Rockstar spoiled us with Red Dead Redemption. I know some people didn’t like it but I thought I was wonderfully written and brilliantly paced. It was both beautiful and sad Dutch descending into madness and Arthur becoming disillusioned with him. I really thought there was very little wrong with that game except for some clunky controls but that’s rockstar for you.

Anyway, I’ll post some further thoughts on Last of Us in due course.

 

[padr81]

Just finished the prologue.

Spoiler

Why in the hell would they bash Joel’s head in with a club in front of his brother and daughter figure and let them live after? It’s literally the dumbest shit I’ve seen. Talk about plot armour.

If you know Tommy is Joel’s brother, and he lives in a fecking City and thus he probably has a lot of men and women who will be looking revenge, surely you’d weigh up the probabilities, and come to a conclusion that he is going to come after you if you let him live, seeing as he’s his kid brother and all. Also Ellie screaming that she’s going to them all.. surely that would set off alarm bells?

Another thought; are we supposed to feel sympathetic towards Abby for enacting revenge on Joel by kneecapping him first and then making his cranium into mushy peas? Surely just shooting him would suffice or else she just looks like an absolute psychopath.

It’s a decent story so far but it relies on pulling the players heartstrings and shock value rather than any meaningful plot.

If I wanted to be really overly critical, I could say that they dumbed Joel and Tommy down in order for them to follow Abby back to the lodge. I’m pretty sure having lived around the area for 4 years and going on patrol, Tommy and Joel could escape some infected rather walking into a group of people whom are of course hostile. Tommy and Joel go from being bonafide survivors with 25 years experience to being ambushed in the own backyard. Again, I’m a big fan of this story. It’s just lazy in my opinion.



Bill Last of Us

Preaching to th choir buddy

Spoiler

There are more flaws, characters behaving out of context and character stupidity in that one scene than in the entire first game.

.

 

[Paxi]

Preaching to th choir buddy

Spoiler

There are more flaws, characters behaving out of context and character stupidity in that one scene than in the entire first game.

.

I agree mate.

 

[Lay]

The more I play the more I dislike it.

 

[Shane88]

Ending...

Spoiler

The problem isn't Abby. The problem is her Dad.

Her Dad was murdered so her wanting revenge is understandable. We are supposed to feel for her but the problem is we have zero attachment to the guy who was killed.

Her Dad is a laughable character. He doesn't fit the tone of TLOU at all. He is a perfect father, a nice guy, he helps animals, he's an amazing surgeon and he wants to create a cure to save the world. He belongs in a sitcom. Also, all this information is given to us in about 15 minutes of cut-scenes.

Joel on the other hand, we've played an entire game as him. He is deeply flawed and did fecked up things but we also saw the humanity of the character over 15-20 hours. There is a huge attachment to him for most players. That's why his death hits harder and why most will be "Team Ellie" and not overly concerned about Abby's pain.

 

[devilish]

Spoiler

Totally agree about making Joel and Tommy really stupid here. Tommy introduced himself to Abby then to her group like nothing and Joel followed him on as if it's not a big deal. You'll think Joel spending 4 years with his brother would have taught him basics of survival in the wilds or something, like how he taught Ellie in the first game but nope. As for letting both live, continue the story and they'll explore this scene again later on with more details. It's not for any strong reason though to not get your hopes you. You can guess the reason they let them live on your own actually.

Spoiler: Spoiler

There's a timeskip between LOS1 and LOS2. Throughout that time no one bothered either Joel or Tommy which gave the two a sense of complacency. By the time of LOS2, the fireflies were thought to have been disbanded and Joel/Tommy were living safely in a city thought to be so strong that even Abbi's wolves thought it was too strong to take them down. Tommy and Joel had just saved Abbi from a horde. In return her friends had just saved them by offering them refuge. Why on earth would they not trust these people?

