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Thread: The Last of Us

  1. #121
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wretchedest View Post
    Spoiler: Joel died too soon?! That's the fucking catalyst of the story! And he's still in a ton of the game like almost every chapter
    Spoiler: Yeah, I know. It's the plot device to the entire game's story haha.

  2. #122
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    Of all things, it's the games pretentious that do it the biggest disservice. As far as mindless action games go, it's a cut above. When you try to cut too much deeper than that, the cracks begin to show. I will say that many of this games story related issues stem from a desire to present this pretentiousness. The parts where the drama piles on beyond reason. [Spoiler] even by the time Dina reveals she is pregnant... There is enough going on. And in taking her off the board the game loses some of it's better qualities. Ellie also pushed herself too far several times over, before they flush the character down the toilet, so that we don't ever want to see her again. And of course there's Mel, who's sitary character traits *is* pregnancy lol [/spoilers]

  3. #123
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    Meh, it's a damn good game. Also does a decent job of weighing sides within justifiable actions of protagonist vs antagonist. Reality is grey. Ellie is consumed with revenge just like Abby. Humans are fucked in this matter. I can't blame either. But the theme is dark and morbid. Spoiler: By the end, we've lived through Ellie advancing beyond her years, but not necessarily due to the savage nature of her experience, but her regret / sorrow. That is at least growth beyond a heart-breaking story. Sure, there are flaws. But honestly, there are far worse cinematic experiences getting Academy praise than this game. It deserves the accolades.

    If I might add, it's impressive enough that we are critically analyzing these characters from an incredible acting experience within a game. The actors who bought in and pulled this off were in a zone. I stopped playing a game; a game played me. It's gutwrenching. Never felt a cheesy moment. Was always emotionally drained. That is not easy to pull off in such a long-form cinematic experience, much less the fact it is a video game.

    I feel like if they never revisit this story, we've already experienced closure. We can only be left alone to hope these suffering souls find peace without any further tale to tell. It's going to be difficult to revisit. It could more easily just be left alone.
    Last edited by pulse; 07-01-2020 at 07:36 AM. Reason: tag

  4. #124
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    My precise concern while playing through this game was that it was going to become some The Walking Dead (the AMC show, not the game) misery porn wankery. In Ellie's part of the story, it certainly threatens to. But I just made it to the second go around of Day 3 and I'm pretty convinced that it wasn't a needed concern. The plot is fairly heavy on tropes, but so was the first game's story. Like that game, the weight comes from the strength of the performances and well-drawn main characters with just enough depth for me to sink my teeth into.

    And my biggest issue, as usual when a Naughty Dog game drops, is that the "good for a video game" writing is so widely focused on in discussion that you don't hear much about what a rad video game this is independent of the story being told. The art design, the graphics, the combat, level design; this game is nothing short of an achievement, one that could only be accomplished by a passionate, talented team with a huge budget and potentially toxic perfectionist work culture, and it deserves every accolade it's going to get, regardless of whether the writing team delivered.

    I haven't beat the game, but I do have spoiler-y thoughts too:
    Spoiler: What I think makes Ellie's half of the story work (compared to Abbie's, which is much warmer with a more sympathetic protagonist) is taking it with the events of the first game, as well as the flashbacks. When you pan out enough, I find that there's a lot to dig into: Ellie isn't *just* another woefully misguided protagonist overcome with bloodlust. She knows from the beginning exactly what Joel did to deserve what he got, and yet, she still feels compelled to avenge him. I've spent some time thinking about why that is. The connection I'm drawing (especially when comparing Ellie vs Abby) is that what Ellie is doing is exactly what Joel would've done. Joel's own selfishness is the reason she's alive, and while we see that she was furious to learn what he'd done, she clearly made some kind of peace with it.

    So, in essence, Joel poisoned her. While he saved her life and cemented the parent-child bond they both needed, he left her his nihilism when his actions finally caught up to him.

    Reading the story this way, it's really a better payoff to the first game's ending than I could've imagined going in.

  5. #125
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    Ellie plays hurt -Johnny cash

  6. #126
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    Beat the story for the first time tonight.

    I have gotten all trophies minus 3 (both fully upgraded skills/weapons and the platinum itself). I am gonna 100% this beast.

    Spoiler: The end had me. I was for sure thought Ellie was going to drown Abby at the end before she let her up.

  7. #127
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    I played a lot yesterday. Just got to the hospital.

