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The follow up to Naughty Dog’s 2013 masterpiece The Last of Us. This game is one of the most polarizing video games I’ve ever witnessed released. Being such a huge fan of the first game I was taken by surprise fairly quick with the brutal death of protagonist Joel early on in the game.
I know that this is the moment a lot of people turned the game off and gave up on it but this wasn’t the problem that bugged me with the game. I actually really enjoyed the harrowing revenge set-up with Ellie hit-listing and hunting down everyone responsible for Joel’s death.
The game is actually incredibly gripping and the story immersed me very early on. I played it back when it was released ominously during the 2020 pandemic (the most ironic thing I’ve ever seen), and at the time I did have issues with the game as a whole, but not the Joel getting murdered with a golf club part.
The first 10 hours of this very long, maybe even too long campaign is damn near perfection. There is not a thing I would change about it. Ellie’s descent into hatred and the almost total hopelessness and despair of the world. The soundtrack is beautiful and tragic, the very improved upon upgraded gameplay of the last game, the audio design and games physics, the horror immersive atmosphere is all top notch, literally the best and most polished we have not come to expect from industry veterans Naughty Dog. Every ingredient blends together to created this flawed masterpiece.
What flaws? I don’t have an issue with Abby as a character, I actually enjoyed Abby and her backstory of why she was out to kill Joel. It made sense and I think it worked really well. About mid way through the game you switch from a ruthlessly badass Ellie, to Joel’s killer for another flashback sequence showing why Abby wants to see Joel dead. This works just as well as the very charming flashback highlights of Joel and Ellie do leading up to this point. But then we see a chapter change; Seattle Day 1. Wait. Are we really doing this? And it goes on. And on. And on….
There was some really incredible moments during Abby’s course of the game which just overstays its welcome but the entire time I was still wishing I was experiencing this through Ellie’s eyes. Then of course were forced to kick the absolute crap out of Ellie when the game reaches back to the present and forces us to do things we don’t really want to. There’s so much good in the Last of Us 2 and so much to appreciate about it, however, Ellie just letting Abby get away with it in the end after all we’ve been through seemed extremely stupid. It’s been said before but even if you’re to do a pacifist run, you’re still obligated to viciously murder some of Abby’s friends with no pause so it’s canonical no matter what.
By the end credits I don’t think a game has ever made me feel so miserable in my life, but I think that was the objective all along in a strange way. I still think everyone should experience this game at least once and form their own opinions. I don’t hate on the game, I actually enjoy it more than the sum of dislike I have for certain parts that I simply cannot ignore no matter how hard I’ve tried. I still am excited to see what ultimately The Last of Us Part 3 will surprise us with. Naughty Dog has still proven that regardless of narrative decisions they make, every game they churn out is going to be a breathtakingly unforgettable experience.
Verdict: 9/10
https://opencritic.com/game/8351/the-last-of-us-part-ii
Endure and survive,
Mikhail