Gaming The Last of Us Part II (PS4)

Ending...

The problem isn't Abby. The problem is her Dad.

Her Dad was murdered so her wanting revenge is understandable. We are supposed to feel for her but the problem is we have zero attachment to the guy who was killed.

Her Dad is a laughable character. He doesn't fit the tone of TLOU at all. He is a perfect father, a nice guy, he helps animals, he's an amazing surgeon and he wants to create a cure to save the world. He belongs in a sitcom. Also, all this information is given to us in about 15 minutes of cut-scenes.

Joel on the other hand, we've played an entire game as him. He is deeply flawed and did fecked up things but we also saw the humanity of the character over 15-20 hours. There is a huge attachment to him for most players. That's why his death hits harder and why most will be "Team Ellie" and not overly concerned about Abby's pain.
 
el3mel said:
Totally agree about making Joel and Tommy really stupid here. Tommy introduced himself to Abby then to her group like nothing and Joel followed him on as if it's not a big deal. You'll think Joel spending 4 years with his brother would have taught him basics of survival in the wilds or something, like how he taught Ellie in the first game but nope. As for letting both live, continue the story and they'll explore this scene again later on with more details. It's not for any strong reason though to not get your hopes you. You can guess the reason they let them live on your own actually.
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There's a timeskip between LOS1 and LOS2. Throughout that time no one bothered either Joel or Tommy which gave the two a sense of complacency. By the time of LOS2, the fireflies were thought to have been disbanded and Joel/Tommy were living safely in a city thought to be so strong that even Abbi's wolves thought it was too strong to take them down. Tommy and Joel had just saved Abbi from a horde. In return her friends had just saved them by offering them refuge. Why on earth would they not trust these people?

Regarding Ellie and Tommy, there were at least 2 people (including Mannie) who wanted Ellie killed but were stopped by Owen and Meg. It was evident that the two were reluctant members in this mission and were using all excuses possible to stop this madness. Owen tried to use Jefferson's size to turn tail and go home. When that didn't worked he used Meg's pregnancy as an excuse. After Joel was captured he used Ellie's incursion to end Joel's torture quickly (ie Ellie might have brought an entire village with her) and then he and Meg stopped Mannie and another guy from killing Ellie.
 
anant said:
Just finished it - brilliant game. Just had a couple of complaint about it:
1. The story seemed unnecessarily stretched. There were points where you felt - "this part is serving no purpose" or "you're making this fight much longer than it needs to be" and so on
2.
The ending seemed off. There was no mention of the rattlers anywhere in the story, and suddenly these guys come up and there was no explanation about what their motivations are. They definitely could have added more context there
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I fully agree.
 
devilish said:
There's a timeskip between LOS1 and LOS2. Throughout that time no one bothered either Joel or Tommy which gave the two a sense of complacency. By the time of LOS2, the fireflies were thought to have been disbanded and Joel/Tommy were living safely in a city thought to be so strong that even Abbi's wolves thought it was too strong to take them down. Tommy and Joel had just saved Abbi from a horde. In return her friends had just saved them by offering them refuge. Why on earth would they not trust these people?

Regarding Ellie and Tommy, there were at least 2 people (including Mannie) who wanted Ellie killed but were stopped by Owen and Meg. It was evident that the two were reluctant members in this mission and were using all excuses possible to stop this madness. Owen tried to use Jefferson's size to turn tail and go home. When that didn't worked he used Meg's pregnancy as an excuse. After Joel was captured he used Ellie's incursion to end Joel's torture quickly (ie Ellie might have brought an entire village with her) and then he and Meg stopped Mannie and another guy from killing Ellie.
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They definitely shouldn't trust an armed group of men just because they fought with one of her together. This was the lesson learned in the first game. Check what Ellie did with David when she first met him, even though they fought together as well.



Ellie refused to tell him her name and he told her it's fine to not trust group of strangers. She learned this from Joel. You will think Joel would have taught his brother this as well after spending 4 years with him scavenging supplies. The world isn't just all about fireflies. There are several other unknown groups they don't know anything about and they needed to always have caution. Instead both acted in a very stupid manner.

The problem is, Joel didn't even seem bothered that his brother acted in a stupid way and introduced himself to such group. He followed on and introduced himself as well as if it's not a big deal. At least show some discontent on your face, like, guess what, what he showed when Ellie introduced herself stupidly in front of Henry and Sam, minute 1:10 :



Check his face reaction. He was very annoyed with Ellie. Ellie learned this lesson later on when she met David as I said earlier.
 
devilish said:
There's a timeskip between LOS1 and LOS2. Throughout that time no one bothered either Joel or Tommy which gave the two a sense of complacency. By the time of LOS2, the fireflies were thought to have been disbanded and Joel/Tommy were living safely in a city thought to be so strong that even Abbi's wolves thought it was too strong to take them down. Tommy and Joel had just saved Abbi from a horde. In return her friends had just saved them by offering them refuge. Why on earth would they not trust these people?

