The Last of Us

[BVT]

The Last of Us was an atom bomb on the gaming industry, like it or not. 

For anyone who hasn't played The Last of Us, "the game of a generation", know that it is hailed as best game of the decade by many, and best game of all-time by more than a few - it is my favourite game ever made... and it's only a year old. It completely renewed my faith in the gaming industry as a whole. If you have played The Last of Us, you know what I'm talking about (or not, if you think it was overrated).

I just wanted to share my love for TLOU, and see how many of you out there also loved this game to death! I made a poll, because oftentimes, gamers are either on one side of the fence or the other, with little in between. 

What did you think of its similarity to The Road? Its atmospheric homage to No Country For Old Men? 

I cried seven times in total during The Last of Us, and I can tell you exactly when. 

DO NOT OPEN THE SPOILER IF YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED THE GAME.

Spoiler

- When Joel's daughter dies in his arms
- When Ellie and Joel argue and she says "Everyone I know has either left me, or died! Everyone... f*cking except you!"
- When Joel is injured, and Ellie tries frantically to save his life
- When Joel calls Ellie "baby girl" after she kills her would-be rapist, David
- When they pet the giraffe together (I bawled like a fricking baby)
- When Ellie gives the picture of Joel's daughter back to him
- When Joel is running through the hospital carrying Ellie's unconscious body

Now, for comparison, I only cried once during my former favourite game, Half-Life 2 Episode 2, at the very end.

I recently had the pleasure of playing The Last of Us: Left Behind, and again, I was stunned at the bravery and brilliance of the storytelling, and the ability of the writer to build such an emotional core between two flawed, imperfect human beings in a short timeframe.

Some would argue TLOU is more of a movie, as the most climactic parts are cutscenes; Others (myself included) would argue a game, and that the most climactic scenes for them (and myself) actually occurred during gameplay.  

The Last of Us actually changed my life in a way... and I've heard this many times from others: The game made me want to actually have a daughter to take care of and teach and see grow. Prior to this game, I had no interest in a child... But, Ellie is so courageous and breaks every stereotype about women in video games, that it's beautiful. I'd name my daughter Ellie. 

So, what did you think? Did you love it? Did you think it was overrated? Did it change your life? Are you looking forward to the film adaptation or are you fearful of it being an unworthy transformation of an already sterling story-driven game? 

 

[nio kasgami]

I love this game and maded the turn but ...I heard they have like 3 endings in this game this is true?

the gameplay is awesome and the way for progress is really awesome

I am just sad this is really linear for gameplay ...this is the only things I less loved

 

[BVT]

I love this game and maded the turn but ...I heard they have like 3 endings in this game this is true?

the gameplay is awesome and the way for progress is really awesome

I am just sad this is really linear for gameplay ...this is the only things I less loved

Three endings? No, as far as I know, there is only one canonical ending. There was an ending that they scrapped, and an alternate musical ending which was just a joke during mo-cap. 

A lot of players didn't like the ending.

I must say, the ending didn't satisfy me the first time I played either, but when I played TLOU Left Behind, and then played TLOU again, the ending was actually brilliant.

You gotta play the DLC to really understand the ending of the game.

 

[nio kasgami]

Well I understand the ending he decide to not ''X' the ''X'' because he love the ''X'' like is own kid  and go to ''X'' 

for avoid spoiller D: 

 

[The Stranger]

I enjoyed the story, but thought the actual gameplay was a bit naff. It was just a cover based shooter with very simplistic stealth sections.

 

[BVT]

I enjoyed the story, but thought the actual gameplay was a bit naff. It was just a cover based shooter with very simplistic stealth sections.

Did you beat the game on the hardest difficulty? 

Grounded Mode for PS4 is absolutely insane, visceral. Every encounter is a fight to the death or a hairtrigger getaway. 

