Probably one of the most controversial and divisive games of last year, The Last of Us Part 2 was a big disappointment to me in more ways than one. I don't particularly think it's a bad game, it's just lackluster and stumbles on itself as the story progresses. The gameplay on the hardest difficulty is a lot of fun and every encounter was incredibly stressful but rewarding when I was finally able to get past it. Each encounter can be beaten in a variety of ways, and you can tell that Naughty Dog really wanted to make combat amazing. Ellie's story was a lot of fun, and while some moments were bleh, it truly lived up to the original game with its downtime and character-driven dialogue. However, by the time Abby's story comes around everything feels like it halts to stop as each encounter begins to feel draining and incomplete as the game begins to restrict you more. While the performances are great the game never gives you a good reason to like Abby's crew, creating unique characters from the outside but on the inside, they are very dense and outright dumb at times. It's sad to see where this sequel went, and while I disagree with all the blatant hate, it's hard for me truly like this game because of its flaws.