I am not looking to start a debate on this, I’m not trying to rile anyone up. I’m not sitting behind a table with a “change my mind” sign on it.
I avoided all leaks and spoilers for TLOU2. I obviously did not let on that I had managed to do so, because that would almost certainly be inviting some jackass to intentionally try and spoil it for me. I would encourage any comments on this page to be spoiler free as well, for those still playing the game. Nonetheless, I finished the replay of the first game and dove right into the sequel, the entire extent of my foreknowledge being only the reveal trailer from a couple years back.
And while I may have avoided plot details and spoilers, it was downright impossible to avoid the vitriole surrounding the game in the wake of the leaks. I’m not about to retroactively parse the complaints, but having finally experienced the game’s story, I can make a few educated guesses about why there are so many collectively salty underoos in a bunch.
I have only this to say: I enjoyed the hell out of The Last of Us Part Two. It’s everything I loved about the first one, amplified. Emotionally challenging, heart-wrenching, heart-warming, a gorgeous and intricately detailed world with characters I understand and care for.
It’s not my job to convince anyone not to quit on a game before it’s even come out. But for those of you out there who may be on the fence about TLOU2, whether you’ve had certain elements spoiled for you or not, I highly recommend you not let the angry comments or the childish review bombing put you off experiencing a well-crafted game that was clearly a labor of love.
you monster! XD
amusingly enough, I had no idea there was any vitriol surrounding the game, so now I will be at least a little wary of it when I play through next week XD – doubt it will color my judgement though.
Expect this comic to be reshared over and over with the words of the last panel changed…
Quite true. It’s like there are gamer trolls just waiting to kill any love, of any game, at any time.
FOR FRODO!
For Pony
Thank you!
(No really.. thank you.. you gave me ideas.. specifically about speaking up that FF8 was better than FF7).
Does Tim have any problems with this idea?
… Alright I’ll bite, I’ll give you 8 being better than 7 (it certainly was in some ways) but 6 is still the best story-wise of the lot, and 9 had the most likable characters the series has ever had.
I agree that 6 is the best story wise, but I’ve always been partial to 4. Mainly because it was the first time I’d played an RPG like that where it elicited actual emotions. 7 had some interesting systems and I liked some of the characters. 8 irritated me with it’s major changes to magic systems and Triple Triad giving me a headache.
Hey they didn’t say that 8 was the best, just that 8 was better than 7.
(My favourite is 9 but I have a lot of nostalgic fondness for 8.)
That’s not even mildly controversial. Nobody can ever actually agree on which the best FF is or which one is better than which.
Doesn’t that, by definition, make it extremely controversial? 😛
Speaking up about FF8 being better than 7 just means you’re a huge masochist, if a game that forces you to spend hours running around in a circle to get the “spells” you need for decent stats is something you enjoy. Oh, and the Summons. And the crappy plot. Basically, there is nothing in FF8 I can point to being better than FF7 other than the graphics.
And I don’t even like FF7 as much as I do FF6.
better take copy of it, there is rarely memetemplates this good, especially because only thing it needs is changing last speech bubble to suit which ever argument
I’m fine with people liking the game personally. Game play wise its ok. Atmosphere both sound and graphics are excellent. That said I heavily disliked the order and writing of the story, i feel it was a step down in quality compared to the first game, probably because it had different writers by what ive herd. I didn’t care for any of the new characters which is a problem bec i feel the point was to make you care so that the revenge is bad idea could be beat over your head, but most had barely any time/lines and it… Read more »
Totally agree on the new characters. I found Abby and everyone in her crew to be so ferociously annoying that I couldn’t wait for Ellie’s war path to wipe them out (except the team’s doggo who imo is the only likeable member of the WLFs). Even Ellie’s gf comes across tedious and whiny, which is a shame after how well they handled Ellie’s last relationship in the Left Behind dlc. All the new characters bar one were so wooden or unlikeable that when I was playing Abby I couldn’t care less if she died. On a few occasions I just… Read more »
TLOU1 Ellie: It can’t be for nothing.
TLOU2 Ellie: LOL JK, it absolutely can be for nothing.