 

[OM3GA-Z3RO]

The game was okay but to me it wasn't as feels worthy as all the other games I have played, maybe because I played all the Walking Dead and even read the comics to know that in every zombie post-apocalyptic situation there is going to be moments that with try to grip your heart and squeeze it, The Last of Us failed to do that to me in which I think was overrated in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, the story was really good when Joel had that "accident" it got me off guard but in a sense I was kinda expecting something like this to happen. TLOU isn't even close to like a movie it is a naff of a survival stealth game, if people truly think it is they haven't even played or heard of TellTale games in my perspective. TLOU's gameplay is similar to most games that are out nowadays just with the addition of the crafting and the "RPG" feels for popping enough pills to be stronger in a certain thing which is a common thing in these sort of games.

Overall score

Story: 7/10

Due to things being too obvious thus losing some points but overall it did struck me interested to see if it can truly surprise me but unfortunately it failed to do that and didn't make me depart to the Feels Train. Only won 7 because it kept me interested in playing the game.

Gameplay: 5/10

It is just like any other game just mixed into a blender with some other elements even in harder modes not to mention the AI of your allies were horrible, you sneak around and being all silent while you just hear your allies running and going 'DOONK, DOONK, DOONK' and the enemies don't hear that but when you take a loud step they are all on to you like Zerglings.

Changed my life: No

It is just like any other Post-Apocolyptic Zombie situation, maybe because I already read all the Walking Dead comics and played all the TellTales Walking Dead's that experience the exact same situation as this so I may be a little bias but the main morale is  to never trust strangers of your own people for they are the most dangerous in this chaotic world and you kill to survive in a world gone wrong, it is all the same and end up the same.

Movie?: No

Somewhere on the line they will horribly mess up if they make a movie, would be best to keep it as a game, I have stopped watching movies a long time ago for this very reason, when they make something popular into a life action movie it comes out horrible and it has really made me lose faith in it.

Final Result: It was good but it wasn't perfect

There is no such thing as a perfect game, it is a mere exaggeration by people that recently played it and enjoyed it and this is what TLOU is getting, Beyond Two Souls had this exact feeling for awhile too and there is Destiny that is on the shelves ready to be played which is the next intense hype etc, in my opinion this game is in my Good list which is a 65%-75% rate in my book.

*Puts on safety helmet*

Feel free to mob me with pitchforks.

 

[The Stranger]

Did you beat the game on the hardest difficulty? 

Grounded Mode for PS4 is absolutely insane, visceral. Every encounter is a fight to the death or a hairtrigger getaway. 

Not the hardest difficulty. I completed it first in normal, and then again in New Game+. I did complete it on hard, as well. I didn't get the same satisfaction you did from encounters, especially when the game forced you into one of its many scripted battles. I enjoyed trying to avoid encounters entirely, but the game didn't always allow you to do this. I also didn't like how many bullets enemies could absorb before they kicked the bucket; one hit kill if they didn't know you were there, one hundred hits if they did.

 

[BVT]

Changed my life: No

It is just like any other Post-Apocolyptic Zombie situation, maybe because I already read all the Walking Dead comics and played all the TellTales Walking Dead's that experience the exact same situation as this so I may be a little bias but the main morale is  to never trust strangers of your own people for they are the most dangerous in this chaotic world and you kill to survive in a world gone wrong, it is all the same and end up the same.

Movie?: No

Somewhere on the line they will horribly mess up if they make a movie, would be best to keep it as a game, I have stopped watching movies a long time ago for this very reason, when they make something popular into a life action movie it comes out horrible and it has really made me lose faith in it.

Final Result: It was good but it wasn't perfect

There is no such thing as a perfect game, it is a mere exaggeration by people that recently played it and enjoyed it and this is what TLOU is getting, Beyond Two Souls had this exact feeling for awhile too and there is Destiny that is on the shelves ready to be played which is the next intense hype etc, in my opinion this game is in my Good list which is a 65%-75% rate in my book.

*Puts on safety helmet*

Feel free to mob me with pitchforks.

Nah, you're entitled to your opinion. 