Regarding Ellie and Tommy, there were at least 2 people (including Mannie) who wanted Ellie killed but were stopped by Owen and Meg. It was evident that the two were reluctant members in this mission and were using all excuses possible to stop this madness. Owen tried to use Jefferson's size to turn tail and go home. When that didn't worked he used Meg's pregnancy as an excuse. After Joel was captured he used Ellie's incursion to end Joel's torture quickly (ie Ellie might have brought an entire village with her) and then he and Meg stopped Mannie and another guy from killing Ellie.
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There was a 20 year timeskip between Joel leaving a kid on the side of the road (before he lost his daughter) and his actions in the rest of TLOU, his character remained consistent, just hardened by losing Sarah. Even if he mellowed with age and having a new daughter (which is unlikely) his character and general nature wouldn't change like that. Its completely out of character to save Abby nevermind the actions afterwards. its out of his character from before the outbreak started.
The fact he's been living in relative comfort doesn't add up. I mean himself and Tommy are constantly out doing rounds and he spends all the flashbacks warning Ellie about the dangers of her doing the same. Even speaks with Jessie about her runs because he knows the dangers of the world.

It was poor writing, the entire thing was messy and feels like a last minute change to the story if I'm honest.
 
el3mel said:
They definitely shouldn't trust an armed group of men just because they fought with one of her together. This was the lesson learned in the first game. Check what Ellie did with David when she first met him, even though they fought together as well.



Ellie refused to tell him her name and he told her it's fine to not trust group of strangers. She learned this from Joel. You will think Joel would have taught his brother this as well after spending 4 years with him scavenging supplies. The world isn't just all about fireflies. There are several other unknown groups they don't know anything about and they needed to always have caution. Instead both acted in a very stupid manner.

The problem is, Joel didn't even seem bothered that his brother acted in a stupid way and introduced himself to such group. He followed on and introduced himself as well as if it's not a big deal. At least show some discontent on your face, like, guess what, what he showed when Ellie introduced herself stupidly in front of Henry and Sam, minute 1:10 :



Check his face reaction. He was very annoyed with Ellie. Ellie learned this lesson later on when she met David as I said earlier.
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The world isn't just fireflies but there aren't many people out there who would shoot in the leg and then torture somebody who had just saved them simply because of their name. We're talking about Joel Miller here not Adolf Hitler. Not to forget that Joel and Tommy found themselves surrounded by strangers who could have easily overwhelm them. That's neither the place nor the time to start looking shady.

The whole scenario with Ellie is different. Ellie is the only immune person on the planet and Joel perceives her as his daughter. Henry and Sam owed Ellie nothing and giving her name was totally unnecessary.
 
devilish said:
The world isn't just fireflies but there aren't many people out there who would shoot in the leg and then torture somebody who had just saved them simply because of their name. We're talking about Joel Miller here not Adolf Hitler. Not to forget that Joel and Tommy found themselves surrounded by strangers who could have easily overwhelm them. That's neither the place nor the time to start looking shady.

The whole scenario with Ellie is different. Ellie is the only immune person on the planet and Joel perceives her as his daughter. Henry and Sam owed Ellie nothing and giving her name was totally unnecessary.
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In this world anyone can be wanting you dead but don't know your face and only knows your name, so it's stupid to say your names this easily in front of anyone, literally anyone that's a stranger to you. I mean check when Joel was annoyed that Ellie said her name and his that easily to Henry and Sam, just someone and his little brother, not a big group of armed people they know nothing about.
 
padr81 said:
There was a 20 year timeskip between Joel leaving a kid on the side of the road (before he lost his daughter) and his actions in the rest of TLOU, his character remained consistent, just hardened by losing Sarah. Even if he mellowed with age and having a new daughter (which is unlikely) his character and general nature wouldn't change like that. Its completely out of character to save Abby nevermind the actions afterwards. its out of his character from before the outbreak started.
The fact he's been living in relative comfort doesn't add up. I mean himself and Tommy are constantly out doing rounds and he spends all the flashbacks warning Ellie about the dangers of her doing the same. Even speaks with Jessie about her runs because he knows the dangers of the world.