Are these even the same character? Is it not a different character that also happens to be called Ellie?
People Change, Characters Change, Joel absolutely went from Loving Father to Jaded Asshole in the timeskip and eventually Back in the first game. But he was an adult, Ellie was/is basically a teenager, a teenager more or less raised by a man who doomed humanity and didn’t tell her on a selfish whim. How much fucked up shit did you do as a teenager? I assume that’s why there’s Abby to act as a foil but then I won’t know until the Let’s Play because despite all evidence to the contrary on it’s profitability, Console Exclusivity continues to be a… Read more »
“Doomed humanity” by not allowing a child he had come to care for be murdered for a procedure that hat no guarantee of success and a high likelihood of failure? Fuck off with that take. They were fanatics who were high on their own hype.
You got downvoted but this is 100% correct.
People change, ESPECIALLY children, which Ellie absolutely was in TLOU1. In fact, if you pay kinda close attention, a lot of what she does seems to be directly because of the impact Joel had on her, for better or for worse. There’s literally a gameplay segment where she comments on something the player can do to get through and area and she’s like “Yeah, I saw Joel do this once.”
That’s just how life works. If you’re the same person you were in high school, you really don’t get out much. Sorry.
Actually less doomed than you might think. Turns out that via an audio log Joel can find in the final level, they’ve had people that were immune like Ellie before, tried the exact same procedure several times, and got nada out of it. There’s also a whole myriad of other reasons why their particular idea wouldn’t work and would’ve been better off keeping Ellie alive (such as potentially examining her blood and getting tissue samples from the infected spot, examining that instead of instantly trying to cut out the brain fungus and killing your research subject) to try various things.… Read more »
I’ve seen videos discussing the idea that Ellie’s immunity could reasonably be transferred to everyone. From what I gathered, the fungus would be harvested from her head, and could only be implanted into so many people and they would have to let it grow on those people before they kill them and harvest the fungus again.
And that’s a *best-case*. It might not stay benign-ish in another host. And it’s still a fungal brain infection, it’s just less-lethal and gives some immunity.
But it shouldn’t need to be harvested from the brain. I mean, the infected do a great job spreading it by bite, so it gets a really good load in saliva. And are clearly rocking the fungus in all tissues. So what happens if she bites someone?
I… I have a confession to make. I enjoyed both Terminator Genysis AND Terminator Dark Fate. Do your worst internet!
I enjoyed the female ghostbusters movie and super mario sticker star
I enjoyed three of the Transformers live action movies 🙂
Genysis sucked but was better than Salvation by leaps and bounds.
Dark Fate had issues and I will miss Skynet, but I enjoyed it.
Well Genysis was a fun movie.
A good movie? Nah. But an entertaining one none the less. It’s at least the third best Terminator movie. And I liked it too. (I was actually surprised when I learnt that most people hated it.)
Final Fantasy 13 was actually quite good.
:Drop Mic:
I…I just can’ talk to you right now…
😛
Honestly, I believe you. I wanted to like that game. I could *see* the way the systems could be a lot of fun, but I just could not chew my way through the part of the game where your parties are just two people and the entire system was built around three.
Never got far enough into it to be able to pass judgement — I couldn’t… beat (?I guess would be the appropriate wording) the tutorial. The frozen summon chick always kicked my ass regardless if I followed tutorial instructions or not.
Which part or the whole three game series of it?
All 3 to varying degrees, but with plenty of gripes about -2 and Lightning Returns, but mostly gameplay oriented.
-2 “Wow, I wish they had more of those semi-QTE events in combat like they showed off in the demo, and what the fuck was up with that ending?”
L.R. “WHY CAN’T I MOVE. SQUARE YOU HAVE LITERALLY THE STAR OCEAN SERIES AS DEMONSTRATION OF HOW TO INCLUDE INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT IN COMBAT, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HIT SOMETHING IN THE BACK IF I CAN’T CIRCLE AROUND?”, but also the relatively nonsensical ending.
You, sir, are dead to me.
