the last of us part ii is brutally beautiful, violently messy, and viscerally human. i love every aspect of this video game and it has been my #1 favorite since i originally played it about a year and a half ago. this game hits all the right notes for me in themes, gameplay, story, presentation, and so much more. it’s hard for me to put into words the impact that this game had on me then, and still has on me today on a second playthrough. but i’d like to try!

i gotta warn you though, this is an incredibly verbose, exhaustive write-up here so buckle in for an unrestrained yap session !!

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visual & technical marvel + gameplay
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to start, the game is absolutely stunning. i think the original on ps4 is tied with red dead redemption 2 for having the most jaw-dropping naturalistic environmental & character art + animation in any game ever, and the remaster is somehow that much slightly better. the crumbling seattle cityscapes being reclaimed by the earth glisten from the rain and it makes you feel the humidity. the dense, cluttered interiors are so lovingly and thoughtfully crafted in ways that make sense while still serving gameplay well. the windswept fields soaked in gold outside jackson in the prologue and farm chapters leave me awestruck. and the dry, overgrown santa barbara suburbs evoke heat and ocean spray.

the little details are one of the biggest strengths of this game. there is an apartment adorned with a d&d game left underway, with a miniature painting station just in the other room. there is a book store stacked with books never to be read, thats connected to a cafe with its own personal atmosphere. there are several unique and distinct bars, coffee shops, gyms, hospital rooms, even a martial art studio, and more that all have iconography and interiors that are all one of a kind or if they share assets, its in a smart and cohesive way. i just love it.

the player character locomotion is so dynamic and satisfying, whether youre crouched down to open a cabinet and grab supplies, or throwing yourself prone before reloading your rifle to pop an enemy’s head, the performance capture and fluidity is excellent. this extends to the cinematics as well with fantastic facial animation and beautiful cinematography. some of the best game acting and cinematics you will ever see.

one aspect of the presentation that i feel like ties it all together is the sound. absolutely fantastic foley, wether its slimey sewers or wet concrete, its all captured so well and is incredibly immersive. the screams of enemies, the slashes of knives and thuds from a solid punch are so well executed. every single gun has satisfying and unique sound effects that make every shot and every reload feel important. and the little clicky sound that shows up when you are able to craft a new item is the perfect kind of little reward that feels great. in environments where you will go long stretches before finding enough ammo or materials to make it through another encounter, it is very vital to make it feel important, and sound is a greatly utilized tool for that.

thats all without getting to the music either. the wonderful gentle guitar and banjo of gustavo santaolalla are the absolutely perfect backdrop to this world being reclaimed by earth. i am a sucker for post-apocalyptic settings and stories, as well as finger-picked acoustic guitar. they just so happen to be the perfect combination as i adore pretty much every track here. it feels grounded and authentic, as something that could still be made without access to all the music tools we have now. which you can in fact do in game! the interactive guitar playing is so unique and well-implemented i cant imagine another game doing it better, and the narrative ties it creates is incredible. the final playable moment in the game ties to the guitar playing and to me is one of the most poignant experiences ive had in a game and proves how the interactivity of this medium is what makes it so powerful.

speaking of, moving to the gameplay, i have hard time thinking of another game that has combat that feels as intense, in your face, and scrappy as this. i love the way you are forced to plan your encounters carefully and use stealth to knock out who you can before running head first into the remaining enemies using your limited resources. as someone who normally doesnt like stealth games, the mix of stealth and the options to rush down enemies works super well and i enjoy it a lot! the melee system is super satisfying with excellent animations, and the added dodge and prone mechanics makes it feel even more tense. i love the different guns and the way they handle, and the variety of melee weapons is also a lot of fun.

having to scrounge every arena for additional ammo, ingredients, and weapons is such an addicting loop. the enemey AI in this game is next-level. they search for you, fan out, can pull you out from under trucks, they feel real and terrifying in a way i have never seen a game do before. another genuinely crazy feature that i love is enemies shouting out names of fallen allies. it makes it all feel incredibly personal, and the screams of a guy who you now know is named andrew piercing the building as he bleeds out and his allies mourn him is really something no other game can offer. the dismemberment and destruction systems are really well done and add a lot. this, alongside the dynamic dialogue from enemies calling out your position, them flanking you, and the different techniques that different factions you come up against employ make every encounter blood pumping and exciting.

the player and weapon upgrades are also all handled very well. deciding which upgrade paths are important to you helps you craft a mini build and focus on the aspects of combat and stealth you enjoy most. i also have to say, one of the BEST things in this game are the weapon upgrade animations. i know they arent 100% realistic but ill be damned if this wasn’t the only kind of ASMR that works on me. seeing them file down a grip, unscrew components, or loosen a drawn bowstring are all so unbelievably satisfying and really help to sell the upgrade you are about to receive. another small but impactful aspect of this game that i adore.

as far as the “remaster” features and contents go, for $10 its really great. the texture and performance enhancements are honestly negligible, but im sure some techies out there are real happy with the boost. i also love the dual-sense implementation here. you can feel the rain pitter pattering, the different trigger resistance on different guns an the feeing of holding a drawn bow is awesome. i also turned on the feature where the dialogue has a slight rumble as well and it is incredibly immersive.

the lost levels were a really great insight into the way the game was put together, and finally getting to see the jackson festivals and boar hunt sequences is a real treat. they add a lot to the experience for me and the commentary was excellent! the guitar free play mode also is a lot of fun, messing around with the banjo and electric guitar is really cool, and getting to see the composer himself in this mode is super special!

maybe the biggest draw of this upgrade though is the no return mode, a randomized roguelike game that is a blast to run through. i really enjoyed this mode because being able to focus on the combat really helps me appreciate the excellently crafted arenas and super fun AI when im itching for a fix. i would often during the course of the story pop out and do a new run of no return just to get another fun burst of combat. it comes with tons of variety in the arenas, mods on yourself and enemies, different objectives, and also playable characters. there are a lot of fun challenges do work towards, and the skins and new characters are all really fun to experiment with. i would swap outfits all the time for ellie and abby throughout the main story, it definitely adds to the experience for me!

so yeah, well worth the upgrade for me. i also went for the platinum trophy this time around! fully upgrading every gun and skill tree on NG+ was very satisfying and hunting for the collectibles i missed the first time around was a lot of fun too.