Regarding Ellie and Tommy, there were at least 2 people (including Mannie) who wanted Ellie killed but were stopped by Owen and Meg. It was evident that the two were reluctant members in this mission and were using all excuses possible to stop this madness. Owen tried to use Jefferson's size to turn tail and go home. When that didn't worked he used Meg's pregnancy as an excuse. After Joel was captured he used Ellie's incursion to end Joel's torture quickly (ie Ellie might have brought an entire village with her) and then he and Meg stopped Mannie and another guy from killing Ellie.

 

[devilish]

Just finished it - brilliant game. Just had a couple of complaint about it:
1. The story seemed unnecessarily stretched. There were points where you felt - "this part is serving no purpose" or "you're making this fight much longer than it needs to be" and so on
2.

Spoiler: ENDING

The ending seemed off. There was no mention of the rattlers anywhere in the story, and suddenly these guys come up and there was no explanation about what their motivations are. They definitely could have added more context there

I fully agree.

 

[el3mel]

Spoiler: Spoiler

There's a timeskip between LOS1 and LOS2. Throughout that time no one bothered either Joel or Tommy which gave the two a sense of complacency. By the time of LOS2, the fireflies were thought to have been disbanded and Joel/Tommy were living safely in a city thought to be so strong that even Abbi's wolves thought it was too strong to take them down. Tommy and Joel had just saved Abbi from a horde. In return her friends had just saved them by offering them refuge. Why on earth would they not trust these people?

Regarding Ellie and Tommy, there were at least 2 people (including Mannie) who wanted Ellie killed but were stopped by Owen and Meg. It was evident that the two were reluctant members in this mission and were using all excuses possible to stop this madness. Owen tried to use Jefferson's size to turn tail and go home. When that didn't worked he used Meg's pregnancy as an excuse. After Joel was captured he used Ellie's incursion to end Joel's torture quickly (ie Ellie might have brought an entire village with her) and then he and Meg stopped Mannie and another guy from killing Ellie.

Spoiler

They definitely shouldn't trust an armed group of men just because they fought with one of her together. This was the lesson learned in the first game. Check what Ellie did with David when she first met him, even though they fought together as well.


Ellie refused to tell him her name and he told her it's fine to not trust group of strangers. She learned this from Joel. You will think Joel would have taught his brother this as well after spending 4 years with him scavenging supplies. The world isn't just all about fireflies. There are several other unknown groups they don't know anything about and they needed to always have caution. Instead both acted in a very stupid manner.

The problem is, Joel didn't even seem bothered that his brother acted in a stupid way and introduced himself to such group. He followed on and introduced himself as well as if it's not a big deal. At least show some discontent on your face, like, guess what, what he showed when Ellie introduced herself stupidly in front of Henry and Sam, minute 1:10 :


Check his face reaction. He was very annoyed with Ellie. Ellie learned this lesson later on when she met David as I said earlier.

 

[padr81]

Spoiler: Spoiler

There's a timeskip between LOS1 and LOS2. Throughout that time no one bothered either Joel or Tommy which gave the two a sense of complacency. By the time of LOS2, the fireflies were thought to have been disbanded and Joel/Tommy were living safely in a city thought to be so strong that even Abbi's wolves thought it was too strong to take them down. Tommy and Joel had just saved Abbi from a horde. In return her friends had just saved them by offering them refuge. Why on earth would they not trust these people?

Regarding Ellie and Tommy, there were at least 2 people (including Mannie) who wanted Ellie killed but were stopped by Owen and Meg. It was evident that the two were reluctant members in this mission and were using all excuses possible to stop this madness. Owen tried to use Jefferson's size to turn tail and go home. When that didn't worked he used Meg's pregnancy as an excuse. After Joel was captured he used Ellie's incursion to end Joel's torture quickly (ie Ellie might have brought an entire village with her) and then he and Meg stopped Mannie and another guy from killing Ellie.