Just because I'm literally naming my future daughter Ellie after this game, doesn't mean you have to love it the way I did.

I think the main reason that I loved TLOU so much is because I rarely, if ever, play zombie apoc games. In fact, TLOU is what got me into the genre in the first place.

Not the hardest difficulty. I completed it first in normal, and then again in New Game+. I did complete it on hard, as well. I didn't get the same satisfaction you did from encounters, especially when the game forced you into one of its many scripted battles. I enjoyed trying to avoid encounters entirely, but the game didn't always allow you to do this. I also didn't like how many bullets enemies could absorb before they kicked the bucket; one hit kill if they didn't know you were there, one hundred hits if they did.

Yeah, I have my gripes with the gameplay as well, but I'm a very cinematic player, and I can easily make anything look and feel good and natural, even clunky systems.

My biggest issue with combat was whenever Ellie/Tess/Marlene would run around when the AI got confused and completely break the immersion. 

They should hire me to do the cinematic preview gameplay for E3, PAX, etc. — I'm usually better at cinematic gaming than they are! 

 

[Alexander Amnell]

   I loved the game for its story, it's become exceedingly rare to find a game where the story was really given any real attention at all and for a shooter it's even harder. I'll admit gameplay-wise it doesn't really hold up and you can find plenty of games that handle it better (not to say that gameplay was bad or anything) but I've always held storytelling in a high esteem so the last of us is definitely my favorite game of the last few years and one of the rare few that will hold a permanent place in my game collection for replaying.

   Most other aspects of the game were handled nicely as well, out of every game I've ever played I'd never played one that came close to the last of us' level of environmental realism before, I don't care much for graphics either way but they did very well in that regard as well. The story is it's shining moment though, it held well from beginning to end and despite what a lot of people with a more humanitarian viewpoint might say the ending was golden and fit the story progression perfectly.

I'd call it the best game since Nier, and it's definitely within my personal top ten list but it's not the 'best game of all time' therefor I didn't vote in the poll. It's a great game among many other great games out there, but to call it the best game in history based entirely upon story and graphics is definitely overrating it as well(it's a game, after all)... so maybe it's a mix of both options I guess?

 

[The Stranger]

Yeah, I have my gripes with the gameplay as well, but I'm a very cinematic player, and I can easily make anything look and feel good and natural, even clunky systems.

My biggest issue with combat was whenever Ellie/Tess/Marlene would run around when the AI got confused and completely break the immersion. 

They should hire me to do the cinematic preview gameplay for E3, PAX, etc. — I'm usually better at cinematic gaming than they are! 

I also had problems with companions running around like headless chickens during stealth sections; Ellie kept bumping into Clickers, but the Clicker simply didn't care. Your companions are invisible to everyone until Joel is spotted; which breaks immersion.

I loved the opening sequence; the parts involving the early moments of the outbreak. I want to play that game, not the cover based shooter which the rest of the game focuses on. I did enjoy the story enough to see it through a few times, but each time I played it I found myself frustrated with the actual game aspect of the whole thing. I eventually just traded it in for some in-store credit.

It's decent, but it's by no means the best game of all time.

 

[JeffreyMoon92]

Well...I think the story is simple, I mean it is not a really original setup: Take a girl from LOCATION1 to LOCATION2 to save the world. How many of these we have seen so far?

The REAL thing sells the story is a handful of deep characters and their development. As they progress and change and react to the world (the case where the world does not react to Joel's companions is another case! )

 

[BVT]

Well...I think the story is simple, I mean it is not a really original setup: Take a girl from LOCATION1 to LOCATION2 to save the world. How many of these we have seen so far?

The REAL thing sells the story is a handful of deep characters and their development. As they progress and change and react to the world (the case where the world does not react to Joel's companions is another case! )

Yeah, and of course the game is by no means original. It's identical in its format to The Road - in The Road, a man takes his son from point A to point B during a post-collapse (although they never specify what occurred to cause the collapse).

