OliveSagan
28 reviews liked by OliveSagan
Despite what people say this game is a 10/10. The story is gripping and Abby is a badass.
A worthy sequel that takes the narrative gaming experience to another level and makes me feel stuff I haven't felt in a video game.
The Last of Us Part II doesn't serve as a satisfying, safe sequel that intends to play on audience nostalgia. Instead, it attempts to offer a twisted, brutal, and nuanced narrative that constantly forces the player to question the motivations of the title's main characters. Intense stealth action, combined with some of the most fluid third-person combat, make TLOU Part II a must play. I think people will better appreciate this game with time.
This review contains spoilers
My favourite game of all time. I really can't comprehend the sheer hatred that this game has, Ellie completely steps up as a character in this game. She takes on the role of the protagonist perfectly, cementing her as one of my all-time favourite characters. I loved playing as Abby, I personally prefer her as a character to Joel. From start to finish this was thrilling and brutal. The decision to spare Abby was bold and got a lot of hate but I think it was the perfect way for that arc to end, Ellie losing everything but sparing Abby just felt so heartbreaking and genuine, especially when you notice the parallels between Abby+Lev and Joel+Ellie. On every level this game is superior to its predecessor, utterly beautiful.
A masterpiece. Heartwrenching, beautiful at times, and an amazing story about the futility of revenge.
Amazing gameplay, incredible story, its amazing, fuck you.
This review contains spoilers
This is a great game until the narrative shifts and you start playing as Abby.
Then it becomes exceptional.
It comes at a point when Ellie’s story began to exhaust me (surely by design), as I watched her fall further and further yet into senseless, depraved acts of vengeance. In contrast, Abby has already commited her own heinous act from the outset, and we’re left to see her try to pick up the pieces. If Ellie’s is a story of losing her humanity, Abby’s is one of trying to regain it.
Naughty Dog is challenging us to hate a character we are supposed to love and love a character we are supposed to hate, and largely succeeds in doing so. Ellie is a hollowed shell of a person, a young woman traumatized by a collection of terrible experiences and even more so by the erosion of her trust in Joel, the one person in the world who had her back through the worst of times. When this sequel was announced, many (myself included) wondered how Naughty Dog would manage to carry on from the pitch perfect ending they had already achieved – from all the emotional complexity created by a lie, all the ambiguity captured in a single look. It’s amazing to see that this a true Part II in the sense that it continues exploring every implication left in the first game’s wake, the ripple effect of which is felt throughout the game and deepened by an ambitious, fractured narrative structure and healthy use of flashback, which gradually fill in our gaps and slowly build the story’s emotional core to an astounding degree.
This is not a perfect game, and even one where I was keenly aware of its flaws as I was playing. The difference is that they became less and less important as I began to see the complex tapestry that Naughty Dog has weaved here, less consequential in the grand scheme of what this game accomplishes. I just think it’s so rare for a AAA game to take such risks with its narrative as this does, and to pull it off at such a level of quality from almost every angle–acting, animation, direction, sound design and so on–is unbelievable.
Never in a thousand years would I have thought this is the sequel we'd get, and I love it for everything it has to offer. Warts and all.
Then it becomes exceptional.
It comes at a point when Ellie’s story began to exhaust me (surely by design), as I watched her fall further and further yet into senseless, depraved acts of vengeance. In contrast, Abby has already commited her own heinous act from the outset, and we’re left to see her try to pick up the pieces. If Ellie’s is a story of losing her humanity, Abby’s is one of trying to regain it.
Naughty Dog is challenging us to hate a character we are supposed to love and love a character we are supposed to hate, and largely succeeds in doing so. Ellie is a hollowed shell of a person, a young woman traumatized by a collection of terrible experiences and even more so by the erosion of her trust in Joel, the one person in the world who had her back through the worst of times. When this sequel was announced, many (myself included) wondered how Naughty Dog would manage to carry on from the pitch perfect ending they had already achieved – from all the emotional complexity created by a lie, all the ambiguity captured in a single look. It’s amazing to see that this a true Part II in the sense that it continues exploring every implication left in the first game’s wake, the ripple effect of which is felt throughout the game and deepened by an ambitious, fractured narrative structure and healthy use of flashback, which gradually fill in our gaps and slowly build the story’s emotional core to an astounding degree.
This is not a perfect game, and even one where I was keenly aware of its flaws as I was playing. The difference is that they became less and less important as I began to see the complex tapestry that Naughty Dog has weaved here, less consequential in the grand scheme of what this game accomplishes. I just think it’s so rare for a AAA game to take such risks with its narrative as this does, and to pull it off at such a level of quality from almost every angle–acting, animation, direction, sound design and so on–is unbelievable.
Never in a thousand years would I have thought this is the sequel we'd get, and I love it for everything it has to offer. Warts and all.
What more can be said on this emotionally crippling critique on the vicious cycle of violence and revenge.
What's most impressive about Naughty Dog's most recent games, both The Last of Us and Uncharted, is their sense of pacing. TLOU2 is roughly 30 hours of mostly linear gameplay and there's just enough interchanging of survival action, stealth horror and exploration for things to never get truly repetitive - I found this to be one of the only real issues with the first game.
The sound is most incredible with headphones, to the point where you hear creaks and bumps hollowing through distant rooms, subtly foreshadowing and creating dread in anticipation of the next dreadful threat. You can hear just about every clicking crevice of your gun as you take them apart to modify them. The sound and stunning presentation of the world helps to form Naughty Dog's most immersive game.
It's also a truly engaging piece of drama, not only with existing characters but new ones too. The polarizing use of gay and trans characters are justified in their own narratives - this is a game in which violence is brought upon people for simply being the person they are, whether its their sexuality, gender or relation to a political group. As much as TLOU2 is set in a world at the end of an apocalypse, it never feels far from our own, and the kinds of people who inhabit it have certainly not changed.
What's most impressive about Naughty Dog's most recent games, both The Last of Us and Uncharted, is their sense of pacing. TLOU2 is roughly 30 hours of mostly linear gameplay and there's just enough interchanging of survival action, stealth horror and exploration for things to never get truly repetitive - I found this to be one of the only real issues with the first game.
The sound is most incredible with headphones, to the point where you hear creaks and bumps hollowing through distant rooms, subtly foreshadowing and creating dread in anticipation of the next dreadful threat. You can hear just about every clicking crevice of your gun as you take them apart to modify them. The sound and stunning presentation of the world helps to form Naughty Dog's most immersive game.
It's also a truly engaging piece of drama, not only with existing characters but new ones too. The polarizing use of gay and trans characters are justified in their own narratives - this is a game in which violence is brought upon people for simply being the person they are, whether its their sexuality, gender or relation to a political group. As much as TLOU2 is set in a world at the end of an apocalypse, it never feels far from our own, and the kinds of people who inhabit it have certainly not changed.
Made me love Last of Us universe, didn't care about the first game until I played this one
Even today this game has mixed reactions. The last of us part 2 is an amazing game, gameplay wise is the second best action stealth game after mgsv, the encounters are frenetic and tense, you must make each bullet count if you wanna survive, each encounter has several ways of being done, letting players be creative on how they wanna take down each group. The story was controversial on its release, I believe is a fantastic story with lots of surprises. I didn't like some of the directions the story was taking me, but when I got to the end, everything clicked and it was awesome. It made me feel, i felt angry, sad, disturbed, nervous, uncomfortable and fulfilled. I truly recommend you playing this game.