Spoiler

There was a 20 year timeskip between Joel leaving a kid on the side of the road (before he lost his daughter) and his actions in the rest of TLOU, his character remained consistent, just hardened by losing Sarah. Even if he mellowed with age and having a new daughter (which is unlikely) his character and general nature wouldn't change like that. Its completely out of character to save Abby nevermind the actions afterwards. its out of his character from before the outbreak started.
The fact he's been living in relative comfort doesn't add up. I mean himself and Tommy are constantly out doing rounds and he spends all the flashbacks warning Ellie about the dangers of her doing the same. Even speaks with Jessie about her runs because he knows the dangers of the world.

It was poor writing, the entire thing was messy and feels like a last minute change to the story if I'm honest.

 

[devilish]

Spoiler

They definitely shouldn't trust an armed group of men just because they fought with one of her together. This was the lesson learned in the first game. Check what Ellie did with David when she first met him, even though they fought together as well.


Ellie refused to tell him her name and he told her it's fine to not trust group of strangers. She learned this from Joel. You will think Joel would have taught his brother this as well after spending 4 years with him scavenging supplies. The world isn't just all about fireflies. There are several other unknown groups they don't know anything about and they needed to always have caution. Instead both acted in a very stupid manner.

The problem is, Joel didn't even seem bothered that his brother acted in a stupid way and introduced himself to such group. He followed on and introduced himself as well as if it's not a big deal. At least show some discontent on your face, like, guess what, what he showed when Ellie introduced herself stupidly in front of Henry and Sam, minute 1:10 :


Check his face reaction. He was very annoyed with Ellie. Ellie learned this lesson later on when she met David as I said earlier.

Spoiler: spoiler

The world isn't just fireflies but there aren't many people out there who would shoot in the leg and then torture somebody who had just saved them simply because of their name. We're talking about Joel Miller here not Adolf Hitler. Not to forget that Joel and Tommy found themselves surrounded by strangers who could have easily overwhelm them. That's neither the place nor the time to start looking shady.

The whole scenario with Ellie is different. Ellie is the only immune person on the planet and Joel perceives her as his daughter. Henry and Sam owed Ellie nothing and giving her name was totally unnecessary.

 

[el3mel]

Spoiler: spoiler

The world isn't just fireflies but there aren't many people out there who would shoot in the leg and then torture somebody who had just saved them simply because of their name. We're talking about Joel Miller here not Adolf Hitler. Not to forget that Joel and Tommy found themselves surrounded by strangers who could have easily overwhelm them. That's neither the place nor the time to start looking shady.

The whole scenario with Ellie is different. Ellie is the only immune person on the planet and Joel perceives her as his daughter. Henry and Sam owed Ellie nothing and giving her name was totally unnecessary.

Spoiler

In this world anyone can be wanting you dead but don't know your face and only knows your name, so it's stupid to say your names this easily in front of anyone, literally anyone that's a stranger to you. I mean check when Joel was annoyed that Ellie said her name and his that easily to Henry and Sam, just someone and his little brother, not a big group of armed people they know nothing about.

 

[devilish]

Spoiler

There was a 20 year timeskip between Joel leaving a kid on the side of the road (before he lost his daughter) and his actions in the rest of TLOU, his character remained consistent, just hardened by losing Sarah. Even if he mellowed with age and having a new daughter (which is unlikely) his character and general nature wouldn't change like that. Its completely out of character to save Abby nevermind the actions afterwards. its out of his character from before the outbreak started.
The fact he's been living in relative comfort doesn't add up. I mean himself and Tommy are constantly out doing rounds and he spends all the flashbacks warning Ellie about the dangers of her doing the same. Even speaks with Jessie about her runs because he knows the dangers of the world.

It was poor writing, the entire thing was messy and feels like a last minute change to the story if I'm honest.

