I'm very mixed on the Last of Us Part II. I find much of it flawed and I absolutely despise its pacing. But I am not going to act like there aren't moments that I find incredible and pretend that this is anywhere near a bad game. I said so as much in my original pro/con review of the 2020 release.
I truly believe after listening to the Director Commentary and checking out much of the behind the scenes stuff that this game succeeded in what it set out to do. It is an evocative experience that didn't play it safe and got the mixed reactions that only art can provide. That doesn't absolve it from being criticized, but there is a right and wrong way to do that.
We all know that poor faith criticism has been thrown it's way from the moment the game was leaked. To a lesser extent there has also been moments of downplaying or "talking down" to individuals by those who do consider the game a masterpiece. I think what we can all take away form this is that the discourse regarding the Last of Us Part II has been pathetic. It is genuinely not fun to talk about this game with most people. It almost rivals Star Wars discourse.....Almost.
All of this culminating to this re-release. We've seen this before and it is nothing new. Many PS3/360 era games received the remaster/rerelease treatment when the PS4 and Xbox One were in their infant years. Hell my favorite game of all time is a re-release version. I think the way Naughty Dog went about this version was fair. $10 upgrade or buy the boxed product for 49.99 US Dollars. I liked The Last of Us Part 1 remake but I felt $70 for a game we all played felt a little much for just a graphics update. For this to be priced this way, to include the No Return mode and the behind the scenes content? I think is fine. Originally I felt sour for my purchase of the upgrade but I've put enough time in the additional content to feel I justified my $10.
To sum up my thoughts on No Return, I really like playing it but it is far from perfect. Its progression, difficulty spread and variety is severely lacking. I've seen the same maps, same weapon upgrade animations, and same enemy patterns that I am seeing maybe too many runs play out the same way. Despite that I am still playing it at the time of this review because I like the combat. Aside from Joel and Tommy, whose lack of dodge makes them feel inferior player options, the tense survivor horror gunplay of playing this game on survival difficulty is incredible. Fuck Grounded but that is also fun too.
I'm choosing to rate this version higher than I did the original. While I still will say I don't like a good portion of this game, if any part of this clicks with you I think this version is an upgrade. I do hope however this is the last remaster/re-release we see from Naughty Dog for a while. Since 2020 they have released 3 of them and it's starting to get old. Hopefully the next time we hear from them they have something new.
TLDR: I would like this game more if Abby was the main character and the story was completely separated from the events and characters of the first game.
I truly believe after listening to the Director Commentary and checking out much of the behind the scenes stuff that this game succeeded in what it set out to do. It is an evocative experience that didn't play it safe and got the mixed reactions that only art can provide. That doesn't absolve it from being criticized, but there is a right and wrong way to do that.
We all know that poor faith criticism has been thrown it's way from the moment the game was leaked. To a lesser extent there has also been moments of downplaying or "talking down" to individuals by those who do consider the game a masterpiece. I think what we can all take away form this is that the discourse regarding the Last of Us Part II has been pathetic. It is genuinely not fun to talk about this game with most people. It almost rivals Star Wars discourse.....Almost.
All of this culminating to this re-release. We've seen this before and it is nothing new. Many PS3/360 era games received the remaster/rerelease treatment when the PS4 and Xbox One were in their infant years. Hell my favorite game of all time is a re-release version. I think the way Naughty Dog went about this version was fair. $10 upgrade or buy the boxed product for 49.99 US Dollars. I liked The Last of Us Part 1 remake but I felt $70 for a game we all played felt a little much for just a graphics update. For this to be priced this way, to include the No Return mode and the behind the scenes content? I think is fine. Originally I felt sour for my purchase of the upgrade but I've put enough time in the additional content to feel I justified my $10.
To sum up my thoughts on No Return, I really like playing it but it is far from perfect. Its progression, difficulty spread and variety is severely lacking. I've seen the same maps, same weapon upgrade animations, and same enemy patterns that I am seeing maybe too many runs play out the same way. Despite that I am still playing it at the time of this review because I like the combat. Aside from Joel and Tommy, whose lack of dodge makes them feel inferior player options, the tense survivor horror gunplay of playing this game on survival difficulty is incredible. Fuck Grounded but that is also fun too.
I'm choosing to rate this version higher than I did the original. While I still will say I don't like a good portion of this game, if any part of this clicks with you I think this version is an upgrade. I do hope however this is the last remaster/re-release we see from Naughty Dog for a while. Since 2020 they have released 3 of them and it's starting to get old. Hopefully the next time we hear from them they have something new.
TLDR: I would like this game more if Abby was the main character and the story was completely separated from the events and characters of the first game.