I really want to do a proper review, but I can't get myself to sit down and actually put all my thoughts together and figure out how to organize them etc, so here's a jumble of thoughts instead.

The Last of Us is super cliche. For the first half of the game, basically every twist is expected. For the first couple hours the gameplay sucks as well, but once you finish the prologue, the gameplay actually gets pretty good and is one place where the game shines. Similar to Bioshock Infinite, this game is really fucking polished and you can play for a while and just enjoy the gameplay (it is of course actually better than Bioshock Infinite).

About halfway through the game, the story gets significantly better, but this game is still too padded and has too many sections that just don't need to be in the game or can have the story of multiple sections combined for better pacing.

I question the decision to have Joel be the main character, especially considering the ending, but of course also the leadup to it, I don't understand why you play Joel. This isn't Spec Ops the fucking Line.

Anyway, this game is rather entertaining, enjoyable to play, decent game. Better than Bioshock Infinite, does not compare to games such as Tomb Raider (2013) and Grand Theft Auto V. Recommended with reservation that it's not the masterpiece that people make it out to be. Be sure to play the dlc if you play this game because the dlc is a masterpiece 9/10 experience almost akin to Life is Strange

This game is hard for me to review, because parts of it are executed flawlessly and other parts feel like they were developed by people who have never played a video game before.

Like ok, obviously the game looks amazing. You really feel like you're going on a journey across America. It's almost odyssey-esque, with every stop along the way feeling unique, with it's own quirks. The attention to detail is just absurd, it's crazy how much effort must have been put into this.

The story is really good too, in parts anyway. The dialogue is great and the acting is phenomenal, especially for a video game. The overall story however, literally hits every single zombie cliche ever. It's almost funny how obvious it is, with that being said though I was still into the story because of how well fleshed out the characters were.

These things are all great (amazing even!) but the gameplay hits some serious hiccups along the way. The main combat is pretty fun, stealthing around and managing your equipment is satisfying. I also respected the game for having the guts to let you just walk around and explore towns, these were some of the best parts of the game for me. There are just so. many. pointless. tasks. Like it's kind of a meme by now, but god the amount of ladders you need carry is infuriating. And by the twentieth time I had to push Ellie across a body of water on a raft, I was ready to punch a hole in my tv. The boring, annoying parts of this game do serious damage to the overall product and really drag it down for me. I don't care too much about replayability in games but the thought of having to play the last of us again is nauseating.

Overall the last of us does way more things right than it does wrong and is probably a must play, maybe, I can't decide.

Oh also the music is really good.

Some of the best storytelling in the medium. The premise itself is fairly standard genre fare but the character work here is by far the most impressive I've ever seen in a video game. Very light on exposition, and much of the character dynamics are revealed through subtle body language in the animation, the main themes left unsaid and bubbling under the surface. The vocal performances are incredible and bring these characters to life more than anything I’ve seen in the medium. There’s more subtlety and grace in the narrative here than even a lot of movies and television, honestly. It allows players to connect the dots themselves, instead using the lengthy cutscenes to communicate emotional tensions. The characters can rarely find the right words to express themselves, so the player must read them as they must read each other.

Still looks great 7 years later, especially running in HDR at 1800p on the Pro. The framerate dips a little here and there, but it’s still pretty consistently around 50fps at the worst of times, and there’s of course still the option to run it at 1080p 60fps if you’d prefer. The only thing that’s really aged much is the character models, but even those are better than a lot of early PS4 games.

The gameplay is really solid, much better than the Uncharted games I find. The stealth is a little barebones and confusing but otherwise it’s a really solid action-horror tinged cover shooter, playing like a toned-down version of Resident Evil 4, complete with quick turn, limited ammo offset by enemies who drop more the less you have, incremental weapon and character upgrades, and inventory management. I really like the crafting here, it forces you to plan ahead to some extent and doesn’t allow you to hoard resources too much, so you need some foresight into what you’re gonna need. It’s not perfect but I really enjoy it, and it makes for some really tense gameplay in the 4v4 multiplayer matches as well. The Last of Us is not a perfect game, but it is a landmark title for the medium that pushes linear AAA shooter campaigns to new levels of nuance in storytelling, and plays way better than you’d expect.

I have been a Naughty Dog since '96. Pretty much. I never owned Crash Bandicoot back then (I was 2) but I remember the aesthetic and how the game felt. A true sense of adventure, a feeling that was replicated in the Jak games for me and of course Uncharted. I was dipping in and out of games when The Last of Us eventually released, favouring other hobbies at the time. All this time I avoided spoilers, and I thought with the second instalment coming out and everyone getting their panties in a twist I thought what better time to take on the original.