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storytalk time, spoilers ahead!!
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i think thats most of the praise i can give just the technical and mechanical side of the game, i havent even touched on the narrative, which is arguably the most important part of the whole package! getting into the story of the last of us part ii can feel a little overwhelming. with all of the gnarly multi-layered characters and story beats, it is definitely daunting to start to dissect it all. this world and these characters mean so much to me, and every part of the bright, the dark, and the in-between have something meaningful to say in my eyes.

i think the story in this game is truly great. it is written and paced very well in my opinion, and while i understand a lot of folks have a lot of gripes, id like to explain why it resonates with me and why i think it works so well

to begin with, our two leads abby and ellie are some of the best written, well-rounded characters i think in any game ever. we get to see their confidence or lack thereof, the way their romantic feelings and relationships are developed and subsequently harmed by their obsession and pursuit of justice. we also get to see their quiet moments reflecting, and the deepest parts of who they are surface over the course of the story.

ellie is a character i see a lot of myself in. she is a bit of a comic book and trading card geek who likes old action movies, she’s nervous to talk to the girl she likes, and she has a really strong bond with those she cares for. even if sometimes those relationships can be strained by miscommunication or mistake. in a game that i view as having a heavy theme of empathy and specifically forgiveness, it hits really close to home to have someone i can see so much of myself in. obviously ive never seen loved ones killed or gone on a murder spree, but her strong personality, trauma, and complex strong bonds are something that i and i think a lot of people can empathize with.

the journey ellie goes on in this game is truly unlike any other, she starts out with this righteous rage but loses herself to obsession. she comes as low and arguably lower than the one that put her on this path, and it can be hard to see happen as she neglects and mistreats the ones that care for her and have her back. once it seems she’s on the brink of letting go, that PTSD and anger come crashing back into her peaceful life and it all barrels towards a soul-crushing and painful end. the way that this all develops and culminates is so well realized and even if you dont agree with her actions its all painfully understandable.

abby on the other hand, acts as the inverse of ellie’s arc. instead of descending deeper into pain and obsession, we see her rising out of the obsession, systems, and mental blocks that have been holding her down. she is just as dynamic and interesting to see develop. in all honesty, seeing ellie lose her humanity while abby gains it back makes abby a lot more likable, and you feel distant and hurt with ellie by the end. i love how abby is absolutely ripped, as she spent years training in order to enact her revenge. it says a lot about her as a character that she is so committed. i also love that we see what could easily be a stock “bad-ass” female character have huge emotional range, we see her scared, full of rage, and absolutely wrecked. such a fantastic character.

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a big and unnecessary breakdown of the games events:
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i love the prologue with joel taking with tommy. seeing their brotherly relationship is so nice to see, and the brief ride back to jackson as joel is a nice touch since you wont get control of him again for the rest of the story. meeting up with ellie to follow up on his promise to teacher her guitar is great, and it sets the tone right away. hearing him play future days here is a great setup for a bookending as you’ll find by the end. the opening sequence in jackson is also a good way to gently ease you into the story and introduce new characters before shit hits the fan and the story really gets moving.

the inciting incident if you will, is an incredibly powerful, stomach turning scene that fills you with all the dread and hatred you need to rocket off to seattle and serve justice

seattle day 1 begins slowly as to let you take in all that just happened. its filled with a fantastic open explorable section. i absolutely love how much you get to see of ellie’s relationship with dina here. dina is a loving and caring partner that will wants to help and remain by ellie’s side. they have such great chemistry and the open section in downtown seattle is one of my favorite because of its open design, but also because you get to spend it learning more about their history and hear their fun banter together. i loved using the fold-out map rather than a minimap to mark interesting spots and scour the area. i’ll take in universe stuff like that rather than UI any day. if last of us 3 ever gets made, i dont want it open world, but i would love to see more areas like this where you have an objective but can explore a lot more. having different connected open zones would be a lot of fun. in the making of documentary they mention being inspired by bloodborne. i would LOVE to see some interconnected levels like that. also, the rope physics are also BONKERS so much fun to use! i also love the visuals here, its absolutely breathtaking.

eastbrook elementary is a great set piece and a fun combat encounter, it starts ratcheting up the tension really fast. capitol hill is another fun encounter, and channel 13 is a personal favorite setting. discovering the gruesome scene and finding another clue before having to battle your way out against the WLF is really fun. the cadence they set of big encounters and set pieces interspersed with slower exploration and resource gathering feels great. the escape through the tunnels is super claustrophobic and terrifying, and the red lighting from the flares is super atmospheric. ending at the theater feels like a great release from tension. dina and ellie both share big secrets too. dina learns of ellie’s immunity, and dina shares she is pregnant and not feeling so hot. we start to immediately see ellie’s distancing from dina here and it is a little tough. they both need some time to cool off.

we’re then treated to the first flashback sequence, which i absolutely adore. it gives us that glimpse of what we miss between joel and ellie, but it ends on a stinger where you have a feeling their good relationship wont last forever. the small pokemon reference joel makes here put a big smile on my face.

