At least once a month I start typing up an essay for this game to publish to Backloggd, realize "Wait, why am I wasting my time typing something of substance for Backloggd," then will go about my merry way. So instead of an essay, I'll just give a few bullet points on why The Last of Us Part II is a piece of shit game:

-Absolutely no ability to change the narrative. The game constantly preaches at you that revenge is not a way to solve problems and that killing people in video games for sadistic enjoyment is bad (Points I do agree with), but unlike a game like Spec Ops: The Line which preaches those points by showing the atrocities that come with such view points and how they connect to real world violence, the game tries to tell you this with subtly, but comes off as blusterous as an elephant tap dancing while high on benadryl.

-Survivors guilt is portrayed in a way that seems so unrealistic. Why does Ellie just move on past Joel's passing so quickly? She's obviously affected by it, but it seems she isn't at the same time. It's very weird, but I feel as if the only reason I could feel the anger and sadness in her character was because of her voice actress (Which is one praise I'll give every character in the game).

-Game last way too long for its own good. Part of what makes Naughty Dog games so good is their ability to engross you in a world that only lasts about 10 hours of game time. You expect me to play repetitive shootout and stealth sections for twenty five hours? Fuck no, I'd rather replay The Last of Us Part 1 twice over the span of three years then have this game be my main focus for the length of some classics JRPGs.

-Both the community willing to defend this game because of its "Amazing narrative" and the community who hates it because they are sexist fuckheads are annoying and make it impossible to properly critique without being lumped up with morons who watch TheQuartering and hate women for not looking like Shonen Jump characters. Guys, I'm a post modern feminist and a socialist, stop assuming I am your enemy because I have media literacy beyond the people who like video games because "BIG GUN GO BOP AND I SEE BLOOD AND WOMEN SHOW BOOBIE AND I SMIL."

Rating: Z
Genre(s): 3rd person shooter

Shooting: 6.5/10
Was fun, especially the sections where you got attacked by like 12 people at once, but I think the ammo limitations hurt the experience more than they helped, especially with how oddly tanky some of the regular human enemies were. I ended up cheating money epically.

Aesthetics: 9/10
Nice artdeco style, remaster's graphics look solid, lots of atmosphere, good theme

Story: 7.5/10
I'm biased because I heard "would you kindly" years ago so I already knew atlas was going to betray me, some parts didn't really make any sense to me, but other than that was okay. Rapture was also interesting as a concept and I want to know more about what happened.

Characters: 9/10
All well written and very well voice acted, interesting enough to make me want to learn more about them and actually listen to the audio tapes.
Final verdict, good game

Kojima san, how many cutscenes and codec calls do you want in your game?
Kojima: yes.

I'd really, really love to rate MGS 2 higher, but to be honest, the game was a slog to play through. Mainly because it's not really a game. It's an interactive movie that occasionally let's you play for 5-10 minutes.
80% of the game consists of loooooooooong cutscenes and codec calls. I get that this was revolutionary in 2001, but it's kinda boring nowadays. I think MGS 1 had a better gameplay-to-cutscene ratio, which made it more entertaining. Plus, while there is some humor in MGS 2, it's missing the over- the-top, ridiculous dialogue that is in MGS 1.

The extremely samey looking environment throughout the whole game and the constant backtracking also didn't help to make the game more fun.
I also felt like the bosses were much more unique and interesting in MGS 1. Here, they were just kinda meh.

The ending and the plot twist towards the end of the game was really memorable though. It's crazy how relevant the game's message is today. That 4th wall breaking moment with colonel was downright creepy.

The game also has some really cool mechanics that were really impressive to see in a game from 2001.
For example, the way the enemies are patrolling, communicate with each other on the radio and call reinforcements. You can also disguise yourself by wearing the enemy's uniform and carrying their gun.

They also added lots of new equipment, which are really fun to use. For example, the tranquilizer gun, the microphone or the coolant spray.

There are lots of new additions in this sequel that I really appreciate, but the problem is that there is just not enough gameplay. So you don't really get to have fun with your new gear that much.

