Some solid stealth mechanics and Naughty Dog's characteristic triple-A spectacle and piss poor shooting are just enough of a base to carry this largely by-the-numbers bit of zombie apocalypse fiction. The puzzle sections are uninspiring and the encounter design fluctuates wildly from actually fantastic to boring as hell, often within the same chapter.

Very strong character performances cover some of the weaker writing and overall - especially the two leads - manage to elevate a couple of zombie movie clichés into something fairly memorable. There's a LOT of walking and talking sections, so it is a bloody good job the people who are doing the talking are doing it extremely well for the most part.

I don't hate this game. I just hate that it has become the poster child for the very best the medium of videogames has to offer, when it seems almost embarrassed by the fact it is one for most of the time you're playing it. I'm halfway through the TV series right now and that seems like a logical end point for what Naughty Dog set out to achieve here.

This game pretty much deserves five stars for the story alone. When I first played this game, I was rapidly losing interest in new video games and was primarily interested in retro games and pinball. The only reason why I even played this game is because it was packaged in with the brand new PS4 I got in 2015. (I must have been crazy throwing all of that money on a shiny new PS4 if I was primarily interested in retro gaming.) Anyway, I didn't really know anything about this game going in, but I played it because it was free and I like free stuff. And by the time I got about 3/4 of the way through on Normal difficulty, I was hooked and immersed in the characters, story, and gameplay. When I finished the game, and witnessed the emotional ending, I realized that this game is art and that video games could be a very powerful form of art when done well. One could say that reading a novel is more intimate than watching a movie because the novel gives you a glimpse into the character's thoughts and the reader gets to know them in a way that just can't be replicated through a screenplay. But video games have the whole interactive element where you get to actually be the characters and guide them through their journey, effectively binding yourself to their story in a way no other form of media or art can.

I won't go into details about the story, because if you haven't played it by now, the less you know, the better it will be. However, I will mention that I just finished a second playthrough on hard difficulty to refresh my memory for the sequel. During this playthrough, I realized how well thought out the structure of the story and character development was. For example, throughout their journey, the two main characters meet up with all sorts of people that they end up aligning themselves with. Each of these alliances slowly force both of the main characters to reveal how they were before and after the apocalypse and ultimately reveal who they are at their core in a way that seems completely natural.

I also wanted to talk about the gameplay a little bit because it also is pretty good. It plays similar to the Uncharted series, where each area is limited to where you can go (which I think is a good thing as I am not really a fan of open worlds), you have the option of stealthily taking out enemies or shooting them (depending on how much ammo you conserved), and you must solve a few puzzles to move on (but not as many or as complicated as the ones in the Uncharted games). What sets this apart from the Uncharted series is the dark apocalyptic setting and supernatural enemies. If you don't sneak around quietly enough, a clicker zombie can see you and kill you as soon as it reaches you, adding further to the game's scary and foreboding atmosphere.

There is also a multiplayer mode, which I have never played. I assume it is something like Uncharted 4’s multiplayer which was pretty fun.

If you haven't experienced this game yet, it is an absolute must for Playstation console owners. The story really rewards you and gets better as you progress, so if you lose interest in the beginning, you should really try to stick with it, even if you need to set the difficulty to easy.

By Request Review #3 - 2021

This is a landmark piece of storytelling that has the intensity and rawness that makes the early seasons of "The Walking Dead" so effective. It builds a bond between these two characters that leaves you winded and on edge when things start getting incredibly threatening. That's a great word to describe this gameplay experience: "threatening". There are few games that make me feel like every step I take, and every bullet I spend, could drastically make or break my playthrough. It could be that it's because my first playthrough of this game was on "grounded" mode, but truly, I wouldn't have it any other way. If you're looking to just enjoy the story without many obstacles, certainly hit up the easier difficulties. If you're like me, and are looking to immerse yourself in a world that's visceral and deadly, then crank the difficulty way up to "grounded". It forced me to slow down, strategize, and treat my session as if I only had one life to live. It made me feel the story even more, as I grew exhausted along side Joel and Ellie on their year long cross-country journey to find hope in a hopeless world dying from a horrifying viral outbreak.

The only negatives I experienced had a lot to do with this Remastered version's lack of perfect polish. Although very rare, glitches are capable of ruining your playthrough. Enemies clipping through walls, or even the game deciding to restart your session were very discouraging when they happened. That link leads to a clip of that moment, where I spent over an hour on that very tough section, only to have my progress yoinked away from me due to this very rare glitch. I never saw it again, but it was horrifying to have to go through that section all over again, and the playthrough from that point forward felt like a roll of the dice. I'm not sure how the PS3 version is, but hopefully it doesn't experience these problems. Otherwise, this would be a 4 star game for me.