Spoiler: spoiler

Time mellows everyone. My grandfather was a war veteran who spent the rest of his life working in the docks. He raised his family as if they were in a boot camp but he spoiled his grand kids rotten. Joel showed clear signs of mellowing down throughout the LOS1. The Joel at the beginning of the game wouldn't have give a feck about Ellie let alone kill an entire hospital for her

What I find inconsistent is Abbi. I understand why she didn't insist on Ellie dying in their first encounter. Owen didn't want to turn this whole thing into a blood bath and she still loved Owen. However she should have planted a bullet in her head second time round. FFS Ellie and Tommy killed all her friends including the two who fought to spare them.

The ending was meah as well. If Ellie wanted Abbi suffer then she should have left her crucified.

 

[devilish]

Spoiler

In this world anyone can be wanting you dead but don't know your face and only knows your name, so it's stupid to say your names this easily in front of anyone, literally anyone that's a stranger to you. I mean check when Joel was annoyed that Ellie said her name and his that easily to Henry and Sam, just someone and his little brother, not a big group of armed people they know nothing about.

Spoiler: spoiler

The circumstances is different. Ellie said her name when she was relaxed with no pressure on her whatsoever. Tommy said his name after they risked being eaten alive by a horde and were now surrounded by strangers who were wondering whom they just let inside their compound

 

[el3mel]

Spoiler: spoiler

The circumstances is different. Ellie said her name when she was relaxed with no pressure on her whatsoever. Tommy said his name after they risked being eaten alive by a horde and were now surrounded by strangers who were wondering whom they just let inside their compound

Spoiler

I mean if they think they'll be safe because they just saved her life it makes them even more stupid. In this world you can be forced to work with your enemies just to survive. Doesn't mean they'll end up owing you anything.

 

[SuperiorXI]

Finished it, thought it was mint. 8/10.

I'd give the first one 9/10.

Spoiler: End game

Felt like I was at the end scene multiple times only for it to cut to another segment. Stretched it out a little too much in the end.

Wasn't a big fan of the second part of the game where you play as Abby. Still enjoyable though.

Graphics and sound were amazing.

 

[devilish]

Spoiler

I mean if they think they'll be safe because they just saved her life it makes them even more stupid. In this world you can be forced to work with your enemies just to survive. Doesn't mean they'll end up owing you anything.

Spoiler: SPOILER

I disagree. These people are a spit away from Jefferson and Joel had just saved one of them. In normal circumstances it doesn't even make sense killing the two of them. I mean for all they knew, Jefferson could send an army of trackers to hunt them down. So common sense would say that they would let Joel and Tommy go which in turn would vouch for them and allow them to spend a couple of days safely in Jefferson

 

[el3mel]

Spoiler: SPOILER

I disagree. These people are a spit away from Jefferson and Joel had just saved one of them. In normal circumstances it doesn't even make sense killing the two of them. I mean for all they knew, Jefferson could send an army of trackers to hunt them down. So common sense would say that they would let Joel and Tommy go which in turn would vouch for them and allow them to spend a couple of days safely in Jefferson

Spoiler

well we can agree to disagree. I think it's stupid to trust anyone in this world whatever the circumstances to be honest.

 

[Paxi]

Anyone else find the film grain absolutely ridiculous. I get what they were trying to do in reducing the antialiasing but to me they overdid it. Going to wait til PS5 comes out and hopefully we’ll be able to reduce that when it gets bumped up to native 4K. Waited to play this game until I bought an OLED and now the game looks shit.

 

[Shane88]

Anyone else find the film grain absolutely ridiculous. I get what they were trying to do in reducing the antialiasing but to me they overdid it. Going to wait til PS5 comes out and hopefully we’ll be able to reduce that when it gets bumped up to native 4K. Waited to play this game until I bought an OLED and now the game looks shit.

Ah, you get used to it. When the garage first opened for the first bit of gameplay, I was like "What the feck?!" and scoured the settings immediately looking for a setting to turn it off. But after a few hours I didn't notice it anymore.

