i've always found post-apocalyptic fiction very interesting due to how it forces us to deal with humanity at its rawest and most vulnerable, the conflict between the characters, the struggle between the "good" and the "evil".

the last of us takes all these factors and uses them to make a story about humanity, about a father/daughter dynamic and the harsh realities we face in life.

i also really like the gameplay. its mix of stealth and action is something i really enjoy.

the complex relationship between joel and ellie is something that really stuck with me, the game really shows how difficult the world is, how the actions of people can impact someone so much. i've always been very interested in human relationships, they are so complex, yet they're so simple at the same time. the way the game shows them is so human, so real, the way you both sympathize and hate them.

the way the characters are explored is pretty good too. as i said, they feel real and human, they do things that feel real and human, not just action movie tropes. the dialogue and voice acting are brilliant and really bring these characters to life. the relationships are explored very well.

i don't have any reason for this to be at "only" 4 stars other than i guess some of the navigation is a little busted. but that's a nitpick really. i enjoy this game a hell of a lot, and it's something i'd put up there with some of the most thoughtful games i've ever played.

Yep. This is The One.

smash ult is amazing! it has a ton of content that's very meaningful, the mechanics are insanely refined, it's exactly what you'd want from this kinda game. the best way i can describe it is as a true love letter to video games as a medium. there's a lot of cool fan service for the franchises i'm familiar with, and i even caught some references for stuff i only vaguely know about.

also, the story is very good. it's very sparse and relies heavily on metaphor but i think that makes it way more compelling and interesting with what's going on.

this is definitely one of my favourite fighting games as someone who hasn't played a lot of them, every character has such a fleshed out moveset (even the dumbass echo fighters are cool), i love more or less every stage, it's just like, really cool man.