The Last of Us: Part 2

[Nick]

Nah, it's not. You'll see.

Interesting. I stayed away from the leaks purposefully because of the divisiveness I heard. Plus if there's one thing I hate, it's being spoiled.

Gotta love how the keyboard warriors are out in full force on Metacritic and on Google giving this a 3.4/10 User rating on Metacritic and a 1.9/5 on Google. This is the same toxic behavior that happened surrounding The Last Jedi. The even crazier thing is I bet the majority of the people haven't even actually played the game yet, they just hate the leaks that they heard and therefore it sucks.

‘The Last Of Us Part 2’ Is Getting Predictably User Score Bombed On Metacritic

The Last of Us Part 2 is getting mobbed by user scores on Metacritic, which we all should have seen coming.

www.forbes.com

 

[Nick]

Some thoughts so far:

Spoiler

So, i'm who knows how far into the game (I'm on Seattle Day 2). Had some things I was doing this weekend so I never got a good chance to really get a good playing session in. I've got a mixed opinion. I think narrative-wise, it's good (as far as cut-scenes go and stuff) and there's definitely some real emotional moments. Not on the level of the first game, but it's still good.

At the same time, i'm not sure I feel as much a sense of purpose in this game as I did in the first. Gameplay however is where i'm really mixed. I feel like I keep expecting there to be a big boss battle that just never happens. The pacing is also off a bit because of that. There's a lot of stillness and less action than I would prefer. I think the Shambler's are a stupid addition if their supposed to be something that Bloaters turn into. I find the Shamblers extremely easy to defeat. I don't mind Dina, but she's not Joel. One of the purest moments of the game so far for me that I enjoyed the most was during Ellie's dream of her birthday when Joel brought her to the Museum in Wyoming. Joel's death really got me too.

I guess the way I see it, in TLOU, we were on a mission to get a vaccine. Along the way, Joel and Ellie formed a great friendship to the point where Joel didn't want to let Ellie die, even if it was selfish. Here in TLOU2 so far, it seems like it's mostly about revenge so far, but to what end?

 

[foodstampsFTW]

Finished the game earlier and thought it was pretty great overall. Obviously the game is technically amazing so I won’t get into that. As for the story, I thought they did a good job for the story they were trying to tell, I can’t make people like the choices they made, but it worked for me. I don’t think I can describe my biggest issue with game without spoilers so.

Spoiler

I feel like the Abby portion of the game drags a bit. Mostly the Seattle day 2 part. Its not even that I thought the story was boring, I think I was just getting frustrated with the gameplay. And I can’t tell if it’s because I suck at the game, or those parts were unnecessarily difficult, but a certain point I just wanted this section to hurry up and get back to Ellie’s story. And I think this wouldn’t have really have bothered me had it been placed differently. Like if they had done Ellie Seattle day 1, then Abby Seattle day 1, the game would’ve flowed a lot better.

I’d probably give the game an 8/10, it’s not a masterpiece but it’s certainly not awful.

 

[Nick]

Still haven’t finished, so that should tell you something. The pacing of this game and repetitive gameplay, along with lack of any real clear motive that I can connect with unlike the first game, is really bogging the game down for me. I’m still having fun and the cinematics are great, but this game is way more of a chore than I’d hope for it to feel like.

 

[TheDecemberists]

Still haven’t finished, so that should tell you something. The pacing of this game and repetitive gameplay, along with lack of any real clear motive that I can connect with unlike the first game, is really bogging the game down for me. I’m still having fun and the cinematics are great, but this game is way more of a chore than I’d hope for it to feel like.

Personally I'm enjoying the more "open world" areas. But I'm obsessed with exploring every nook and cranny in most games. This one rewards you with dialogue you otherwise wouldn't have heard. Also, I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to play guitar covers on my own.

 

[Nick]

Personally I'm enjoying the more "open world" areas. But I'm obsessed with exploring every nook and cranny in most games. This one rewards you with dialogue you otherwise wouldn't have heard. Also, I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to play guitar covers on my own.

Oh i am exploring literally every nook and cranny. It's certainly a bit more open world than the first game, but the pacing of this game - mostly with switching between play characters - hurts it imo.

Spoiler

It also is a bit of a bummer that this isn't really Ellie's story. The ultimate story here is about Joel and Abby, with Ellie serving as our guide on her hunt for revenge... even though she knows Joel did wrong and seemingly wasn't even talking to him much for two year leading up to when this game is set.

 

[Fedic]

The Last of Us Part 2 becomes the fastest-selling PS4 exclusive

Just finished the game. Ended up getting almost 30 hours game play out of my first run through. Some parts of it did occasionally feel like a bit of a slog, though.