 

[Balljy]

Anyone else find the film grain absolutely ridiculous. I get what they were trying to do in reducing the antialiasing but to me they overdid it. Going to wait til PS5 comes out and hopefully we’ll be able to reduce that when it gets bumped up to native 4K. Waited to play this game until I bought an OLED and now the game looks shit.

It looks pretty good to me and I'm comparing it to a GTX 1080 on PC. Obviously not nearly as good as the latest PC games but top 10% from a PS4 perspective.

Maybe check the output settings on the PS4 if you have changed TV as they can affect the output in terms of HDR etc?

 

[Paxi]

Ah, you get used to it. When the garage first opened for the first bit of gameplay, I was like "What the feck?!" and scoured the settings immediately looking for a setting to turn it off. But after a few hours I didn't notice it anymore.

That’s the thing.. I noticed artefacts when looking close at the ice and the rocks when you play as Abby for the very first time and that’s another reason why the devs chose to do that. I absolutely get that they tried to squeeze every bit of horsepower out of the now very limited gpu and props to them but in my mind they overdid it. They could have used the same implementation as Lost Legacy and U4 where it did have a smidge of film grain in parts but not to this extent.

Don’t get me wrong the game is still wonderfully crafted and HDR is absolutely drop dead gorgeous to eyes and thus I’m hoping I’ll get to enjoy the game in all its glory when PS5 hits.

You can take off film grain in photo mode now, so it’s not baked in - and I’d imagine they knew what they were doing, when they implemented it. I’m going to hope that they give us the option to reduce it with a PS5 update.

I already know what happens in the game so I’m in no particular rush to play it. In fact, I didn’t particularly want a sequel. Not with the same characters anyway so the only reason I’m playing is because ND can craft wonderfully beautiful world, just this time they put way too much filter on as it were.

 

[Paxi]

It looks pretty good to me and I'm comparing it to a GTX 1080 on PC. Obviously not nearly as good as the latest PC games but top 10% from a PS4 perspective.

Maybe check the output settings on the PS4 if you have changed TV as they can affect the output in terms of HDR etc?

That’s just the thing, I game on PC as well and I’d say I have a good eye for graphical fidelity etc.

I was playing TLOU2 on an LCD VA panel for about a day. Just running about in that town, in prologue and stuff — it looked really good, I’d say it looked stunning. I then thought; I’d leave this until I get myself a new tv - which I did.

I cannot stress the difference in contrast and quality going from an LCD VA to an OLED. Every single game and movie has blown me away, apart from this game — it looks much worse.

I’ve tried Lost Legacy, U4, Horizon, Spider-Man. Heck, even M4 looks okayish on PS4 pro. Also, I’ve been watching Disney plus with DV and I’m absolutely gobsmacked with the PQ but this is just annoying. Actually, playing on the PC is partly to blame for me — I just expect everything looking absolutely insane in terms of graphical fidelity.

 

[Massive Spanner]

I'm at the very end, I think. Can someone explain

Spoiler

is the review bombing basically cause Lev is a trans kid or what?

I just started as Abby again after Ellie decided AGAIN to go get revenge after Abby spared her life AGAIN. For feck sake, Ellie.

The plot really is a bit of a bloated mess but I don't think it's bad or anything, just has a lot of needless filler and I think the game should have ended after Abby spared Ellie. Also characters doing silly things they didn't in the first game.

I don't really get how the feck Tommy survived a blast to the head either but whatever!

 

[padr81]

I'm at the very end, I think. Can someone explain

Spoiler

is the review bombing basically cause Lev is a trans kid or what?

I just started as Abby again after Ellie decided AGAIN to go get revenge after Abby spared her life AGAIN. For feck sake, Ellie.

The plot really is a bit of a bloated mess but I don't think it's bad or anything, just has a lot of needless filler and I think the game should have ended after Abby spared Ellie. Also characters doing silly things they didn't in the first game.

I don't really get how the feck Tommy survived a blast to the head either but whatever!