on to day 2, hillcrest is an all timer great level for me. the level design and enemy placement is excellent, i love running through this sequence. its also a level where i feel i can smell the humid rotting homes and feel the damp grass, its just a very immersive environment. then meeting up with jesse and racing back to the theater in the truck is just a rush of adrenaline. jesse as a character is a great addition who feels like the most reliable and gentle guy you could ever find. the art book i have describes him as a classic rugged dependable cowboy, and i honestly think thats really apt.

the next flashback here is great, i love ellies interactions with tommy and getting to do a full combat with joel is really fun! but that nagging feeling of the withheld truth taints the whole thing, and they do start to argue about it. then we arrive at another one of my favorite sequences in the game, meeting the seraphites for the first time. the moon-soaked park with huge wet leaves fickering with nearby fire is such a crazy strong atmosphere, and seeing their cult shenanigans from a distance before getting struck with an arrow and hearing their freaky ass scary whistling is an incredible moment.

once you make it through a very fun and tense encounter, you then make your way through a comic convention building starring the SCARIEST freaks ever, the stalkers. not being able to use listen mode on them is so spooky😭. after crashing into and crawling out of the sewers, you make it to the hospital where you then chase down and corner one of abby’s friends nora to get abby’s location. making the player hit square to beat information out of her is a really powerful narrative moment that hilights how far ellie really is willing to go.

seeing ellie’s reaction to the day she had and the torture she just committed is something that helps us stay with her and reminds us she DOES in fact have a conscience. we are then treated to the last joel and ellie flashback for a while, where she finds out the truth of what happened in salt lake. their relationship is over. also shoutout to the grey depression hoodie, great outfit choice.

day 3 you leave with jesse to go find tommy, but ellie is still on the hunt and wants to go to the aquarium for abby instead. jesse is understandably upset and leaves to find tommy, even further hilighting ellie’s selfishness and how her obsession drives her away from those who care about her. the boat sequence is a ton of fun with some great exploration and combat encounters. the arcade bloater fight is definitely a hilight. when you finally get to the aquarium and break in, ellie tries to mimick joel’s interrogation tactics in a heartbreakingly amateur way, and when it goes wrong you are forced to kill a dog, a pregant woman, and abby’s best friend. the sound design here calling back to the lodge in jackson is incredibly effective and again just makes you feel so much dread and guilt. ellie is even more shaken and its a relief that tommy and jesse were close behind and able to take her back to the theater.

i absolutely loved ellie’s campaign. each day is filled with something unexpected and new, both in setting and gameplay. and seeing her fall deeper and deeper into obsession and hatred is very harrowing to witness and enact.

relief doesnt last long though. after finally deciding they will leave abby behind to go back for dina’s health, they are halted as abby breaks in, attacks, and you know it’s time for a confrontation.

only that doesnt happen.

you are treated to a flashback as abby, where we finally learn her motivation, her father is the scientist the player killed as joel in the first game. the cut between abby sobbing holding her dead father to then putting us in her shoes at the foot of ellie’s dead father is an incredibly powerful moment. we then proceed to play through all 3 days again, but from abby’s perspective. seeing the text of seattle day 1 slowly fade in is such a crazy feeling, and seeing upgrade paths and new guns to upgrade really lets you know you are getting ready for the second half of this ride.

introduced as the killer as our beloved hero, it was probably the ballsiest move possible to put us in her shoes and get us to empathize with her. i understand some people will never get on board with this concept, but for me this is wildly effective, and seeing how joel and ellie’s actions eventually come around makes so much sense and leads to a fantastic story.
some people complain about the pacing, and while it does feel like it comes to a small reset at the halfway point, honestly as far as it comes to combat difficulty + complexity, and the development of themes in the story, it carries right along the natural progression. so while not traditional at all, i think it works really well for me. they also fastrack parts and supplements you collect as abby so you can feel up to speed quicker.

abby’s seattle day 1 starts in the WLF stadium. i absolutely love this setting, such a unique concept to turn a stadium into a farm and huge living complex. but it absolutely works! seeing where such a huge military presence can come from is really interesting and adds some great world building.

the supporting cast for abby is also excellent. owen and mel are childhood friends that add an important way to ground abby and they try their best to talk her down and help her out. i also really enjoy manny, he is funny and a great help.

a mission heading to another base goes wrong, and abby has to make it back on foot with two of her companions. you also meet the big boss isaac who you’ve been reading so much about and learn the WLF are planning on attacking the cult guys in a few days.

getting to talk to and spend time with the people (and dogs) that you have already murdered as ellie is an insane experience, it makes you sit there and really consider all the actions you have taken so far. we are also treated to abby’s flashbacks, where we can see her fun relationship with owen. however, similar to ellie, there is something driving them apart, only this time it is her obsession with finding joel. i find this to be an interesting mirror to ellie and dina’s relationship. ellie goes through all the same beats that abby did in the leadup to her super murder moment.

eventually abby is kidnapped, and we are treated to an absolutely brutal cutscene introducing lev and yara, two young on the run seraphite siblings. i love the rainey forest and the burning car, it creates an intense and terrifying atmosphere that i love. this is followed by an absolutely exhilarating combat and escape sequence with the infected. oh yeah have i mentioned this is a zombie game? the zombies are really scary dude. in this game though they serve as part of the backdrop and mythology, and serve the themes very well for this ruthless world.

yara is a great character, her love for her family and struggle with her faith is another aspect that hits close to home. for me though the obvious hilight in abby’s crew is lev. such a funny, sweet, and strong individual. i am not trans myself but i have a few trans people i am close to, and am someone who has personal experience with gender strangeness, so having a trans person included in the story where their identity is an important factor of the story, but does not define them, is a really important thing to me. the queer characters and storylines in this game in general are handled really well.

