Topic: The Last Of Us Part II - OT (No Spoilers)

This game is so tense at times that I long for another cutscene. Just met the other gang, I can use a break.

@JohnnyShoulder Infected dogs would be just stupidly aggressive as in Resident Evil; normal dogs here are scarier and unbereable since you constantly feel the thrill of being their prey. Luckly I played Alien Isolation three times so I am a bit used to that feeling, but since I'm playing on Hard I hate them with all my heart!

@Octane After every group I clear do a big sigh of relief.

Anyone else notice the fuzzy saving in this game? I saved after I cleared a group of enemies and then looted all the surrounding houses. I just loaded up my game and I back to when I have just killed everyone, and now have too loot the houses again.

@JohnnyShoulder Yep. That happen with manual save, but not with autosave. Weird, since it may mess up collectibles, I fear.

@JohnnyShoulder I'm so relieved when she says something along the lines of ''well, I think that's it...'' after an encounter.

I'm about 16 hours in now and actually finding the pacing of the gameplay and story to be really good. So far it's avoided the fatigue I get in a lot of games where it's just killing wave after wave of enemies. They've mixed up action, exploration and the little story moments well.

That has happened a couple of times, but it's pretty well explained in the story and I've never felt like it was overdone, at least so far.

Some of the scenery in TLOU 2 is incredible.

Oh man this game is crazy, I've no idea what I'm going to experience when I pick up where I left it tonight. Will be thinking about it all day tomorrow during work.

I really like the little stories you get from reading the the notes and stuff. My favourite one so far is the one with Boris when his daughter gets killed by the WLF for spaying graffiti. None of the town backs him up when he wants revenge so he poisons them and locks them up in small car repair garage. The best bits is when you unlock the garage and all the infected come out and attack you! Brilliant.

let me just say that so far this game is the best i have ever played.

even if you find the story to be divisive,you can not deny that from a technical standpoint it is the master in it's class.

i have never felt so shocked at story moments in a game or movie before untill TLOU 2. i have never felt so sad when a game was near it's end untill TLOU2. it is a game i just don't want to have it end. and without giving anything away the game throws you a curveball around 75% through.

@KratosMD I hope this doesn’t dissuade devs from going for bold story decisions or to create more mature stories. By all accounts, the problem lies in the way Naughty Dog approach storytelling. It’s the same as Uncharted, they go for a Hollywood feel when games actually benefit from their unique nature. When you look at classic examples of storytelling in games such as Silent Hill 2, Spec Ops The Line, NieR Automata etc, they all use gameplay to further the narrative. I find Naughty Dog try too hard to create ‘playable Hollywood movies’ when they should be pushing themselves further to create games that reveal the story through the player’s own actions and experiences. They do seem to have improved this in recent years, with more incidental dialogue when exploring but I find too many games have a clear divide between ‘gameplay time’ and ‘cutscene time’. I will always prefer actual plot exposition while performing a task, like in Red Dead 2’s conversations, than in Death Stranding where you could play for 5 hours without engaging in the plot and then get an info dump sitting through a bunch of cutscenes. It remains to be seen what Naughty Dog’s next project will entail.

@KratosMD Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a game having a set story and I do think they should stick to their guns and deliver a story the writers truly believe in. There’s nothing worse than writers who’re stuck between what they want to deliver and what they think the fans will enjoy. That being said, it has been interesting to see the effect this game has had on the fans as an outsider. It all reminds me of what the creator of Spec Ops The Line said, that putting down the controller and turning off the game is a valid ending. When the game forces you into decisions that you, the player, do not believe in or want to partake in, perhaps it’s time to turn off the game? I’ve actually done that in one game, Life is Strange, because of the way the final choice is set up. Neither choice appealed to me therefore I decided not to choose and so quit the game at the end of the penultimate chapter. My ‘canon ending’ didn’t line up with the paths the writers decided on but I don’t see it as any less valid, I left the characters in a state that I wanted to (not a Chloe fan in case you hadn’t noticed). It’s like Undertale too, I beat the game with the True Pacifist ending and could never bring myself to go back and do a Genocide run because of the effect the characters had on me and the way the 4th wall is broken. If people have read TLOU2 spoilers and don’t like the direction it takes, they could always just not play it, thereby leaving their version of the characters’ fate intact.

The Last Of Us 1 didn't really give you any descisions either to be honest... In fact despite mostly agreeing with Joel's actions myself I wouldn't say it's anymore satisfying then what I've read regarding the second (People seem to really like painting Joel as the hero in that situation thanks to his arc through the game.)

(Spoilers are about the first game don't worry guys)

The execution may be somewhat flawed regarding in what happens for The Last Of Us Part 2 (I have a general idea of what goes on but I'd like to experience it for myself), but it sounds way much more interesting (And certainly bold I'll give them that) to me then the first ever was.

I think people need to take some time to truly let it sink in what it was going for (Even if it was poorly done, I obviously don't quite know) rather then just the instant visceral gut reaction people have had towards it.

That's not to say they can't dislike it of course, there's plenty of stuff I don't like with similarly strong reactions -cough- NieR Automata -cough- but I usually always give things a second chance or at the very least give something time to stew and reflect on it.

Even if I didn't like N:A I'm happy to have experienced it at the very least, note things that I do like about the title, even if clarifying that it really isn't for me.

If you miss the trap mine, apparently it appears again later. Anyone know where, though?

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy The Thing I Find Alot People Can't Seem To Grasp And Most Don't Want To Is That From Someone Else's Point Of View Their Favorite character Is The Bad Guy.

The game is rated Mature because of the violence, but in this case, "mature" should be related to the ability to understand reality in all its forms, besides its seeming nonsensical reasons. Something doesn't go the way you imagined it? It's time to understand why and to think at what you could do about it.
Ellie is an adult now and her trip is teaching her what it means to be one of them.

Technically it's an absolute marvel.

Narratively, it's like a $100m art house film or something. It's incredible. It will challenge you, and make you feel very uncomfortable.

I mean it's incredible really that Sony have allowed Naughty Dog to just freely follow their vision, if this was a hollywood movie, no way they would have got away with it. Hopefully the backlash doesn't lead to Sony reigning in their studios creativity, (this, Death Stranding, and GoW to an extent with the boy, are very left field choices.)

Yeah, not everyone is going to enjoy the plotline, but that's kind of the point.

@KratosMD My impression as well. All of what you said.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Getting the cure was never a sure bet. Far from it. It was a try at best. I wouldn't have let my daughter with them either.

It will be a sad day when a creator of any form of media has to change their vision to pander to the vocal minority. There are plenty of games that I don't like, but you don't see me demanding the developers to change the game to suit my personal tastes.

@phil_j
I'd be very surprised if Sony decides to do that, especially considering the game is selling incredibly well. Sony know very well how toxic social media can be and have form when it comes to ignoring that sort of behaviour.