Spoiler

I get what they were going for by having you play someone from both sides, but by the time the main Abby story started, I had already spent a game and a half with Ellie and just didn't feel any kind of emotional attachment to Abby, so it made her part, for me, less enjoyable. I found myself wanting to rush through it and get back to Ellie again.

 

[Nick]

So I finally finished. Not sure how long it took me since I never really started playing it more than a few hours here and there until I got to roughly the halfway point. I think they really took a lot of risks story-wise. They didn't always work, imo, but when they did, they REALLY did. Played the game on Hard. I'll probably go back and play it on Survivor at some point. There was certainly some points where I was thinking to myself, "damn, if I was playing this on Grounded, this part would be hard af". Although as of right now there is no Grounded option, but there wasn't at launch when TLOU was first released in 2013 either. It came with DLC I believe.

Spoiler thoughts below, but I certainly enjoyed the second half of the game WAY more than the first half. The first half was a bit of a chore to get through while imo, the second half was a breeze and everything (finally) started to come together. Read below if you want to understand more what I mean.

Spoiler

Aside from a few moments here and there (Joel's death being key among them and Ellie's flashbacks as well), The first 1/3 of the game or so was a bit slower than I would've liked and the pacing was all over the place. I give them credit for taking what I consider to be a pretty be story risk by having us play through Seattle with Ellie and then experience what Abby was going through during the same point that leads us to their ultimate meeting point at the Aquarium. Also, killing Joel so early into the game was a bit of a bold move, but I suppose that whole story line was what really drove the whole game, so it had to happen.

For quite awhile, while I was playing as Ellie, I sort of was getting bored. Part of the issue was with Dina. Once we got to the theater and she said she was pregnant, it was all downhill there with her. While I get it was to give Dina a bit of her own side-story, it made her a useless side character, especially until Jesse got there. Once playing through Seattle as Abby, I really grew to love her character and Lev as well. I thought they worked extremely well together and it was fun playing with them.

Seeing Ellie and Abby's story intertwine was fun to see as well. I was a bit unsure where we were going with the story for awhile, especially once we cut away from the Ellie/Abby confrontation in the theater to play with Abby. But I quickly began to realize what was going on and I really enjoyed how it all came together. The last shot of the game with Ellie walking back into the woods leads me to believe that they are leaving the door open for a Part 3, but where do you even go from here?

On the whole, this game is not as good as the first installment, but it is still a very good game with a solid narrative, although I can see how some may not like certain part of this game if they were expecting this game to be exactly like the first.

I'd rate it an 8.75/10 (I'd rate the first game as a 10/10).

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

I just finished it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It didn't top the first for me, but I was never expecting it to. The gameplay is pretty much perfected with improvements to the enemy AI, and a few sequences are terrifying to play through. My only issue with the game is its narrative pacing (moderate spoilers)

Spoiler

The first days for both Ellie and Abby drag a bit, particularly the latter. After the open area exploration with Ellie, the next two or three hours feel a bit stale with little plot development. I was unengaged for roughly 3-4 hours of Abby's section for similar reasons, but her story picks up once you reach the WLF base to get Yara's medicine. Given how beautifully the story concludes, these are minor issues in the larger picture, but this game loses the tightness of the first for good and bad reasons.

Overall I'd say it's a 9/10. Looking forward to the inevitable Part III

 

[Nick]

I just finished it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It didn't top the first for me, but I was never expecting it to. The gameplay is pretty much perfected with improvements to the enemy AI, and a few sequences are terrifying to play through. My only issue with the game is its narrative pacing (moderate spoilers)

Spoiler

The first days for both Ellie and Abby drag a bit, particularly the latter. After the open area exploration with Ellie, the next two or three hours feel a bit stale with little plot development. I was unengaged for roughly 3-4 hours of Abby's section for similar reasons, but her story picks up once you reach the WLF base to get Yara's medicine. Given how beautifully the story concludes, these are minor issues in the larger picture, but this game loses the tightness of the first for good and bad reasons.

Overall I'd say it's a 9/10. Looking forward to the inevitable Part III

When a game is as big of a seller as TLOU is, yeah, i'm expecting them to at least finish out a trilogy here. I just don't know necessarily what more Ellie has to fight about. Not to mention there was no cliff-hanger anywhere near the level of the first game, although that may play to a future game's benefit (in not being tied to a specific plot line with questions that need to be answered).

My biggest problem with this game though is that TLOU was a masterclass in storytelling, not just in the video game sphere, but it's so tightly and beautifully done that it's better than many movies. TLOU2 is still a high class narrative in comparison to almost any video game, but the structure that the game takes you on ruins the pacing and in turn, the narrative flow isn't as tight. Almost the entirety of the game is revolving on you buying into the story line they are trying to sell.

