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Posted by: Rooney 10th May 2020, 12:22 PM

The original is the best game I have ever played. I don't even own any gaming console right now and I got the PS4 is at the end of its current generation but if the reviews are good I will probably buy it alone for this game.

Any fans? Much delayed, but comes out June 19th now.

I know the story has leaked but I can kind of guess what the main catalyst is from the trailers. Managed to avoid the story spoilers so far but the internet is not happy!

Posted by: Izzy 11th May 2020, 04:47 AM

Never played it because I've never owned a playstation/and am unlikely to get one... but I do have to say I love the culture discussions that springs up around this game, so I'm very interested in the internet not being happy!! People are either massively in favour of it, or hate it.

This new one, I don't know the spoilers because I don't know what's a spoiler but I've seen gaming articles and discourse about things like dogs you kill in this one having names, to make you feel bad, and about the main girl being dressed like a normal person (and then compared unfavourably to more sexist games :/). Very interesting stuff.

Posted by: blacksquare 12th June 2020, 09:49 AM

Well, damn.

Posted by: Rooney 12th June 2020, 10:00 AM

Yeah I was waiting for the review embargo to be lifted. Read a couple this morning and everyone says it is unbelieveable. The first game is the best game I have ever played and left me thinking for weeks after I completed it. Sounds like Part 2 takes that whole experience to a new level. I'm sold on buying a PS4 just for this.

Posted by: Oliver 12th June 2020, 02:11 PM

Can not wait to buy this.

Posted by: Rooney 20th June 2020, 11:25 PM

Anyone else started this?

I'm a couple of hours in and made it to Seattle. I wasn't sure what the catalyst for the story would be, I've read seen a lot of trailers so and read a few things (not the leaked spoilers). So now we know that Joel getting murdered is the revenge plot point for Ellie. I'm interested to see how this matches up with some of the trailer moments we haven't seen yet. I'm assuming they must happen post Seattle or there's going to be one great big flashback sequence...

Posted by: Oliver 21st June 2020, 01:21 PM

Currently being review-bombed and is at 3.6 user score on Metacritic. I would never trust user scores.

Posted by: Rooney 21st June 2020, 02:05 PM

I’m loving it so far, don’t think I’ve got to the controversial plot point yet. I’m finding the experience stunning so far.

Posted by: NellyEverySundae 4th July 2020, 12:15 AM

Finished the entire thing just now! Have to say, I preferred the story and the gameplay to the original! In fact I found myself empathising with Abby a lot more than Ellie who seemed a bit one dimensional to me in this game. But such a phenomenal experience.

Only issue I had was pacing. the scavenging trip with Dina and the horse/open world exploration felt a bit tedious, the zombie boss fights felt like a chore to get through and Abby’s past narrative made the game longer than it should be.

Id have liked it to be 15 hours and fast paced than unnecessary dragging out of the plot to 23 hours that it took me!

Posted by: Rooney 4th July 2020, 10:23 AM

I'm on 23 hours and I've only just started Seattle Day 2 (second time around). I just find it a totally different experience than the first game. I haven't found myself sympathising with Abby yet, but I do agree with the pacing, there is a fair amount of plot filler but the gameplay is amazing. I find stealth so much garder to do in the game than the original due to the level designs.

Posted by: blacksquare 4th July 2020, 01:15 PM

Do not watch this if you haven't finished the game — it sums up how I feel far more succinctly than I ever could.

I loved it, plot structure included. I'm on my second playthrough right now, it's interesting how many small details there are that now make sense after playing as Abby. I actually ended up empathising with her more than Ellie. I also found her half of the game more enjoyable, although I know that is clearly not the experience for everyone.

It's just an insanely impressive game — the gameplay, the graphics, the risks they were willing to take with the story and how the game played out.

Posted by: NellyEverySundae 4th July 2020, 03:17 PM

Yeah I’d say it takes a while until you actually grasp Abby’s character, won’t spoil anything for you if you’re midway through Abby’s adventure but it picks up I promise! A day in and still processing the whole game. I feel like the predecessor still had an element of hope in it and I came away from it actually feelling pretty good. Part 2 definitely just made me feel empty inside, very harrowing especially the way everything plays out. Can imagine a lot of people really disliking it but I can’t fault it!

