no amount of great encounter design can make up for The Last of Us's ugly form. "trust no one", "bond with caution": it has every cliché associated with its genre but the twist is that everyone dies, sucks, or both! you can predict literally every single part of the experience if you simply assume the worst in every character. if it wasn't such a cookie-cutter game it could have probably explored some interesting angles.... but no! get along with your basic ass found family while the game sets up the next arc written entirely around a boringly artificial sad twist.