This review contains spoilers
Honestly, ignore all of the hate. Just play the game to the end and make up your mind. This is the best Naughty Dog game to date.
Naughty Dog has almost always been one to provide some of the best stories and gameplay in the medium, but never have either been as refined as they are here. The Last Of Us 2 feels like an amalgamation of all that came before, with most of it acting at its highest levels yet. For starters, this game is their best narrative to date, and it seems that a lot of people that dislike the choices they made would prefer something basic and predictable. But I'm glad the game did not decide to go down that route. With all of the flashbacks, and the switches in perspective, this is easily Naughty Dog's most narratively experimental work, and their most thematically rich, providing interesting character relationships and moral dilemmas. As opposed to an Indiana Jones-esque game like Uncharted where the enemies are nothing more than puppets for you to blindly murder, every person, every enemy in this game is humanised to a degree few outside of Naughty Dog could pull off. Even down to the gameplay, the limb removal, the screams, the facial expressions, it all conveys that this is a world where morality is grey and everyone is fighting for their lives. Nothing showcases this better than the Abby sections, which I was admittedly a little put off by at first, but as soon as her side developed and I was able to get a feel for the side of the story they were telling, I absolutely loved it. This isn't merely a game about revenge, it's more a psychological study on human connections and willpower, and I think the fact that it humanises everyone and demonises no-one makes this one of the most mature games out there. The decaying streets only back this up - this game has Naughty Dog's best level design PERIOD. The detail, the multiple paths, the limited paths, the clues, the pickups, the visual indicators, the scale... for a game that's so linear, it's incredible how it also feels so freeing. It never forces you to play a certain way, which is the best thing a survival game like this could do. Your paths would otherwise be limited, but with what they give you you're free to try out anything you want, with various success rates. It's challenging when it needs to be, but also a breeze if you're truly observant. But just because it can be challenging, doesn't mean it's a chore. This is so damn smooth, especially compared to the first game. Feeling like Solid Snake going between prone and running from cover to cover is something I never thought I'd see in a game like this, but it was absolutely the right choice. Not that the first game felt rigid, but considering the options this gives you, not only is it satisfying, but it's also infinitely more rewarding, and it never punishes you for creativity. If you want to run from a situation, most of the time you can, but you need to do it strategically. And when your little plans work, seldom seen in any other game, you can thank the developers for the work they put in. It's brutal, it's smooth, and it's varied. As for added praise, the music and voice acting are of course, incredible, and the graphics are almost unparalleled in gaming, honestly. From just a technical perspective, this game is a masterpiece.
And for issues, well, I felt the structure could have done with some work. It never broke the game, but there's a certain point after the first Ellie/Abby confrontation that I thought the rest felt a little convenient and tacked on. It didn't hinder it too much like I said, but I swear I thought the game was going to end so many times lmao, and then it didn't. But I'm also kind of glad about that, because I was enjoying this thoroughly. It's not their most airtight game, but it's also their most ambitious game. A certain level of mess doesn't dethrone this from Naughty Dog's #1 spot.
I'm so glad I gave this a shot. The haters had me believe for a while that this game was "awful", but in my opinion this ranks up there with some of the best games I've ever played.
Naughty Dog has almost always been one to provide some of the best stories and gameplay in the medium, but never have either been as refined as they are here. The Last Of Us 2 feels like an amalgamation of all that came before, with most of it acting at its highest levels yet. For starters, this game is their best narrative to date, and it seems that a lot of people that dislike the choices they made would prefer something basic and predictable. But I'm glad the game did not decide to go down that route. With all of the flashbacks, and the switches in perspective, this is easily Naughty Dog's most narratively experimental work, and their most thematically rich, providing interesting character relationships and moral dilemmas. As opposed to an Indiana Jones-esque game like Uncharted where the enemies are nothing more than puppets for you to blindly murder, every person, every enemy in this game is humanised to a degree few outside of Naughty Dog could pull off. Even down to the gameplay, the limb removal, the screams, the facial expressions, it all conveys that this is a world where morality is grey and everyone is fighting for their lives. Nothing showcases this better than the Abby sections, which I was admittedly a little put off by at first, but as soon as her side developed and I was able to get a feel for the side of the story they were telling, I absolutely loved it. This isn't merely a game about revenge, it's more a psychological study on human connections and willpower, and I think the fact that it humanises everyone and demonises no-one makes this one of the most mature games out there. The decaying streets only back this up - this game has Naughty Dog's best level design PERIOD. The detail, the multiple paths, the limited paths, the clues, the pickups, the visual indicators, the scale... for a game that's so linear, it's incredible how it also feels so freeing. It never forces you to play a certain way, which is the best thing a survival game like this could do. Your paths would otherwise be limited, but with what they give you you're free to try out anything you want, with various success rates. It's challenging when it needs to be, but also a breeze if you're truly observant. But just because it can be challenging, doesn't mean it's a chore. This is so damn smooth, especially compared to the first game. Feeling like Solid Snake going between prone and running from cover to cover is something I never thought I'd see in a game like this, but it was absolutely the right choice. Not that the first game felt rigid, but considering the options this gives you, not only is it satisfying, but it's also infinitely more rewarding, and it never punishes you for creativity. If you want to run from a situation, most of the time you can, but you need to do it strategically. And when your little plans work, seldom seen in any other game, you can thank the developers for the work they put in. It's brutal, it's smooth, and it's varied. As for added praise, the music and voice acting are of course, incredible, and the graphics are almost unparalleled in gaming, honestly. From just a technical perspective, this game is a masterpiece.
And for issues, well, I felt the structure could have done with some work. It never broke the game, but there's a certain point after the first Ellie/Abby confrontation that I thought the rest felt a little convenient and tacked on. It didn't hinder it too much like I said, but I swear I thought the game was going to end so many times lmao, and then it didn't. But I'm also kind of glad about that, because I was enjoying this thoroughly. It's not their most airtight game, but it's also their most ambitious game. A certain level of mess doesn't dethrone this from Naughty Dog's #1 spot.
I'm so glad I gave this a shot. The haters had me believe for a while that this game was "awful", but in my opinion this ranks up there with some of the best games I've ever played.