On another note, I cant say I’m that mad about Joel dying in this game early on. I always felt during the first game that Joel is killing an extraordinary amount of people so was expecting the sequel somewhat to explore this idea.

I think approximately it’s taking people like 40 hours to finish it all but whenever the story slowed down I just Paced it

I think I’ll do the same once I have some more time on my hand. As a side note the scoring here is beautiful!

It’ll take a while until the game starts getting a lot of appreciation I reckon.

Posted by: blacksquare 4th July 2020, 03:29 PM

I clearly didn't spend a lot of time exploring on my first playthrough — I finished in just under 25 hours. I was determined to get through the story before coming across a spoiler online.

Posted by: Rooney 9th July 2020, 10:23 PM

Finished the game now - fantastic experience. The gameplay and level design are amazing, it's a fantastic game and the problem is it gets compared to the original.

I have to say I agree with some of the pacing comments - it feels like a lot happens in the first 2-3 hours and the last 2-3 hours but in between it kind of fluctuates. Not that it is a bad thing because the gameplay and level designs are so fun that you are immersed in the game. I know every says the scariest part of the game is the Hospital scene, but for me it's the Hotel part just before.. those stalkers are horrible.

I never warmed to Abby. I tolerated her but I never actually felt what the game was designed to make you do. I was still longing for Ellie to kill her at the end. I found her a tragic character but I honestly had zero love for her throughout. I found it really uncomfortable playing as her fighting Ellie in the Thearte.. especially as she had presumeably killed Tommy at this point too. I did feel having the trans character was there to make a point and it was a weak plot device imo. But I have no problem with it and not sure why it has created a massive uproar.

Overall a great experience, it pushed the boundaries of games, it was bold and inventive and was whole heaps of fun. I can't see how they don't create a Part III or explore a different part of the world.

Posted by: NellyEverySundae 10th July 2020, 10:57 AM

I think I more warmed up to Abby during her sub-plot involving Lev and how she was going above and beyond for him. But yeah the Abby and Ellie fight was fully done for shock factor I felt. I was cringing while pressing that square button . Other than that I loved the way they told the story, quite an innovative way and really put into perspective how violent these characters are. I went from complete hand-to-hand combat to pretty much total stealth by the end because I just felt BAD aha! I much enjoyed the second one because I just never fell in love with the original like a lot of people. It was okay, like the combat wasn’t fun, the story didn’t go anywhere new for a zombie apocalypse (bar Ellie’s altercations while Joel was unconscious) and the ending was honestly so predictable. This was a massive improvement.

Only thing which will keep me from playing it again is just the massively bleak 23 hours it took me to play it , don’t think I have the energy to go through that all again crikey.

Posted by: Rooney 10th July 2020, 01:15 PM

I warmed during the sub-plot for sure, but I always knew where the story was going with the cliffhanger midway through. You sort of got that whole Ellie/Joel relationship with Abby/Lev and Lev was Abby's moral compass. I guess that was the idea -the game wanted you to believe in their relationship like Ellie/Joel.

The original game was less about the zombie apocalypse and more about the grief stricken Joel. I think that was very innovative for for video games at the time and his actions in the game obviously spurn the point for the second game. I never felt bad with the killing - not once did I feel uncomfortable about it, exactly the same happens in the first game only with less detail. At the end of the day the majority of the characters are just AI, I always felt people who had a pre-agenda with the game's twist were using that against the game.

I'm still trying to process the ending on the second game, I guess it is up to interpretation I've seen some people commenting that Ellie goes back to The Farm after she has been back to Jackson so it's not as bleak as it originally is pitched. I took the ending more that she has finally accepted losing Joel and the chance to ever rebuild their relationship. Still think there will be a third game based around the Fireflies re-grouping.

Posted by: NellyEverySundae 11th July 2020, 11:36 AM

I reckon they’ll give Ellie a nice ending anyways considering all the backlash about how she ends up with nothing by the end of the game.

Yeah I suppose about the original. I remember playing Bioshock Infinite back in 2014 (which was pretty much going head-to-head with Last Of Us for accolades that year) and then when I played the original Last Of Us it just didn’t hold up to the same standard of story-telling that had? It’s a nice game, definitely an experience to say the least but not to the point that I’d be so emotionally involved in the handling of the characters. But then again, I remember Infinite experienced pretty similar backlash to TLOU2, for being pretentious and having a convoluted plot for a video game platform.

