After completing it i cannot stop thinking about the game. The game has made me feel things i have never felt before. In some ways its its an absolute masterclass while in others its borderline sickening. Its the most miserable game i have ever played and i think that’s exactly what naughty dog were aiming for. Its undeniably one of the most emotional stories thats ever been told. I understand what naughty dog were trying to do and the more i think about it the more i like the game. Joels death was heartbreaking even though hes an incredibly flawed human being and for him to be killed so unceremoniously is horrible to watch but i think it really works as a hook into ellies story and it really gives you as the player the motivation to go out with ellie for vengeance. And if you take the flashbacks we are given into account its even more powerful and tragic. When joel and ellie return to Jackson after their life changing adventure in the first game, joel an extremely broken man finally finds purpose in ellie. However when ellie starts fitting in at jackson she no longer really has a need for joel and we see how joel awkwardly tries to repair their relationship and its hard not to feel bad for joel. Ellie is the last thing joel has and he desperately doesn’t want to lose her. This relationship is only worsened by joels lie which ellie soon sees past. She threatens to leave jackson if joel doesnt tell her the truth. Joel, desperate for ellie to stay admits the truth and ellie is devastated by it and tells joel to stay away from her. A Heartbreaking moment for joel. But he regrets that he didnt let ellie live the life she wanted. And the irony is that even in death joel still does this, the fact that ellie never got the opportunity to repair their relationship and forgive joel which is the reason that ellie so badly wants revenge so when she is about to kill abby by forgiving her she is also forgiving joel and now thats shes done that theres no reason for her to kill abby thus ending the “cycle of violence” The real theme of the game is forgiveness not revenge. Its not until a year later that ellie finally talks to joel again and it just so happens to be the day before his death. The two talk and ellie suggest that she wants to work towards forgiveness (just thinking about this beautiful scene gets me teary) joel is overwhelmed with happiness that it draws him to tears and thats the last time the two speak. Ellies revenge isnt just about avenging someone she loved. It was the fact that she never got the opportunity to repair that relationship. Abby represents an opposite of ellie, she is avenging someone she loved. Abby is an evil person and i believe she is to be hated but the fact that she lost her father to joel is understandable. Abby eventually realises that killing joel changed nothing and didnt help her pain at all. However the second abby section of the game is far too long and is not as interesting as the ellie one also i think the story would have benefited from less flashbacks and more stuff told in chronological order, this simple change would add so much more tension and the structure of the game wouldn't be so muddled which in turn would help the games pacing . Its one of the most memorable experiences i expect i will ever have as far as the entertainment industry goes, it will traumatise you and upset you to the point where you feel like quitting. Neil clearly wanted to try something new after the last of us. That being said the game of course is visually beautiful and the world building is excellent, the sound design is impeccable: from the shriek of a clicker echoing through a subway tunnel to the crunch of the shotgun. The soundtrack is also brilliant my boy Gustavo has teamed up with Mac Quayle from Mr robot and they have created something on par with the original. Its good to note though that Gustavo did the best tracks lol. The gameplay is very engaging, the exploration is fascinating and levels are often very open and extremely detailed. The combat is brutal and intense and the enemy designs are often terrifying, wether its the whistling of the cult like seraphytes or the slow intense engagements with groups of infected stalkers. The 1 on 1 melee fights are cool too and the brutality here is clocked up to 11. Another surprising thing that you might not expect from a naughty dog game are the genuinely well done boss fights. Confrontations with the overhauled infected bloaters are super intense and there is another encounter later on in the game with a new kind of infected that gets your heart pumping and keeps you moving, its very reminiscent of something out of resident evil. Overall i respect the game for what it was trying to do and i really like some parts of it but overall the plot is a bit of a mess and im not sure if i could recommend the game to anyone because it gets you so depressed but if you are feeling up to it, play it.