Originality is overrated, though. Many RPG Maker games are a good example. What really matters is how well you can pull a concept off. 

Thanks to the others who posted for your thoughts.

The reasons why I think TLOU is the best game of all-time are as follows:

1. It's the first time I've ever played a game, where I felt so emotionally attached to the characters, that I cried numerous times — not just during the sad moments, but even during the happy moments.
2. None of the female characters feel like recycled tropes without character, none of them have exaggerated sexual features — they're all living, breathing and valuable personalities worthy of being anyone's role models.
3. I felt compelled to replay it more times over in the space of a month or two than any other game I've ever played.
4. It won tons of awards, including one from the Writer's Guild of America!
5. It literally changed a part of my entire plan for the future — making me want to have a daughter as courageous and confident as Ellie.

Not until I played the DLC did I begin to consider it as better than Half-Life, which was what previously I considered the BVGOAT.

 

[JeffreyMoon92]

...

Not until I played the DLC did I begin to consider it as better than Half-Life, which was what previously I considered the BVGOAT.

Well, I think Half Life isn't that good...I mean it has an interesting lore (which built itself until HL2 Ep2), but not at all revolutionary in a manner of speaking. However we can thank HL for the Source engine which is (at last) moved out of the shadow if idTech engines and made a global sandbox for all developers, and still beautiful...alright...just make that dayum Episode 3, dear Valve!

 

[hian]

Not to rain on your parade, but it's never good to attempt to make a future with a child in it just because you want a child. Children are individual humans with needs and identity traits that might deviate a lot from what you want or picture from them. Many people want children, yet are completely unsuited for having them and/or raising them.

Whether you have a child or not, should depend on whether or not you realistically speaking can care for it, and feel emotionally secure enough that you'll be able to care for that child even in the event that your life hits the fan and your child turns out to be everything other than what you actually wanted.

If you can't, for whatever reason, feel secure about being able to do this, you shouldn't have a child.

As a father, I just felt compelled to say that out of concern. It isn't a judgement on you, and you might already know this, but I felt it needed to be said in either case.

As for "The Last of Us" - I felt it was severely overrated.

Is it a decent game? Yes, of course it is. Game-play is fluid, story-telling is well-done and the production values are high. That in and of itself is worthy of praise.

However, as a person who's played games since the Amiga, and played a lot of them, I just don't feel that The Last of Us is revolutionary in the same sense that many other gems in video-game history have been.

It's a product in line with the age in which it was produced, and in line with expectations we would have given what is already out there - it doesn't however exceed any of them, which is why I don't think it's revolutionary.

It's a patched quilt of high-quality elements, but the elements themselves have all been out there in one shape or another in previous games.

It reaches what is to be expected of quality in terms of the current age of the industry, but it doesn't go beyond it either.

It's to single-player action games what "World of Warcraft" is to the MMORPG scene.

Case in point -

Game-play is tight, and good, but does very little to separate itself from earlier titles with similar builds. In many ways, I felt like I was just playing a watered down version of Uncharted, with a larger emphasis on stealth.

Unfortunately, the stealth follows more the line of first-person shooters, Tenchu and so forth, with very vague visual hit-detection and patrol patterns, which in a way is more realistic to be sure, but makes for frustrating game-play at times in comparison to more refined stealth detection systems like the ones found in the Metal Gear series.

The action follows the Max Pain formula, which is the set-up of having a boxed, open-ended scenario with foes that need to be taken down, where you essentially plan out how to take everyone down with maximum efficiency through trial and error.

The skill lies not in numbers(like action RPGs), or in twitch reflexes and right choice of weapons (like in FPSs), but in knowing the layout of the box, and the positions/patrol route of the enemies.

Once you know this, taking them out is easy. If you don't know this, you're only real choice is to lay low until you do (boring), or rush in and try over until you do (boring). Max Pain got it's way around this through the slow-motion mechanic which let you scope out the situation, calculate and then kill the baddies in one swoop if you're brain is fast enough.