Some of it probably is, there is a minority who were

Spoiler

outrage at the thoughts of playing as Abby when rumor was she was trans and it snowballed. I personally think it has more to do with the stupid way they killed Joel.

Naughty Dog did themselves no favors dmca everything to do with the game once the spoilers broke, had many youtubers channels almost banned who showed no spoiler footage etc.. until they threatened legal action to have strikes revoked. They even dmca'd Sony for posting an ad.

The entire thing turned into a mess. Then Skillup's review broke (honest and fair review) and it was clear that many publications were rating the game higher than it deserved the whole think became a clusterfeck with many people picking a side, The the usual suspects politicized it and both legit praise and criticism have got pushed aside as the game has become a political tool.

This game is in such a weird place 43% of the games last 1000 positive reviews have been proven to be bots boosting the metacritic score. Likely the same with negatives. The entire thing has turned into an absolutely mess.

Weirdly the game will probably finish around a 6.5 despite all that and I'd say thats fair overall.

This kind of review bombing and then botting scores back up afterwards will become all the more common from here on as people try to politicize everything.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Some of it probably is, there is a minority who were

Spoiler

outrage at the thoughts of playing as Abby when rumor was she was trans and it snowballed. I personally think it has more to do with the stupid way they killed Joel.

Naughty Dog did themselves no favors dmca everything to do with the game once the spoilers broke, had many youtubers channels almost banned who showed no spoiler footage etc.. until they threatened legal action to have strikes revoked. They even dmca'd Sony for posting an ad.

The entire thing turned into a mess. Then Skillup's review broke (honest and fair review) and it was clear that many publications were rating the game higher than it deserved the whole think became a clusterfeck with many people picking a side, The the usual suspects politicized it and both legit praise and criticism have got pushed aside as the game has become a political tool.

This game is in such a weird place 43% of the games last 1000 positive reviews have been proven to be bots boosting the metacritic score. Likely the same with negatives. The entire thing has turned into an absolutely mess.

Weirdly the game will probably finish around a 6.5 despite all that and I'd say thats fair overall.

This kind of review bombing and then botting scores back up afterwards will become all the more common from here on as people try to politicize everything.

Each to their own. I really enjoyed it. It's not as good as the first for me because the story isn't as good and it could've done with being a few hours shorter but it's still better than most of the drivel out there. It's at least an 8/10 for me. Most people who've played it to the end seem to rate it really highly.

And let's be honest most of the really negative reviews are from people who probably haven't bothered to even play it and just read the leaks.

 

[padr81]

Each to their own. I really enjoyed it. It's not as good as the first for me because the story isn't as good and it could've done with being a few hours shorter but it's still better than most of the drivel out there. It's at least an 8/10 for me. Most people who've played it to the end seem to rate it really highly.

And let's be honest most of the really negative reviews are from people who probably haven't bothered to even play it and just read the leaks.

Absolutely, I have no issue with anyone even giving it a 10. Personally I gave it a 7 and I didn't really enjoy it. Some amazing little details in it, clearly a labor of love. I was more just kind of elaborating on why I thought it was getting review bombed and how the metacritic is a mess.

 

[Gehrman]

Some of it probably is, there is a minority who were

Spoiler

outrage at the thoughts of playing as Abby when rumor was she was trans and it snowballed. I personally think it has more to do with the stupid way they killed Joel.

Naughty Dog did themselves no favors dmca everything to do with the game once the spoilers broke, had many youtubers channels almost banned who showed no spoiler footage etc.. until they threatened legal action to have strikes revoked. They even dmca'd Sony for posting an ad.

The entire thing turned into a mess. Then Skillup's review broke (honest and fair review) and it was clear that many publications were rating the game higher than it deserved the whole think became a clusterfeck with many people picking a side, The the usual suspects politicized it and both legit praise and criticism have got pushed aside as the game has become a political tool.