It was poor writing, the entire thing was messy and feels like a last minute change to the story if I'm honest.
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Time mellows everyone. My grandfather was a war veteran who spent the rest of his life working in the docks. He raised his family as if they were in a boot camp but he spoiled his grand kids rotten. Joel showed clear signs of mellowing down throughout the LOS1. The Joel at the beginning of the game wouldn't have give a feck about Ellie let alone kill an entire hospital for her

What I find inconsistent is Abbi. I understand why she didn't insist on Ellie dying in their first encounter. Owen didn't want to turn this whole thing into a blood bath and she still loved Owen. However she should have planted a bullet in her head second time round. FFS Ellie and Tommy killed all her friends including the two who fought to spare them.

The ending was meah as well. If Ellie wanted Abbi suffer then she should have left her crucified.
 
el3mel said:
In this world anyone can be wanting you dead but don't know your face and only knows your name, so it's stupid to say your names this easily in front of anyone, literally anyone that's a stranger to you. I mean check when Joel was annoyed that Ellie said her name and his that easily to Henry and Sam, just someone and his little brother, not a big group of armed people they know nothing about.
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The circumstances is different. Ellie said her name when she was relaxed with no pressure on her whatsoever. Tommy said his name after they risked being eaten alive by a horde and were now surrounded by strangers who were wondering whom they just let inside their compound
 
devilish said:
The circumstances is different. Ellie said her name when she was relaxed with no pressure on her whatsoever. Tommy said his name after they risked being eaten alive by a horde and were now surrounded by strangers who were wondering whom they just let inside their compound
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I mean if they think they'll be safe because they just saved her life it makes them even more stupid. In this world you can be forced to work with your enemies just to survive. Doesn't mean they'll end up owing you anything.
 
Finished it, thought it was mint. 8/10.

I'd give the first one 9/10.

Felt like I was at the end scene multiple times only for it to cut to another segment. Stretched it out a little too much in the end.

Wasn't a big fan of the second part of the game where you play as Abby. Still enjoyable though.

Graphics and sound were amazing.
 
el3mel said:
I mean if they think they'll be safe because they just saved her life it makes them even more stupid. In this world you can be forced to work with your enemies just to survive. Doesn't mean they'll end up owing you anything.
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I disagree. These people are a spit away from Jefferson and Joel had just saved one of them. In normal circumstances it doesn't even make sense killing the two of them. I mean for all they knew, Jefferson could send an army of trackers to hunt them down. So common sense would say that they would let Joel and Tommy go which in turn would vouch for them and allow them to spend a couple of days safely in Jefferson
 
devilish said:
I disagree. These people are a spit away from Jefferson and Joel had just saved one of them. In normal circumstances it doesn't even make sense killing the two of them. I mean for all they knew, Jefferson could send an army of trackers to hunt them down. So common sense would say that they would let Joel and Tommy go which in turn would vouch for them and allow them to spend a couple of days safely in Jefferson
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well we can agree to disagree. I think it's stupid to trust anyone in this world whatever the circumstances to be honest. :D
 
Anyone else find the film grain absolutely ridiculous. I get what they were trying to do in reducing the antialiasing but to me they overdid it. Going to wait til PS5 comes out and hopefully we’ll be able to reduce that when it gets bumped up to native 4K. Waited to play this game until I bought an OLED and now the game looks shit.:confused:
 
MaxiPaxi said:
Anyone else find the film grain absolutely ridiculous. I get what they were trying to do in reducing the antialiasing but to me they overdid it. Going to wait til PS5 comes out and hopefully we’ll be able to reduce that when it gets bumped up to native 4K. Waited to play this game until I bought an OLED and now the game looks shit.:confused:
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Ah, you get used to it. When the garage first opened for the first bit of gameplay, I was like "What the feck?!" and scoured the settings immediately looking for a setting to turn it off. But after a few hours I didn't notice it anymore.
 
MaxiPaxi said:
Anyone else find the film grain absolutely ridiculous. I get what they were trying to do in reducing the antialiasing but to me they overdid it. Going to wait til PS5 comes out and hopefully we’ll be able to reduce that when it gets bumped up to native 4K. Waited to play this game until I bought an OLED and now the game looks shit.:confused:
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It looks pretty good to me and I'm comparing it to a GTX 1080 on PC. Obviously not nearly as good as the latest PC games but top 10% from a PS4 perspective.

Maybe check the output settings on the PS4 if you have changed TV as they can affect the output in terms of HDR etc?
 