    I was thinking about it and this game seems so much darker and lonely than the first one, and I think it’s because in the first one, you always had an AI companion. Even at the beginning of this one, we had Dina, and it made playing a lot more enjoyable because of the side conversations they’d have.

    A lot of great moments between Ellie and Joel happened during those side conversations during gameplay in the first one.

    I miss that a bit in this one. Not a huge criticism, but definitely feels a little bit more lonely this time around.


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  8. #128
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    I'm nearly on Day 3 for Ellie on a New Game+ play through. Two weapons left to max and two skills left for her. Then it's Abby's turn.

    Fuck the haters. I bought this.

    A post shared by on


  9. #129
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    Quote Originally Posted by Space Suicide View Post
    I'm nearly on day 3 for Ellie on a New Game+ play through. Two weapons left to max and two skills left. Then it's Abby's turn.

    Fuck the haters. I bought this.

    A post shared by on

    Your link won’t work.

    Also, how many hours a day are you playing? I feel like it takes me 3 hours to complete a section!! Maybe I’m just slow and don’t like to miss the collectibles.


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  10. #130
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    Quote Originally Posted by ItsChrisRoss View Post
    Your link won’t work.

    Also, how many hours a day are you playing? I feel like it takes me 3 hours to complete a section!! Maybe I’m just slow and don’t like to miss the collectibles.
    Reload, it shows up on mine.

    I did all my collectibles the first play through via a guide. Now I'm just blowing through areas since I know layout and skipping cutscenes.

  11. #131
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    Quote Originally Posted by Space Suicide View Post
    Reload, it shows up on mine.

    I did all my collectibles the first play through via a guide. Now I'm just blowing through areas since I know layout and skipping cutscenes.
    Ah, when I opened it in safari it worked. Cool!


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  12. #132
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    Just beat the Game for the second time on New game plus on hard. The only thing I disliked about the game the second time around, not the games fault, is watching the non cinematic scenes where you have to talk and you can't skip through lol. All in all a fantastic game . Got 55 percent of the game complete. That's enough for me .

  13. #133
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    Finished last night. I'm conflicted. Stuff I liked and stuff I didn't. Way too long and dragged out imo.

    Inventory system worked out well in the first, but doesn't hold up well at all in this one. It's too clunky for this game's action.

    Story-wise, I'm not sure how I feel about it. Nowhere close to the first game. Doesn't have the magic or the pacing the first game.

    Just a very weird game imo. This game isn't bad enough for me to send death threats and other dumb shit.

  14. #134
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    Game is beautiful, mechanics worked just fine, story could have been a bit shorter. Hated what they did with Joel and the writing is pretty lackluster here compared to the first outing. Overall, I really enjoyed myself despite that major flaw for me.

    The museum scene was the best thing out of this entire game.

  15. #135
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    Quote Originally Posted by Self.Destructive.Pattern View Post
    Game is beautiful, mechanics worked just fine, story could have been a bit shorter. Hated what they did with Joel and the writing is pretty lackluster here compared to the first outing. Overall, I really enjoyed myself despite that major flaw for me.

    The museum scene was the best thing out of this entire game.
    Loved the museum scene. I’m only halfway thru the game but that scene was so good and definitely stood out. So nice to see Ellie and Joel on good terms.

    It bothers me that she resents him so much for saving her life. Life’s too short to strain relationships, as we all found out with what happened to Joel. Looking forward to finishing this game but it won’t happen for a few weeks. I’m a slow player haha.


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  16. #136
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    Quote Originally Posted by ItsChrisRoss View Post
    Loved the museum scene. I’m only halfway thru the game but that scene was so good and definitely stood out. So nice to see Ellie and Joel on good terms.

    It bothers me that she resents him so much for saving her life. Life’s too short to strain relationships, as we all found out with what happened to Joel. Looking forward to finishing this game but it won’t happen for a few weeks. I’m a slow player haha.


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    Yeaa that is where the writing flaws come in for me with her resenting him so much. I wanna say more but can't lol.

  17. #137
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    Picked up my controller this morning after taking a break for a week....goddamn is this game not forgiving. I have died so many times during my first play-though, I had to take a break due to how frustrating it got. I'm still keeping myself in dark when it comes to the story and I refuse to read any guides for fear of it revealing something I didn't already know...

    I love this game, even with its flaws, and I still find myself actually getting scared/nervous during certain parts which is a welcoming feeling. Haven't had a game make my sit on the edge of my seat since the original Resident Evil.

