Television The Last of Us TV series in the works from Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann

Sylar

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I'm looking forward to this and think it could be awesome but the main thing is the two main characters being played well
 

Norman Brownbutter

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Lets all be honest with ourselves here. The story of the last of us is average at best. Its been told before, old world weary guy takes special one from point A to point B. What elevated this story was the characters and how they were played. Especially Troy and Ashley who played off each other brilliantly and were allowed to ad lib a little to make the relationship grow naturally as the game went on. Whats that old saying about lighting striking twice? Or capturing lighting in a bottle?

Its also a video game adaptation. Theres always some idiot that thinks they know better than the audience and switches things up and ruins the thing. Resident evil, was ok, as long as you didnt consider it a resident evil adaptation. Silent Hill managed to get the atmosphere perfect, but told a dull story with dull characters. Warcraft I actually liked. But Ive never played warcraft, so maybe thats why I didnt hate it. Assassins creed was trash. Tomb raider...lets move on.

Point is, the odds of this being good are not, well, good. If it turns out to be good, thats great. But Id wouldnt hold out hope.
 

Sylar

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Lets all be honest with ourselves here. The story of the last of us is average at best. Its been told before, old world weary guy takes special one from point A to point B. What elevated this story was the characters and how they were played. Especially Troy and Ashley who played off each other brilliantly and were allowed to ad lib a little to make the relationship grow naturally as the game went on. Whats that old saying about lighting striking twice? Or capturing lighting in a bottle?

Its also a video game adaptation. Theres always some idiot that thinks they know better than the audience and switches things up and ruins the thing. Resident evil, was ok, as long as you didnt consider it a resident evil adaptation. Silent Hill managed to get the atmosphere perfect, but told a dull story with dull characters. Warcraft I actually liked. But Ive never played warcraft, so maybe thats why I didnt hate it. Assassins creed was trash. Tomb raider...lets move on.

Point is, the odds of this being good are not, well, good. If it turns out to be good, thats great. But Id wouldnt hold out hope.
One thing those projects (and hitman) had going against them was, it was a movie so limited in time.
The tv show has more time to flesh out some of your concerns.
Hopefully it does.
 

Norman Brownbutter

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One thing those projects (and hitman) had going against them was, it was a movie so limited in time.
The tv show has more time to flesh out some of your concerns.
Hopefully it does.
Hopefully, but considering we have already heard the dreaded words "Enhance the story" from Druckman himself, Im not holding my breath. Like I said, the last of us is a personal Journey of two characters played by actors who played off each other so well a generation of gamers fell in love with the duo. Thats what they are trying to replicate. And considering how part 2 ended up, I have zero faith that Druckmann was really the mastermind behind the game at all. As he clearly didnt understand what made the first game so loved.
 

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Hopefully, but considering we have already heard the dreaded words "Enhance the story" from Druckman himself, Im not holding my breath. Like I said, the last of us is a personal Journey of two characters played by actors who played off each other so well a generation of gamers fell in love with the duo. Thats what they are trying to replicate. And considering how part 2 ended up, I have zero faith that Druckmann was really the mastermind behind the game at all. As he clearly didnt understand what made the first game so loved.
What other people love and what you as a writer want to achieve aren't necessarily the same thing. Although to me the main message in the first game for me is "heroes are all about the viewer's perspective" which the second game also achieves, so I was happy enough.

There's also the fact that he wrote Uncharted 4, which isn't a crap game either. So, fair enough if you think he wasn't the lead on TLOU but I can't really see any evidence of that.
 

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Hopefully, but considering we have already heard the dreaded words "Enhance the story" from Druckman himself, Im not holding my breath. Like I said, the last of us is a personal Journey of two characters played by actors who played off each other so well a generation of gamers fell in love with the duo. Thats what they are trying to replicate. And considering how part 2 ended up, I have zero faith that Druckmann was really the mastermind behind the game at all. As he clearly didnt understand what made the first game so loved.
Some of us loved the 2nd game. Some of us loved the direction it went in. Some of us loved the fact he didnt produce a lovely Disney story in the 2nd one, a pretty fairy tale with a lovely hallmark cards ending. I hope they can replicate the first games feel as well, I also hope it is successful enough they can then replicate the 2nd games feel. I cant wait for this tv series, if it is awful so be it but I have a lot of hope its going to be great, especially because I think their direction in the 2nd one was perfect.
 

Norman Brownbutter

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What other people love and what you as a writer want to achieve aren't necessarily the same thing. Although to me the main message in the first game for me is "heroes are all about the viewer's perspective" which the second game also achieves, so I was happy enough.

There's also the fact that he wrote Uncharted 4, which isn't a crap game either. So, fair enough if you think he wasn't the lead on TLOU but I can't really see any evidence of that.
No, I know he was the lead on the first game. But he had help. He and Bruce Straley for example always presented themselves as partners. Whats been said about the second game is that he had stepped on descenting voices to his vision of what the game would be. They also burned through so many animators that they had to hire film animators and train them up. Thats why the game was delayed a year.

