While the biggest issue with The Last of Us is the incredibly outdated gameplay, playing it for the first time in 2022 certainly didn't do it any favors, it goes to show that you don't need stellar gameplay to make an amazing game. Having a good narrative with compelling and likable characters can absolutely carry the shit out of a video game. So much so that I don't even mind that a lot of this is just getting from place to place. When you make me care about the characters and their interactions with each other that's more than enough to make me fall in love with your game.

Somebody really should've explained this concept to the devs of Horizon Zero Dawn...

And while the gameplay hasn't aged super well I still found myself being thoroughly engaged in every altercation I found myself in.