It's weird, because despite all the new additions, I still feel like this sequel was a bit of step back compared to MGS 1.

I don't understand this game. It does everything right! Amazing graphics, fully voiced cutscenes, a great diversity in Pokemon, fan service, replayability, and so much content. And yet, it's...boring? Like it's not a bad game, but it was so difficult to play for more than an hour at a time because it felt like a slog to get through. The main criticism of the original Pokemon Snap was that it was too short (you could very easily 100% it in like 4 hours), but this is too long? I guess the original hit a sweet spot in length without sacrificing the gameplay loop, but this game is still worth playing imo. Oh yeah and the soundtrack is mid

I loathe basically everything about Alan Wake. I played this because the sequel is so critically acclaimed, but after playing this I cannot imagine how. I think this game is a failure in every aspect of design.

First, the graphics. Even with the remaster, these environments are at best passable, while at their worst they definitely show their age. The character designs and animations, however, are truly some of the ugliest I've ever seen in a video game. This is why the developers cunningly made the main enemy force completely concealed in a black shroud - it hides their awful appearance.

The gameplay is atrociously tedious. Every single level the game has to contrive a reason for Alan Wake to leave all his equipment behind but to venture out at night regardless. It became a running joke for me to see just how long the daytime segments were compared to the nighttime ones. I think this town gets about 10 minutes of total daylight every 24 hours based on how the game presents it. The combat system of not being able to shoot the enemies until you have shone a torch on them enough might sound kind of interesting but in practice it just drags the encounters out three times as long as they need to. The enemy variety is tragic; there is only 3. Men with melee weapons, crows and inanimate objects. WOW!

I've seen the story praised by critics, but I couldn't agree any less. It's a very simple story that's told in the most confusing way possible. Don't confuse that with the story having depth - it doesn't - it just makes it even harder to enjoy. The plot sucks, the characters are detestable and everything is padded out.

The only positive I have for this game it that it is playable. I got to the end without many issues. I recently tried my best to play the game Remedy made after this, Quantum Break, and found the worst optimised triple-A release I have ever seen. I could, at least, beat Alan Wake. There was one good section in Alan Wake, the musical number at the end of episode 4. That is 5 minutes of an eight hour game. Everything else in just insufferably standard. Hours and hours of wandering around the same looking dark woodland while shooting the same enemy over and over again, occasionally stopping to feed some awful piece of poorly acted exposition down your throat.

The caves single-handedly ruined my enjoyment of Pikmin 2. They started out as fun diversions from the regular gameplay, but once I realized most of the game’s content is in them, they began to drag. The later caves amplified this feeling as they were much longer and kept recycling the same enemies and hazards without iterating on any type of challenge. Some asshole also decided to make enemies, bombs, and rocks fall from the ceiling in some caves. This alone would be enough to convince me these were thrown together just to spite players, but I believe there’s a bigger issue at hand: the player is not pressured in an engaging way.

The inability to reproduce Pikmin underground initially seemed like a good stressor, except you can take as much time as you want with these often brutal challenges. When combined with the game saving every floor, the caves had a lethargic pace where I would reload my save file when losing more than a few Pikmin. I had no idea how long each cave would be, so why not reset when things inevitably go awry? Annoyingly, Nintendo did not include the save reload option from Pikmin 1, requiring me to close and reopen the game every time I wanted to try again. The randomly generated map and enemy placements often made treasure rage-inducing to acquire, so much so I had to take a week-long break before completion. The Submerged Castle was the only cave I found enjoyable and challenging. Being forced to use a specific Pikmin to eliminate obstacles and collect treasure before an invincible foe showed up was an excellent change of pace and brought back the first game’s urgency without feeling unfair. Its five-floor count also ensured it never overstayed its welcome.

The above-ground sections were fine, but they felt like a means to a miserable end with the abundance of caves. I can only hope they are better in Pikmin 4. They’re a good idea, but I hate the execution here. Definitely a one and done experience.