Abby was basically Joel in TLOU1 tho except instead of being a lone wolf smuggler she had a community she contributed towards.
Maybe thats what they were trying to go for, but they clearly fucked it up by introducing her as someone who kills a fan favorite character. After that no amount of redemption was going to be enough. It's bold writing, ambitious but poorly executed at the end. Neil is a great fucking writer but even he couldnt redeem her.
And there in lies the problem. Joel is made immediately sympathetic in the beginning as he loses his daughter. All of his subsequent actions (drug dealing, murders, and detachment towards Ellie) are justified because we know this guy is a tortured soul. Even at the end, when he turns into Heisenberg and starts killing people left and right and robbing the world of a cure, we cant help but side with him because its presented as a morally grey choice. In Abby's case, we hate her for half of the game and the hate builds and builds for nearly 15 hours until we finally find out why she does what she does but by that point it's too late and Joel couldve raped her in the past and people wouldnt care. Poor writing.
Then she's given a very boring cast of characters who bring her down with them. A girl suffering from depression. A girl suffering from intense pain from her broken arm. Two assholes in Mel and Manny. Her ex-bf was ready to leave his unborn child to go away with his mistress. Everyone in her campaign is either shitty or boring. Joel had Ellie bring the best out of him. She was fun to be around. Funny. Caring. Human. Spunky. The complete opposite of Lev. The two brothers they run into were fun to be around. They made Joel laugh even.
She is Joel in the sense that she loses someone she loved, but thats it. You didnt see Joel kill anyone for revenge. Joel didnt want to take Ellie and is literally paid to do it unlike Abby. And when Joel does come around to liking Ellie, it's very late in the game and its clearly due to him seeing her as his daughter. Why is Abby risking her life to save two random strangers? Do they remind her of her dad? It's trash.