When you heard you were getting a sequel to The Last of Us, this isn’t what you signed up for. I guarantee you that what this game is, is nowhere near what you thought of when you thought about that sequel. And when you play this sequel as someone who loved the first, you will feel betrayed, hateful, heartbroken and disappointed within the first 2 hours of playing it. This is why I love The Last of Us Part II.

I, personally, am tired of the same old kinds of stories being told, and all of them being told the same way. I sit and wait for the outliers, the artists who take risks and craft unique experiences in clever ways. The Last of Us was so visceral and it was incredibly effective for that, the ending in particular presents such a polarizing dilemma that it’s one of my favourite story endings of all time.

The folks over at Naughty Dog could have gave us another great big Joel n’ Ellie adventure, where they have a bit of a strain on their relationship because of how the last one ends and they make up before the end and it’s left open for a third instalment. But if that’s what you thought this was going to be then I just don’t think you really got what the first game is all about. That’s not what this world is, it’s much closer to reality than that. Instead, we have a much more somber, lamenting sequel that takes the moral question the original proposed and builds off of it into an entirely new story where anything can happen, you never really know what you’re getting as you play through this game. At almost every turn you think you have it figured out and they just keep pulling the rug out from under you, right up until the final minutes of this 30-hour blast.

The characters each have their place and their connections to each other are what flesh out the narrative. Every character has a strong motivation to be there, and their relationships are believable and relatable. Then the game starts to toy with you, the player, by twisting perspectives of these characters. It makes you hate characters you love, and side with characters you hate. No one is a hero, some are villains but in the end every character is just another shade of grey and you have to really sit and think about who’s right or if anyone really is right.

The plot is told in a very unique way, a lot of parts are non-linear but you’re never confused As to where you are in the story. The non-linear telling feels purposeful, at one point it is absolutely necessary in order for the story to be told and you can really see the creativity and thought that went into telling it shining through the game’s entirety. It’s not a very balanced plot, it starts rather slow but constantly escalates until it all explodes into chaos, and at that point all you can think of is that you don’t know what’s right and you just want it all to stop. Which it does, it gives you time to reflect on everything that had happened thus far before the intentions of the story are finally made clear in its final hour. By the end, everything falls into place and you get what the story was about all along, you just didn’t see it.

This game presents a brutal reflection of humanity, and it gave me an experience I won’t soon forget. It gave me a new perspective on how characters operate and how motivation fuels actions. Sometimes characters make decisions that don’t make much sense but in the moment would you have been able to make the better choice? That’s what makes The Last of Us franchise what it is, it’s gripping sense of reality and how people work, the authenticity of its world and characters and the way it always knows how to leave a player feeling punched in the gut.

Also the gameplay is great, the AI gets the better of me a decent amount in the higher difficulties and the strategy of using all the tools at your disposal is even more effective now than in the first game. There are so many ways to approach every encounter, it’s so easy to immerse yourself into each environment and get lost in it.

There’s just so much to talk about with this game, I didn’t even think I was going to write this much, but there’s so much more I can say. I have my issues with parts of the game but really they’re so inconsequential compared to what I have to praise. The bottom line for me is that I loved it and it has cemented The Last of Us franchise as one of the best in gaming.

This is the kind of game that defines generations. The world is vast and expansive, and more full of life than most games have even attempted. I never touched the witcher franchise before this game, but playing this absolutely sucked me in. The lore is deep, the themes are thought-provoking, the characters are endearing, the main story is emotional and you can feel the stakes constantly rising. The game makes you understand the importance of Geralt’s mission, and by extension yours.

Geralt/you are constantly faced with choices that change character’s lives, often even deciding fates and you’ll find yourself caring about how you impact them, and how Geralt is seen by people and what you do for that world. It’s an adventure in every sense of the word, one that will make you feel a variety of emotions and take you to unforgettable places, and interact with fleshed-out and unique characters, major and minor alike.

Just go play the damn game already lol