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The Last of Us Pt II |OT| Oh Ellie...I think they should be terrified of you

BluRayHiDef

Banned
Yeah, that's definitely the hardest hold out part of the game. The shotgun will kill anything other than a shambler in one hit, you can even get 2 kills with one shot if the enemies are close enough. What I did was I moved to a area farthest from the door, like a kitchen looking place and here you can shotgun the clickers either as soon as they drop down or (they spawn depending on where you're standing in that room) as they push through the small spaces between the walls. Pipe bomb shamblers.
I'm playing on Survivor! My ammunition and other resources are in low quantities. I've got only two shotgun shells, 5 long-gun rounds, and four handgun rounds. It's not enough.
 

Geki-D

Banned
I'm playing on Survivor! My ammunition and other resources are in low quantities. I've got only two shotgun shells, 5 long-gun rounds, and four handgun rounds. It's not enough.
lol My playthrough was survivor too. If you manage to pull off headshots on the clickers with anything other than shotgun (that'll one hit kill them), you can one hit melee kill them after whilst they're stunned. Don't you have the hunting pistol?
 
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GymWolf

Member
I just want to take a moment to remind everyone of how much of a good guy Joel always was


/s

That discussion is a bunch of bullshit, literally 30 min later and he return on his substitute father figure role after a 30 sec discussion with the annoying brat.

Also nobody with at least 2 neurons think that joel is not an asshole or a better human being than abby.
 

Jon Neu

Banned
This game portrays a post apocalyptic world. There's not easy access to clothes and makeup and there's not an internet full of porn and fakery to compare with.

The only clothes that are left are the third wave feminism approved ones. How convenient.

You can’t be pretty, but you can be the incredible Hulk. Realism.


Then why does Oween have styled hair? That dude wears hair gel lol.
They clearly wanted to make him look attractive so they dolled him up.

Makeup did exist in many cultures historically too, it'd probably exist in a world like this too tbh. It's not a recent invention and even men used to wear it.
Makeup dates even way back before the ancient times.
Even in a post apocalyptic world people would still have vanity and our ancestors managed to create and wear this stuff with even less access and knowledge about these things xD.

That’s the point, the men can be quite attractive, the women have to be ugly, dirty and slob dressed because otherwise they are being “objectified”.

It’s the normal double standard of feminism.
 

pLow7

Member
Serious question from a stupid person (me)

How exactly is this game "woke?"

oh boy...

source.gif
 
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Keihart

Member
lol My playthrough was survivor too. If you manage to pull off headshots on the clickers with anything other than shotgun (that'll one hit kill them), you can one hit melee kill them after whilst they're stunned. Don't you have the hunting pistol?
Striking with Abby doesn't damage the clickers unless you have a melee weapon.
I think striking with Ellie does tho.
 

Geki-D

Banned
How exactly is this game "woke?"
Have you played it? EXCUSE ME BUT HAVE YOU PLAYED IT?! DID YOU NOT HEAR "BIGOT SANDWICH"?!!

But seriously, the game dares to have gay & one trans character in it. That all it takes. The "woke conspiracy" didn't spawn from any of the leaks but 2 years earlier because in a trailer Ellie kisses Dina.

Striking with Abby doesn't damage the clickers unless you have a melee weapon.
I think striking with Ellie does tho.
Are you sure? I'm pretty sure on stunned clickers Abby will still kill them.
 

Keihart

Member
Have you played it? EXCUSE ME BUT HAVE YOU PLAYED IT?! DID YOU NOT HEAR "BIGOT SANDWICH"?!!

But seriously, the game dares to have gay & one trans character in it. That all it takes. The "woke conspiracy" didn't spawn from any of the leaks but 2 years earlier because in a trailer Ellie kisses Dina.


Are you sure? I'm pretty sure on stunned clickers Abby will still kill them.
As i always doubt my memory i would need to double check, but i know i've tried to abuse the strike skill which gives you 2 strikes for 1 stun and clickers just laugh it up.
 

BluRayHiDef

Banned
lol My playthrough was survivor too. If you manage to pull off headshots on the clickers with anything other than shotgun (that'll one hit kill them), you can one hit melee kill them after whilst they're stunned. Don't you have the hunting pistol?

I've killed the first two clickers of this encounter and have now made it to some sort of save point. So, now when I die I don't start at the beginning of the encounter. However, now there are way more clickers and runners...and I have no ammunition. Survivor is cheaply difficult.
 

Fbh

Member
Finally reached the Abby part. Now let's see if it's really that bad or if people where exaggerating.
So far I've enjoyed the game. I definitely think the story took a big step back from the first one, but as someone who enjoyed the gameplay in the original I've really liked it here. It's more of the same but with bigger areas, some more tools, new enemies, better stealth and some tense encounters.

My biggest issue so far are that several areas feel stretched out, and it still has the weird immersion breaking issues of the original (AI partner that's invisible to enemies and sometimes walks in front of them, and forced ammo scarcity on harder difficulties where enemies with guns magically don't drop ammo)
 

GymWolf

Member
The Evil Within's headshots are legendary.

Dmju6r.gif
I was talking more about realistic games, a lot of games have exagerated ragdoll and head exploding like that.

In tlou2 they feel visceral while still being realistic, max payne 3 and rdr2 have similar style but tlou2 take the cake imo.
 