abby doesnt want to help them too much though because their two teams are not cool with each other. after a horrible nightmare though, abby decides to start going against her programming and help the two stranded kids.

day 2 we go and collect them before mel diagnoses poor yara’s arm with “its gotta go” syndrome and sending us off to find medical supplies. this segment with lev is one of the best in the game, crossing the skybridge and confronting abby’s fear if heights is a fantastic set piece. i love seeing the different ways the seraphites live within the city. lev even passing on some teachings from the religion thats abandoned him is a really strong moment that is a very realistic part of deconstruction. we also start to learn more about lev’s story as we confront some seraphites, and getting to murder some culty assholes who deadname him is a very cathartic experience. making your way down through the hotel is such a fun sequence too, as you have to navigate crazy falling apart rooms and and confront loads of nasty infected freaks. the level design and verticality here are a real standout to me.

this keeps ramping up as you explore the ground zero of the city in the base of the hospital. this is peak survival horror gameplay and environment storytelling. one of few real boss fights takes place here, and it is with the RAT KING. i absolutely love this fight, as you scramble around the arena picking up ammo and craftables as you desperately try to not get mowed over by this behemoth of a beast. i love just unloading every gun and bomb you have until eventually its over. such a terrifying concept to have bodies meld together over decades but it makes so much sense and makes for a fantastic fight.

on day 3, after yara’s surgery, you head out because lev is going back to cult island to try and convince their mom to leave with owen and abby and get out of seattle. this is a move that filled me with a lot of heartache because you can pretty much guess how well something like that would go for poor lev after already getting kicked out. on your way to pick out a boat, you meet up with manny again and you do the super fun sniper sequence and it really is a shock to see it was tommy on the other end! afterwards you are able to make it to the island but it seems the WLF attack is already underway. seeing more of the seraphite village as you sneak through is another great world building moment, getting insight on their different way of life is fascinating. it’s devastating to find a broken and sobbing lev having accidentally killed their mom in a scuffle. not being able to fully make up with a parent is the same trauma that ellie has to endure, and my heart breaks for them both.

on your way to escaping the island, abby is forced to choose between her own people, and the ones that have stuck with her. she makes her choice, and hearing the incredibly powerful line of “youre my people” in response to lev’s shock at her betrayal to her own people is one of the most emotional moments in the game for me. seeing the WLF and seraphite war fully unfold around you as the island goes up in flames is visually stunning and the horseback ride through the village and fields all ending in a knockdown dragout fight with this humungous seraphite is a fantastic end to this segment. when i first experienced this part, I was absolutely devastated when abby had to leave her backpack behind with all her upgrades and materials!! but that made me realize we were on our way to the aquarium to have the horror of walking in on such a gruesome scene push us all the way to the theater where we finally get to see the confrontation play out.

i wasnt sure what could possibly come next back at the theater, but they do the coolest and most wild choice they could, which is dueling ellie AS abby. being at the mercy of ellie’s familiar arsenal of traps, dodges, and shit talking is an unreal experience, and one that i think is fantastic. gaining the upper hand as abby is satisfying but also terrifying, because you dont want to hurt ellie! but if abby’s section of the game has won you over at all, honestly maybe you do. at this point i just wanted both girls to let it go. abby rocks her shit, and is about to kill dina before lev steps in. seeing abby have the strength to spare them both is something that i did not expect. ellie just killed mel, so telling abby dina is pregnant rings so hollow. leaving them both bleeding out on the floor she says she better not see them again. truthfully, i fully believe abby is done with it all here. obviously she is full of rage and grief, but after realizing killing joel brought her no kind of relief, she really does know theres nothing more in it to gain.

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ending
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alright, if you’re still here with me, we are entering into what i think is the most impactful section of the game. we cut to maybe a year later, and dina and ellie are living an idyllic life on a beautiful farm outside of jackson, with dina’s baby having been born! the view from the tractor out onto the sunset is one that i think will stay with me forever. we also see a flashback to dina and ellie’s first kiss, the night before it all went down. i love the jackson atmosphere, and the music and lights are so fun and lively. we also see though ellie yelling at joel for coming to her defense after a jerk yells a slur at her. she still doesnt want his help. but this possibly being their last ever interaction is so tough to think about.

this glimpse into their wonderful life fills me with so much joy, but also heartache, because it too cant last forever.

its absolutely heartbreaking to see tommy come limping to the farm, saying he heard of where abby is now and begging ellie to finish the job, as she’s the only one that can. i absolutely adore tommy. his story is just as tragic and id say he lost just as much as ellie.

and she has to do it. its another moment where as a player holding the controller you beg ellie to stay, just as dina does. but she is haunted by the death if joel and knowing abby is still out there keeps here from coming close to peace. ellie leaving in the night is absolutely heartbreaking and i feel the raw heavy emotions that dina pours out begging her to stay. they have a family and a good life, and she pleads that she cant let abby be more important than that. but ellie’s made her choice and leaves dina alone crying in yhe kitchen. its just another moment that affected me so deeply.

the santa barbara portion of the game is a great final encapsulation of everything the game has been giving to the players throughout the whole runtime. a beautiful environment filled with interesting history and factions that we are just now stumbling into. the environment here is beautiful and a really nice change of scenery from all the blues and greens weve gotten so much of up until now. the small playable section as abby shows again how much brighter and hopeful her side of the story is as she and lev pick up a clue and are planning to meet up with the fireflies. on their way though they are ambushed by a new faction, the rattlers. they are bunch of nasty shit heads that chain up living and dead alike. we see more of them as ellie arrives in santa barbara looking for clues on abbys whereabouts. she gets trapped and heavily wounded but is able to outsmart the rattlers that found her and is directed towards their base.