The Last of Us doesn't have that redeeming factor, so it feels like a set-up that pads out the game's length not because it's actually all that hard, but because it has the kind of difficulty that punishes the player for not being psychic.

In those terms, TLoU's kind of game-play is a hit or miss for a lot of players, and it also tends to feel repetitive after a while.

The Last of Us is a pretty lengthy game, so by the end of it, I was pretty tired of the rinse and repeat nature of the game-play.

Still, as I said, everything is fluid. It controls great and it's in general challenging. I'm just saying that, if you played pretty much all the MGS games, all the Splinter Cell games, all the Uncharted games, all the Max Payne games, all the Hitman games, Resident Evil 4 and pretty much any other third-person action game that is even slightly similar in terms of controls and general game-play you're not going to sit there in awe after playing The Last of Us.

I suspect the the reason people are is because they haven't actually played all these prior games, or don't remember what it felt like the first time they did.

As for story - again, it's well-written overall. Is it revolutionary? No. Many games out there with strong female characters, and many games out there that focus on bonds between characters thrown together by circumstance. The only reason people are jumping on the Last of Us is because of

1.) Marketing (they've really sold they idea of the story of this game),

2.) Presentation (the high quality of the production in general, and focus on details really brings out the plot), and

3.) The current climate of the gaming culture and press (we're currently in a trend of focusing on how "****ty" gaming culture is, and TLoU has really played it's cards well by using the "look we're different"-argument, regardless of how much, or how little, truth lies in the premises of the statements).

Personally, the story didn't do all that much for me. It also really errs at the side of caution with its choices which kinda ruins the entire pitch about how new and different it supposedly is. Imagine if they'd changed the story to a woman, running around with a small boy, instead of the "gruff old guy with a heart of gold with the smart and grown-up for her age girl"-trope (for make no mistake these characters are stereotypical too). Now that would be an interesting and more unique take on survival horror (if they didn't butcher the characters that is).

It's also kind of weird how lauded they've become for the story of Ellie and Joel, when The Walking Dead game's first season did this with Lee and Clementine (arguably better in my opinion) a year before.

I also had some personal gripes with the game, that have nothing to do with quality though -

I didn't like their art direction. The strong visual color-palette felt really out of place in a "survival horror"(not really horror, I know) themed gamed.

The soundtrack was too forgettable. The production was great, but there were no tunes in it that stuck out in my mind, to the point that I could have hummed one while going about my day after having completed the game etc I.E too generic in general to catch my attention.

The entire resource management coupled with item synthesis felt much too gimmicky and lacked substance. It didn't really serve much of a purpose except padding out the game. Some people like that kind of stuff, I usually don't.

So to summarize - is it a good game? Yes.

Is it revolutionary and the best game this generation? Not by a long-shot in my opinion.

If I had to choose just one game to play, there are so many games I'd rather choose than The Last of Us.

This is not an attack on you or your taste as a gamer though. Again, it's a good game. It deserves good reviews, and it's certainly way up there with other quality titles of the this generation. I'm simply pointing out some of the things that could be conceived of as ordinary, or less than optimal, to make the argument that it's completely possible to see this game as non-revolutionary.

 

[BVT]

Not to rain on your parade, but it's never good to attempt to make a future with a child in it just because you want a child. Children are individual humans with needs and identity traits that might deviate a lot from what you want or picture from them. Many people want children, yet are completely unsuited for having them and/or raising them.

Whether you have a child or not, should depend on whether or not you realistically speaking can care for it, and feel emotionally secure enough that you'll be able to care for that child even in the event that your life hits the fan and your child turns out to be everything other than what you actually wanted.

If you can't, for whatever reason, feel secure about being able to do this, you shouldn't have a child.

As a father, I just felt compelled to say that out of concern. It isn't a judgement on you, and you might already know this, but I felt it needed to be said in either case.