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Silentbomber

Neo Member
I just finished the game and it's fantastic. All this online hate for something that nobody even knows why they are angry. It does not deserve this backlash. The game is much more complex than people are giving it credit for. It's an revenge story, with an underlying theme of what it costs to your soul to carry out these horrific acts. Yeah, it gets a little bogged down in the second half, and maybe could have been a few hours shorter to keep the momentum going. However, The last few hours are just absolutely some of the best gaming I've had on PS4.

Serious question from a stupid person (me)
How exactly is this game "woke?"

It's not. At all. I am not super left wing or anything, and I hate political correctness for the sake of it. This game has none of that. There is one female character who identifies as male, and you play as a gay girl - but these things aren't shoved in your face, and doesn't effect the plot.
 

BluRayHiDef

Banned
Does anyone else think that this game feels like a Resident Evil game in some regards. Certain settings and scenarios exhibit the dreariness and bleakness of Resident Evil games, and - obviously - the infected are analogous to the zombies of Resident Evil. A good example of the type of setting to which I'm referring is the...

...the decrepit, infected-infested ship through which you have to travel in order to get to the aquarium and encounter Owen.
 

nowhat

Member
...the decrepit, infected-infested ship through which you have to travel in order to get to the aquarium and encounter Owen.
Not going to comment on the RE-ness of the game, but about that particular location...

Is it just me, or is the game like wildly inconsistent with it's lore/internal logic? If I understood how the fungal infection worked in the first game, you'd spend like up to two years, max, as a runner. Then you'd "graduate" to be a stalker, later on a clicker. And then you'd be pushing spores somewhere, unless you're physically large/fit enough to become a bloater (but you'd still end up pushing spores at some point). But there are still runners on that ship. Supposedly originating from the very start of the apocalypse. How does that work?
 

V2Tommy

Member
Does anyone else think that this game feels like a Resident Evil game in some regards. Certain settings and scenarios exhibit the dreariness and bleakness of Resident Evil games, and - obviously - the infected are analogous to the zombies of Resident Evil. A good example of the type of setting to which I'm referring is the...

...the decrepit, infected-infested ship through which you have to travel in order to get to the aquarium and encounter Owen.

Yep, definitely a la Resident Evil Revelations. But also a lot like Silent Hill and Evil Within as well.
 

Arachnid

Member
No. Please keep open world away from this franchise. I think it was a good combination of linear and semi-open world gameplay with generous amounts of exploration. I feel that would ruin the experience.
Agreed. That little open section in Seattle was the worst part of the game. It was the only time I actually felt bored.
 

BluRayHiDef

Banned
Not going to comment on the RE-ness of the game, but about that particular location...

Is it just me, or is the game like wildly inconsistent with it's lore/internal logic? If I understood how the fungal infection worked in the first game, you'd spend like up to two years, max, as a runner. Then you'd "graduate" to be a stalker, later on a clicker. And then you'd be pushing spores somewhere, unless you're physically large/fit enough to become a bloater (but you'd still end up pushing spores at some point). But there are still runners on that ship. Supposedly originating from the very start of the apocalypse. How does that work?
Maybe they're recently infected people who were Scars or Wolves.
 

BluRayHiDef

Banned
LOL, this game just glitched on me...in a positive way, depending on how you look at things.
I and Lev reached the terrace of a decrepit dwelling, inside of which were multiple infected of different types (e.g. runners, clickers, and shamblers). After my second death at the hands of these infected, the game loaded me at the point in the game past that at which I would have cleared out all of the infected. All of the windows are broken and all of the infected are gone, even though i'm not responsible for any of these changes.
 
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decisions

Member
Just finished the game. I would give it a 6/10. Tries to some ambitious things with its plot but the execution fails horribly. Gameplay gets mostly boring halfway through. Really an astounding disappointment I wouldn't have expected from ND. Major takeaways are

- Plotholes too big to ignore, you cannot take the game seriously with some of the stuff going on.
- Characters make decisions that are so frustratingly stupid and unjustified by the plot I was often left with the feeling of having no one to empathize with.
- It's amazing how much dialogue is in this game without the characters ever actually discussing anything interesting. If often felt like characters would talk around themes and ideas instead of actually giving some perspective on how the feel about them. Due to this I never felt like I got to know any of the characters very well or really understood their motivations. Then, there are other times where you are just aching for characters to talk about an elephant in the room but they have nothing to say.
- The game is brutally saddening and violent, however when you combine this with the failure of the story has in communicating meaning I am left to think the experience of playing TLOUII is mostly defined by enduring a lot of pain for no reason. I'm sure this wasn't Druckmann's intent but it really does feel like that to me right now.
- The stealth gameplay needs to be expanded upon. The tools available to the player just are not enough to last throughout this game's 30 hour runtime.
- During action set pieces, they should have these obviously heavily armed enemies drop a bunch of ammo the player can use. I never felt like I got into a "firefight" even when the set piece clearly wanted to communicate that feeling, because my low ammo count required me to just get through every fight the same way: sit behind cover until an enemy reveals their head, and then one tap them to conserve ammo as much as possible.
 
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BluRayHiDef

Banned
The sequence in which you (as Abby) and Lev traverse a burning village of the Seraphites ("Haven") as the inhabitants are engaging invading Wolves is incredible. It's the most amazing sequence I've played in a game in a long time. The burning visuals combined with the irony of both you and Lev being despised by your respective former factions as well as each other's respective former faction, as both factions are warring with one another, is immersive and poignant.
 
