The Last of Us Part II

[Akka]

It's funny, I'm also having bad vibes from the game and based on the leaks the story feels to me to be shit, but seemingly not for the same reasons many people do.

I actually find it interesting that one protagonist is the daughter of one of the guy who were wantonly killed by Joel. I've always found the "someone's life worth is determined by it's proximity to the protagonist" to be extremely annoying/hypocrital, and the fact that Joel is NOT a good man was one of the underlying strength in the storytelling in TLOU.

Joel getting bitten back by his karma and showing that one of the random guy you kill being a full human with loved ones, is actually a pretty compelling narrative. Though it does severely clash with how TLOU was designed (tons of mindless and remoreseless killing with constant betrayal or gratuitous attacks when you don't).
And it seems that TLOU2 jumps ahead in this inconsistency, throwing tons of unavoidable violence at the player while blaming them for doing it, and ending on the usual predictable and stale "I killed 300 faceless mooks that were probably just doing their job/living their lives/whatever, but I spared the only person I actually had a real reason to kill, so hey morality is safe !".
Basically being a dissonant and frankly tired ethical lesson.

I've no idea of the execution, obviously. But the very concept makes me roll my eyes.

[Babadoo]

It's funny, I'm also having bad vibes from the game and based on the leaks the story feels to me to be shit, but seemingly not for the same reasons many people do.

I actually find it interesting that one protagonist is the daughter of one of the guy who were wantonly killed by Joel. I've always found the "someone's life worth is determined by it's proximity to the protagonist" to be extremely annoying/hypocrital, and the fact that Joel is NOT a good man was one of the underlying strength in the storytelling in TLOU.

Joel getting bitten back by his karma and showing that one of the random guy you kill being a full human with loved ones, is actually a pretty compelling narrative. Though it does severely clash with how TLOU was designed (tons of mindless and remoreseless killing with constant betrayal or gratuitous attacks when you don't).
And it seems that TLOU2 jumps ahead in this inconsistency, throwing tons of unavoidable violence at the player while blaming them for doing it, and ending on the usual predictable and stale "I killed 300 faceless mooks that were probably just doing their job/living their lives/whatever, but I spared the only person I actually had a real reason to kill, so hey morality is safe !".
Basically being a dissonant and frankly tired ethical lesson.

I've no idea of the execution, obviously. But the very concept makes me roll my eyes.

That's the whole problem with the game and with bad action movies in general. Killing hundreds of no names just to spare the big baddie at the end to "not be like him". FFS you just killed 100 men and suddenly sparing the last one will make you "not like him"? This is a sign of poor writing and why TLOU2 sucks.

[Skorpionss]

That's the whole problem with the game and with bad action movies in general. Killing hundreds of no names just to spare the big baddie at the end to "not be like him". FFS you just killed 100 men and suddenly sparing the last one will make you "not like him"? This is a sign of poor writing and why TLOU2 sucks.

This is why I love games like Deus Ex or Dishonored, you can knock out every single NPC, completing the games without killing anyone, or choosing who you want to kill.

[Magnagarde]

I cancelled my CE preorder weeks ago because I read the leaks and ND clamping down on them as hard as they did made it clear to me that a large portion of them were correct. Went to my retailer and told them why because I have never cancelled anything in a decade and a half(save forW3:R) and they always make sure long-time customers get priority on orders. I know the employees for years now and they told me they have never had that many orders cancelled.

A friend of mine bought the standard game and we played the whole day, getting pretty far into the game to have a good idea what it is about. The graphics are great, the sound is great too, although it is no Death Stranding level of audio mastery. The game's mature content and gore is something I commend as video games usually try to dodge these as much as possible and I think that a game whose story is one of the main selling points definitely benefits from it. The gameplay is rather easy to master and the AI is somewhat lackluster. The combat mechanics are polished and good. It feels a lot like the first game and I personally like that.

I now come to the incredibly bad part and that's the story, the characters and overall story progression. It is safe to say that in two decades of gaming I've never seen a bigger coctail of disappointment and degeneracy. I don't know what exactly I could compare the disappointing story with; it's like Driv3r, but with all of its gameplay issues translated into story and character issues. If it was a new IP it would fare much better because not only does the story not rise to the level of the first game, which was somewhat expected really, but doubles and even triples down on bad choices contained within. There is no satisfaction in going from one point to another in the story nor is there any feeling attachable to what you do or what you are seeing, save for the feeling of having simply progressed through a part of a game like its a kill and loot sidequest in WoW. The only thing that somewhat felt driven by a player's predictable emotional reaction is when you go after a certain group and a certain someone, but that ends up being an inconsequential dumpsterfire. The characters have zero semblance of who they were in the first game, even though I already expected them to change as time has passed. The story is marred with various nods and hints seemingly pointless and inconsequential to the story, but heavily aimed at the usual internet mobs that try to influence and change every medium of entertainment and franchise within; this will without a doubt overshadow the game and be the main contention point of the two usual pro et contra radical takes. The main junctions in the story, the characters' behaviour and relationships seem to have been designed with said appeasement in mind, with everything else coming second or third.

I do not know how long the game is and I won't rate that, but I stopped quite a while after a huge change in the game because we played quite a lot at that point and the unsatisfactory story and lackluster character/story progression couldn't keep me hooked and willing to play any longer. It is basically a cringe-inducing, semi-linear Wildlands/Days Gone mix with reckognizable characters that go up in smoke.

All in all it is €180 well saved that I will redirect into something else. I suggest you buy this on a deal much later.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

This story is a leftie cuck dream and shits on everything first game was. So yeah it's shit. Look at people's reviews on metacritic, you are in a shit minority.

What do you actually think the first game was that the new one is shitting on?