Shane88 said:
Ah, you get used to it. When the garage first opened for the first bit of gameplay, I was like "What the feck?!" and scoured the settings immediately looking for a setting to turn it off. But after a few hours I didn't notice it anymore.
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That’s the thing.. I noticed artefacts when looking close at the ice and the rocks when you play as Abby for the very first time and that’s another reason why the devs chose to do that. I absolutely get that they tried to squeeze every bit of horsepower out of the now very limited gpu and props to them but in my mind they overdid it. They could have used the same implementation as Lost Legacy and U4 where it did have a smidge of film grain in parts but not to this extent.

Don’t get me wrong the game is still wonderfully crafted and HDR is absolutely drop dead gorgeous to eyes and thus I’m hoping I’ll get to enjoy the game in all its glory when PS5 hits.

You can take off film grain in photo mode now, so it’s not baked in - and I’d imagine they knew what they were doing, when they implemented it. I’m going to hope that they give us the option to reduce it with a PS5 update.

I already know what happens in the game so I’m in no particular rush to play it. In fact, I didn’t particularly want a sequel. Not with the same characters anyway so the only reason I’m playing is because ND can craft wonderfully beautiful world, just this time they put way too much filter on as it were.
 
Balljy said:
It looks pretty good to me and I'm comparing it to a GTX 1080 on PC. Obviously not nearly as good as the latest PC games but top 10% from a PS4 perspective.

Maybe check the output settings on the PS4 if you have changed TV as they can affect the output in terms of HDR etc?
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That’s just the thing, I game on PC as well and I’d say I have a good eye for graphical fidelity etc.

I was playing TLOU2 on an LCD VA panel for about a day. Just running about in that town, in prologue and stuff — it looked really good, I’d say it looked stunning. I then thought; I’d leave this until I get myself a new tv - which I did.

I cannot stress the difference in contrast and quality going from an LCD VA to an OLED. Every single game and movie has blown me away, apart from this game — it looks much worse.

I’ve tried Lost Legacy, U4, Horizon, Spider-Man. Heck, even M4 looks okayish on PS4 pro. Also, I’ve been watching Disney plus with DV and I’m absolutely gobsmacked with the PQ but this is just annoying. Actually, playing on the PC is partly to blame for me — I just expect everything looking absolutely insane in terms of graphical fidelity.
 
I'm at the very end, I think. Can someone explain
is the review bombing basically cause Lev is a trans kid or what?

I just started as Abby again after Ellie decided AGAIN to go get revenge after Abby spared her life AGAIN. For feck sake, Ellie.

The plot really is a bit of a bloated mess but I don't think it's bad or anything, just has a lot of needless filler and I think the game should have ended after Abby spared Ellie. Also characters doing silly things they didn't in the first game.

I don't really get how the feck Tommy survived a blast to the head either but whatever!
 
Massive Spanner said:
I'm at the very end, I think. Can someone explain
is the review bombing basically cause Lev is a trans kid or what?

I just started as Abby again after Ellie decided AGAIN to go get revenge after Abby spared her life AGAIN. For feck sake, Ellie.

The plot really is a bit of a bloated mess but I don't think it's bad or anything, just has a lot of needless filler and I think the game should have ended after Abby spared Ellie. Also characters doing silly things they didn't in the first game.

I don't really get how the feck Tommy survived a blast to the head either but whatever!
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Some of it probably is, there is a minority who were
outrage at the thoughts of playing as Abby when rumor was she was trans and it snowballed. I personally think it has more to do with the stupid way they killed Joel.

Naughty Dog did themselves no favors dmca everything to do with the game once the spoilers broke, had many youtubers channels almost banned who showed no spoiler footage etc.. until they threatened legal action to have strikes revoked. They even dmca'd Sony for posting an ad.

The entire thing turned into a mess. Then Skillup's review broke (honest and fair review) and it was clear that many publications were rating the game higher than it deserved the whole think became a clusterfeck with many people picking a side, The the usual suspects politicized it and both legit praise and criticism have got pushed aside as the game has become a political tool.

This game is in such a weird place 43% of the games last 1000 positive reviews have been proven to be bots boosting the metacritic score. Likely the same with negatives. The entire thing has turned into an absolutely mess.

Weirdly the game will probably finish around a 6.5 despite all that and I'd say thats fair overall.

This kind of review bombing and then botting scores back up afterwards will become all the more common from here on as people try to politicize everything.
 
padr81 said:
Some of it probably is, there is a minority who were
outrage at the thoughts of playing as Abby when rumor was she was trans and it snowballed. I personally think it has more to do with the stupid way they killed Joel.

Naughty Dog did themselves no favors dmca everything to do with the game once the spoilers broke, had many youtubers channels almost banned who showed no spoiler footage etc.. until they threatened legal action to have strikes revoked. They even dmca'd Sony for posting an ad.

