The Last of Us Part II

[Thereturn]

[QUOTE=Unclekreepy;52433153]it's so realistic

I love that they have a Trans scene to give awareness about 5 mins in

https://youtu.be/oKJRgHJ8MUg

Did i just watch a gay sex scene? Or a hetero sex scene with a very unattractive woman. Im all confused now..

I do know several women with such a physique from my crossfit gym though. And they dont use any enhancers. Its perfectly plausible she hauls alot of logs and likes tough labour that gave her this physique.

[Tech614]

I didn't say most, I said lots. We'r not trying to bullshit here, so no need to misread the posts like you are doing.

You can call it most, or lots. Either way it's a check you can't cash when even the opencritic summary shows the general consensus of the reviews is the vast majority like the story.

[Edge-]

Did i just watch a gay sex scene? Or a hetero sex scene with a very unattractive woman. Im all confused now.

Whatever you want to think it is, because ND hasn't said one way or another and the assertions largely seem to come from folks who think that any masculine or "unattractive" woman is trans.

Related: That doesn't seem to be in the first 5 minutes at all, but hours into the game. There are plenty of videos of the game opening and Abby doesn't even appear to be in it.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Based on that scene... abby does indeed look more masculine, no ifs or buts about it. Whatever their reasoning was for the character design, its there. I know some people here want me to assume its for...some bad reason but I don't know. I just know what I see. Thats about it though

[Witchblade77]

yeah too bad about the hundreds of people she still kills by the end of the game and the hundreds she'll have to kill if they ever make a part 3. so much growth xd

1. game encourages you to go stealthy. it apparently beats you over the head with how horrifying killing all these people and their dogs is. not a fan of that much of heavy handedness, but the point is - it shows Ellie going down VERY dark path. in the end.. she seems to finaly climb out of it, or at least that's how it came across to me. yeah, that's growth. 2. reminder, just because we don't get to see it up close and personal, does NOT change that Joel was just as vicious and cruel before he got together with Tess, WHILE he was with Tess, and throughout the rest of the first game. but somehow we accept that his relationship with Ellie, learning to care for her, choosing to save her life - is growth. they are literally mirroring Joel in Ellie, just with more detail. which in its own could be grounds of "are we treading over this ground AGAIN?" criticism. but that doesn't negate that Ellie changes and grows through the game, even if its not always in a direction that we would rather she did. 3. this one is important. Ludonarrative dissonance. they even had achievement under that name for uncharted 4. aka separation of gameplay and story. Ellie kills in cutscenes, so her growing vicious in her grief and killing - yes terrible. but when she choses NOT to kill again, that is story related growth. i'm honestly genuinely hoping that there is no Last of us 3.

[ohiostate124]

Just.....wow.

*spoilers* https://youtu.be/zqvcdPhLe5c

Please don't embed videos ahead of launch that may contain spoiler information - Edge

[Edge-]

Folks, please do not embed videos as the titles/thumbnails may contain spoilers. You're welcome to link to them with a warning that they contain spoilers, but please do not spoil the game for others, intentionally or unintentionally.

[A Chozo]

What the fuck is that sex scene. Her model's breasts vanish from one position to the other.

the opencritic summary shows the general consensus of the reviews is the vast majority like the story.

Crictics aren't a hivemind, dude. Eachone of those critics has a personality and tastes and they judge the game through their own optics. Gauging it all like you are doing is too superficial.

If one critic manages to (example) point out that the game overuses palm trees for the scenery, we don't need others telling the same thing.

[Jshadowhunter]

Did i just watch a gay sex scene? Or a hetero sex scene with a very unattractive woman. Im all confused now..

I think I just vomited in my mouth a bit, regardless of which of the 2 it is.

[Edge-]

Crictics aren't a hivemind, dude. Eachone of those critics has a personality and tastes and they judge the game through their own optics. Gauging it all like you are doing is too superficial.

That's the point of a summary/consensus - "Here are the things people generally agreed upon."

It's not "hivemind" at all, and it doesn't discount each individual reviewers subjective opinions and perspectives. It looks for commonalities between the reviews like "The violence was extremely graphic" or "The story was good" or "Combat was clunky".

[RobertoCarlos]

/shrug. I'm having fun.

And abby seems like an interesting character so far.

This games sound is intense. Zombies running at you is quite a thrill

[Skorpionss]

Whatever you want to think it is, because ND hasn't said one way or another and the assertions largely seem to come from folks who think that any masculine or "unattractive" woman is trans.

Related: That doesn't seem to be in the first 5 minutes at all, but hours into the game. There are plenty of videos of the game opening and Abby doesn't even appear to be in it.

come on... it's 5minutes in the video not in the game, what the fuck...

[SirCowdog]

Not backed up by reviews.

Ooof....that's a volatile topic.

The problem with relying on many "reviews" these days is the sheer amount of bought and paid for "critics". That anyone would give TLoU2 a perfect 10/10 score should raise a lot of red flags. That so many review sites also gave 10/10 should be ringing gongs and alarm bells so loud that you can't sleep at night.

Due to the nature of such a graphically violent game, I think that it's really just going to polarize reviews too strongly to put any sort of faith or trust in ANY of them. Boiling down such complex and controversial subject matter into a simple score....just doesn't do the game any favors.