Hey, I’m glad someone liked the game. 13 really killed the franchise for me. I just felt like I was watching an 8 hour movie where I had to spam X on occasion to get to the next scene. To each their own, I guess
Same here. Genysis, IMO, was much better than the last one . . . though it was nice to see THE Sarah Connor coming back. 😀
Can’t say anything about TLOU, as I don’t touch my son’s PS4 with a ten-foot pole. Firstly, I never got the hang of playing with controllers, and secondly, it’s his toy . . . as he respects my toys. 😀
thee*
I am interested in your opinion of the treatment of the character named Lev. While it is not your job to defend or damn a game, it seems like a very relevant topic to ask for your opinion on.
You’re allowed to be wrong every now and again.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and opinions are not facts.
You are entitled to your opinion right up until you express said opinion, after which it is up to you to back your opinion with whatever evidence you have to support said opinion.
Uh no. You are entitled to your opinion right up until you TREAT said opinion AS FACT, after which it is up to you to back your opinion with whatever evidence you have to support said opinion.
As long as you don’t try to force other people to hold the same opinion, or act like someone else’s is wrong. (like Pal87 JUST DID) As long as an opinion doesn’t harm someone else, everyone is free to hold it and express it.
People don’t have to listen to you expressing it, but you’re most definitely entitled to.
I will say that, while I don’t think you HAVE to give reasons to back up an opinion to a stranger on the internet, you should still have reasons. “I liked the game” Ok why? I’m not going to say you’re wrong, but understanding why will help me understand your opinion. And if you truly can’t defend an opinion, I probably will think less of you. Not because of what it is, but because you can’t even rationalize it in your own mind.
Except sometimes, words just can’t express why you like or dislike something. There’s something about the experience of something that someone wouldn’t be able to put into words. Especially if they don’t do wordsmithing and reviews for a living. That’s bullshit of course, not being able to explain what you felt. That’s utterly wrong, that you’re wrong for not being able to list the points supporting your opinion. But… that’s also feelings. Feelings do not care about fact, feelings just are, and some moments are just undescribable, or at odds with the facts of the matter. Sure, you can get… Read more »
Exactly. If I say that I enjoyed Game X or Movie Y, I don’t need to back up anything.
It’s my opinion you’re dead wrong
The thing to remember is that liking something and it actually being good, are two different things.
You can like garbage, and you can hate a masterpiece. The idea is to recognize the difference between quality and your own personal tastes.
Very true. After all, I loved Castlevania 64, even though I know it’s a pretty terrible game.
But isn’t good subjective? My mother detests Shakespeare. Like all of the plays. She did not think they were great and teachers and people of authority telling her over and over that they are classics, they are masterpieces, they are great. And when asked to justify it the answer is ‘Because they are’. I mention this because I recognize a historical point to them. I can but hope that in a few hundred years people so remember Star Wars. But are they truly great? And I do not wish to nitpick, however what is being put under quality? As a… Read more »
One game reviewer that has a hella good reputation in my country, after retrospective intro, said the following lines: ‘Meanwhile, some reviewers call the second one (TLoU 2) a generation game and others drag it through the mud. In my opinion, are any of them right? No.’ And while I haven’t played the game I’ve seen some gameplays (one crucial part included) and stopped there not to spoil it no more for myself. I have the very same opinion as this guy has. And I have a feeling a second installment is worse than the 1st one when it comes… Read more »
PArt 2 is too long and drags a bit, but other than that the game is Fine, Maybe resources gathering is a bit tedious >< but the gunplay is solid, this game has better controls than resident evil 3.
Not gonna lie, I enjoyed it as well. Not the game, but the dumpster fire it created:
Angry mob blaming the developers for lazy storytelling – after giving limitless supply to blank checks
vs
Resentful loyalists that had their fun diminished by majority having different opinion – proceed to namecalling with inevitable finale “Why ish everyone sho m-meaan…”
Oh Naughty Dog Controversy, what did thee give to us? – Druckman kicking out Amy Hennig. – Druckman and crunch time for his employees – Druckman and his possibly multiple self inserts into TLOU2 – Sony performing a takedown of spoilers so wide that they managed to hit themselves with a Copyright Claim (that’s actually pretty freaking impressive) – The completely and utterly “reliable” Professional Critics holding TLOU2’s water by largely giving it a 10/10 to such a degree that people smelled something that stunk (and responded in kind) I have no dog in this fight (pun not intended), but… Read more »
I get the same reaction when I tell people I like the CW DC shows or pretty much anything Star Wars has put out. I like what I like. I respect you don’t like it, so please respect me for liking it.