The entire thing turned into a mess. Then Skillup's review broke (honest and fair review) and it was clear that many publications were rating the game higher than it deserved the whole think became a clusterfeck with many people picking a side, The the usual suspects politicized it and both legit praise and criticism have got pushed aside as the game has become a political tool.

This game is in such a weird place 43% of the games last 1000 positive reviews have been proven to be bots boosting the metacritic score. Likely the same with negatives. The entire thing has turned into an absolutely mess.

Weirdly the game will probably finish around a 6.5 despite all that and I'd say thats fair overall.

This kind of review bombing and then botting scores back up afterwards will become all the more common from here on as people try to politicize everything.
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Each to their own. I really enjoyed it. It's not as good as the first for me because the story isn't as good and it could've done with being a few hours shorter but it's still better than most of the drivel out there. It's at least an 8/10 for me. Most people who've played it to the end seem to rate it really highly.

And let's be honest most of the really negative reviews are from people who probably haven't bothered to even play it and just read the leaks.
 
Massive Spanner said:
Each to their own. I really enjoyed it. It's not as good as the first for me because the story isn't as good and it could've done with being a few hours shorter but it's still better than most of the drivel out there. It's at least an 8/10 for me. Most people who've played it to the end seem to rate it really highly.

And let's be honest most of the really negative reviews are from people who probably haven't bothered to even play it and just read the leaks.
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Absolutely, I have no issue with anyone even giving it a 10. Personally I gave it a 7 and I didn't really enjoy it. Some amazing little details in it, clearly a labor of love. I was more just kind of elaborating on why I thought it was getting review bombed and how the metacritic is a mess.
 
padr81 said:
Some of it probably is, there is a minority who were
outrage at the thoughts of playing as Abby when rumor was she was trans and it snowballed. I personally think it has more to do with the stupid way they killed Joel.

Naughty Dog did themselves no favors dmca everything to do with the game once the spoilers broke, had many youtubers channels almost banned who showed no spoiler footage etc.. until they threatened legal action to have strikes revoked. They even dmca'd Sony for posting an ad.

The entire thing turned into a mess. Then Skillup's review broke (honest and fair review) and it was clear that many publications were rating the game higher than it deserved the whole think became a clusterfeck with many people picking a side, The the usual suspects politicized it and both legit praise and criticism have got pushed aside as the game has become a political tool.

This game is in such a weird place 43% of the games last 1000 positive reviews have been proven to be bots boosting the metacritic score. Likely the same with negatives. The entire thing has turned into an absolutely mess.

Weirdly the game will probably finish around a 6.5 despite all that and I'd say thats fair overall.

This kind of review bombing and then botting scores back up afterwards will become all the more common from here on as people try to politicize everything.
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I think personally the review bombing was way out of hand, yet I didn't actually see many complain about the non-hetero characters of the game, but more the poor writing, plot, turning Joel's head into a golfball and having to play half the game as Abby. Expectations were too big and they failed to suceed where it was most important(story, writing, characters) but the hate is still way overblown. People have sent death threats to Abby's voiceactor, which just shows that people doing this have no class and no life.
 
Shamana said:
I think personally the review bombing was way out of hand, yet I didn't actually see many complain about the non-hetero characters of the game, but more the poor writing, plot, turning Joel's head into a golfball and having to play half the game as Abby. Expectations were too big and they failed to suceed where it was most important(story, writing, characters) but the hate is still way overblown. People have sent death threats to Abby's voiceactor, which just shows that people doing this have no class and no life.
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Absolutely. Can't disagree with a word of that. Its the Last Jedi all over again.
 
Massive Spanner said:
Each to their own. I really enjoyed it. It's not as good as the first for me because the story isn't as good and it could've done with being a few hours shorter but it's still better than most of the drivel out there. It's at least an 8/10 for me. Most people who've played it to the end seem to rate it really highly.

And let's be honest most of the really negative reviews are from people who probably haven't bothered to even play it and just read the leaks.
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Yeah, pretty much agree with all of this. It was a flawed but often excellent game. Joel's death was brutal but propelled the early stages of story, so no complaints about that. In most ways, I thought it was a big improvement over the original; better gameplay, bigger areas, technically stunning and, at points, it actually moved me in ways I've never been moved by a game...when it was good it was fantastic.

On the downside, the final area felt tacked on and Ellie's later choices didn't ring true, so smacked of poor writing. I didn't expect her to leave Dina so, when she did, and STILL had time for a sudden change of heart, that just didn't work for me. Everything seemed too sudden, which is a strange flaw to experience in such a long game. I mean, they had time to explain Ellie's choices but went down the Abby path instead and ended up cramming some unrealistic character development onto the latter stages rather than fleshing things out organically.