I don't plan to have a child just for the sake of having a child, because of playing The Last of Us. But, previously, I had no interest in having a child, whatsoever. I was content to spend the rest of my life focused solely on myself. Having played TLOU, it has changed my opinion about fatherhood, is merely what I was saying.

If the opportunity arises, then I'd like to have a daughter — I wouldn't go out of my way to do this or do it when I felt I wasn't ready, and if the opportunity never arose, then so be it. So, don't worry about that. It's simply a new perspective that I didn't have before.

Thank you for the rest of your post, though, it was well-thought out and I appreciate it.

You mentioned that the soundtrack was "forgettable".

That's interesting that it didn't do it for you, because I personally downloaded the soundtrack and listen to it often. 

 

[hian]

I don't plan to have a child just for the sake of having a child, because of playing The Last of Us. But, previously, I had no interest in having a child, whatsoever. I was content to spend the rest of my life focused solely on myself. Having played TLOU, it has changed my opinion about fatherhood, is merely what I was saying.


If the opportunity arises, then I'd like to have a daughter — I wouldn't go out of my way to do this or do it when I felt I wasn't ready, and if the opportunity never arose, then so be it. So, don't worry about that. It's simply a new perspective that I didn't have before.

That's a good and honest thing. I never really considered having a child myself, and really ended up having one despite having decided not to. This is usually something that is frowned upon by a lot of people, but recognizing how dear my son is to me, and how much I would do for him, it really doesn't matter whether he was planned or not. In my experience, a lot of people plan for children because they have some sort of emotional need, or because they have a skewed view of what having a child entails, and therefore end up regretting it afterwards, which is not a good thing.


Again, not a personal attack on you, but simply the concerned voice of a father who feels it hard in the gut whenever he hears about unwanted children, or parents who regret their choices and lets that regret effect their treatment of the child.


Good for you if you feel different about children, and can envision yourself having one in your life and taking care of it. That attitude will probably help a lot of you end up having a child, especially if you didn't plan to.

You mentioned that the soundtrack was "forgettable".


That's interesting that it didn't do it for you, because I personally downloaded the soundtrack and listen to it often.

As I said, it's a personal gripe more than a criticism. As a producer, and huge music fan, I know the soundtrack is well composed and has a high production value. The problem only lies in what I personally consider to be music enjoyable to listen to.


I generally don't like western soundtracks, because they usually put the music in the back-seat. The music is there to enhance the scenes, but not draw attention, and thus the compositions lack structure and theme compared to regular music, or for instance, Japanese soundtracks where the music is often composed like stand-alone tracks.


Consider the Final Fantasy soundtracks by Nobuo Uematsu, where all the tracks generally have a single pop-ish tune that could just as easily have been some ordinary easy-listening pop-tune with a vocal, and then all the other instruments backing that tune with their own unique melody-lines. These tunes generally have a "verse" and a "refrain"(and maybe a break in-between)


Western soundtracks often have a longer, less structured melody where all the instruments come together as one.


Japanese game soundtracks usually are quite "gamey" in that sense, while western game soundtracks usually have more in common with cinematic/movie soundtracks.


As a matter of taste I prefer the latter over the former. Not only are "gamey" and simple tracks easier to remember, but they, in my case, speak to my appreciation of cliches.


A great example is the soundtracks of the Megaman X series. They're so extremely over the top, cliched, and gamey, but they really just drive home the feeling of the game.


Of course, there are issues with the Japanese approach, and that's the hit and miss factor. If you don't like a track, it's going to drive you insane.


It also might be hard to find a style that would fit a game like The Last of Us.


But seriously though, sit down and hear a couple of the more cinematic tracks of a composer like Yoko Kanno, from the Wolf's rain soundtrack, or the Ghost in The Shell Stand Alone complex, and it's clear that there is a fine middle line here as well.


Compared to some of her(Yoko Kanno's) tracks, The Last of Us pales in comparison IMO.


But again, it's not a criticism. Rather a matter of taste.

 

[BVT]

 

But again, it's not a criticism. Rather a matter of taste.