I am curious Tim, where do you stand on Naughty Dog hitting people who did not actually post images, videos, or even specific leaks and merely voiced their opinion of not liking the direction the game went with copyright strikes?
I don’t stand anywhere on that issue. I do not possess enough facts to form an opinion on it.
Wow, wow, wow. Did you just adult, and concluded that your lack of knowledge wouldn’t be sufficient to form a solid argument in a discussion, and therefor would have to research the topic, before forming an opinion? HOW DARE YOU?!
I have enjoyed it as well, still got a bit more to go before the end. It was never going to live up to the hype of the first game, but it was nice to come back to this story and these characters again.
I’m just not sure the last game ended on a note that required or even allowed for a sequel.
As I understand it the game itself is fine gameplay and thematics-wise, it’s just that it’s unrelentingly depressing especially in light of current events, and most people review bombing it are the same people who thought Anita Sarkeesian is some sort of she-devil with a magical vagina.
That’s why it’s not a Sequel, in a literal sense. It’s just Part II. Just… there to show some more stuff that happens.
Like, little fun fact: Did people know that Final Fantasy X (and by proxy, X-2) had a japanese audio novel that describe that Tidus and Yuna break up?
It just explains what they went on to do in the future and fleshes out the characters a bit more. That’s all. Didn’t warrant a sequel, but….. life continues on. And sometimes that’s all people want.
It’s so refreshing to see a positive response to the game for once. I’m not playing the game but I know how much the first meant to a lot of people and to hear the pure venom people are throwing at the second for seemingly minor or petty reasons is just wearing me down. Yes some people have legitimate complaints but the whole thing has been blown so far out of proportion that a lot of people are hating on it because they are expected to hate on it. What Tim did, playing the game in a vacuum is the… Read more »
I honestly enjoyed it overall. The gameplay had alot of improvements ( going prone and crawling under objects being one)
I felt the story was good overall, but god the flow didn’t help it. I wish i knew how to make mods cause i would love to make one to reorganize the flow while keeping everything in the game, just ordered differently. I can’t say more without spoilers
TLOU2 is gonna be one of those games ill have to watch/play myself to know if its ‘good’ or not.
No matter how many reviews i see, i just know there’s a ton which will be blatantly biased in one way or another, irrelevant of the quality of the game.
I did exactly the same and loved every second of part two.
Well, the game IS gorgeous. Nobody will argue with that. Graphically it’s a stunning and amazing experience… Problem is, everything else is subpar. The story is… Predictable and poorly told. That’s all I’ll say about it. Gameplay it’s a tad worse than TLOU1 was, at least in my memory, since it never felt like a survival: you always had plenty of all resources around unless you played recklessly; and even that’s only because the game has an artificial mechanic to keep you low on resources. In TLOU1 I remember having to choose where to edge my bets, in TLOU2 I’m… Read more »
Thing is about stories, we’ve pretty much told every story out there. There’s not a huge need to be crazy unpredictable. I could tell you Half Life Alyx was predictable. I could also say I didn’t expect it at all. Which one is true? Who knows. I have literally no predictions with where TLOU is going. There’s no point, because that’s NEVER been the point with TLOU or Uncharted or anything. It’s always been about the journey getting there and that’s the part of the game that matters. Also what level are you playing on because I was out of… Read more »
Thing about stories is… Every story can be traced back to Ancient Greek tragedy classics. That doesn’t mean that stories can’t be retold in a way that A) You can be surprised by it and B) it’s well done. Played it on second hardest difficulty, same I did on TLOU1; I spent 90% of my gameplay at max resources, remaining 10% was either the game emptying my inventory or after a scripted scratch or boss fight. And most of that 10% could have been prevented if they had let me haul more “raw” resources. That’s quite bad only if you’re… Read more »
Storywise, I DO have one inconsistency complain that bothers me to Hell and back… If this game’s zombies are due to an ongoing infection that gets progressively worse… Then how come there are still so many Runners around? I mean, they were supposed to be the first stages of infection and population has gone down enough to fresh infections to be rare… How is it that they’re still the “default infected”? Shouldn’t be Clickers, which are a more advanced and only-evolve-in-certain-circumstances state, by the time of the story?