I just finished the game 10 minutes ago, I'll say this is like what i felt the atmosphere of online discussion was back when MGS2 came out which still seems to be the most controversial MGS game to date even with the release of disaster that is V.

So anyways TLOUP2, i didn't want this to exist honestly as i thought TLOU had a perfect ending, I love MGS2 and it's ambigous but hopefull ending that 4 just shat on and ruined, i was afraid Part 2 would do to TLOU what MGS4 did to 2, i was spoiled on the general stuff but i was sure the context of those scenes would make sense, and it sort of does.

So gameplay wise, this a continuation of ND's efforts in the "wide-linear" or hub style that they started with UC4, the gameplay is superb and each weapon has a distnict kick that is satisfying, being able to go prone adds A LOT, and the enemy AI is relentless, i played on survivor on everything but the resources which i put on hard and i couldn't unlike the first game stealth my way around.

This game still has the arcadey-ness of ND usual style even if the recoil and aiming is a bit heavier to give the illusion of realism, overall gameplay wise it's fantastic and is woth playing the game to experience it.

The story is.... Interesting, definitely not as tight as part 1 that's for sure, but i liked a lot of the character interactions especially the new ones, but i felt the Dina/Ellie relationship wasn't good or interesting to watch (I don't maybe it's my own bias and religious beliefs but i doubt it) and i think they killed Jesse as both shock value and to kill anyhope of him and Dina getting back together, again it might be my own bias but i thought they had more chemistry together and the story highlights that when Ellie says I'll give you 2 weeks before your back together, Tommy's fate hit me hard more than Joel's, fuck you Ellie you did him dirty!

Abbs half of the game didn't start good IMO but it got better and better as the game went on, fuck i love the hunting pistol so much! And her story had a good esclation and pacing and showed how her quest for revenge destroyed her love life and friendships and didn't give her the closure she sought, same with Ellie who chose to abandon her life with Dina and JJ and lost 2 fingers in the process just to kill Abby, that final flash of Joel's just before she spares Abby hit me right in the feels man!

Any way definitely a great game TO play but I'll wait until my second playthrough to judge how much i like/love the story, it's certinly not badly written as those IDPOL obsessed guys think it is.

And if I could rant a bit, i never got that criticism in games, if the story is fun and engaging even if it has cringey moments in it (and as a JRPG fanatic believe me i know cringe) then i seriously don't give a shit, i'm here to be entertained.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I finally finished it and man what a letdown. It was not a bad game by any means, but it pales so vastly in comparison to the first, drags on waaaaaaaaay too long, making the gameplay more repetitive. The action and combat elements of this game are not meant for long single player stories like this. Too much action and the mission areas didn't compliment stealth well. I think the game would have been better served either being shorter with less areas to trek through, or design it so it fits stealth more. It was such a freaking chore trying to do stealth in most areas, making it not fun to do. Then, if you resort to action and shooting it gets repetitive.

As for the story, I think it basically ruined two what could be iconic characters.

I love father/daughter stories or even father/son stories. In this case "daughter." That dynamic was sucked out of the plot in the first couple hours. To me that's what made TLOU1 so great. That dynamic between those two. My favorite moments in the entire game were the Ellie/Joel flashbacks. Everything outside of that I thought ranged from bleh to just "good." I didn't care about Abby or any of her friends at all. It sucked the emotion out of the plot for me. It felt like it was done for shock value to remove Joel, and also the narrative that they wanted the story to be about dictated plot elements, rather than having them organically fit together.

And it really got trite and over the top at the end. Ellie trekking down the entire west coast just to kill a girl when she already let her go. Then gets there and decides not to anymore? That's super Hollywood. I feel they absolutely ruined Ellie's character. Ruined her growth. And in turn, ruined the series. Unless they go prequel(which wouldn't have Ellie and Joel together) I have no interest in the series at all going forward.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Finished the game. It was... alright. Waffling between a 6/10 and a 7/10. Thoughts:

- Great presentation. Audio, in particular, really impressed me. Guns sounded great.
- The gameplay was rough. The controls were sluggish, Naughty Dog remains in love with prioritizing animation over responsiveness, and everything was just... annoying, from the new enemies to the design of the encounters. There's an uncomfortable balance between the game trying to encourage stealth but also being a straightforward shooter, which didn't work in practice. I wasn't a fan of them basically breaking melee combat towards the end and just having enemies shrug off machetes out of nowhere. Way to maintain consistent logic! Also, every door in the entire TLOU universe is locked. This motivated like 90% of where you go in the game, rather than the narrative pushing you forward.
- It wasn't that woke. It did feel like they had a checklist of gimmicks for the characters, which got a little silly after a while This one's lesbian, this one's bi, this one's trans, aaaannnnd none of the girls are pretty, but most of the dudes are hunks. But the game wasn't particularly heavy-handed, so I honestly wasn't bothered.
- The epilogue is self-indulgent horseshit. After one of the worst "final boss" fights I've ever played against Ellie, it's like the designers suddenly stood up and yelled "OH NO! WE MADE A MEDIOCRE ZOMBIE MOVIE!", and proceeded to shovel all the trash left on the cutting room floor into the end sequence. They ended up with a slapdash mess of meandering, pointless tosh with no real payoff. Though I guess that applies more broadly to the whole story and cast of characters.

