If you’ve been active in the gaming community at some point in the past 7 years, then it’s practically impossible to not know about The Last of Us. It’s one of the most critically acclaimed games of the 2010s and probably of all time as well, and it’s seen by many as one of the greatest games ever made. Where do I stand, though? Well, my relationship with The Last of Us is weird, as there are parts of it that I loved and other parts of it that I hated. When all of these parts are put together, the result is a game that I do generally recommend, but there are a lot of nagging issues about it that keep me from considering it to be the masterpiece that so many other people believe it is.
I’m a fan of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series, even if I haven’t beaten all of its games yet, and The Last of Us feels like if the gameplay of Uncharted had the puzzle-like shootouts replaced with subpar stealth mechanics and barebones crafting and upgrade systems. There’s no real way to experiment with the stealth in The Last of Us or try approach situations in any way that isn’t what Naughty Dog intended, and that makes the combat in The Last of Us feel tedious and generally not fun. This isn’t me saying that The Last of Us should be filled with set pieces like Uncharted, but it’s just that the only real thing that The Last of Us does better than Uncharted with its gameplay is that it addresses the ludonarrative dissonance that was present in the Uncharted games by having the protagonist’s violent actions affect the story rather than never having it addressed.
Although the story itself is just Children of Men with zombies, the characters were what made me want to keep playing. Joel and Ellie are incredibly well written characters, and I actually managed to care for them throughout my playthrough, which is especially hard to do through a video game. I kept playing because I wanted to know what would happen to them and how their relationship would evolve, and they are the sole reason as to why I was so invested in the game, even after the gameplay and plot failed to invest me. Generally, I don’t think that The Last of Us is a masterpiece, as the gameplay isn’t fun and the story isn’t original, but the characters alone make this game worth playing.
I’m a fan of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series, even if I haven’t beaten all of its games yet, and The Last of Us feels like if the gameplay of Uncharted had the puzzle-like shootouts replaced with subpar stealth mechanics and barebones crafting and upgrade systems. There’s no real way to experiment with the stealth in The Last of Us or try approach situations in any way that isn’t what Naughty Dog intended, and that makes the combat in The Last of Us feel tedious and generally not fun. This isn’t me saying that The Last of Us should be filled with set pieces like Uncharted, but it’s just that the only real thing that The Last of Us does better than Uncharted with its gameplay is that it addresses the ludonarrative dissonance that was present in the Uncharted games by having the protagonist’s violent actions affect the story rather than never having it addressed.
Although the story itself is just Children of Men with zombies, the characters were what made me want to keep playing. Joel and Ellie are incredibly well written characters, and I actually managed to care for them throughout my playthrough, which is especially hard to do through a video game. I kept playing because I wanted to know what would happen to them and how their relationship would evolve, and they are the sole reason as to why I was so invested in the game, even after the gameplay and plot failed to invest me. Generally, I don’t think that The Last of Us is a masterpiece, as the gameplay isn’t fun and the story isn’t original, but the characters alone make this game worth playing.