Some of us loved the 2nd game. Some of us loved the direction it went in. Some of us loved the fact he didnt produce a lovely Disney story in the 2nd one, a pretty fairy tale with a lovely hallmark cards ending. I hope they can replicate the first games feel as well, I also hope it is successful enough they can then replicate the 2nd games feel. I cant wait for this tv series, if it is awful so be it but I have a lot of hope its going to be great, especially because I think their direction in the 2nd one was perfect.
Then some of you might be idiots if you think the direction it went in is the problem. Especially if you think "A lovely Disney story" is what people were looking for. Im happy for you that you got a game you liked. Honestly, Im jealous. Because I waited 7 years for a sequel to a game I loved and instead of something of equal merit, I got crappy, cliched, well worn tropes and forgettable characters playing out a boring story in such a way that it was hard to even get through I was so bored. I must have played the first game a couple of dozen times. I will never play the second one again.
 

MattofManchester

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What other people love and what you as a writer want to achieve aren't necessarily the same thing. Although to me the main message in the first game for me is "heroes are all about the viewer's perspective" which the second game also achieves, so I was happy enough.
I found it very difficult to agree with this concept tbh. My personal opinion was in TLOU, there are no heroes, everybody is just doing what they need to, to survive.
I felt that in the first one.

Second one felt empty, at least for me. I had no emotion attached to it.
It felt they were constantly peddling this hypocrisy that "Joel bad, everybody else good, fireflies good, all good, but Joel bad".
Nobody was good. There's not some moral compass going on here.

The entire journey feels like trying to force the feelings of its rather more empty characters onto its player.
It made it next to impossible to reasonably connect to any of them.

Anyway, that's my opinion.
 

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I found it very difficult to agree with this concept tbh. My personal opinion was in TLOU, there are no heroes, everybody is just doing what they need to, to survive.
I felt that in the first one.

Second one felt empty, at least for me. I had no emotion attached to it.
It felt they were constantly peddling this hypocrisy that "Joel bad, everybody else good, fireflies good, all good, but Joel bad".
Nobody was good. There's not some moral compass going on here.

The entire journey feels like trying to force the feelings of its rather more empty characters onto its player.
It made it next to impossible to reasonably connect to any of them.

Anyway, that's my opinion.
That's fair enough. I felt that it still did a good job of showing off tbose different perspectives. It starts off showing the Fireflies being a bunch of utter bastards from Ellie's POV. But as the story goes on you begin seeing it from their perspective and it started to muddy how I as the player felt about these supposed antagonists. And Ellie ultimately experienced the same things, started to feel her humanity slowly being stripped away and her need for apparent revenge being questioned.

And at that point the game was essentially about two main characters who are hell bent on absolutely destroying everything in this endless cycle in a world that's pretty much already fecked. Again, that's what I felt and not necessarily universal.
 

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Alex Garland would be perfect for directing and script writing imo. He finished the game from start to finish years ago and is a vivid player overall. One of the few celebrities who with no bigger problem finished Dark Souls.

Will give it a try anyway.
 

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Then some of you might be idiots if you think the direction it went in is the problem. Especially if you think "A lovely Disney story" is what people were looking for. Im happy for you that you got a game you liked. Honestly, Im jealous. Because I waited 7 years for a sequel to a game I loved and instead of something of equal merit, I got crappy, cliched, well worn tropes and forgettable characters playing out a boring story in such a way that it was hard to even get through I was so bored. I must have played the first game a couple of dozen times. I will never play the second one again.
It's funny how that goes, because as much as I loved the first game (and I consistently listed it in my top 3 of all time on these forums), the second game's experience was even more powerful for me and took me to a place no other video game has ever done. Your opinion is just as valid as mine, but absolute statements like Druckmann clearly didn't understand what made the first game so successful are just so unnecessary.

Now, I have very little faith in a tv adaptation and I think he's making a mistake here, but that's a separate matter. That's simply because I doubt I'll ever accept a Joel and Ellie that aren't Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. I do agree with your earlier post that the story isn't anything special and having that same bond with the characters when you aren't inhabiting one (and eventually both) of them isn't going to have the same effect.
 

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I found it very difficult to agree with this concept tbh. My personal opinion was in TLOU, there are no heroes, everybody is just doing what they need to, to survive.
I felt that in the first one.

Second one felt empty, at least for me. I had no emotion attached to it.
It felt they were constantly peddling this hypocrisy that "Joel bad, everybody else good, fireflies good, all good, but Joel bad".
Nobody was good. There's not some moral compass going on here.

The entire journey feels like trying to force the feelings of its rather more empty characters onto its player.
It made it next to impossible to reasonably connect to any of them.

Anyway, that's my opinion.
That's the entire point, and that's what the story was doing. The fact you say that but missed it in the story is the issue.

The story had everything you wanted, it was just poorly paced and played out. The beauty of the first game was the character interactions and the emotion that naturally brought in, the second was just too much in your face with the way you were supposed to feel. It told the right story it just did it for big "WOW" moments rather than properly placed touches like the first. Which is where Druckmann faltered, he went the Hollywood movie route of set pieces and attempted Shyamalan fake depth at the end.

