This review contains spoilers
I had this whole thing written out about how asinine and unwarranted 90% of the discourse surrounding this game is, but ultimately I figured I was wasting my breath. The people who throw a fit about this game usually fall under the category of weird, misinformed Reddit gamers with no sense of self-awareness. They are incredibly hyperbolic and incredibly cringeworthy. Not to mention the fact that I’m sure most of the people outraged by the game didn’t even take the time to play through it for themselves and probably never will. Which is a real shame because The Last of Us 2 is great.
The story in The Last of Us 2 is consistently heartbreaking. It is a dark, depressing continuation of the first game. Seeing the aftermath of Joel’s decision from the end of the first game, how it affected his relationship with Ellie, Ellie dealing with her guilt, and her mourning the loss of Joel is all just gut-wrenching. I found that this was much more emotionally impactful than the first, but I think that was only made possible because The Last of Us did such a good job setting up these characters and their relationship. This shit is so fucking depressing, man.
If I were to have one critique of the story's presentation, it would be the fact that it takes a while to get back to the confrontation with Abby and Ellie in the theater. I'm not entirely confident about whether rearranging some of the segments would've made it more or less effective at telling the story. Would alternating perspectives for each day have been just as good? Could they have shown Abby's backstory before killing Joel? I'm not sure. I feel like it could've benefited from just a little rearrangement, especially with some of the flashbacks. Better yet, they probably should've just played the events in chronological order. But what do I know? I'm just some schmuck on the Internet who can hardly write coherent ramblings about the games he's played. All I know is that constantly while playing through Abby's section, I found myself itching to get back to their confrontation and feel like it could've been quicker. Maybe that's what they were going for.
As far as visuals go, the game looks spectacular. It’s gross that video games can look this good.
The gameplay is just that of the first game, but with more polish and much-needed quality of life changes. Stealth is more manageable with the inclusion of hiding in tall grass, the ability to go prone, traps, and craftable silencers. New skill branches and upgrades give you more to work with than just the standard stat increase. The gameplay is overall very smooth. When you hit your shots on enemies, it’s very satisfying, and it's mainly due to the sound design. The stealth takedown animation and gunshot/explosion impact sounds are visceral and violent. This is a brutal game. The Last of Us 2 has shown me that the gameplay from the first one was solid and just needed some fine-tuning, which this game provides.
Going into this, I was aware of there being a large portion where you play as Abby, and I was not looking forward to it in the slightest. I thought it would be bizarre to make you play as her for practically half the game, but after getting through it, I wasn’t bothered nearly as much. I enjoyed getting to see her side of things and watching her come around from her misconstrued and heartless outlook on people outside of her group. I would be lying if I wasn’t constantly thinking back to the moment just before you switched to her POV throughout, just itching to progress the story. But I still enjoyed playing her side. They gave her some different guns and skill branches to work with to keep it fresh, which I appreciated.
The optional conversation prompt showing up regardless of whether or not you’re looking at the person was a much-needed quality of life change. I feel like I missed a lot of those playing through the first game because I was, you know, walking around looting and not always looking at Ellie.
I liked pretty much every new character introduced here. Particularly Ellie’s companions, Jesse and Dina.
At the end of the day, I think The Last of Us Part 2 improves upon the foundation of its predecessor in nearly every way. I loved practically every second I spent playing this game. So much so that I might even go back on NG+ and get all those collectibles, which is something I rarely ever do.
The story in The Last of Us 2 is consistently heartbreaking. It is a dark, depressing continuation of the first game. Seeing the aftermath of Joel’s decision from the end of the first game, how it affected his relationship with Ellie, Ellie dealing with her guilt, and her mourning the loss of Joel is all just gut-wrenching. I found that this was much more emotionally impactful than the first, but I think that was only made possible because The Last of Us did such a good job setting up these characters and their relationship. This shit is so fucking depressing, man.
If I were to have one critique of the story's presentation, it would be the fact that it takes a while to get back to the confrontation with Abby and Ellie in the theater. I'm not entirely confident about whether rearranging some of the segments would've made it more or less effective at telling the story. Would alternating perspectives for each day have been just as good? Could they have shown Abby's backstory before killing Joel? I'm not sure. I feel like it could've benefited from just a little rearrangement, especially with some of the flashbacks. Better yet, they probably should've just played the events in chronological order. But what do I know? I'm just some schmuck on the Internet who can hardly write coherent ramblings about the games he's played. All I know is that constantly while playing through Abby's section, I found myself itching to get back to their confrontation and feel like it could've been quicker. Maybe that's what they were going for.
As far as visuals go, the game looks spectacular. It’s gross that video games can look this good.
The gameplay is just that of the first game, but with more polish and much-needed quality of life changes. Stealth is more manageable with the inclusion of hiding in tall grass, the ability to go prone, traps, and craftable silencers. New skill branches and upgrades give you more to work with than just the standard stat increase. The gameplay is overall very smooth. When you hit your shots on enemies, it’s very satisfying, and it's mainly due to the sound design. The stealth takedown animation and gunshot/explosion impact sounds are visceral and violent. This is a brutal game. The Last of Us 2 has shown me that the gameplay from the first one was solid and just needed some fine-tuning, which this game provides.
Going into this, I was aware of there being a large portion where you play as Abby, and I was not looking forward to it in the slightest. I thought it would be bizarre to make you play as her for practically half the game, but after getting through it, I wasn’t bothered nearly as much. I enjoyed getting to see her side of things and watching her come around from her misconstrued and heartless outlook on people outside of her group. I would be lying if I wasn’t constantly thinking back to the moment just before you switched to her POV throughout, just itching to progress the story. But I still enjoyed playing her side. They gave her some different guns and skill branches to work with to keep it fresh, which I appreciated.
The optional conversation prompt showing up regardless of whether or not you’re looking at the person was a much-needed quality of life change. I feel like I missed a lot of those playing through the first game because I was, you know, walking around looting and not always looking at Ellie.
I liked pretty much every new character introduced here. Particularly Ellie’s companions, Jesse and Dina.
At the end of the day, I think The Last of Us Part 2 improves upon the foundation of its predecessor in nearly every way. I loved practically every second I spent playing this game. So much so that I might even go back on NG+ and get all those collectibles, which is something I rarely ever do.