I agree about the trans character though, I don’t think the backlash is that justified for Lev. The sub-plot is relatively harmless and doesn’t feel that forced. I kind of just went ‘ah ok then’ and moved on with the next level. I’ve also noticed a lot of criticism going towards unnecessary missions, enemies that have been placed purposely to spot you so it’s near impossible to do stealth and zero/no support from NPCs that are accompanying you but those are just general Naughty Dog issues I’ve noticed in all their games. Uncharted 4 was awful for all of these. Then again it didn’t take people 20+ hours to finish those titles.

Posted by: Rooney 11th July 2020, 12:40 PM

I'm not sure that's Druckman's style though with regards to the spoiler. It's clear he made this game not to appease fans so I can't see him giving just purposely giving Ellie a happy ending. I think the ending leaves open a wide interpretation for where the 3rd game could go, which I think just has to happen. I've started to watch some of the gamers YouTube videos who are very critical of the game - I honestly can't help but feel their influence over the community. I watched my first and last AngryJoe video and it really did some across as a sad middle aged man just pissed at where the game goes. It was borderline pathetic and childish.

I also found stealth near enough impossible, there are just too many enemies. But I loved the enemy AI and how they flank you (and the Scars whistling was always super offputting). But the character AI was pretty useless.. but it also doesn't bother me too much. Again, I think too many people look for flaws because they're pissed at what happens.

Posted by: NellyEverySundae 11th July 2020, 01:36 PM

Yeah definitely! I actually might re-play this over the weekend now I’ve fully processed what happened. The same people who criticise a lot of aspects of this game will defend the same flaws in others which is so biased. Hopefully as newer generations of players come into contact with the series and its sequel the reception will grow! AngryJoe and Pewdiepie were so anti this game from the beginning that you can see them blatantly ignoring and making fun of what are very emotionally-charged parts of the game. At least go into this with an open mind or it’s a wasted experience! Now that Uncharted’s out of the way I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a new Last Of Us game a bit sooner than the 7 years it took this time round. Maybe that’s hopeful wishing because the ending really got to me and I want to know what’s next for Ellie

I do agree with there being a massive lack of likeable characters on Abby’s side actually. It didn’t take a long time for me to empathise with Marlene, Tess and Joel in the original and the former probably only had an hour max of screentime. They could’ve been better written but I got far more immersed in Abby’s gameplay to care much about it to be honest.

Posted by: blacksquare 11th July 2020, 06:32 PM

I watched some of his stream and for the most part he wasn't even playing, and when he was he was just shouting over it and not paying attention. It seems like a lot of the really vocal hate is form people that haven't actually played it. They probably made their mind up when the leaks came out, or by watching streamers like Angry Joe.

The reaction to this game has just been so insane.

Posted by: blacksquare 11th July 2020, 06:38 PM

I found these discussions really interesting — answered some questions I had after playing, and made me think about some story elements differently.

It's impressive how many takes and differing opinions there are about this — can't say that about a lot of video games. I can see people debating this for years.

I really liked Owen from Abby's friends, and Lev and Yara were probably my favourite characters in the entire game (after Alice, of course). I also quite liked how they handled Lev being trans — it was a small aspect of the story but didn't define him as a character and didn't define the story itself.

The ending made me so uncomfortable — I did not want Ellie to leave the farm, and then I did not want to fight Abby. I can't think of another game that made me feel like that before. I interpreted the ending (Ellie not killing Abby) as Ellie realising all of the awful things she was willing to do for Joel, and finally understanding how he could do what he did at the end of the first game. His love for her drove him to do that, and her love for him drove her to do this. The flashback as she was drowning Abby was the first one that ended on a positive note (forgiveness) — I think she understood his choices and forgave him, whilst not wanting to make the same mistake.

Posted by: Rooney 11th July 2020, 08:43 PM

The Spoilercasts are great - it really helped me contextualise some of the moments from the game. When you have Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson saying these things it just really puts everything in to perspectivr - these people know these characters better than anybody. It's clear there was always going to be a lot of hate for the game (and rightly so, playing as Abby is really uncomfortable for the early parts). But the leaks just made everything so much harder - people had already made their minds up and decided to hate it. I find it all a bit sad really. Don't get me wrong I HATED that scene but I also understand that it had to happen.