[I Push Buttons]

What do you actually think the first game was that the new one is shitting on?

Well the biggest and most obvious one is Joel, for starters.

In the first game he is a paranoid loner who doesn't trust anyone no matter what, but slowly opens up to JUST Ellie; not even close to his own brother really since he reminds him of his dead daughter. Goes on time and again about all the people he has killed and let die to save himself because of how selfish he is, not to mention, you know, kills all those people and dooms humanity at the end of the game to once again reiterate just how selfish he is and how much he doesn't care about everyone else (once again, beyond Ellie).

Fast forward to the second game, he just casually wanders around with his brother, risking himself to save some random person, doesn't stop his brother from spilling all their details, etc. Literally goes against every fiber of his being (as established by the first game) at every point... And for what? Literally no reason other than to move the plot along and kill himself via revealing his identity to the people who are out to get revenge against him.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Well the biggest and most obvious one is Joel, for starters.

In the first game he is a paranoid loner who doesn't trust anyone no matter what, but slowly opens up to JUST Ellie; not even close to his own brother really since he reminds him of his dead daughter. Goes on time and again about all the people he has killed and let die to save himself because of how selfish he is, not to mention, you know, kills all those people and dooms humanity at the end of the game to once again reiterate just how selfish he is and how much he doesn't care about everyone else (once again, beyond Ellie).

Fast forward to the second game, he just casually wanders around with his brother, risking himself to save some random person, doesn't stop his brother from spilling all their details, etc. Literally goes against every fiber of his being (as established by the first game) at every point... And for what? Literally no reason other than to move the plot along and kill himself via revealing his identity to the people who are out to get revenge against him.

Character development isn’t shitting on the first game. All through the first game Joel is developing because of Ellie what we see in this one is where that development lead which is blatantly obvious when he’s telling his fire fly story and singing his little song to Ellie.

It would be shitting on the first game to pretend that no development actual happened not to continue it to its natural end.

[Ryme]

This seems like a game that's never going to get a fair meta review critically or otherwise, if you have a reviewer you trust (which is infinitely better than going by an average of all critics) then go with that or just pick it up and play it?

[keelr]

This story is a leftie cuck dream and shits on everything first game was. So yeah it's shit. Look at people's reviews on metacritic, you are in a shit minority.

actually rly false, lot of ppl enjoying the game, its for a higher taste for sure but all the hate it gets is ridiculous. If you dont like the story thats one thing but hating a game for not liking it is totally smth that the stupid ppl do on internet these days /sigh

- - - Updated - - -

if this is what you think of the ending then the ending probably didnt get to (nor the entire character arc of Ellie)

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

its for a higher taste for sure

Wtf dies even mean? "Higher taste" sounds very egotistical.

[Daedius]

Downtown Diner...

Usually I'm indifferent to jump scares, but JESUS FUCKING CHRIST I jolted hard when entering the toilet!!! My heart! >_<;

[dope_danny]

Boy i think the last 24 hours of the game getting in peoples hands has done more damage for "Heel Dunkmanns" reputation with his cringe self inserts and Abby apparently being based on a bodybuilder he cyberstalks than the quality of the game itself. Going full hybrid of Todd, Randy and David Cage in a single product release is a hell of a makeover.

[everydaygamer]

That's the whole problem with the game and with bad action movies in general. Killing hundreds of no names just to spare the big baddie at the end to "not be like him". FFS you just killed 100 men and suddenly sparing the last one will make you "not like him"? This is a sign of poor writing and why TLOU2 sucks.

To be fair there is a difference between killing in self-defence and choosing to kill someone who can't fight back (keeping in mind I'm still waiting for my copy of the game, I'm just saying this in general). Of course, there is the whole issue of stealth kills but most narratives ignore that kind of thing since it's more of a player action than a character action.

[Yadryonych]

Boy i think the last 24 hours of the game getting in peoples hands has done more damage for "Heel Dunkmanns" reputation with his cringe self inserts and Abby apparently being based on a bodybuilder he cyberstalks than the quality of the game itself. Going full hybrid of Todd, Randy and David Cage in a single product release is a hell of a makeover.

It looks like the game is intentionally made THIS bad to become forever imprinted in history as a meme and carry Cuckmann's name into the eternity.

Think of it as of herostratic fame

[Rennadrel]

It looks like the game is intentionally made THIS bad to become forever imprinted in history as a meme and carry Cuckmann's name into the eternity.

Think of it as of herostratic fame

It's funny. The game could be so much more had Amy Henning still been the creative director. It could still push a lot of boundaries and not be as poorly written as it is.

[Yadryonych]

It's funny. The game could be so much more had Amy Henning still been the creative director. It could still push a lot of boundaries and not be as poorly written as it is.

Maybe he did it also as an utmost mockery of the woke agenda virtually disabling "journalists" from overriding their doublethink and rate the game less than 10 out of 10

[Onikaroshi]

Lol, I see people got their review bots running on meta, it's such a joke site but I love to look at it.

[Stardrift]

You seem determined to believe this fantasy so I'll not waste more time on this nonsense, but I guess the 200+ games I've helped launch over the years (agency life, yo) and sent out full game review keys/retail copies out for were all a figment of my imagination.

And this is why you wait for reviews from the actual players.

[Edge-]

And this is why you wait for reviews from the actual players.

Totally. I, who haven't purchased the game, went to Metacritic and gave it a savage 0/10 because I think Abby has too many muscles.

Clearly, my voice as a consumer has been heard and my informed opinion on the game shall help others make informed decisions.

Man, people are fucking clowns.

[Onikaroshi]

And this is why you wait for reviews from the actual players.

Or, better yet, you find a reviewer you like and who's tastes closely match yours and go with their opinion. It's too easy to taint user review sites.