Allow me to open this review with the admission that I Haven't played The Last of Us Part II and the reason for that is because I do not with to play a game that makes me kill dogs and wants to make me feel terrible about it. However, I HAVE seen pretty much all the gameplay & cutscenes and I'm more of a middle range fan of the first game. I do enjoy it and think it's amazing and that Joel and Ellie are great characters but neither TLOU 1 or Joel and Ellie are may all time favorite game and characters.
I'm also someone who's VERY pro-Equality so characters gender, sexuality, religion and race do not mean anything to me as I love and hate everyone equally. Also, I regularly read up on spoilers and still wait to see the story to judge it it's own to see how well it works. So, with all that in mind I think I'm the best person to view this game in a more objective light. I'm not as attached to the series or it's characters as others are but I still see why they have such a devoted following even after 5 years.
And with that I will say that TLOU 2 DOES have a number of great scenes, some overall solid new characters and makes a lot of bold choices. It also is the kind of story that seems to needlessly punish Ellie in favor of Abby by treating Ellie's kills as more wrong then Abby's murder of Joel. But to do this the game ignores the fact that all of Abby's friends that Ellie killed was in self defense and she was clearly horrified by what she had done while Abby killed Joel after he saved her life and basically tortured him to death and made Ellie watch all of it.
Abby is an overall solid character and honestly not as bad as some make her out to be. She's also not as charismatic as Joel & Ellie and her relationship with Lev, while good, isn't as engaging as any of the relationships in the fist game. Even Joel and Sam felt like they had a more engaging dynamic together and they only had 10 minutes of game time together.
The game also seems to favor Abby over Ellie by giving her hope for a better future and finding the Fire Flies and getting to keep Lev while Ellie seemingly loses everything and everyone she ever loved because Abby only killed Joel while Ellie killed most of Abby's friends in self-defense. This was even noted on the YMMV page until the Unintentionally Symptomatic part of the page was removed.
But then again, have you Played or Seen this game. Most of these levels look AMAZING. The Rat King, The War between the Scars and the W.L.F. towards the end of middle of the game, the car chases, Ellie and Dina's relationship, the acting is great all around, the flash back scenes between Joel and Ellie are truly moving.
That's the thing about the game, it's not for everyone but I can see why it's found an audience. The people who enjoy this game aren't Holier Than Thou leftest and the people who hate this game aren't a bunch of sexist rights who are being pissy about the white male lead dying. The treatment of the LGBT cast is questionable at best especially when compared to She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Sense 8, Steven Universe, Adventure Time and The Legend of Korra and yet this is a game that proudly has a Lesbian as a one of the leads and a trans kid who is played by a trans actor as a main companion to another female lead who's honestly more complex than people give her credit for.
Both sides have a point and in the end I think TLOU 2 will remain one of the most divisive games ever made much like Dragon Age 2 has remained a divisive game years after it's release.
Both Sides Have a Point
Allow me to open this review with the admission that I Haven't played The Last of Us Part II and the reason for that is because I do not with to play a game that makes me kill dogs and wants to make me feel terrible about it. However, I HAVE seen pretty much all the gameplay & cutscenes and I'm more of a middle range fan of the first game. I do enjoy it and think it's amazing and that Joel and Ellie are great characters but neither TLOU 1 or Joel and Ellie are may all time favorite game and characters.
I'm also someone who's VERY pro-Equality so characters gender, sexuality, religion and race do not mean anything to me as I love and hate everyone equally. Also, I regularly read up on spoilers and still wait to see the story to judge it it's own to see how well it works. So, with all that in mind I think I'm the best person to view this game in a more objective light. I'm not as attached to the series or it's characters as others are but I still see why they have such a devoted following even after 5 years.
And with that I will say that TLOU 2 DOES have a number of great scenes, some overall solid new characters and makes a lot of bold choices. It also is the kind of story that seems to needlessly punish Ellie in favor of Abby by treating Ellie's kills as more wrong then Abby's murder of Joel. But to do this the game ignores the fact that all of Abby's friends that Ellie killed was in self defense and she was clearly horrified by what she had done while Abby killed Joel after he saved her life and basically tortured him to death and made Ellie watch all of it.
Abby is an overall solid character and honestly not as bad as some make her out to be. She's also not as charismatic as Joel & Ellie and her relationship with Lev, while good, isn't as engaging as any of the relationships in the fist game. Even Joel and Sam felt like they had a more engaging dynamic together and they only had 10 minutes of game time together.
The game also seems to favor Abby over Ellie by giving her hope for a better future and finding the Fire Flies and getting to keep Lev while Ellie seemingly loses everything and everyone she ever loved because Abby only killed Joel while Ellie killed most of Abby's friends in self-defense. This was even noted on the YMMV page until the Unintentionally Symptomatic part of the page was removed.
But then again, have you Played or Seen this game. Most of these levels look AMAZING. The Rat King, The War between the Scars and the W.L.F. towards the end of middle of the game, the car chases, Ellie and Dina's relationship, the acting is great all around, the flash back scenes between Joel and Ellie are truly moving.
That's the thing about the game, it's not for everyone but I can see why it's found an audience. The people who enjoy this game aren't Holier Than Thou leftest and the people who hate this game aren't a bunch of sexist rights who are being pissy about the white male lead dying. The treatment of the LGBT cast is questionable at best especially when compared to She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Sense 8, Steven Universe, Adventure Time and The Legend of Korra and yet this is a game that proudly has a Lesbian as a one of the leads and a trans kid who is played by a trans actor as a main companion to another female lead who's honestly more complex than people give her credit for.
Both sides have a point and in the end I think TLOU 2 will remain one of the most divisive games ever made much like Dragon Age 2 has remained a divisive game years after it's release.