It was just a super inconsistent game. Some parts were really good, but a lot of it was pretty dismal. It probably would've benefited from being half the length or sticking to a consistent vision for the story and gameplay.
 
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Clarissa

Banned
Finally reached the Abby part. Now let's see if it's really that bad or if people where exaggerating.
So far I've enjoyed the game. I definitely think the story took a big step back from the first one, but as someone who enjoyed the gameplay in the original I've really liked it here. It's more of the same but with bigger areas, some more tools, new enemies, better stealth and some tense encounters.

My biggest issue so far are that several areas feel stretched out, and it still has the weird immersion breaking issues of the original (AI partner that's invisible to enemies and sometimes walks in front of them, and forced ammo scarcity on harder difficulties where enemies with guns magically don't drop ammo)
I actually enjoyed that other character's part more. I'm sure you will too! 😊
 

nowhat

Member
Anyone else think the soundtrack in TLOU1 stood out way more? I didn't even really notice Gustavo Santaolalla's work in this very much. It seemed way more subtle and unnoticeable.
Completely in agreement here, which is my only complaint with the presentation. Some setpieces/events have really impactful music, but in general there is way too little ambient music. I'm not saying every scene should be accompanied by a dramatic score (looking at you, LOTR movies - you completely overdid it), but I would have expected more from the soundtrack.
 
Was waiting for the PS5 edition, but my wife surprised me with this game when I got home from work. It was a “I know you’re stressed during the pandemic” gift lol.

I’m going to play the first game and its DLC, since it’s been so long, then head straight into Part II.
 

bargeparty

Member
Just finished the game. I would give it a 6/10. Tries to some ambitious things with its plot but the execution fails horribly. Gameplay gets mostly boring halfway through. Really an astounding disappointment I wouldn't have expected from ND. Major takeaways are

- Plotholes too big to ignore, you cannot take the game seriously with some of the stuff going on.
- Characters make decisions that are so frustratingly stupid and unjustified by the plot I was often left with the feeling of having no one to empathize with.

You'll have to provide examples for these 2.
 

J3nga

Member
Anyone else think the soundtrack in TLOU1 stood out way more? I didn't even really notice Gustavo Santaolalla's work in this very much. It seemed way more subtle and unnoticeable.
Absolutely, while it's still beautiful there's just not enough of it and the main theme of the first game is so memorable and I think it's one the most memorable soundtracks in gaming history, II's just isn't, it just doesn't get into your bones.
 

bargeparty

Member
Absolutely, while it's still beautiful there's just not enough of it and the main theme of the first game is so memorable and I think it's one the most memorable soundtracks in gaming history, II's just isn't, it just doesn't get into your bones.

It's been a long time since i played the first game but outside a few "notes" I don't remember any of the music.

Now with 2 having just finished it the other night I don't remember much either, except how well everything blended together. And that should really be the goal. Everything should blend together to create the experience and all you'll be aware of is how you're feeling at that moment.

There were a handful of times during combat and intense moments were I did pause and think to myself "wow, this is really amazing" as I felt how the music was bringing everything to the next level.

I don't necessarily need to start listening to songs from a game on Spotify, if you follow.
 

Geki-D

Banned
It's been a long time since i played the first game but outside a few "notes" I don't remember any of the music.

Now with 2 having just finished it the other night I don't remember much either, except how well everything blended together.
That was no doubt their goal:
 

Bubba77

Member
You'll have to provide examples for these 2.

I was going to say the same thing. I just finished it last night and loved the story. I think all the sjw complainers are going way overboard. But no huge plotholes are coming to mind right now. My main complaint about the game was length. It was a bit long.
 

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
As good a thread as any: Finally got around to TLOU1 Left Behind dlc. That was pretty good. Malls inherently make for a captivating videogame setting, especially one where stealth is involved. Waist-high cover, shelves, and shit actually have a reason to be there. If I had to rank some expansions I've played:

(top)
- Old Hunters (Bloodborne)
- Episode 2 (Half Life 2)
- System Rift (Deus Ex: MD)
- Lair of the Shadow Broker (Mass Effect 2)
- Artorias (Dark Souls)
- Duke 3D Atomic Edition
- Left Behind
- Citadel (Mass Effect 3)
- Minerva's Den (Bioshock 2)
- Missing Link (Deus Ex: HR)

I’m going to play the first game and its DLC, since it’s been so long, then head straight into Part II.

Sarah...

3yr3JP3.jpg
 
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Kagero

Member
I need to be put out of my misery. Please somebody confirm that Dina will die? I’m still early in the game and don’t know if I could do 20+ hours with that naked mole rat flashing her mongoloid smile at me as I play acoustic guitar. Where’s the button prompt to wrap it around her head?

I can’t believe that Abby is my favourite part of the game so far. She is the only spark in this failing melodrama. I’m just playing, hoping to reach something good and being disappointed every time.
Yep. Abby is freaking great! Really felt for her by the end of it. Her story is so strong. I actually liked the second half a lot more. Ellie is so fucked up mentally in so many ways. ND did a great job portraying this. Both characters are done so well, but it really doesn’t show until the last few hours of the game. I kinda want another instalment. There’s a lot that can be done in this universe. This game is proof of concept that the universe can be the star and not any one protagonist. I would love to see Abby return though.
 