The Last of Us is a kind of survival, action, adventure game with some light horror elements. The main plot has zombies, wait no 'infected' and theres a few tiny jumpscares with some gorier and scary themes thrown in. Nothing that will keep you up at night though. The gameplay is 'cinematic' which means it's rifled with long animations and sections where you have to move ladders around. The gunplay though is excellent. Each shot feels weighty, thanks to the also excellent sound design. Rounds crack through the eerie silence, it's really effective and makes each shot feel like it counts.

The Last of Us' priority is it's story which I have to say isnt that original. If you've read/seen/played The Walking Dead all the familiar tropes are here. Maybe back in 2013 this had a bit more going for it. But the story they do tell here, is engaging enough. The real crown jewel is these characters though, Joel and Ellie are some of the best written characters I've seen in a video game. Both complex, morally grey and all the twists and turns are to do with them and how they react to situations. It's good stuff.

I prefer my games to be games mostly, The Last of Us is a great cinematic experience though and one I highly recommend you check out.

A quality game for people who want a narratively driven high budget zombie survival game. I appreciate Naughty Dog's ability to create a video game story that surpasses most movies. I have no qualms with the narrative, it's fantastic. It's the cover based combat and environment puzzles that have me mixed on whether or not the actual gameplay is something that really pushed any boundaries or stood out as even being notable?
Survival games with crafting mechanics aren't exactly my personal favorite types of games, but I actually found the crafting to be pretty intuitive. It's a system based around 6 items you have to scrounge around to find in the linear levels to combine to make useful items. 7 if you include the ability to upgrade a melee weapon. It seems rudimentary and simplistic (and it is honestly), but you can combine the items in different ways to get different uses out of them. Explosives + blades will give you nail bombs, something that's useful against infected, or you can use explosives + sugar for smokebombs, something that's more useful for human encounters. Usually, I'd criticize it for lacking any kind of depth, but I found the on-the-fly quality of the crafting to be something that enhanced the pace of the game. You aren't bogged down with cross-map scavenge hunts for just the right item. You gather what you can, and keep moving. It's a system that crafting enthusiasts will probably scoff at, but if you're someone with little patience for crafting, it's solid.
Where the game breaks down is with the puzzles and lack of variety in the encounters. If you've done one environment puzzle in the Last of Us, you've done them all. They're mind-numbingly simple and they mostly serve to give Ellie and Joel time to banter and bond with each other. Beyond the puzzles, you'll be in a usually one-floor level filled with enemies. There are 4 types of zombies. Runners, stalkers, clickers and bloaters. Runners, stalkers and clickers are effectively the same thing except clickers kill you if you enter melee with them and don't have the shiv perk that lets you defend yourself. All the enemies attack in the same way, if they hear you, they run at you, except bloaters who do an annoying aoe attack and then run at you. They're supposed to be the boss encounters in the game, but my hope for a boss fight would be that it's interesting and makes you utilize game mechanics in new way. There's none of that in these fights and it's a colossal letdown that this is what the game has to offer for half of the combat. In fact, that probably describes all of the combat. The human encounters are effectively the same except they have ranged attacks i.e they use guns and other craftable weapons. Every single one is similar except in the endgame level when the enemies are given armor and assault weapons, and you're meant to blast your way through rambo-style, but the enemies are so well-equipped that you can hardly leave cover or strangle someone without having the whole of the post-apocalyptic legion lighting your ass up with guns that do more damage to your character than a literal machine gun strapped to an armored car from halfway through the game.
It's not that the Last of Us's combat is bad per se, it's mostly balanced and focuses on a more rewarding methodical approach. You get a great sense of satisfaction for utilizing a shiv you crafted or a well placed smokebomb that allows you to use your upgraded melee weapon to easily take down blind enemies, saving you ammo. Its biggest crime is that it isn't interesting enough to support a 15 hour campaign on its own. There's a severe lack of enemy variety and a COMPLETE lack of real bosses.
I can however, recommend this game to anyone looking for one of the best written stories in any medium, but I don't think that the actual gameplay is enough to justify it as anywhere close to a perfect game. When I think back on whether much would be lost if this story were turned into a movie or tv show, I can't think of anything that it does that is unique to video games that would ruin the transition. In fact, if you wanted to watch this story as a movie, there are several that give you a similar emotional weight (Logan, Children of Men, The Walking Dead). Despite that, the story of a reluctant father figure and his surrogate daughter navigating an apocalypse where the real trauma often comes from how people treat each other when pushed to desperation, rather than from the infected themselves, is just plain good story-telling and I would be remiss to put it down for that.

Quick thoughts to explain my rating.

Last of us had a lot of hype around it because it managed to nail the characterization in its story, and also it managed to reach the movie crows perhaps more than any other game.