  18. #138
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    No idea why this game is getting so much hate. I enjoy the story. I’ve been playing as Abby now for a while (on Seattle day Two - Abby) and I like her character. There’s clearly a parallel between her and Ellie with their inability to let things go and see out their revenge.

    It’s ridiculous to me that so many people out there don’t like Abby because of what she did early on in the game. It seems to me that it’s mostly fanboys of the first one (I played and loved the first one) that are hung up on that significant death which propels their dislike for Abby. I happen to like her. Her and Ellie are both people who have lost important people in their lives and are unable to move on.


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  19. #139
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    The Last of Us

    Still playing this. About three quarters through. Maybe more. This is the conclusion I’ve come to:

    Abby > Ellie.

    While there is no true villain in this story, I found Abbys play through much more enjoyable, her personality more likable, and felt she lost way more than Ellie.

    If I HAD to choose who the villain was between both? Definitely Ellie.

    At least part of Abbys story was spent trying to save two people. Who did Ellie try to save? No one.

    And people need to get over that Abby killed Joel. Joel wasn’t the best person either and everyone is basically in this mess because of him.

    Ellie comes off as a resentful person who can’t get past her need for vengeance which in turn, costs both her and Abby everything.

    I’m team Abby. Ellie’s personality was a bummer this game.


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  20. #140
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    Quote Originally Posted by ItsChrisRoss View Post
    Still playing this. About three quarters through. Maybe more. This is the conclusion I’ve come to:

    Abby > Ellie.

    While there is no true villain in this story, I found Abbys play through much more enjoyable, her personality more likable, and felt she lost way more than Ellie.

    If I HAD to choose who the villain was between both? Definitely Ellie.

    At least part of Abbys story was spent trying to save two people. Who did Ellie try to save? No one.

    And people need to get over that Abby killed Joel. Joel wasn’t the best person either and everyone is basically in this mess because of him doom players of the first game. You got character story and exposition for her in an entire game, which TLOUPII tried to do in one for Abby for both sides of her story.

    Ellie comes off as a resentful person who can’t get past her need for vengeance which in turn, costs both her and Abby everything.

    I’m team Abby. Ellie’s personality was a bummer this game.


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    I DARE you to post this into at the void somewhere else and see if the wolves are kind to you.

    Everything you said I can see and agree with. I liked both player characters in this game, Ellie got favoritism due to origin story and personal attachment.

  21. #141
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    Quote Originally Posted by Space Suicide View Post
    I DARE you to post this into at the void somewhere else and see if the wolves are kind to you.

    Everything you said I can see and agree with. I liked both player characters in this game, Ellie got favoritism due to origin story and personal attachment.
    Agree with the favoritism with Ellie.

    And I tried to post it into the void on my story on IG using the hashtag #Thelastofuspart2 but I’m not sure how far that’ll reach haha.


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  22. #142
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    Quote Originally Posted by ItsChrisRoss View Post
    Agree with the favoritism with Ellie.

    And I tried to post it into the void on my story on IG using the hashtag #Thelastofuspart2 but I’m not sure how far that’ll reach haha.


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    Plus Ellie got more exposition and background as she had an entire first game and supporting character/relationship to build off of. For Abby you got the second game and she's got both prologue origin beginnings and current II story. More daunting task.

  23. #143
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    Usually I love horror like this, but it needs to be in service of something worthwhile and tangible. This was badly written misery porn, through and through. When I realised that Abby and Ellie were so appalling awful, that I genuinely wanted them to murder each other, I realised how ugly and cynical Naughty Dog have become. I get it, revenge is bad. Did I really need 20 hours of contrived virtue signaling hitting me over the head with this?

    ND has stated something like, "we don't expect you to love Abby, but we expect you to understand her". Well, bravo for framing the simplest of narrative characterization structure as some kind of achievement. She's still an appalling douchebag.

    On to Ghosts of Tsushima, which seems to deal with similar themes, but so far, is quite lovely! Like playing a 13th century feudal Japan version of Infamous. Quite the pallet cleanser.

  24. #144
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    The Last of Us

    Just finished this finally. I already knew what happened before playing through, but holy hell what a heavy game. The last fight between Abby and Ellie is a punch in the gut (no pun intended).

    It’s honestly borderline disgusting to me how a Ellie as a character could release Abby and Lev, VISIBLY SEE how screwed up and close to death they were and STILL be so selfish as to want to fight Abby when Abby refused.