In that case, there's not much else that can be said. I merely enjoyed it for its similarity to the soundtrack of No Country For Old Men.

You also mentioned that The Walking Dead had done a similar narrative involving Lee/Clementine. I suppose the reason I enjoyed Joel/Ellie was because I'd never seen The Walking Dead - have little interest in it.

And like I previously stated, I do not typically play zombie survivor games. TLOU has gotten me into the genre.

And perhaps that is true of many people who play TLOU as well. 

You're right to say that TLOU could have broken more stereotypes, by reversing the roles, making Joel a female, and Ellie a male (or even better, both Joel and Ellie a female — after all, The Road was a male/male version), and that's very true. But, I still think it did more to break the most prevalent tropes in video games, and captured a huge swath of gamers even in doing so. 

Have you, by chance, played The Last of Us: Left Behind? A lot of people felt that the DLC was even better than the game itself.

- DO NOT SPOIL THE DLC BY READING AHEAD IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED IT YET -

The only glaring reality which takes away some of the creative genius — not only is Ellie very clearly based on Ellen Page, but in light of

Spoiler

Ellen Page being gay, and having came out recently, it's also kind of interesting that Ellie is gay as well. The writer really likes Ellen Page, eh?
(If you respond to this, mark your response by a spoiler, and put a disclaimer that it's in response to this one.)

Finally, what do you think of a sequel or prequel game? Yes/No? 

If they do a prequel/sequel, would you be hesitant to play it, or perhaps more enthused to do so, knowing that Naughty Dog might take criticisms of the gameplay to heart and really restructure the combat/stealth systems?

Personally, I think they should do a sequel, and not have it be based on Joel/Ellie, but new characters.

 

[hian]

You also mentioned that The Walking Dead had done a similar narrative involving Lee/Clementine. I suppose the reason I enjoyed Joel/Ellie was because I'd never seen The Walking Dead - have little interest in it.

I think you're a part of the majority there. The biggest reason The Walking Dead game hasn't been lauded to the same extent is probably due to the nature of the game. It simply isn't as consumer-friendly as The Last of Us. It's an adventure game hailing back to the tradition of games like Broken Sword and so forth. Action games have a wider appeal.

You're right to say that TLOU could have broken more stereotypes, by reversing the roles, making Joel a female, and Ellie a male (or even better, both Joel and Ellie a female — after all, The Road was a male/male version), and that's very true. But, I still think it did more to break the most prevalent tropes in video games, and captured a huge swath of gamers even in doing so.

I have mixed feelings about this. I think a very large portion of gamers who enjoyed TLoU are people who're generally drawn to survival horror games, and people who've enjoyed or heard high praises of earlier Naughty Dog titles like the Uncharted series, more so than people who were drawn by the promise of an original narrative.


As for the Ellie thing - I'm not sure how I stand on that. I thought the DLC was okay, but generally it felt like more of the same (without going into the story). I generally don't care much about representation in video-games. At the end of the day, it all boils down to whether a story is good in a self-contained kind of way, and the info introduced being relevant to the plot and themes of the story. A character's sexuality is more often than not, simply not relevant to anything else in the game its introduced in, which means that it's hard to do it without it seeming politically motivated or gimmicky, and that is also problematic in my opinion.

Finally, what do you think of a sequel or prequel game? Yes/No? 


If they do a prequel/sequel, would you be hesitant to play it, or perhaps more enthused to do so, knowing that Naughty Dog might take criticisms of the gameplay to heart and really restructure the combat/stealth systems?


Personally, I think they should do a sequel, and not have it be based on Joel/Ellie, but new characters.

I never say no to expansions of franchises. After all, it's a massive hit, with a large fan-base. And it's a good game, so why not?


Would I play it? Probably not. Just not my cup of tea. I've kinda had my fill with the game-play and the setting, so I can't see myself paying full price for a new game that will probably be mostly more of the same, even if slightly improved.

 

[BVT]

Fair enough, @Hian.

Thanks for your comments.