raiding their compound and seeing the chained up clickers is inhumane and terrifying, and it leads to some really dynamic and exciting encounters where you can sneak around and unchain them and use the clickers against them. it feels great to do as while the clickers dont have their humanity left, giving them a chance to get back at their captors is a great mini arc for them. finally you let the prisoners go and learn abby is down at whats called the pillars, essentially sent there and left to die.

ellie struggles to even walk down to the beach, where she finds and emaciated and tortured abby. this is such a sad and terrifying moment, and the visual design of this area really freaks me out. in shock, she lets her down and abby immediately goes to free lev before waving ellie further down the beach where there are boats they can use to escape. ellie trails behind abby, hand on her side until they make it to the waves. and then joel’s bloodied smashed head flash in her mind and ellie cant stop herself. she says abby has to fight her and threatens lev’s life if she doesnt.

what proceeds is the most grueling, agonizing duel i think ive ever witnessed. abby could easily take on ellie as she has in the past, but because of her months of imprisonment and ellie’s large wound in her side, its honestly just a painful, brutal and slow duel. both girls are kicking and screaming, and breathing hard as they try and land a slice or a punch on the other, each faltering more with the effort it takes to make a single blow. as an interactive experience, you really want to put the controller down. this fight doesnt need to happen. and if you do abby wins! but thats a fail state. you have to keep getting back up. the two girls fight and scrap until abbys arm is cut up and bleeding to hell, and abby ripped off two of ellies fingers with her teeth and cast her knife away into the ocean. eventually ellie has abby pinned down with her face under the water. she holds her there, stepping on her flailing legs and it really feels like this is it.

and then we see a flash of joel on the porch. ellie’s rage and anger fade to nothing as she lets go and abby comes gasping up for air. she launches the boat with lev after ellie delivers the absolutely crushing line of “just take him”. in my eyes, this line is less about lev and more joel. ellie is giving her either permission or forgiveness, whatever she can find in her cold broken heart to say that joel was already gone. and killing abby could never bring that back. the shot of ellie cross legged on the beach, completely alone is one of the most harrowing visuals i have ever witnessed and is another point that i think will stick with me forever. the song that plays at the beginning of the credits is called “beyond desolation” and i cant think of a better descriptor for what you are left with here.

before the credits though, we follow ellie back to the farm house where it is completely empty with all of ellie’s art and belongings being shoved into one room. dina followed through on her promise to leave because she couldn’t be a part of ellie’s obsession any more. she picks up the guitar and in maybe the most impactful and tragic moment of the entire game, you try and play future days, to call back memories of joel. only because of the fingers she lost in the fight with abby, she cant hold the chords and it sounds thin, incomplete, and broken. what an unbelievably effective moment. it ties back to what i was saying in that, because of interactive moments like this i feel like video games have a certain power that no other type of media can hold.

the final flashback we see gives the full context to the night before in jackson. joel is playing guitar on the porch and ellie approaches. she grills him about giving jesse a hard time and coming to her defense at the dance when she didnt need it. then ellie gets to the core of their divide.

“i should have died in that hospital. my life would have fucking. mattered.”

“if somehow the lord gave me another chance at that moment, i would do it, all over again.”

“i dont think i can ever forgive you for that.
but i’d like to try…”

“i’d like that”

“okay”

no embrace, no i love you. just a promise to attempt reconciliation. and that was the last they saw of each other. it gives everything she just went through even more weight behind it. her seeing a glimpse of this memory and letting abby go i think speaks to the strong themes of forgiveness in the story. she cant forgive joel, that was taken from her. but she can forgive abby. that means something completely different but its worth a try.

as we return to ellie and the guitar, you see the strong reflection, regret, but eventual acceptance on her face. she props the guitar up and leaves the farm.

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conclusion
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when i originally finished the story, i sat with it for about a week, just stewing and contemplating on every single thing that i had experienced and what it all meant. this time ive been doing the same for already several days. i cant think of another piece of media that sits with me the same as this. coming around a second time also has helped me i think have a fuller grasp on things, since i knew all the beats i could spend longer looking at foreshadowing and subtext and it is just a very rich and cohesive package.

there are many things that that this game touches on. religious trauma, martyrdom, and identity are all here. obsession, power, rage, and justice. grief, loss, pain, and emptiness. there is war, violence, and suffering. and there is of course the powerful commentary and reflection on the cycle of violence and how destructive it can be, and the great power needed to end it. the darkest parts of humanity bear themselves out in this game.

but we also see all the goodness there is in the world. care, passion, and hope. parenthood, family, and friendship. community, hard work, and perseverance. there are so many moments where we see people working together and putting others first. we also see love in many of its forms: romantic love, familial love, platonic love, and love for nature and the world. the lowest of lows is interspersed with the brightest spots that we as humans are capable of.

this game presents of such a wide and deep exploration of the full spectrum of humanity and it is such an astonishing achievement.

but as ive said before, i think what i take away as the main theme of the game is forgiveness. forgiving ourselves, forgiving others, and finding empathy within yourself where you might not even want to. as abby, we are searching for the forgiveness of our close friends. as ellie, you are devastated to have lost the chance to forgive joel, but maybe forgiving abby might bring some sense of closure. and as a player, do we forgive abby? do we forgive ellie? are we sided with dina in a way where it feels like she went past the point of no return? or is there a small part of ellie that can come back and rebuild a relationship and those good parts of herself.

this game leaves me with so many questions and so much to consider. i know for a fact that i will continue to reflect on the experience this game has given me, and i know when i come back to it in the future it will probably have new questions and answers that arise.

what a devastating, beautiful, soul-crushing, thought provoking experience. thats also super satisfying and fun to play!

thank you for reading this all the way if you have!
and thank you naughty dog for all of your long years of hard work. i cant wait to see what you make next!!