Kagero

Member
Does anyone else think that this game feels like a Resident Evil game in some regards. Certain settings and scenarios exhibit the dreariness and bleakness of Resident Evil games, and - obviously - the infected are analogous to the zombies of Resident Evil. A good example of the type of setting to which I'm referring is the...

...the decrepit, infected-infested ship through which you have to travel in order to get to the aquarium and encounter Owen.
Um.... that whole ratking section my dude.
 

decisions

Member
You'll have to provide examples for these 2.

I didn't go into detail because this isn't the spoiler thread, but here you go:

Almost everyone in TLOUII is obsessed with going on ridiculous "revenge safaris" that will likely lead to their death. However, almost none of the instances of this feel justified. This leads me to my first point...
  1. Abby going after Joel would perhaps be the most justified, because it is the least risky since she travels with a group of seemingly 20-30 people to do it. However, the game never explains why the rest of these people would choose to go with her to do this. Joel only killed Abby's father, not everyone else's, so only she has direct emotional ties to killing him. Killing Joel doesn't just bring the Fireflies back, and in fact risking their lives takes value of way from the effort of the WLFs, which is their next best bet for restoring society, so there must be some explanation for why these 20-30 people go with Abby to kill Joel. I thought for sure this would come by the end of the game, but it never does. Without all this help, surely Abby would have been outdone by Joel and Tommy.
  2. Tommy's character is totally different from in the first game but his change in character is never explained. We actually don't see much of Tommy in TLOU1, but what we do know about him is that he is the brother who opted to establish a stable community, and that Joel trusts him "more than he trusts himself". This associates with with values of longevity and stability. However, in this game he goes on revenge safaris just as much as Ellie, an angsty 18 year old does. He endangers the community In Jackson and abandons his wife because his brother was killed (an extremely weak justification). This makes no sense and is never explained. Even after he loses an eye and leg to his revenge quest, he is still obsessed with it and tells Ellie to go for Abby again. So he doesn't even value Ellie's life as much as he does revenge. Just ridiculous.
  3. Ellie. Ellie in TLOUII is one of the worst written characters I have ever witnessed, and the fact that she is so impossible to understand here means the entire story is a failure. Does she care about Dina, Jesse, Tommy? If so, why does she not go to the marina with Jesse to find Tommy and leave? Why does she never mention Jesse again after he dies? If she doesn't truly care about them, then why does the 'Take On Me' scene exist? Why does she opt to literally raise a child with Dina? If she wants to save Joel at the beginning of the game, then why do her and Dina seemingly fool around/sleep for literal hours in the marijuana den? Does she not care about Joel? Is she totally irresponsible? If they hadn't done this they may very well have found Joel before they did and he may have survived, which is an incredibly stupid plot point. These contradictions are too important to understanding Ellie to ignore. Why does she hate Joel for saving her at the hospital? Having dialogue that actually discussed why she feels this way instead of just showing that she does would've been meaningful and insightful into Ellie's character, but there are numerous situations in this game where the writers seem to have just ran away in cowardice from having any of the characters have philosophical discussions. Lastly about Ellie, because after a certain point her revenge quest feels totally ridiculous, this means that before finishing her part I was already convinced that she was unjustified. So I didn't need to play Abby's part to understand this. Since doing so seems to be the whole crux of the game's structure, the story in my opinion is overall a failure, even if I did enjoy some of Abby's part due to things that have little to do with how they relate to Ellie's part.
  4. I'll separate this one since it's so important. At the end of the game, Ellie finally gives up on revenge because she remembers a conversation with Joel. This is a ridiculously stupid plot device since she could've remembered this conversation at any point. It feels like she should've had some moral/philosophical argument with Abby in between fighting since the game never answers why Ellie feels she is justified over Abby, and this discussion would've led her to a change of heart. And we could hear Abby talk about how she is trying to save Lev to atone for her revenge, which would surely come up after Ellie accuses her of deserving to die. Of course, this would've required the writers to actually write meaningful dialogue, which I have already established that they never do in this game, so instead they just barely say anything to each other.
  5. In the first game, traveling anywhere was a daunting task. There were infected everywhere. In just about 5 years it seems anyone can go on a revenge safari by themselves and make it hundreds of miles. It just seems too hard to believe for me and I think they should've explained that the virus became less contagious at some point and there is less density of infected or something, because as it is the game just operates as if this is true with no explanation.
  6. All the little things. I haven't mentioned smaller things since you can find potholes in any story/fictional world if you dig deep enough. However, these small things make each individual scene hard to immerse yourself in. Some examples are: why do Ellie and Dina's personality connect? They don't just lust after each other, they love each other and raise a child together in the end. Why? Why does Owen leave Abby in the middle of the wilderness in a post-apocalypse? Why do the SCARs and WLF not like each other to begin with? Explaining this would have to explain what the ideals behind each organization are, but again the writers are afraid to take any stances so they don't detail this. It seems like the Seraphites represent right-wing theocracy, but they don't details this, or why this would bother the WLF to the point of constant military struggle. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what the WLF stand for at all. Also the Rattlers - the one consistent thing in the game seemed to be that no faction is totally good/bad, and then the game says, "well, except the Rattlers. They just eat, prison, and crucify people for no reason."
 