So yeah, it was uneven and a bit baggy round the middle but, overall, I loved it, flaws and all.
 
Finished it, a few weeks late to the party, it seems.

Ok, I liked the ending. i liked how the fight in the water felt so pointless and made me wince and almost beg Ellie to stop out loud. I can't think of many other videogames that have elicited that sort of reaction from me when playing them, so that's a real achievement in my eyes. I'm not gone on the whole Santa Barbara segment in general, though. The bad guys there were just token villains with no real purpose and the whole thing felt a bit contrived. It just seemed a bit needless having Ellie go after Abby yet again after she'd spared her fecking life twice.

I liked Abby by the end, I thought they did a good job with her and Lev, overall they were two really good characters, I just think it was bad pacing to have us play as Ellie for 15 hours and then not see her at all again for another 15 fecking hours, they really could've split it out better, or something.

The pacing itself wasn't great at times either, loads of great segments (the Rat king bit in the hospital was awesome and the most intense I've felt playing a game in years) but it was definitely let down at times by an overly meandering plot and a few too many bits in between the story where you had to just kill yet again more enemies over and over. At times I did feel a bit burnt out and I really just wanted them to gerronwivvit!
I think overall I stand by my 8 or 8.5 /10. It's a game I didn't think needed to be made, and it isn't as good as the first, but it doesn't tarnish it either and it's still great.
 
Massive Spanner said:
Finished it, a few weeks late to the party, it seems.

Ok, I liked the ending. i liked how the fight in the water felt so pointless and made me wince and almost beg Ellie to stop out loud. I can't think of many other videogames that have elicited that sort of reaction from me when playing them, so that's a real achievement in my eyes. I'm not gone on the whole Santa Barbara segment in general, though. The bad guys there were just token villains with no real purpose and the whole thing felt a bit contrived. It just seemed a bit needless having Ellie go after Abby yet again after she'd spared her fecking life twice.

I liked Abby by the end, I thought they did a good job with her and Lev, overall they were two really good characters, I just think it was bad pacing to have us play as Ellie for 15 hours and then not see her at all again for another 15 fecking hours, they really could've split it out better, or something.

The pacing itself wasn't great at times either, loads of great segments (the Rat king bit in the hospital was awesome and the most intense I've felt playing a game in years) but it was definitely let down at times by an overly meandering plot and a few too many bits in between the story where you had to just kill yet again more enemies over and over. At times I did feel a bit burnt out and I really just wanted them to gerronwivvit!
I think overall I stand by my 8 or 8.5 /10. It's a game I didn't think needed to be made, and it isn't as good as the first, but it doesn't tarnish it either and it's still great.
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Without the final act, the story would feel unfinished to me. Abby is still a complete monster in Ellie's eyes. We as players have had time to empathize with Abby but Ellie has only seen her 2 times, once when she brutally slaughters Joel in front of her eyes and the other time when she kills Jesse, nearly kills Tommy, bashes Ellies face in and almost slits Dina's throat. Yes she spared her two times but I doubt that's how it would look like to Ellie.

Seeing the husk of a woman who only cares about saving Lev is a shock to Ellie's system. That whole time, Ellie moves like in a daze, cutting Abby loose, letting her take Lev. Abby even invites Ellie to come with them and Ellie nearly agrees. It takes another flashback of Joel's bloody face for Ellie to want to fight her again, but by that time it's without much conviction. The final act is crucial for Ellie to basically see that Abby is Joel and Lev is herself five years ago. She stops seeing Abby as a monster at that point. And it leads her to finally confront that second to last memory of Joel, when she says she wants to try to forgive him, instead of always going back to that last memory of him dying. It allows her to let go of her revenge and I believe also to finally forgive Joel.
 
Finally got round to finishing it. Solid game but lacks the same captivating story as the first. I’d give it a 8/10.

Found it quite boring at times with the main story set just in Seattle and then going back through a lot of the same parts playing as Abby. Could’ve varied it slightly without each place looking essentially the same (dark building, long grass. Repeat).

Splitting the game like they did was an interesting idea but I don’t think it worked well. Sometimes felt like a chore going through Abby’s mission & by the time Ellie’s back I had little interest in her revenge tour and probably cared more about Abby surviving after what she went through. The character development of Abby was well done.

Can’t say I cared much for any of the other new characters. I did enjoy the interactions between Abby & Lev. I thought they missed a trick by limiting the amount of time in “real” missions you spent with other characters (exclude the flashback stuff).

The whole Santa Barbara segment felt like an add-on. The hospital segment was fantastic tension. If it was its own game without comparing to the first, I’d probably appreciate it more.
 
