I feel like I can divide my life into "before I played The Last of Us Part II" and "after I played The Last of Us Part II".
This was, and always will be, a seminal gaming experience for me. Prior to playing the first game, I hadn't had a deep appreciation for the art of storytelling in video games. When I played The Last of Us, I realized that video games could tell stories that were as good as if not better than the best stories in movies, TV or literature. And then I played Part II, and my expectations for a well-told story that could follow-up the first game were absolutely shattered in the best possible way.
I know there's a lot of divisiveness around this game and the decisions it makes in regards to its story, but in my opinion this is one of the greatest stories ever told in fiction, period. I've never seen the cyclical and futile nature of revenge so brutally and honestly portrayed, and while it was hard to stomach at times, I appreciated the fact that this game doesn't pull a single punch throughout its runtime. Everything about this game--it's writing, it's voice + motion capture performances, the music--are expertly done. I absolutely love the first game, and always will, but Part II did something to me that I'll never be able to quite figure out. It's so much greater than the sum of its parts, and I truly believe it's an absolutely vital gaming experience that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.
This was, and always will be, a seminal gaming experience for me. Prior to playing the first game, I hadn't had a deep appreciation for the art of storytelling in video games. When I played The Last of Us, I realized that video games could tell stories that were as good as if not better than the best stories in movies, TV or literature. And then I played Part II, and my expectations for a well-told story that could follow-up the first game were absolutely shattered in the best possible way.
I know there's a lot of divisiveness around this game and the decisions it makes in regards to its story, but in my opinion this is one of the greatest stories ever told in fiction, period. I've never seen the cyclical and futile nature of revenge so brutally and honestly portrayed, and while it was hard to stomach at times, I appreciated the fact that this game doesn't pull a single punch throughout its runtime. Everything about this game--it's writing, it's voice + motion capture performances, the music--are expertly done. I absolutely love the first game, and always will, but Part II did something to me that I'll never be able to quite figure out. It's so much greater than the sum of its parts, and I truly believe it's an absolutely vital gaming experience that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.