-jakey

This review will be my final thoughts on Cyberpunk 2077, and I’m a proud gamer to say that I LOVE the living hell out of this game.

It feels like it was only yesterday when Cyberpunk 2077 first released. If you’re like me who has played from day 1 then you’ll know exactly how far Cyberpunk 2077 has come. In this review I will talk about everything I loved within this game and my perspective on how this game has changed over the years, and ultimately why I had such a deep connection to this game to the point that I consider Cyberpunk 2077 to be my favorite video game.

Now of course Cyberpunk 2077 had a super rough launch. When I first played back in 2020 I encountered a bug after just playing 2 mins. Little did I know I was in for a very messy game. Everyone has had their own experiences playing this game, everything from having a few bugs to having game braking bugs to people who have had corrupted save game files. This game had so many problems that took a long time to fix. And it’s sad to say the least because underneath all those bugs was a truly incredible game that I did in fact get enjoyment out of. But for this review I’ll focus more on what on 2.0 or later while somewhat bringing up things before the 2.0 patch. To start things I LOVE vehicle combat. I honestly didn’t mind very much that there wasn’t vehicle combat before but then I didn’t realize just how much I needed it because I LOVE that you can use your own weapons or even use built in weapons like machine guns or rockets launchers which are SUPER effective. Use can also use throwing knives and blades while riding motorcycles which is also a nice touch for those that want to go for a blades only build. I also love this new aspect to the game simply because it adds more immersion. I LOVE the feeling of getting attacked out of nowhere because I maybe screwed over a gang of goons by stealing something from them or for killing a high ranking leader to their gang. It brings up consequences to your actions I loved that a lot. I also love the new skill tree system. Before 2.0, yes the skill tree was a mess but it was still doable to go for a build you want. I usually do netrunner builds or a mix of netrunning and gunner. In my most recent playthrough I did a blades only build and I have to say it was definitely one of my favorite builds I ever tried for Cyberpunk 2077. I LOVE the feeling of being able to block or deflect every bullet coming my way and being fast enough to zero my enemies and throwing knives brought stealth to a whole new level. Cyberpsycho gigs were also great because you can duel some of these cyberpsychos and they can offer a decent challenge depending on how powerful you make V. As for my netrunner builds I absolutely love to experiment with what I can do. You can use quickhacks like ping which show the locations of all you enemies in a building or use quickhacks like suicide or system collapse to kill off troublesome foes with little effort. Or you can even have electrical damage quickhacks to easily take down robots or any mechanical enemies you will encounter. Or perhaps you’re facing an enemy with a sandevistan that is too fast for you to shoot them, in that case you can use the cyberware glitch quickhack to disable their cyberware long enough for you to kill them. My point being, there’s so MANY quickhacks to use for many different situations and that’s why I love messing around with netrunner builds but that’s just me. The graphics are beautiful and stunning and that’s not to mention that I LOVE the level of detail through the visuals we can see. The world is a story within itself by showing us these dirty and ghetto streets full of neon light and advertisements everywhere with crime and poverty around every corner. You can even find that the more rich areas are a lot cleaner and more well maintained not because it’s a safe place to be. The sound design is also VERY underrated. I remember going to Pacifica and hearing the speaker system that played ads being all messed up and glitchy showing us a nice small detail that Night City doesn’t really take care of their districts that they hardly have much control of because either gangs took it over or a big homeless encampments took over. The sound effects for guns sound solid and crisp and that’s great since some guns can have their own unique sounds. Something I definitely liked a lot was being able to collect iconic weapons which either belonged to an important character or just simply have unique buffs or features. Something that I didn’t like that the 2.0 patch did was remove the feature where you can change the scope for the snipers you can use. I HATE that this feature was removed because now you have to get used to whatever scope you get built into whatever sniper you use. And this bothered me because sometimes the built in scope sucks and it was better when you could use whichever scope you wanted. That aside you can still use any scope you want for most weapons and even add a silencer if you’re interested enough. And one of the best parts of the gameplay is easily the cyberware. Honestly I’m 50/50 with how cyberware works now after 2.0. On one hand I still love that you can use cyberware like double jumps or monowire or have an invisibility implant which helps a lot through your adventure through Night City. What I don’t like is how this is tied to your armor. Depending what kind of cyberware you want or need, your armor will depend on that I honestly preferred it more when armor was tied to the outfit you wore. Nonetheless, it’s not a big deal and is tolerable. There’s also a cyberpsychosis system where if you have too much cyberware you begin to have debuffs to make you struggle more in combat and honestly it barely made a difference to me since my V was still a powerhouse regardless. I loved exploring Night City finding secrets and really just enjoying the gorgeous views. 2.0 added a new fast travel system where you can now use the subway system. I personally only used that system once just to enjoy the scenery and I never really used it again since I’d much rather prefer to drive with my own free will. I always like to drive to my next objective just for the fun of it. And the soundtrack is GODLY in this game. The music always hits at the right moments and I love the radio music so much. I had many times where I just didn’t want to get out of my car just because I was listening to one of my favorite songs. In 2.0 there’s a portable radio where you can listen to the radio while walking on foot which I personally didn’t like at all. I like being able to listen to the world around me instead and I didn’t like how I had to turn off the radio every time I got out of a vehicle, so I ended up turning off the portable radio in the settings of the game.