The Last of Us has a story that is not very unique or original but the execution was well done, the way character interact was also very good.
However this is the main strong point, pretty much everything else was mediocre.
The gameplay and the stealth is fine but it lacks variety, each situation in the game can be solved with 2 ways, 1 is stealth which can be done easily thanks to the bad A.I or the second which is fighting but its not optimal at higher difficulty because of limited ammunition.
In terms of Sounds and Music the game is also mediocre for me.
I didnt like the game as much as other liked it, but it was a fun experience.
A Solid 7/10

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.

tl;dr: pallets bad, story good

This is my third time playing through this game (in prep for Part 2). I never thought this game was anything more than average, but this playthrough I LOVED it. The story is good, the characters are good, the music and atmosphere are great, the subtle world-building is good, the gameplay is pretty decent (kind of clunky by today's standards, though), and the complex moral grayness of the world is excellent. It gets better with each playthrough, and everything makes more sense.

Replaying this game and picking up on the small details you missed the first (or second if you're as unperceptive as I am) is a real treat. Especially after I've matured a great bit.

My only complaint is with the pallet/underwater sections...why?

The Last of Us is a game which is all about the details. From the slight expressions on the faces of characters expressing disgust, sadness, or loss, to the stories scattered around each and every environment, to the moments of magic found between large set pieces: it is these moments in which The Last of Us shines most.

The story is epic in scale yet told succinctly. The characters are memorable; difficult to love yet hard to forget. The pacing is more than fair, if a bit tedious at times. Overall, in terms of narrative, The Last of Us can hold its own.

It is the gameplay aspects where The Last of Us falls - slightly - short: various minor visual and gameplay glitches are present, controls can feel a bit clunky and, every so often, an AI companion will simply get in the way.

But, these minor flaws do not take away greatly from the amazement and wonder which The Last of Us contains. It is exceedingly emotional, with weighty and satisfying gameplay to boot. Moreover, it is an adventure I doubt I'll ever forget.

Content: Single-Player Campaign
Difficulty: Normal
Source: PlayStation Store
Input: DualShock 4
Display: TV
Audio: Headphones
Location: Home
Audience: Solo
Tweaks & Mods: N/A (None)

Up until 4, Uncharted relied pretty heavily on bombastic setpieces in favor of making a fun 3rd person shooter and interesting characters. I love those games, but sometimes you get full after 3 buckets of buttery popcorn and you need something grounded.

A post-apocalyptic zombie may not be the most grounded premise, but the game gradually relieved any cynicism I initially had. This feels like the perfect cocktail of storytelling and gameplay because it's grounded in a world and circumstance that the characters actually live in. It's not an excellent TPS, but the emphasis on stealth and resource management over pure run-and-gun makes it a tense, satisfying experience. The encounter design with the crafting options creates puzzles to solve with multiple solutions.

It blows my mind that this was originally a PS3 game. ND's art direction and fidelity proves to be top-class, and it's easy to imagine a lesser game if the character performances and animations weren't so convincing. The environments were beautiful and varied. I actually wanted to get lost in the dilapidated concrete jungles and suburbs when I knew there was more to the world to discover through environmental storytelling.

Above all, the best part is the development of Joel and Ellie as characters and their relationship. I knew this game was lauded for its writing but I was not prepared for many of the key moments here. Joel is a such a complex individual whose morality frequently teeters between his emotions, past, and survival. And Ellie is surprisingly the compass that guides him through it. Not only does she literally save him but she also centers him on something to live for after losing his daughter. By the end, the dynamic feels so earned.

Up until 4, Uncharted relied pretty heavily on bombastic setpieces in favor of making a fun 3rd person shooter and interesting characters. I love those games, but sometimes you get full after 3 buckets of buttery popcorn and you need something grounded.

A post-apocalyptic zombie may not be the most grounded premise, but the game gradually relieved any cynicism I initially had. This feels like the perfect cocktail of storytelling and gameplay because it's grounded in a world and circumstance that the characters actually live in. It's not an excellent TPS, but the emphasis on stealth and resource management over pure run-and-gun makes it a tense, satisfying experience. The encounter design with the crafting options creates puzzles to solve with multiple solutions.

It blows my mind that this was originally a PS3 game. ND's art direction and fidelity proves to be top-class, and it's easy to imagine a lesser game if the character performances and animations weren't so convincing. The environments were beautiful and varied. I actually wanted to get lost in the dilapidated concrete jungles and suburbs when I knew there was more to the world to discover through environmental storytelling.

Above all, the best part is the development of Joel and Ellie as characters and their relationship. I knew this game was lauded for its writing but I was not prepared for many of the key moments here. Joel is a such a complex individual whose morality frequently teeters between his emotions, past, and survival. And Ellie is surprisingly the compass that guides him through it. Not only does she literally save him but she also centers him on something to live for after losing his daughter. By the end, the dynamic feels so earned.