If someone has it on PS4 and hates it, I will gladly take it.
You think you’re in danger? Try saying “I love Fallout 76” if you want to see the trolling.
I like your honesty @Tim. I’ve been ignoring all the haters. But I trust you and your opinion.
I can only say, uhg. More power to you?
tbh I didnt even finished the first, I wont even try the second. But if you enjoyed it, it’s cool.
I thought the Force Awakens was dull, and really like the Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker!
Slay the internet trolls!
Sales for the game are doing just fine. As usual, the loudest voices are coming from the minority. If nothing else the leaks and resulting vitriol boosted the game’s sales by spreading the news that the TLOU2 was getting released soon.
Just wait for refunds to hit.. Oh wait, they’ve had most of the major retailers DENY refunds!
Except that it doesn’t work that way. Retailers BUY a stock of games. That’s why “shipped numbers” are important, as those are already SOLD games. Retailers can decide on their own if they accept refunds or not on a given game. Sony cannot dictate policy to companies that are not in their employ.
Also, that Australian site you’re probably quoting is full of shit if you read any of their different news.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it, my copy is sitting ready to play while I finish a 3rd (4th, 5th?) replay of the original just to make sure the story is fresh in my mind. I’m sure there will be story continuity issues but being sucked into caring about the characters is what makes a game worthy for me.
All two of the people that I know who have played TLOU2 have enjoyed it and have convinced me to get it… used… someday. I’m cheap. I have just stopped listening to the geek community when they talk about new movies, games, books, etc. It’s taken as a point of pride to hate on things. If it falls short of God-tier brilliance it’s treated as a war crime. If it deserves ridicule then it’s considered the source of all suffering in the world. Professional movie reviewers aren’t much better. They long since gave up the ability to enjoy a movie… Read more »
“Gates to the Internet”
Why do I have the feeling that is what’s written on the gate to hell? Like Satan couldn’t come up with a more fitting naming. XD
This last panel has meme-value. Just changed TloU2 with any other game and people gonna go use it to proclaim their uniqueness vs the hivemind of the internet.^^
Just did it, inspired by you 🙂
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/hgoasu/it_was_great_weird_and_alien_and_alone/
It went wild. May get over 5k ups before it runs out of steam. I wonder how many of those redditors discovered cad-comic over my dumb minor edit 😀
People can enjoy whatever the hell they want.
…as long as it affects only them instead of creating negative side effects for others. *plays too loud music late at night while others are trying to sleep*
I haven’t played either game, but I stay connected to gaming news in general. The way I understand it, the game was first “leaked”, then overhyped as the best game of the decade. When people actually played it, some people were reasonably unsatisfied with it, having their expectations to high. Then the trolls got their hands on the controversy and, as usual, lines were drawn and shots were fired. For the same reason i really enjoyed Valerian & Laureline (had no opinion on the matter, although the comics were great) and hated Star Wars 7 to 9 (my hopes were… Read more »
Ironically enough, I enjoyed Last of us Part 2, which is really weird since I was that one Hater of the first. I just didn’t like Joel but I like the 2nd playable character more than even Ellie. I didn’t see the pacing Issues or the “bad writing” anywhere, but the game it’s a bit too long. A Solid 8, heck maybe even a 9 out of 10 and now Crash 4 in October.