And the story for Cyberpunk 2077 is something truly special. You start off by choosing one of 3 life paths which will change dialogue options based V’s views on the world, these can either benefit you in some way or just simply be there for the story. Anyway, the story revolves around V, a solo mercenary and a professional one at that who aims high to make it to the major leagues and be the best legend Night City has ever seen. But, things don’t always go your way and V is put in a horrifying situation where V will do anything to survive. The story had so many twists and turns and yes, some of those twists will depend on your choices. Your choices won’t necessarily affect the main story at least not to a certain extent but there will be different outcomes and some things will happen to certain characters. Yes, you will hurt people, but is it in your best interest? Or is because you want to do what’s right based on your morals. The reason I bring this up is because there may be choices you have to make and sometimes it’s tough to make these choices because you don’t know what comes nexts. There’s many characters you’ll interact with and I love most of them. Johnny and Jackie are easily the most hilarious characters. There will also be characters that you don’t get to know much about like Mama Welles or Evelyn but you’ll feel sympathetic for them because of what they go through. You’ll even meet characters you’ll hate and be willing to screw them over just because you hate them. There are side storylines for characters you can romance if you’d like and I loved it a lot because it really did add more for the story. Something else I loved are the MANY computer messages you can read. If you want to know more about some characters you can find out even more about them you would never guessed about them. And honestly, props to CDPR for EVERY last data shard in the game. If you have the dedication, please take the time to read as many data shards as you can because you’ll learn a lot about the history and lore of Cyberpunk 2077. I can go on and on about what loved about the story but what I will say for this review is that is among one of the best stories I’ve ever seen for it’s exceptional writing in a dystopian dark future.

At the end of the day, I’ve realized why I loved Cyberpunk 2077 so damn much. It isn’t just because I loved the story or loved the immersion. The reason I loved Cyberpunk 2077 is because it helped me rediscover what it means to have fun in a video game. And to have fun, you simply just got to enjoy what you got. And of course I’m not saying you have to enjoy what you got, I’m saying as long you’re getting enjoyment out of it then that’s what matters most and what I got from Cyberpunk 2077 is true happiness. This is a video game I will always remember from the bottom of my heart as a reminder to have fun. I really do want to thank CDPR for not only making a masterpiece but to thank them for giving me a video game that truly changed my perspective on gaming.

Adrenaline inducing, mindless, non stop action. Basically Hotline Miami but you play as an Ape. What really makes this special is getting on that state of flow, just focused, while some amazing music is playing pretty much syncronized with and based on your gameplay.

Really fun and quick experience.

Edit: Great game for beginners at speedrunning too. Grinded a lil bit of it and managed to get to 7th place on speedrun.com. Fell to 10th place now though.

"Until the day we meet again"

Gonna pump out some Shinra propaganda for listening while you read this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftFF70_9cog

Bai Gawd it has been a wonderful year for so many great new releases and this one has yet again topped my list so far this year. I am definitely a major fanboy for this one since I grew up around this Final Fantasy as my introduction to this life changing series for me. From playing the games, watching my brother play it, to watching the Advent Children movie when we were younger and reaching this point now and playing the next installment of this remake. Revisiting the locations and witnessing some of these scenes and nearly improving in so many areas and the party feels so alive and the interactions made my heart so damn happy. This game is a rollercoaster of emotions in a great way! From laughing out loud to the unexpected jokes to the tearful emotional moments.

Overall gameplay has been definitely improved on and I love how the quicker you think ahead pays off with the synergy moves and making nearly every party member so damn fun to play and experiment with. RED XIII was definitely one of my absolute favorites to play with! I love how the other party members are in the background in some of the fights as well and you can see them fighting other enemies as well. Could not believe how much mini games they threw in here as well and all are pretty nice to breakup the repetition and have you always doing unique things and Queens Blood is definitely the brightest most addictive diamond of the bunch.

I knew the soundtrack was gonna hit me with some damn fine tunes like the first installment did, but of course I still underestimated them. I will also say some of the side quests are pretty good to do and the banter between party members is so good and makes for some additional lore and fanservice for our favorite characters except Chadley who can go suck a Chocobo egg! I loved how much Barrett was fleshed out in this one they did his story with Dyne damn well and goddamn that man is such a badass party member to have once you get into late game territory.

By no means is it the perfect game, but for longtime fans of the original it is one hell of a treat and I am curious to see where they continue to go with telling the story in its new ways. I was on the fence about this one with its new twists and turns to the story changes, but I feel like it worked out really well. I am definitely cool with waiting a bit for the next part considering all the RPGS I still need to get to, the new and old ones! I could certainly go on and talk about every little detail, but I don't wanna be like these game trailers nowadays that tell you every little thing about games and want you to experience it for yourself!

Playing Vanquish is like having three seizures at the same time, all while jumping with a parachute from a skyscraper. It's up to you to figure out if it's a bad thing or a good thing.

I'm 100% sure that this is exactly how Shinji Mikami and all of Platinum Games percieve the United States and americans, and I'd say it's about 90% accurate. This game was made by (talented) monkeys, for monkeys, so it's just my thing. The story is stupid, and most of it is told through goddamn loading screens, that last about 2 seconds, so you better read fast. But of course it's not about the story, but the incredibly realistic and absolutely not charicaturised cast of characters; from the top of my head i can't remember a single name, but there was the dude that looked like Raiden who was really cool and smoked like 4 packs of cigaretts in a 7 hour game, the old bionic commando, who's sometimes an asshole and sometimes a little puppy sweetheart, the hot lady, who was there because she's hot, and the russian guy with the same name as the italian volleyball guy (big fan). I'd say that's about it.