Spoiler

Almost the entirety of the game is revolving on you buying into the story line they are trying to sell (humanizing Abby as much as they have Ellie and making you start to wonder who the real villain is. This can be tough for many people as, Abby killed Joel. To me, I don't care that she killed Joel. As much as people loved Joel, he also had this coming to him. He had a messed up past before Ellie and he did messed up stuff along our journey with her. Joel is the ultimate Anti-hero.

The game basically goes all-in on hoping you'll connect with Abby. If not, like many obviously didn't because they couldn't get over her killing Joel or whatever the reason, then you likely aren't going to enjoy this game that much. But I liked that Joel's death really weighed on Ellie's mind for a good while and impacted the decisions she made all the way until the end. I just wish the reasoning for Joel's death wasn't so stupid. The fact that he's so careful not to invite strangers (and when he does, he nearly kills them first) along in the first game and then here we are and he's helping save Abby and her friends and inviting them to Jackson? I mean really. Joel acting like he hasn't been in this fight for 25 years.

 

[JungleSkip]

Finished last night. Another complete home run from Naughty Dog

 

[Nick]

Finished last night. Another complete home run from Naughty Dog

I outlined my minor issues, but I agree. I just enjoy playing this game and being in this universe so much. Even with it not being as good as the first game it’s still better than 99.9% of games that are released.

I’m going to play God of War for now (as I somehow never got around to playing the remake) and then maybe I’ll play TLOU2 on New Game+ on Survivor to try and get some collectibles I missed/trophy hunt.

 

[foodstampsFTW]

I find it interesting that 3 different people complained about pacing, but if you look at what part they’re specifically talking about, they’re all different parts.

 

[Nick]

I find it interesting that 3 different people complained about pacing, but if you look at what part they’re specifically talking about, they’re all different parts.

It is interesting. We all have issues with pacing at some point, but in some parts where others have mentioned, I’m fine with it. It’s a game that tests your patience in some ways.

Druckmann has said he expected this game to divide the fandom so I’m not gonna be surprised about it. It’s not fun talking about this game in most places online as it turns into toxic back and forth, reminiscent of TLJ. That’s why I enjoy just hearing opinions here and from some friends on FB.

EDIT:
For anyone that enjoys the series, here's a great spoiler convo with Druckmann, Ashley Johnson (Ellie) and Troy Baker (Joel)

 

[Nick]

On the atopic of a Part 3:

“I’ll be a little vague and cagey as you can expect, but I think the test for whether or not to make a Part III would have to be a similar test to what we did with Part II. With the first game there were no expectations and it was like we could do anything. But now that we’ve established certain characters and themes and processes, it felt like to justify making a Part II we had to do something not that fans would just be comfortable with, but do something that would match the emotional core we found in the first game. And without that, there’d be no reason to do a Part III. Finding it with the sequel was much harder than it was with the first game, and going forward it would be exponentially harder to justify going back to that world and finding a way to vary things up. There’s already so many things you’ve seen about the backstory, about how the outbreak happens, so we’d really have to figure out how to create a new experience that matches the emotional impact of these stories and I don’t know what that is. Currently.“

Redirect Notice

 

[Nick]

Just played through this again. Played on Survivor+ this time so that I could Platinum this game out. This game is probably the easiest I’ve ever played to platinum (although Spider-Man PS4 was pretty easy too, but more was needed). Basically as long as you found all collectibles and finish the game once (and upgrade everything), you get a 100% completion.

Anyway, I liked the game better on this play through. I think originally I was taken aback by playing three days as Ellie and then three as Abby. I also have a greater appreciation for the narrative being told.

Points still off for Dina and Mel both having a similar storyline and for Jessie and Manny both being empty characters only there to move the story forward and then die. Other than those two things, it’s an absolutely excellent game.

 

[Nick]

TLOU: Part 2 PS5 is coming in January and unlike the Part 1 upgrade, if you own the game, this will only be a $10 cost AND it actually comes with new content - “No Return” roguelike multiplayer mode, three playable “lost” levels, and guitar free play.

Presumably, the roguelike mode is what TLOU multiplayer game was supposed to be.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

The core idea of the Lost Levels is genuinely really cool. Glad to see something like this; and I wonder if this might mean that specific content will be encoming to that of the HBO's second season.

 

[JungleSkip]

TLOU: Part 2 PS5 vets coming in January and unlike the Part 1 upgrade, if you own the game, this will only be a $10 cost

Only if you have a disc and a disc drive PS5. Guess us digital people get screwed because reasons or whatever.

Thanks Sony!

 

[saint.piss]

Only if you have a disc and a disc drive PS5. Guess us digital people get screwed because reasons or whatever.

Thanks Sony!

This isn't true???? Literally doesn't matter whether it's physical or digital as long as you have the game it's a $10 upgrade....