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Valentino

Member
I didn't go into detail because this isn't the spoiler thread, but here you go:

Almost everyone in TLOUII is obsessed with going on ridiculous "revenge safaris" that will likely lead to their death. However, almost none of the instances of this feel justified. This leads me to my first point...
  1. Abby going after Joel would perhaps be the most justified, because it is the least risky since she travels with a group of seemingly 20-30 people to do it. However, the game never explains why the rest of these people would choose to go with her to do this. Joel only killed Abby's father, not everyone else's, so only she has direct emotional ties to killing him. Killing Joel doesn't just bring the Fireflies back, and in fact risking their lives takes value of way from the effort of the WLFs, which is their next best bet for restoring society, so there must be some explanation for why these 20-30 people go with Abby to kill Joel. I thought for sure this would come by the end of the game, but it never does. Without all this help, surely Abby would have been outdone by Joel and Tommy.
  2. Tommy's character is totally different from in the first game but his change in character is never explained. We actually don't see much of Tommy in TLOU1, but what we do know about him is that he is the brother who opted to establish a stable community, and that Joel trusts him "more than he trusts himself". This associates with with values of longevity and stability. However, in this game he goes on revenge safaris just as much as Ellie, an angsty 18 year old does. He endangers the community In Jackson and abandons his wife because his brother was killed (an extremely weak justification). This makes no sense and is never explained. Even after he loses an eye and leg to his revenge quest, he is still obsessed with it and tells Ellie to go for Abby again. So he doesn't even value Ellie's life as much as he does revenge. Just ridiculous.
  3. Ellie. Ellie in TLOUII is one of the worst written characters I have ever witnessed, and the fact that she is so impossible to understand here means the entire story is a failure. Does she care about Dina, Jesse, Tommy? If so, why does she not go to the marina with Jesse to find Tommy and leave? Why does she never mention Jesse again after he dies? If she doesn't truly care about them, then why does the 'Take On Me' scene exist? Why does she opt to literally raise a child with Dina? If she wants to save Joel at the beginning of the game, then why do her and Dina seemingly fool around/sleep for literal hours in the marijuana den? Does she not care about Joel? Is she totally irresponsible? If they hadn't done this they may very well have found Joel before they did and he may have survived, which is an incredibly stupid plot point. These contradictions are too important to understanding Ellie to ignore. Why does she hate Joel for saving her at the hospital? Having dialogue that actually discussed why she feels this way instead of just showing that she does would've been meaningful and insightful into Ellie's character, but there are numerous situations in this game where the writers seem to have just ran away in cowardice from having any of the characters have philosophical discussions. Lastly about Ellie, because after a certain point her revenge quest feels totally ridiculous, this means that before finishing her part I was already convinced that she was unjustified. So I didn't need to play Abby's part to understand this. Since doing so seems to be the whole crux of the game's structure, the story in my opinion is overall a failure, even if I did enjoy some of Abby's part due to things that have little to do with how they relate to Ellie's part.
  4. I'll separate this one since it's so important. At the end of the game, Ellie finally gives up on revenge because she remembers a conversation with Joel. This is a ridiculously stupid plot device since she could've remembered this conversation at any point. It feels like she should've had some moral/philosophical argument with Abby in between fighting since the game never answers why Ellie feels she is justified over Abby, and this discussion would've led her to a change of heart. And we could hear Abby talk about how she is trying to save Lev to atone for her revenge, which would surely come up after Ellie accuses her of deserving to die. Of course, this would've required the writers to actually write meaningful dialogue, which I have already established that they never do in this game, so instead they just barely say anything to each other.
  5. In the first game, traveling anywhere was a daunting task. There were infected everywhere. In just about 5 years it seems anyone can go on a revenge safari by themselves and make it hundreds of miles. It just seems too hard to believe for me and I think they should've explained that the virus became less contagious at some point and there is less density of infected or something, because as it is the game just operates as if this is true with no explanation.
  6. All the little things. I haven't mentioned smaller things since you can find potholes in any story/fictional world if you dig deep enough. However, these small things make each individual scene hard to immerse yourself in. Some examples are: why do Ellie and Dina's personality connect? They don't just lust after each other, they love each other and raise a child together in the end. Why? Why does Owen leave Abby in the middle of the wilderness in a post-apocalypse? Why do the SCARs and WLF not like each other to begin with? Explaining this would have to explain what the ideals behind each organization are, but again the writers are afraid to take any stances so they don't detail this. It seems like the Seraphites represent right-wing theocracy, but they don't details this, or why this would bother the WLF to the point of constant military struggle. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what the WLF stand for at all. Also the Rattlers - the one consistent thing in the game seemed to be that no faction is totally good/bad, and then the game says, "well, except the Rattlers. They just eat, prison, and crucify people for no reason."

You ask too many questions 😂
I see what you feel..................... I don't agree, but I see. I think all these questions, like 'why would someone do this, why would anyone do that'...... you could god honestly say that about every single bloody piece of media. Even with the first game, why didn't they let Ellie wake up before operating on her to give her a choice? A normal person would have done that. Why did Ellie and Joel jump on that unstable bus just before reaching the hospital? They knew it was dangerous and Ellie couldn't swim! Questions questions questions. It's easy. We'd have no plot or game if every minute detail was questioned. I think the game does a good enough job in giving enough clues and hints to why things are. And if it doesn't then what can you do? It's like that with everything if you really want to look in to it and question every possibility.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Anyone else think the soundtrack in TLOU1 stood out way more? I didn't even really notice Gustavo Santaolalla's work in this very much. It seemed way more subtle and unnoticeable.
Yup, I remember googling the first game specifically to find "The Choice" tune because it was so moody and complemented the visual part of the game really well. In the new game there were only a few cool moments with background music and I wasn't really interested in finding it on youtube or spotify.
 