I watched the entire playthrough and had to hug my wife and kid afterwards and tell them I love them. The story is very well done. it calls back to the main theme of the first game – how one deals with grief, and it introduces a second theme – what makes a person monstrous. Both of these themes conclude in an intimately emotional way. It’s cliche to say, but I am literally tearing up just thinking about it. As someone who has made his share of mistakes and tried to amend for them, as someone who had to deal… Read more »
I’d be interested to know why you like it. I haven’t played it, and have no opinion on it. Though I did see the incredibly low user review scores and incredibly high “critic” scores. Reminded me of “The Last Jedi”. 😛
Highly progressive storybeats tend to elevate critical scores above what they deserve. Sometimes its not hugely noticeable, sometimes its a massive backlash. It always is polarizing. Eventually we’ll get to a point that their inclusion in media wont apply overwhelming virtue points skewing the score, and we’ll get more honest reviews. Until then, just pick the reviewers most like yourself, and trust their input on games. I’m particularly fond of Skillup.
Also, I feel like Zombies have been done to death. “They Are Billions” was the penacle of zombie art, and everything that comes after will certainly fall short.
“In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice.”
I don’t have a Playstation, but I followed a let’s play of the 2 games … and I really loved the stories.
maybe I even preferred part 2
I wish it didn’t seem to have ended like three times and then kept going. If you’ve gotten that far, you know what I mean.
(This comment does not spoil the story, but may cause realization of a writing problem) I think the common thread behind criticism is that the game wants to portray a harsh reality, but sometimes comes over as going out of its way to kick a puppy/kitten in order to remind you how harsh it. I can see this cause like/dislike depending on how responds to such things. -If you don’t care about such tropes or want them. The game is perfectly fine. -If you are prone to see them as cue cards trying to tell you how to feel and… Read more »
That’s pretty much it. The game is an absolute technological marvel but a lot of people don’t like being hit over the head with the ‘hey in case you didn’t know violence is bad’ stick for 25 or so hours. Especially considering that you’re forced to act violently because for some reason a game that revolves around the idea that violence is bad doesn’t give you any non-lethal options.
I loved the game,…but THIS! ☝
The Last of Us 2 is basically Dishonored 2 if they forced you to play High Chaos and then called you a horrible monster over and over for playing High Chaos.
I have no opinion on this.
I hadn’t commented in awhile, so I thought I’d weigh in with my heart full of neutrality.
There’s a certain level of hype, of expectation, that can realistically never be reached. When you have enough time to imagine what it SHOULD be, what it actually is will be a disappointment.
You should never expect something to be the same the second time. If it was, it would be uninteresting, insignificant. You should also be prepared for it to not be what you want.
Mind you, I’ve played neither game nor have any real understanding if them other than the basics. That’s just how I approach all creative work.
I pre-ordered but haven’t played it yet, but thank you for putting a positive light on it. I had seen a couple negative comments about it online and I was getting discouraged. I’ve been looking forward to this game and I want to enjoy it without negative spin dragging me down before I even start.
I’m actually curious about one thing. Do you think the game deserved the 9.9/10 type scores it got from the press? I personally feel the game is a 7/10 with a strong front half and a tedious slog of a back half.
I just finished it last night, the first one was my favorite game of the PS3 era. The Last of Us 2 is a strong contender for my favorite game of the PS4 era. There are no logical arguments as to why the game isn’t good.
PRIASE THE SUN
I think it’s perfectly valid for you to have enjoyed it. Everyone has their own tastes and standards**.
(**I’m not saying your standards are low, just that some elements may not bother you as much as they bother other people)
Then again, you said you’re not trying to rile anyone up but dismissed other people’s legitimate negative reviews/opinions of the game as “angry comments” and “childish review bombing” just because they disagree with your opinion…
Not that I have a dog in this race, I’ve no interest in that genre of game.
Spamming negative metacritic reviews with substanceless content immediately following the launch of the game in order to “punish” a developer for making decisions you don’t like are not “legitimate reviews.” Review bombing is a childish practice intended to hurt a developer’s sales numbers as retribution, not a method by which to inform other gamers about their purchase.
I also enjoy the last of us 2. not finished yet but im in the final stretch. It is a good game and the story is fine. That’s all i will say on the matter.
i actually see a lot of people who enjoyed TLOU2, it’s the ones that didn’t like it who are instantly flamed and called “sexist” or “homophobic” or hit with the classic “you probably didn’t even play the game, so shut up!”