I would say that the point of "reviews" supporting whether or not the game is "good" is....pointless. At best you're going to have to find a youtuber or article from a writer you know and trust, and base your opinion of the game on what they say about it, then form your own opinion. Skillup's video about the game is where I went to. It sounds like a perfectly serviceable game, but lacking much of the depth and masterful storytelling that the first game had. That doesn't mean it's a bad game, just that it doesn't measure up to the masterpiece of the first one.

All in all, I would steer clear of using "reviews" as support for ANY argument surrounding this game.

[RobertoCarlos]

Well as someone who has actually played it. If you enjoyed the first one then you will really enjoy this one. It's a lot better than the first game

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

Just.....wow.

*spoilers* https://youtu.be/zqvcdPhLe5c

Please don't embed videos ahead of launch that may contain spoiler information - Edge

What the fuck did I just watch.

[Edge-]

The problem with relying on many "reviews" these days is the sheer amount of bought and paid for "critics".

SLASH SIGH

Citation needed*

If you're worried about that, look to content creators/influencers where the pay-for-play is still pretty grey, despite big improvements over the years in the transparency on that front.

That anyone would give TLoU2 a perfect 10/10 score should raise a lot of red flags. That so many review sites also gave 10/10 should be ringing gongs and alarm bells so loud that you can't sleep at night.

That ND has been producing critically acclaimed hit after critically acclaimed hit regularly scoring in the 9/10 and 10/10 range for the past two console generations doesn't mean that Sony "buys" critics, it means that ND is a top tier studio that is given huge budgets and ample time to produce amazing quality games, and they do this by having talented staff who are crunched to the ground to deliver.

Due to the nature of such a graphically violent game, I think that it's really just going to polarize reviews too strongly to put any sort of faith or trust in ANY of them. Boiling down such complex and controversial subject matter into a simple score....just doesn't do the game any favors.

Which is why only looking at the score is bad, and nobody should do that. The score is the general measure, the content of the review, the words, provide context for that score. That some reviewers may think that the violence is too graphic, or may be turned off by it, doesn't necessarily have to negatively impact the score

I would say that the point of "reviews" supporting whether or not the game is "good" is....pointless. At best you're going to have to find a youtuber or article from a writer you know and trust, and base your opinion of the game on what they say about it, then form your own opinion. Skillup's video about the game is where I went to. It sounds like a perfectly serviceable game, but lacking much of the depth and masterful storytelling that the first game had. That doesn't mean it's a bad game, just that it doesn't measure up to the masterpiece of the first one.

If you're just looking for people who share similar opinions, that's totally fine and that's what many people do. But honestly, I think you (the royal you) are better served by reading a diversity of opinions (even if they all say "10/10! GREAT GAME!" why did they say that?) to get a better holistic view of the product.

All in all, I would steer clear of using "reviews" as support for ANY argument surrounding this game.

I wouldn't. They are, almost as always, a good measure for what critics think of the game, and a guidepost to help inform readers/viewers on what to expect.

That people are flipping out because they have unrelated social issues with the game and that gamers have an irrational hostility towards the people that make and cover their hobby/fandom in a way that I rarely seem to see in other fandoms/hobbies is a really, really, really weird quirk to me.

Hell, the "TLOU2" hate train was predicting doom and gloom for reviews and claiming they'd be garbage. This pretty much takes the wind outta that agenda.

[Babadoo]

Well as someone who has actually played it. If you enjoyed the first one then you will really enjoy this one. It's a lot better than the first game

No it's fuckin not. Story is absolute trash.

[Torched]

One thing that strikes me as strange about this Abby person, how can she be this muscular? I mean this game is set in a post apocalyptic world where people scavenge for food to survive, just to keep that amount of muscle mass you would need high protein diet and a strict workout routine. I know it's a game and all but I thought they where going for realism (except the zombies etc).

Also is she trans or not? in the sex scene you can see that she has breasts at the start when she takes of her bra, but then you can see that she has pecks when she is facing the camera...

I have no eggs in this basket as I will most likely never play it as it's a console exclusive.

[Vakir]

Small brain take: This is bad because it has a progressive agenda! Trans character bad! Neil Cuckmann!

Big brain take: This is bad because it boils down a trans character to be a sympathy trinket with their entire story identity built around their sexual minority status relative to people who oppose it. The entire conceit is built with all the subtlety of a shotgun shell to the kneecap and it goes back to the "gayngst" representation of yesteryear when gay characters were almost exclusively tragic, dying, reviled, or harmed as their primary role in the narrative.

Referring to Lev here, not Abby. Pretty sure Abby's cis with an atypical body type.

Feels really tone-deaf and lame to me.

[Edge-]

One thing that strikes me as strange about this Abby person, how can she be this muscular? I mean this game is set in a post apocalyptic world where people scavenge for food to survive, just to keep that amount of muscle mass you would need high protein diet and a strict workout routine. I know it's a game and all but I thought they where going for realism (except the zombies etc).

Well, I imagine that it's a rough life that requires a lot of physical activity based on the setting and what we've seen, so it's not surprising that some folks would build up a lot of muscle. Also, some people are just naturally bigger/more muscular due to genetics. I haven't quite seen anyone emaciated or starving, though I haven't looked through all the videos, so it doesn't seem like the main characters are starving.

Also is she trans or not? in the sex scene you can see that she has breasts at the start when she takes of her bra, but then you can see that she has pecks when she is facing the camera...

Play the game and find out, if it matters either way. Because right now it's purely a "fan" theory (quotes because those who seem to be pushing it the hardest are the ones that have an issue with it) and unless her gender ends up playing a role in the story I don't see the fuss. If she is, cool. If she's not, cool.