This game is in such a weird place 43% of the games last 1000 positive reviews have been proven to be bots boosting the metacritic score. Likely the same with negatives. The entire thing has turned into an absolutely mess.

Weirdly the game will probably finish around a 6.5 despite all that and I'd say thats fair overall.

This kind of review bombing and then botting scores back up afterwards will become all the more common from here on as people try to politicize everything.

Spoiler

I think personally the review bombing was way out of hand, yet I didn't actually see many complain about the non-hetero characters of the game, but more the poor writing, plot, turning Joel's head into a golfball and having to play half the game as Abby. Expectations were too big and they failed to suceed where it was most important(story, writing, characters) but the hate is still way overblown. People have sent death threats to Abby's voiceactor, which just shows that people doing this have no class and no life.

 

[padr81]

Spoiler

I think personally the review bombing was way out of hand, yet I didn't actually see many complain about the non-hetero characters of the game, but more the poor writing, plot, turning Joel's head into a golfball and having to play half the game as Abby. Expectations were too big and they failed to suceed where it was most important(story, writing, characters) but the hate is still way overblown. People have sent death threats to Abby's voiceactor, which just shows that people doing this have no class and no life.

Absolutely. Can't disagree with a word of that. Its the Last Jedi all over again.

 

[Eckers99]

Each to their own. I really enjoyed it. It's not as good as the first for me because the story isn't as good and it could've done with being a few hours shorter but it's still better than most of the drivel out there. It's at least an 8/10 for me. Most people who've played it to the end seem to rate it really highly.

And let's be honest most of the really negative reviews are from people who probably haven't bothered to even play it and just read the leaks.

Spoiler

Yeah, pretty much agree with all of this. It was a flawed but often excellent game. Joel's death was brutal but propelled the early stages of story, so no complaints about that. In most ways, I thought it was a big improvement over the original; better gameplay, bigger areas, technically stunning and, at points, it actually moved me in ways I've never been moved by a game...when it was good it was fantastic.

On the downside, the final area felt tacked on and Ellie's later choices didn't ring true, so smacked of poor writing. I didn't expect her to leave Dina so, when she did, and STILL had time for a sudden change of heart, that just didn't work for me. Everything seemed too sudden, which is a strange flaw to experience in such a long game. I mean, they had time to explain Ellie's choices but went down the Abby path instead and ended up cramming some unrealistic character development onto the latter stages rather than fleshing things out organically.

So yeah, it was uneven and a bit baggy round the middle but, overall, I loved it, flaws and all.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Finished it, a few weeks late to the party, it seems.

Spoiler

Ok, I liked the ending. i liked how the fight in the water felt so pointless and made me wince and almost beg Ellie to stop out loud. I can't think of many other videogames that have elicited that sort of reaction from me when playing them, so that's a real achievement in my eyes. I'm not gone on the whole Santa Barbara segment in general, though. The bad guys there were just token villains with no real purpose and the whole thing felt a bit contrived. It just seemed a bit needless having Ellie go after Abby yet again after she'd spared her fecking life twice.

I liked Abby by the end, I thought they did a good job with her and Lev, overall they were two really good characters, I just think it was bad pacing to have us play as Ellie for 15 hours and then not see her at all again for another 15 fecking hours, they really could've split it out better, or something.

The pacing itself wasn't great at times either, loads of great segments (the Rat king bit in the hospital was awesome and the most intense I've felt playing a game in years) but it was definitely let down at times by an overly meandering plot and a few too many bits in between the story where you had to just kill yet again more enemies over and over. At times I did feel a bit burnt out and I really just wanted them to gerronwivvit!

I think overall I stand by my 8 or 8.5 /10. It's a game I didn't think needed to be made, and it isn't as good as the first, but it doesn't tarnish it either and it's still great.

 

[AaronRedDevil]

Just found an article about the ending that people seems to have missed. And its seems very possible. I like it to be true.