TLOU is an undeniable masterpiece of a game, and it pushed the medium’s story-telling forward in incredible ways upon its release in 2013. While the Remaster for PS4 quickly became the gold-standard of early-gen graphics, the game has not aged well in a graphical sense. Also, the first half of the game feels very dated to the PS3 era, simply dragging players through random arenas to fight enemies because video games. Nevertheless, the back-half of this game is perfectly paced, and it deviates its gameplay in significant narrative ways. In 2013, this game absolutely earned every 10/10 score it received, but in our contemporary video game landscape, the game hurts for how close it comes to brilliant game design without achieving it.

A game I've been meaning to get around to since I bought my ps3 in 2019, finally got around to beating it on my PS5. I understand the appeal, the characters are endearing and super well acted. The artistic vision of this game still holds up 8 years later, as does the music; so its pretty sound on a technical level. Beyond that you have a pretty standard zombie story though paired with pretty dull gameplay most the time. Melee combat feels like it only works about half the time making most encounters really frustrating when the point of the game is to use as little resources as possible per encounter! The A.I. is not good, enemies feel like the switch targets for no reason other than to screw over the player and companion A.I. makes stealth sections feel completely fake. Glad I played, glad to see it getting adapted into a format that should improve it next year.

The existence of the Part 1 remake makes me remove half a star for this one. While i can imagine playing this remaster when it came was exceptional, you can tell how some of the models look outdated despite the facelift it got.

Despite all of that, the 60 frames performance it's great and enhances a great story. It doesn't hurt that this is the most complete version of this game due to the inclusion of the Factions MP and all the extra content maps, despite me having zero desire to get into this multiplayer offering.

I love cinema. I love games! I don't love overtly cinematic games! I think a decent chunk of the AAA game industry, particularly Sony's studios these days, has leaned so far into this style that it's really limited their potential. Games shouldn't try to copy film; they should take advantage of games as a medium and use their interactive nature to enhance an experience rather than copying an existing format. With all that said, surely I'd think this is an overrated albeit good game, right? It's not exactly filled with depth, it has tons of slow walking and ladder "puzzles", and the exploration isn't exactly thrilling either. But, despite ALL of my feelings about this, I can't deny one essential fact.

This was an emotional experience that I have never felt before within the medium of games.

As much as the Uncharted series can pull off balls-to-the-walls action and make sure you have a blast, The Last of Us barrels into the far opposite direction. Games are "supposed" to be fun, but I'd argue this is the most powerful example of how games as a medium can explore other areas of your psyche. The tension, fear, and eventually calm relief you feel before and after every enemy encounter never ends. The bond you grow with your new daughter only grows stronger with every narrow escape or cute moment that can somehow come out of this desolate hellscape. The overwhelming peace as you and her look out into the landscape ahead of you, beautiful and serene despite the dangers you both know lie hiding.

There isn't anything super special about The Last of Us 10 years after it released. In 2013 I could easily see an argument made for it being one of the greatest games of all time, but the landscape has changed a bit since then, and its downsides have started to reveal themselves more too. But even then...does any of that matter? There are so many nitpicks and problems I can have but none of that even matters when my experience with this title was so unique. I think this might be experienced best as a story in the HBO show (which I haven't seen yet) but there's something not even Pedro Pascal can provide: Ellie is in YOUR care. It's YOUR job to keep her safe. The remaining scraps of humanity in this broken world, the last of US, need her to save us all. But in the end...who needs her more? The world...or you?

(Isso não é uma review, é só um pequeno comentário meu sobre esse jogo que considero extremamente marcante, com alguns spoilers)

The Last of Us é sem duvidas um dos melhores jogos que eu já tive o prazer de jogar em toda minha vida.
É basicamente uma aula de como construir uma relação natural e palpável, usando seus personagens como recurso pra trabalhar esses temas extremamente delicados.
O jogo mostra a forma como Joel, vai evoluindo alongo da narrativa, se relacionando com Ellie e criando uma relação paternal com a garota, ao ponto de sacrificar a única esperança da humanidade em prol de salva-la da morte, sem duvidas o elemento mais único do jogo
Em quesitos como gráficos, jogabilidade e trilha sonora, o jogo é praticamente impecável, são aspectos do game que ajudaram a maximizar minha experiência com o mesmo.
No mais, foi uma experiência fantástica do inicio ao fim, é difícil descrever essa obra de arte em sua totalidade.