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bargeparty

Member
I didn't go into detail because this isn't the spoiler thread, but here you go:

Almost everyone in TLOUII is obsessed with going on ridiculous "revenge safaris" that will likely lead to their death. However, almost none of the instances of this feel justified. This leads me to my first point...
  1. Abby going after Joel would perhaps be the most justified, because it is the least risky since she travels with a group of seemingly 20-30 people to do it. However, the game never explains why the rest of these people would choose to go with her to do this. Joel only killed Abby's father, not everyone else's, so only she has direct emotional ties to killing him. Killing Joel doesn't just bring the Fireflies back, and in fact risking their lives takes value of way from the effort of the WLFs, which is their next best bet for restoring society, so there must be some explanation for why these 20-30 people go with Abby to kill Joel. I thought for sure this would come by the end of the game, but it never does. Without all this help, surely Abby would have been outdone by Joel and Tommy.
  2. Tommy's character is totally different from in the first game but his change in character is never explained. We actually don't see much of Tommy in TLOU1, but what we do know about him is that he is the brother who opted to establish a stable community, and that Joel trusts him "more than he trusts himself". This associates with with values of longevity and stability. However, in this game he goes on revenge safaris just as much as Ellie, an angsty 18 year old does. He endangers the community In Jackson and abandons his wife because his brother was killed (an extremely weak justification). This makes no sense and is never explained. Even after he loses an eye and leg to his revenge quest, he is still obsessed with it and tells Ellie to go for Abby again. So he doesn't even value Ellie's life as much as he does revenge. Just ridiculous.
  3. Ellie. Ellie in TLOUII is one of the worst written characters I have ever witnessed, and the fact that she is so impossible to understand here means the entire story is a failure. Does she care about Dina, Jesse, Tommy? If so, why does she not go to the marina with Jesse to find Tommy and leave? Why does she never mention Jesse again after he dies? If she doesn't truly care about them, then why does the 'Take On Me' scene exist? Why does she opt to literally raise a child with Dina? If she wants to save Joel at the beginning of the game, then why do her and Dina seemingly fool around/sleep for literal hours in the marijuana den? Does she not care about Joel? Is she totally irresponsible? If they hadn't done this they may very well have found Joel before they did and he may have survived, which is an incredibly stupid plot point. These contradictions are too important to understanding Ellie to ignore. Why does she hate Joel for saving her at the hospital? Having dialogue that actually discussed why she feels this way instead of just showing that she does would've been meaningful and insightful into Ellie's character, but there are numerous situations in this game where the writers seem to have just ran away in cowardice from having any of the characters have philosophical discussions. Lastly about Ellie, because after a certain point her revenge quest feels totally ridiculous, this means that before finishing her part I was already convinced that she was unjustified. So I didn't need to play Abby's part to understand this. Since doing so seems to be the whole crux of the game's structure, the story in my opinion is overall a failure, even if I did enjoy some of Abby's part due to things that have little to do with how they relate to Ellie's part.
  4. I'll separate this one since it's so important. At the end of the game, Ellie finally gives up on revenge because she remembers a conversation with Joel. This is a ridiculously stupid plot device since she could've remembered this conversation at any point. It feels like she should've had some moral/philosophical argument with Abby in between fighting since the game never answers why Ellie feels she is justified over Abby, and this discussion would've led her to a change of heart. And we could hear Abby talk about how she is trying to save Lev to atone for her revenge, which would surely come up after Ellie accuses her of deserving to die. Of course, this would've required the writers to actually write meaningful dialogue, which I have already established that they never do in this game, so instead they just barely say anything to each other.
  5. In the first game, traveling anywhere was a daunting task. There were infected everywhere. In just about 5 years it seems anyone can go on a revenge safari by themselves and make it hundreds of miles. It just seems too hard to believe for me and I think they should've explained that the virus became less contagious at some point and there is less density of infected or something, because as it is the game just operates as if this is true with no explanation.
  6. All the little things. I haven't mentioned smaller things since you can find potholes in any story/fictional world if you dig deep enough. However, these small things make each individual scene hard to immerse yourself in. Some examples are: why do Ellie and Dina's personality connect? They don't just lust after each other, they love each other and raise a child together in the end. Why? Why does Owen leave Abby in the middle of the wilderness in a post-apocalypse? Why do the SCARs and WLF not like each other to begin with? Explaining this would have to explain what the ideals behind each organization are, but again the writers are afraid to take any stances so they don't detail this. It seems like the Seraphites represent right-wing theocracy, but they don't details this, or why this would bother the WLF to the point of constant military struggle. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what the WLF stand for at all. Also the Rattlers - the one consistent thing in the game seemed to be that no faction is totally good/bad, and then the game says, "well, except the Rattlers. They just eat, prison, and crucify people for no reason."

I appreciate you writing all that out and I'm sorry to see you interpret those things that way.

One thing I specially want to say
is that there were absolutely not 20-30 people with Abby, only like 6. They were her close friends just like Ellie has.

You've seemed to have missed a lot that is in the journals and notes you find in the world.
 