    I solidified my stance about halfway to three quarters through the game that 1) I liked Abby better than Ellie and that 2) Abby was a better person. She saved Lev and Yara...Ellie saved no one. Abby probably wasn’t the best person in general, but when you compare her to Ellie, she’s a saint.

    I finished out the game feeling sorry for Abby because Ellie basically ruined everything she had, and being disappointed in Ellie for becoming such a relentless hateful rage filled person.

    Did I like the game? Yes. Would I play through it again? Doubtful. It was fun, beautiful, but awfully heavy.

    I can see why people didn’t like the story but anyone who plays through who doesn’t feel for Abby is missing the point.

    Anyways, that’s my two cents. Glad I played. Lived up to my expectations or the most part, but talk about destroying a character (Ellie).


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  25. #145
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    So, I am late to the party here but I finally finished this last night. I tried not to play too much each day (was aiming for an hour a day, max, but I broke my own rule multiple times...ha) in order to really savor the experience.

    I have to say, I was completely, and I mean COMPLETELY blown away. The first game is one of my top five favorite games of all time but, and I can't believe I'm saying this, this one was better. The story was absolutely stunning, engrossing and moving. The gameplay was a blast. The acting was phenomenal. The ending was absolutely perfect. I loved the characters in spite of their flaws (yes, I recognize that they're both pretty awful humans in a lot of ways). Spoiler: I absolutely LOVED Abby. I looooved Lev and Yara (poor Yara!) I was incredibly moved by their story. I wanted to spend more time with all of them (especially Abby). I didn't want it to end. It was an absolutely amazing experience.

    Oh, and I cried. Only the second video game to ever do that to me. This was one of the best stories I have ever experienced in any medium. I loved it.

    That being said, the pacing was waaaaay off for the first half of the game. I got incredibly bored until about 15 hours in or so. It was super repetitive and the environments weren't all that diverse or interesting. But the second half more than made up for it. And there were some sequences in this game that just completely blew me away. Spoiler: The part where you are in the car trying to get away from the WLF and Ellie is shooting and you end up falling into the river, like, WOW. One of the best sequences I've seen in a game. Or the beginning when Abby is running between the house and the fence and all those infected are grabbing for her. Or the final fight- that final fight! Holy crap, was that intense. There were so many great sequences.

    But yeah. I can't say enough good things about this game. It wildly exceeded my expectations. I loved it. I can't wait to play it again at some point.

  26. #146
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  27. #147
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    god I wish this game didn't have so much stealth stuff going on with the gameplay, because the story just rocks. I just wish I could enjoy playing it more but I hate stealth stuff.

    It's like the Metal Gear games... I was actually really cool with Metal Gear Solid 1, didn't dig 2 so much, but 3 was amazing outside of all the stealth stuff... but the cool thing there is you can pretty much ditch the stealth stuff and just attack

    Last of Us REQUIRES this stealth crap, and it drives me nuts, because I want to simultaneously progress through this story but also want to throw my controller across the room. But whatever, I bought the new PS5 version, and I'll try again

  28. #148
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jinsai View Post
    god I wish this game didn't have so much stealth stuff going on with the gameplay, because the story just rocks. I just wish I could enjoy playing it more but I hate stealth stuff.

    It's like the Metal Gear games... I was actually really cool with Metal Gear Solid 1, didn't dig 2 so much, but 3 was amazing outside of all the stealth stuff... but the cool thing there is you can pretty much ditch the stealth stuff and just attack

    Last of Us REQUIRES this stealth crap, and it drives me nuts, because I want to simultaneously progress through this story but also want to throw my controller across the room. But whatever, I bought the new PS5 version, and I'll try again
    ^ That's funny because I love the stealth stuff! The five Metal Gear Solid games and both Last of Us games are some of my all-time favorites and I'm always on the lookout for similar games. I will say that I've always loved how the Metal Gear Solid games almost always allow the player to CHOOSE whether they use stealth and/or non-lethal weapons vs. going in guns blazing and killing everyone in sight. That does keep it fresh. Anyway, the trailer looks promising! I'm glad they're making this into an HBO series instead of a movie because it needs time to build suspense and give all of the creepy settings room to breathe. I'm glad that – at least so far – it appears they've given The Last of Us the acting talent and budget that it deserves.

  29. #149
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    Quote Originally Posted by allegate View Post
    A bunch of this was filmed like 9 blocks away from me... so going past the sets was kinda wild.

  30. #150
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    Word on the street is, The Last of Us 2 will be getting a remaster... It must be really underwhelming to be working at Naughty Dog, atm.

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