A Last of Us 2 review, 5 years later

To just get us started off, I was not around during the whole kerfuffle around the release of TLOU2 back in 2020. I watched the MoistMeter and wrote the whole thing off as some stupid internet argument that didn't matter in the long run. However, around a year ago I got the chance to play and beat the remastered version of The Last Of Us remastered, and I was just blown away. The combat and the graphics were great, but the acting, dialogue, and story blew me away. And that was knowing the twist at the end! Up until that point, I had never expected to see such a story to be executed at such high level. The characters felt real, for a lack of better words.

Now that you know my love for the first game, I now should move on and talk about the second. I tried to go into the story as blind I could reasonable be, given that this is one of the most controversial games of the decade. As far as that I'm aware, the events that I was aware of before starting TLOU2 were : Joel's death at the start of the game, the clock rewinding three days to play as Abby, and Ellie fails to kill Abby at the end of the game. Aside from those pretty big spoilers, I went in blind.

To get the easy stuff out of the way, the gameplay has been vastly improved. Sixteen times the intensity, sixteen times the speed, sixteen times the amount of ways to beat a level. The amount of times I would restart an encounter just to beat it in a different way was embarrassing. You could sneak around and stab or strangle baddies, pick off enemies from afar, make two factions fight each other, hold someone hostage to get a better shot, or just lob Molotov and pipe bombs and shotgun the shit outa everyone. All in great fun. A minor complaint was the amount of times I had to search each and every bathroom and kitchen just to pop some pills, but honestly I found it a great way to calm down after a stressful encounter.

The setting is also fantastic. State of the art graphics, realistic weather, and jaw-droppingly gorgeous views, though, this might be bias talking but I do slightly prefer the various locations of the first game, mostly due to it's incredibly variety. I will give points to Seattle, as it does feel very lived in.

But none of that bullshit matters when we get to the real meat of the game : its story.

And what's some random person's opinion? Its good. Really good.

I would like to discuss three main points of contention around TLOU2.

Joel's Death : I understand how people might be upset on the death of Joel, and especially how it happen. Hell, at the start of Seattle day one, me and Ellie were raining down hell on WLF. But I would like to point out I do disagree that Joel would never get himself into such a situation that lead to his death. Living among normal people for four years has caused him to deservedly "grow soft" and become more open and trusting, which given the world of the Last Of Us, could've been the deciding factor that lead him toward his doom.

Now that Joel's dead, we (the player and Ellie) need revenge. So we become the ghost of Seattle, killing and shooting zombies, scars, and WLF till we are held up at gunpoint by Abby. Then Uhoh! The clock rewinds three days, and we find ourselves in control of Abby. Fortunately, since I'm not a little bitch, I grit my teeth and began to play as the other. I will admit, having to transition from playing as someone who is empty and full of revenge to someone that's just empty did take some time to get used to, but Naughty Dog has helped me retrospectively realize that the change wasn't that servere. Abby's mental state is relatively unchanged after killing Joel, and I would argue that has even gotten worse as her sole goal for the past four years has been achieved without making her nightmares go away, serving as foreshadowing for Ellie's state at the end of the game.

Speaking of the end of the game, what the fuck was that? Shit was crazy.

"The main character when it comes to killing goons vs killing the main villain" has been reposted in various gaming pages, but in the case of TLOU2 this meme actually means something aside from haha funni. I think this meme comes from a misunderstanding from the context of Ellie letting Abby go. At the start of the game, Joel and Ellie's relationship is nonexistent. Joel's death meant that Ellie would never have a chance to rebuilt that relationship. Ellie isn't motivated by anger, but grief. Only by putting Abby in the same position as Joel was at the start makes her realize that her whole journey was pointless. But at least Ellie, free of two fingers, can finally forgive Joel and heal.

Thanks for reading this shitt reveiw have goot duy