The Last of Us Part II was exactly what I needed from this year. A brutal heart-wrenching tale featuring pathos on a level unheard of for modern games.
I grew up with Ellie. Her journey with Joel made my childhood. Their quips, their odyssey - everything.Two re-assessed everything since then. Something I think was absolutely necessary to flesh them out in the nigh- decade since the original game.
I think a game like this is so immensely hard to describe for me. It's an internal battle emotionally with my perception of the characters, the external character motivated struggles and my own personal experiences all blending together to form my experience.
It was beautiful in that way. A plant growing from a crack in the pavement, a flower stemming from a dead corpse - morbid, but hopeful. If Ellie can do this, maybe I can do more than I thought. I understood her pains, her motivations to an acute level.
My roommate walked in during one of the final chapters of the game and asked why a character was making their immensely brash decision. In that moment, they scoffed at the character while I just nodded, connecting with what the character had been through. Knowing that this was what they needed to do, to let their demons lie.
The game so brilliantly weaves through topics of discussion with a level of pride and comfortability I wish more games could achieve. Don't get me wrong, I loathe the 12-hour work days Naughty Dog employees were put through, the hellish crunch and the production nightmares. I'm not saying that should stay in the industry.
I just want more emotionally raw games. Ones that'll let me have a dialogue, like a good film. While The Last of Us (2013) felt like a brilliant film, this felt like an entire season of a television show. The highs, the lows and most importantly the extent of information condensed into the nearly twenty-seven hours I packed into this game.
I was Ellie. I was Joel. I was Abbie. I got to experience these moments with them. Connect with what makes them tick... and that's something bittersweet.
I think I'll have to revisit the game in a few years to reflect on this. Maybe I'll just have to wait till 2038 to play it again. Now I can start devouring all those Last of Us 2 reviews I've saved up.
It's really sad to me that so much of the discussion seems more like frustration and rage rather than actual critique, at least from what I saw around the game's release. Let's have a conversation like adults, not send death threats at voice actors. Yeah, I'm late to the discussion, but it's not like anyone will read this anyway \o/
I grew up with Ellie. Her journey with Joel made my childhood. Their quips, their odyssey - everything.Two re-assessed everything since then. Something I think was absolutely necessary to flesh them out in the nigh- decade since the original game.
I think a game like this is so immensely hard to describe for me. It's an internal battle emotionally with my perception of the characters, the external character motivated struggles and my own personal experiences all blending together to form my experience.
It was beautiful in that way. A plant growing from a crack in the pavement, a flower stemming from a dead corpse - morbid, but hopeful. If Ellie can do this, maybe I can do more than I thought. I understood her pains, her motivations to an acute level.
My roommate walked in during one of the final chapters of the game and asked why a character was making their immensely brash decision. In that moment, they scoffed at the character while I just nodded, connecting with what the character had been through. Knowing that this was what they needed to do, to let their demons lie.
The game so brilliantly weaves through topics of discussion with a level of pride and comfortability I wish more games could achieve. Don't get me wrong, I loathe the 12-hour work days Naughty Dog employees were put through, the hellish crunch and the production nightmares. I'm not saying that should stay in the industry.
I just want more emotionally raw games. Ones that'll let me have a dialogue, like a good film. While The Last of Us (2013) felt like a brilliant film, this felt like an entire season of a television show. The highs, the lows and most importantly the extent of information condensed into the nearly twenty-seven hours I packed into this game.
I was Ellie. I was Joel. I was Abbie. I got to experience these moments with them. Connect with what makes them tick... and that's something bittersweet.
I think I'll have to revisit the game in a few years to reflect on this. Maybe I'll just have to wait till 2038 to play it again. Now I can start devouring all those Last of Us 2 reviews I've saved up.
It's really sad to me that so much of the discussion seems more like frustration and rage rather than actual critique, at least from what I saw around the game's release. Let's have a conversation like adults, not send death threats at voice actors. Yeah, I'm late to the discussion, but it's not like anyone will read this anyway \o/