Funny little easter egg I saw on Reddit, apparently you can't shoot the numerous PS3s and the sole PS Vita in the game. Seems Sony have some clause where their products aren't allowed to be damaged in games.
 
Started this about three nights ago and have plunged maybe 12 hours into it, so far.
I'm about halfway through Seattle Day 2 and just did the section where you find Jesse, plus that awesome flashback with Tommy and Joel.

The earlier flashback at the dinosaur museum was sweet as hell. Really enjoyed that whole section.

The part just before you find Jesse when you are destroying numerous WLFs and making your way through the houses and tall grass, with the music pumping... :drool:


I absolutely adore the first game and am having an equally great time in this one, too. Loving the refinements to the gameplay, like being able to go into the prone position, the fecking dogs that the WLFs use, and those hideous Shamblers. Basically, I'm having the time of my life. :drool::devil:
 
Superunknown said:
Started this about three nights ago and have plunged maybe 12 hours into it, so far.
I'm about halfway through Seattle Day 2 and just did the section where you find Jesse, plus that awesome flashback with Tommy and Joel.

The earlier flashback at the dinosaur museum was sweet as hell. Really enjoyed that whole section.

The part just before you find Jesse when you are destroying numerous WLFs and making your way through the houses and tall grass, with the music pumping... :drool:


I absolutely adore the first game and am having an equally great time in this one, too. Loving the refinements to the gameplay, like being able to go into the prone position, the fecking dogs that the WLFs use, and those hideous Shamblers. Basically, I'm having the time of my life. :drool::devil:
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It’s great isn’t it. Enjoy man.
 
Superunknown said:
Started this about three nights ago and have plunged maybe 12 hours into it, so far.
I'm about halfway through Seattle Day 2 and just did the section where you find Jesse, plus that awesome flashback with Tommy and Joel.

The earlier flashback at the dinosaur museum was sweet as hell. Really enjoyed that whole section.

The part just before you find Jesse when you are destroying numerous WLFs and making your way through the houses and tall grass, with the music pumping... :drool:


I absolutely adore the first game and am having an equally great time in this one, too. Loving the refinements to the gameplay, like being able to go into the prone position, the fecking dogs that the WLFs use, and those hideous Shamblers. Basically, I'm having the time of my life. :drool::devil:
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It’s lovely to see you’re enjoying it! I am too, I’m a little ahead of you and really taking my time on this.
 
Berbasbullet said:
It’s lovely to see you’re enjoying it! I am too, I’m a little ahead of you and really taking my time on this.
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It's my evening/night time game. Usually start my playthrough at around 10:30, all the lights off, bottle of cider/beer next to me. My other half finished the game last week and I was banished from the living room so that we didn't spoil it for each other. She watches me play through it, it's like an evening main event. :lol:

Hearing things about this being a lot longer than the previous game. Think the first game was around 16 hours long and the sections in this feel a lot bigger.
I'm loving just how open Seattle feels in places. Feels big and that there is genuinely stuff that you could miss out on. I'm spending most of my time checking every fecking shelf to make sure I've got all my pills and parts. I want dem upgrades, maaaan.
 
Superunknown said:
It's my evening/night time game. Usually start my playthrough at around 10:30, all the lights off, bottle of cider/beer next to me. My other half finished the game last week and I was banished from the living room so that we didn't spoil it for each other. She watches me play through it, it's like an evening main event. :lol:

Hearing things about this being a lot longer than the previous game. Think the first game was around 16 hours long and the sections in this feel a lot bigger.
I'm loving just how open Seattle feels in places. Feels big and that there is genuinely stuff that you could miss out on. I'm spending most of my time checking every fecking shelf to make sure I've got all my pills and parts. I want dem upgrades, maaaan.
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Yeah me and the other half play this together from about 9-1030 some evenings, were proper engrossed in the story! It does feel loads bigger.
 
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I'm about 18/19 hours into the game.
Really enjoying the range of gameplay and locations. Quite enjoyed the chase scene with Nora and also liked the boat section, which had the potential to be annoying. It seems like Naughty Dog have perfected that balance where they've kept the survival aspects of the Last of Us with some other characteristics from the Uncharted games to add some variation, and it comes off big time. Really like it. :drool:

Completed Seattle Day 2 and did the section for (I think it's Day 3) where Jesse gets killed. Boooo, was growing to really like him, but that's only going to further Ellie's thirst for vengeance. The bit at the aquarium where she killed the pregnant Mel and Owen was grim...nice to see the traumatic effect that this is having on Ellie, including how she reacted after the torture bit with Nora.