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i was loving this game right up until i got past
the aquarium as Ellie
the lead up to it was everything i wanted from a sequel to TLOU

but holy shit.... this Abby portion of the game is downright terrible and seemingly neverending. i dont even know how many hours it's been, just want to get back to the main story. i went from searching for every little thing in the game to not reading notes, bypassing safes and just skipping cinematics..

and all of this is what - to build empathy with some throwaway characters that not only do you not give a shit about, you actively hate? what a disappointment
 
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Bartski

Gold Member
I didn't go into detail because this isn't the spoiler thread, but here you go:

Almost everyone in TLOUII is obsessed with going on ridiculous "revenge safaris" that will likely lead to their death. However, almost none of the instances of this feel justified. This leads me to my first point...
  1. Abby going after Joel would perhaps be the most justified, because it is the least risky since she travels with a group of seemingly 20-30 people to do it. However, the game never explains why the rest of these people would choose to go with her to do this. Joel only killed Abby's father, not everyone else's, so only she has direct emotional ties to killing him. Killing Joel doesn't just bring the Fireflies back, and in fact risking their lives takes value of way from the effort of the WLFs, which is their next best bet for restoring society, so there must be some explanation for why these 20-30 people go with Abby to kill Joel. I thought for sure this would come by the end of the game, but it never does. Without all this help, surely Abby would have been outdone by Joel and Tommy.
  2. Tommy's character is totally different from in the first game but his change in character is never explained. We actually don't see much of Tommy in TLOU1, but what we do know about him is that he is the brother who opted to establish a stable community, and that Joel trusts him "more than he trusts himself". This associates with with values of longevity and stability. However, in this game he goes on revenge safaris just as much as Ellie, an angsty 18 year old does. He endangers the community In Jackson and abandons his wife because his brother was killed (an extremely weak justification). This makes no sense and is never explained. Even after he loses an eye and leg to his revenge quest, he is still obsessed with it and tells Ellie to go for Abby again. So he doesn't even value Ellie's life as much as he does revenge. Just ridiculous.
  3. Ellie. Ellie in TLOUII is one of the worst written characters I have ever witnessed, and the fact that she is so impossible to understand here means the entire story is a failure. Does she care about Dina, Jesse, Tommy? If so, why does she not go to the marina with Jesse to find Tommy and leave? Why does she never mention Jesse again after he dies? If she doesn't truly care about them, then why does the 'Take On Me' scene exist? Why does she opt to literally raise a child with Dina? If she wants to save Joel at the beginning of the game, then why do her and Dina seemingly fool around/sleep for literal hours in the marijuana den? Does she not care about Joel? Is she totally irresponsible? If they hadn't done this they may very well have found Joel before they did and he may have survived, which is an incredibly stupid plot point. These contradictions are too important to understanding Ellie to ignore. Why does she hate Joel for saving her at the hospital? Having dialogue that actually discussed why she feels this way instead of just showing that she does would've been meaningful and insightful into Ellie's character, but there are numerous situations in this game where the writers seem to have just ran away in cowardice from having any of the characters have philosophical discussions. Lastly about Ellie, because after a certain point her revenge quest feels totally ridiculous, this means that before finishing her part I was already convinced that she was unjustified. So I didn't need to play Abby's part to understand this. Since doing so seems to be the whole crux of the game's structure, the story in my opinion is overall a failure, even if I did enjoy some of Abby's part due to things that have little to do with how they relate to Ellie's part.
  4. I'll separate this one since it's so important. At the end of the game, Ellie finally gives up on revenge because she remembers a conversation with Joel. This is a ridiculously stupid plot device since she could've remembered this conversation at any point. It feels like she should've had some moral/philosophical argument with Abby in between fighting since the game never answers why Ellie feels she is justified over Abby, and this discussion would've led her to a change of heart. And we could hear Abby talk about how she is trying to save Lev to atone for her revenge, which would surely come up after Ellie accuses her of deserving to die. Of course, this would've required the writers to actually write meaningful dialogue, which I have already established that they never do in this game, so instead they just barely say anything to each other.
  5. In the first game, traveling anywhere was a daunting task. There were infected everywhere. In just about 5 years it seems anyone can go on a revenge safari by themselves and make it hundreds of miles. It just seems too hard to believe for me and I think they should've explained that the virus became less contagious at some point and there is less density of infected or something, because as it is the game just operates as if this is true with no explanation.
  6. All the little things. I haven't mentioned smaller things since you can find potholes in any story/fictional world if you dig deep enough. However, these small things make each individual scene hard to immerse yourself in. Some examples are: why do Ellie and Dina's personality connect? They don't just lust after each other, they love each other and raise a child together in the end. Why? Why does Owen leave Abby in the middle of the wilderness in a post-apocalypse? Why do the SCARs and WLF not like each other to begin with? Explaining this would have to explain what the ideals behind each organization are, but again the writers are afraid to take any stances so they don't detail this. It seems like the Seraphites represent right-wing theocracy, but they don't details this, or why this would bother the WLF to the point of constant military struggle. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what the WLF stand for at all. Also the Rattlers - the one consistent thing in the game seemed to be that no faction is totally good/bad, and then the game says, "well, except the Rattlers. They just eat, prison, and crucify people for no reason."
don't mean to sound rude but there is so much wrong here it all this reads like you've been playing the game completely drunk/high, browsing facebook during cutscenes or just not paying enough attention
 
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