The gameplay is fun even though it's pretty unpolished, and it's really easy to see that at higher difficulties (you get one-shotted sooo many times without knowing how you actually died that it's hard to count).The shooting is simple but fun, the cover system surprisingly works pretty well, most weapons are fun to use and there's a good enough enemy variety for a game of this lenght. The bossfights are really cool when they're not completely unfair, with 10000 bullets flying everywhere and 0 covers (but this may be a problem of higher difficulties), and there are a couple that stand out (like when you have to kill dr Manhattan twice). The game works best when you're moving everywhere at the speed of sound, but i'd hoped that there would have been more mechanics related to the dash, other than the slowmo. The highlight of the game though are the cutscens; you can smell Shinji Mikami a mile away.

It's dumb fun, but I think this will appeal only to a certain kind of public. It's roughnessess are forgiven only because this feels like an indie project without an indie budget (and I say this in the most positive way possible). Surely not the game of life, but you'll play this with a big, stupid smile on your face most of the time (when you're not trying destroy your room cause of the oneshot deaths). It also has the greatest end credits of videogame history.

I'm not a big fan of the rogue lite/like genre, but I have to admit that this surprisingly works pretty well! I enjoyed the experience and I think it takes the biggest strenght of the core game (the combat system) and brings it in a very different context, but it still doesn't feel forced at all.
The thing I was most interested in though was the story, and even if it didn't deliver the ending to Ragnarok i would have hoped for, it still brought a satisfying sense of conclusion to Kratos' story and struggles. I appreciated it a lot, but I think this will hit much harder for those who have played the og games.
Most impressive thing is they decided to give this DLC for free; it feels criminal to play this without paying for it

My first instinct was to regard this as a “flawed, but promising” take on the game-night horror boom - but as the experience sat with me, Ive started to realize: I dont think this game has a soul. I dont believe that the game itself' believes in its concept. Much like its subject matter, this feels like a stunt. A toothy-grinning facade hoping to capture nothing but attention, like a decoy predator. A skinwalker, a doppelganger. A veneer. It almost tricked me, almost got in.

Which isnt to say the game is nefarious. What Im saying is, I dont think its… well-meant. Theres an obscured hollowness to it. A fakeness. Plastic, dressed to look warm but when you touch it all you feel is cold - and there is a low-level deceptiveness to that. Your nerves sense it, they fill you with distrust. I withhold my trust from it.

The worst thing that you could do to a series like this is make it an open world experience when the previous formula already described the universe in itself, jumping into a narrative that's more complex than it is for it's own good.

Although I didn't finish this game, I saw enough to think "yeah, this is not Metro" or at least, not the Metro I grew to appreciate and love. I don't know what they were thinking, there's just so much wrong here I would have never have expected from this series.

What made 2033 and Last Light so special was that the gameplay spoke for itself in terms of portraying the narrative and the universes' characters. You came across things that were visually presented to you instead of in your face exposition dump in every scene. I think that's what annoyed me the most when I attempted to play this and not only that, but the complexity is just too much for this franchise.

2033 and Last Light were masters at making something great out of something so simple. Just a straight forward task. Exodus introduces you with complex ideas and dumps so much on you within an hour of playtime that it just feels more unnatural and less organic than it's predecessors more than anything. It's overreaching, trying to live up to it's past glory by attempting to create something that they thought would make the narrative the best in the series simply by adding things that didn't need to be there.

In the way of gameplay, I don't know why this feels more jank than remasters of older games. It doesn't feel as smooth as 2033 or Last Light, it felt a lot more sluggish.

I'm afraid Metro fell victim to the threequel curse, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on this game as a whole. I may be shelving it for now but hopefully I come back to this game in a few months time and find that instead I don't mind it as much.

"He is gone, he did what he could, and now he has gone to meet his kin. I can't judge him for that, the remainders of humanity are finishing each other off in their final fight. It is not his war. I hope he was able to forgive us... me, for what we did to his brothers and sisters. His mother and father."

Once in a blue moon a studio releases a sequel to a cult classic game that not only lives up to it's expectations but also elevates itself above it's predecessor. Metro: Last Light is one such case in which this rarity in gaming is achieved.

In every aspect, Last Light takes what made 2033 great and does something even greater. Not only delivering a more straight forward, exhilarating and epic narrative, but despite very few changes, delivers the best gameplay experience of the two.

2033 felt very eerie in it's own right (as did Last Light) in a sense that the tunnels owned you and there was very little enjoyment in confronting endless waves of enemies. It was a great sense of dread that brought to 2033 one of the best survival horror atmospheres. What I liked about Last Light though is how much the tables seem to have turned gameplay wise. No longer feeling stuck in tunnels with the enemy, but rather the enemy being stuck in them with you.

I think it's a nice contrast to show to the player what Artyom has become and how you can change him by the end of the narrative in such impactful ways. I'm not even sure if it was intentional, but it added such a great layer to the gameplay that I absolutely loved making every enemy encounter endlessly fun and satisfying.

The cast of characters are mostly the same but they are so much more likable here. I remember not having much of a thought about any of them in 2033, I think that was really my only complaint, but they're so much more easy to invest into here. Especially characters like Pavel and literally anyone who was involved within the narrative bits relating to the war. The dialogue and voice acting seems to improved too, not that they were too bad in 2033 anyways.

What else can I say? It's Metro at it's finest, though I am yet to play Exodus, I think it'll be a challenge for Last Light to be topped by anything that comes after it in this series be it Exodus or the in-progress fourth installment... but I'm willing to give them a chance.