It's kind of funny that what bothered me most about the first game now bothers people most about the second. In the first it was the lacklustre ideas in the gameplay, in the second it was in the story.
 

Sylar

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You can't please all people all of the time.

People writing this off before seeing it however is a bit strange
I loved the second game btw (and I'm in this weird position where I've played the second but not the first)
 

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It's going to be shit. Video game adaptions are always shit.

Might have been interesting if it was a new story told in that universe, but not this rehash.
 

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You can't please all people all of the time.

People writing this off before seeing it however is a bit strange
I loved the second game btw (and I'm in this weird position where I've played the second but not the first)
Oh do everything to play the first, it's one of the great games and a truly amazing experience. I really enjoyed the second too.
 

Sylar

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Oh do everything to play the first, it's one of the great games and a truly amazing experience. I really enjoyed the second too.
The first game was much better than the second. You need to play that.
I have heard
I will play it like it's a prequel now
I have it set to deliver to me when I return to England soon :)
 

Norman Brownbutter

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It's funny how that goes, because as much as I loved the first game (and I consistently listed it in my top 3 of all time on these forums), the second game's experience was even more powerful for me and took me to a place no other video game has ever done. Your opinion is just as valid as mine, but absolute statements like Druckmann clearly didn't understand what made the first game so successful are just so unnecessary.

Now, I have very little faith in a tv adaptation and I think he's making a mistake here, but that's a separate matter. That's simply because I doubt I'll ever accept a Joel and Ellie that aren't Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. I do agree with your earlier post that the story isn't anything special and having that same bond with the characters when you aren't inhabiting one (and eventually both) of them isn't going to have the same effect.
The first game was special because of the characters and their interactions. The story of taking Ellie to the fireflies isnt very good. The old weary warrior taking the chosen one to some magical place has been done to death. Watching the characters of Joel and Ellie grow the more they spend time together is what made the game special. Even the side characters like Tess and Bill were fantastic. Part 2 doesnt care about that. It only cares about its story. And whether you like the story or not, its nothing without characters to care about. And Im sorry, but characters here seemed like they were all ripped straight out of a shitty CW show. Teen angst, love triangles, cheating, getting high or getting drunk and having sex just so you know they are super edgy.

I would go on, and in fact I did. A lot. But Ive deleted it all as this is just part 2 talk and its derailing the topic. I guess all I can say is, that I watched a lot of interviews with Neil over the years and the one thing thats stood out is that hes been told "no" a lot. Its not like hes a talentless hack or anything like that, but he veers hard into the dark side of story telling. He wanted to kill off Elena in uncharted 2 for example. And I just veered off into talking about part 2 again. Damn it. Deleted a lot of text there too.

feck it, agree to disagree ;) Glad you got a game you liked, mate.
 

Norman Brownbutter

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I have heard
I will play it like it's a prequel now
I have it set to deliver to me when I return to England soon :)
I believe its free if you got a ps5 and have ps+. I know it was at launch, dont know if it still is though.
 

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Chernobyl was awesome. The sense of jeopardy was very well done, even though the danger was invisible. The mood and the cinematography were top notch. With all that, I have a lot of hope that Craig Mazin will be able to replicate this in The Last of Us.

Also, it’s a HBO show. When did a last time big budget HBO show flopped? They’re mostly amazing.
 

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Chernobyl was awesome. The sense of jeopardy was very well done, even though the danger was invisible. The mood and the cinematography were top notch. With all that, I have a lot of hope that Craig Mazin will be able to replicate this in The Last of Us.

Also, it’s a HBO show. When did a last time big budget HBO show flopped? They’re mostly amazing.
I agree with you with one slight nitpicky exception

:)
 

Paxi

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I agree with you with one slight nitpicky exception

:)
Yeah mate. I could give a 10 paragraph post at to why game of thrones went to shit but the most simple and important answer is that those two didn’t want to do it anymore as they though they were moving on to bigger and better things or so they thought.

I can’t really fault HBO for that as the first 4-5 seasons were exceptional. Especially first 4, where there was so much source material to pick from.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing the last of us as the dynamic between Joel and Ellie was just amazing in the first game. The infected, the post apocalyptic setting was just a backdrop to much more nuanced story of love, loss and love again. — at least in my view. If they show can draw from that then I think we will be on to a winner.
 

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I've been avoiding spoilers about TLOU2. Still can't find the time to start it. Not knowing why the internet is raging though, is great. Makes me want to play it more.
 

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Hey, you can laugh but I remember when he started to put wimmin in Uncharted 4. There was a wimmin who apparently explored stuff and wrote letters to other wimmin, and then Drake's wimmin talks back to him. And then, to make matters worse, Drake and his wimmin have a small wimmin who wants to learn to do what Drake does.

I turned that disgusting shit off as soon as that happened because my daughters were in the room. They asked "Father, was that wimmin doing stuff?" And I had to tell them not to get too emotional and that they'd be better off returning to their chambers near the larder before they got any bright ideas about their futures. Not having any of that shit in MY imitation Tudor home with a rustic Rover 200 in the back garden.