I've started Abby's section for Seattle Day 1 and am enjoying her story, thus far. LOVE the side-by-side story and also with the details about her father being the doctor that Joel killed at the hospital. It's really tied in with the first story nicely and has used that as a good starting point for the plot of this game.

The game feels much bigger and longer than the first, with more variation of things to do. I'm enjoying using the mines and the FECKING EXPLOSIVE ARROWS!!!! which are just great. I did one section yesterday or the day before where I lured a few Scars into an area and then used the explosive arrows to obliterate them. My other half voiced her displeasure at that. "I only really used those for infected, because it's gross on humans...:eek:" :lol: :devil:
 
Superunknown said:
I'm about 18/19 hours into the game.
Really enjoying the range of gameplay and locations. Quite enjoyed the chase scene with Nora and also liked the boat section, which had the potential to be annoying. It seems like Naughty Dog have perfected that balance where they've kept the survival aspects of the Last of Us with some other characteristics from the Uncharted games to add some variation, and it comes off big time. Really like it. :drool:

Completed Seattle Day 2 and did the section for (I think it's Day 3) where Jesse gets killed. Boooo, was growing to really like him, but that's only going to further Ellie's thirst for vengeance. The bit at the aquarium where she killed the pregnant Mel and Owen was grim...nice to see the traumatic effect that this is having on Ellie, including how she reacted after the torture bit with Nora.

I've started Abby's section for Seattle Day 1 and am enjoying her story, thus far. LOVE the side-by-side story and also with the details about her father being the doctor that Joel killed at the hospital. It's really tied in with the first story nicely and has used that as a good starting point for the plot of this game.

The game feels much bigger and longer than the first, with more variation of things to do. I'm enjoying using the mines and the FECKING EXPLOSIVE ARROWS!!!! which are just great. I did one section yesterday or the day before where I lured a few Scars into an area and then used the explosive arrows to obliterate them. My other half voiced her displeasure at that. "I only really used those for infected, because it's gross on humans...:eek:" :lol: :devil:
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I'm at around the same point of the game as you (maybe slightly farther in) but I don't quite have the same sentiments. I bought the game on release day, it's been a month and I just cannot quite get into it as much as I did with the first.

Ellie's scenes and gameplay are good and fun. She's a really good and strong character which makes it all the more fun to play with. I also love those flashbacks with her, Tommy and Joel. It feels nostalgic. Her relationship and story with Joel was what made the first game so brilliant, and I feel they should have taken advantage of this. Unfortunately they went with a different direction.

I just can't get into Abby's story. It all feels so forced, messy and predictable. In fact, I don't think they've build the new characters up well. I just don't feel a connection with them. There are also too many plot holes where I'm left wondering "wtf". Abby, Jesse, Dina, Mel are all pretty boring characters to be honest with only Owen being somewhat 'fun'.

Gameplay is fantastic, as is the graphics. Love the new infected enemies as well. Although I find the whistling from the Scars irritating.

It's a good game, but not a great game. The story and character buildup for the new cast spoils it for me so far; I just can't bring myself to think "these are good characters". At this point, I'll give it a 7 out of 10 which is a shame. The first game was a masterpiece for me. This is just meh.
 
Freak said:
I'm at around the same point of the game as you (maybe slightly farther in) but I don't quite have the same sentiments. I bought the game on release day, it's been a month and I just cannot quite get into it as much as I did with the first.

Ellie's scenes and gameplay are good and fun. She's a really good and strong character which makes it all the more fun to play with. I also love those flashbacks with her, Tommy and Joel. It feels nostalgic. Her relationship and story with Joel was what made the first game so brilliant, and I feel they should have taken advantage of this. Unfortunately they went with a different direction.

I just can't get into Abby's story. It all feels so forced, messy and predictable. In fact, I don't think they've build the new characters up well. I just don't feel a connection with them. There are also too many plot holes where I'm left wondering "wtf". Abby, Jesse, Dina, Mel are all pretty boring characters to be honest with only Owen being somewhat 'fun'.

Gameplay is fantastic, as is the graphics. Love the new infected enemies as well. Although I find the whistling from the Scars irritating.

It's a good game, but not a great game. The story and character buildup for the new cast spoils it for me so far; I just can't bring myself to think "these are good characters". At this point, I'll give it a 7 out of 10 which is a shame. The first game was a masterpiece for me. This is just meh.
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At that point of the game, it was slightly difficult to keep going with Abby's story for me as well. But a few hours in, it really clicked for me around when she encountered Jara and Lev and I really got into her story as well. The ending hit hard because of that, at least for me.
 
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