Spoiler: Ending

https://www.fortressofsolitude.co.za/the-last-of-us-part-ii-fan-theory/

 

[padr81]

Just found an article about the ending that people seems to have missed. And its seems very possible. I like it to be true.

Spoiler: Ending

https://www.fortressofsolitude.co.za/the-last-of-us-part-ii-fan-theory/

I'd like to think its true

 

[Ainu]

Finished it, a few weeks late to the party, it seems.

Spoiler

Ok, I liked the ending. i liked how the fight in the water felt so pointless and made me wince and almost beg Ellie to stop out loud. I can't think of many other videogames that have elicited that sort of reaction from me when playing them, so that's a real achievement in my eyes. I'm not gone on the whole Santa Barbara segment in general, though. The bad guys there were just token villains with no real purpose and the whole thing felt a bit contrived. It just seemed a bit needless having Ellie go after Abby yet again after she'd spared her fecking life twice.

I liked Abby by the end, I thought they did a good job with her and Lev, overall they were two really good characters, I just think it was bad pacing to have us play as Ellie for 15 hours and then not see her at all again for another 15 fecking hours, they really could've split it out better, or something.

The pacing itself wasn't great at times either, loads of great segments (the Rat king bit in the hospital was awesome and the most intense I've felt playing a game in years) but it was definitely let down at times by an overly meandering plot and a few too many bits in between the story where you had to just kill yet again more enemies over and over. At times I did feel a bit burnt out and I really just wanted them to gerronwivvit!

I think overall I stand by my 8 or 8.5 /10. It's a game I didn't think needed to be made, and it isn't as good as the first, but it doesn't tarnish it either and it's still great.

Spoiler

Without the final act, the story would feel unfinished to me. Abby is still a complete monster in Ellie's eyes. We as players have had time to empathize with Abby but Ellie has only seen her 2 times, once when she brutally slaughters Joel in front of her eyes and the other time when she kills Jesse, nearly kills Tommy, bashes Ellies face in and almost slits Dina's throat. Yes she spared her two times but I doubt that's how it would look like to Ellie.

Seeing the husk of a woman who only cares about saving Lev is a shock to Ellie's system. That whole time, Ellie moves like in a daze, cutting Abby loose, letting her take Lev. Abby even invites Ellie to come with them and Ellie nearly agrees. It takes another flashback of Joel's bloody face for Ellie to want to fight her again, but by that time it's without much conviction. The final act is crucial for Ellie to basically see that Abby is Joel and Lev is herself five years ago. She stops seeing Abby as a monster at that point. And it leads her to finally confront that second to last memory of Joel, when she says she wants to try to forgive him, instead of always going back to that last memory of him dying. It allows her to let go of her revenge and I believe also to finally forgive Joel.

 

[ha_rooney]

Finally got round to finishing it. Solid game but lacks the same captivating story as the first. I’d give it a 8/10.

Spoiler

Found it quite boring at times with the main story set just in Seattle and then going back through a lot of the same parts playing as Abby. Could’ve varied it slightly without each place looking essentially the same (dark building, long grass. Repeat).

Splitting the game like they did was an interesting idea but I don’t think it worked well. Sometimes felt like a chore going through Abby’s mission & by the time Ellie’s back I had little interest in her revenge tour and probably cared more about Abby surviving after what she went through. The character development of Abby was well done.

Can’t say I cared much for any of the other new characters. I did enjoy the interactions between Abby & Lev. I thought they missed a trick by limiting the amount of time in “real” missions you spent with other characters (exclude the flashback stuff).

The whole Santa Barbara segment felt like an add-on. The hospital segment was fantastic tension. If it was its own game without comparing to the first, I’d probably appreciate it more.

 

[Shane88]

Funny little easter egg I saw on Reddit, apparently you can't shoot the numerous PS3s and the sole PS Vita in the game. Seems Sony have some clause where their products aren't allowed to be damaged in games.