See, I interpreted the ending totally different in that Ellie realised that killing Abby was not going to bring back Joel. It's clear she was suffering from PTSD and she realised that Abby was still completely messed up even though she had got her own personal revenge.

I really can't wait another 7 years for Part III!

Posted by: NellyEverySundae 12th July 2020, 05:23 PM

Right so I’ve spent 13 hours on my re-play and just about to finish! I was seeing if there was a quicker way to get through the story and tbh stealth is do-able throughout the second time round now you know how enemies act and know whereabouts you’re heading with some tactics ready. It’s made the game a lot easier and the pacing is alright now I’m not getting stuck on a certain level for about 2 hours. So silly of me not realising dogs aren't an issue when you could just bow-and-arrow them before they even start sniffing. Because I was 90% getting around on stealth (no sprinting or combat), I felt like it actually really helped the pacing of the story, you get A to B without being spotted so it made certain segments feel a lot less prolongued than when I originally played. Might tryout full on combat next time I play it but think that’ll be In a while.

Abby’s part probably has some of the best (Seraphite levels) and worst (the resident evil encounters on the way to see Owen and at the hospital retrieving the medical kit) parts of the game. I know some people will love the whole combat areas purely dedicated to the infected but I just hate the infected scavengers so much lol. I can’t be bothered to deal with them so just save up on a lot of stun bombs for them geezers.

Posted by: NellyEverySundae 12th July 2020, 05:35 PM

Interesting! To be honest Owen’s pretty harmless, I just felt kind of indifferent to him? I’d include Lev in that bracket for me too. I actually felt quite uncomfortable with fighting Abby at the end too; the poor girl had been kidnapped, tortured and left to die. And I just thought both had been through so much by then. Imagine if Abby had died, what would happen to Lev??

Overall I’m not too sure where I’d personally want a third instalment to go. I wouldn’t mind it being focused on the fireflies regrouping and idk Ellie having some internal conflict on if she should hand herself over to them. But that’d be treading similar water. Hopefully Mr Druckmann can surprise us again with a complete new direction, wether that includes Ellie or not.

Posted by: blacksquare 12th July 2020, 06:52 PM

Oh wow — ground zero (and Day 2) was my favourite section in the game. The bridge leading down to the hospital (and then that thing) gave me heart palpitations. It was far too late in the night for that on my first playthrough. Haha.

Posted by: Rooney 12th July 2020, 07:01 PM

Out of interest - which parts did you both find the most difficult / challenging? And what difficulty did you play through on?

I played through on Normal and either THAT fight or Ellie on Day 2 where she enters the hospital after the Vita moment were my biggest challenges.

Posted by: NellyEverySundae 13th July 2020, 08:37 AM

Yeah I knew people would love it but I’ve just never been a massive fan of big boss fights, don’t think I have the attention span or the skills/concentration for it hahah. I did find getting down to ground zero really intense though.



Personally, I found the fight particularly difficult and then where Abby’s on the boat to try find Owen. I found it next to impossible to stealth the latter and the level was riddled with tonnes of clickers etc. Also when Lev/Yara are trying to open the door to let Abby leave that f***ing house with the bloater-duo haha! There was also a sequence with Ellie where there was a room with about 7 scavengers and I probably died the most on that because I hadn’t saved up on ammo. I played on normal, tried survivor originally but gave up by day 2 seattle (Ellie).

Posted by: Jay* 14th July 2020, 05:22 PM

I’m watching a walkthrough of this - lmao at this glitch:

https://YouTube.com/watch?v=i1XN915aAqU&t=21m30s

Posted by: antanasg12345 27th July 2020, 12:22 PM

I'll try this game out next week as I am getting it.

Posted by: Rooney 11th February 2021, 01:01 PM

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey have been cast as the two leads for the HBO TV Show.

The scripts apparently touch on Season 2, so I wonder if we're going to Jackson a little bit more fleshed out when Joel/Ellie first go there with Jesse/Dina and of course this probably means Abby's father and Abby will be tacked on to the Fireflies storyline too you would expect.