That’s what I thought too. I just never really read into it too much though because it doesn’t affect the story imo.
I just finished the game last night and enjoyed it for the most part. I'm not sure what the thinking was behind playing as the antagonist for great stretches; perhaps they were trying to get us to sympathize with Abby and her cause, but that kind of defeats its own purpose when it comes to the ending and who you have to fight. Still, I enjoyed the movie, errr game even though it didn't end the way I would have liked. I'm kind of surprised that they didn't give you a safe way of subduing dogs in this game, like a stun gun or tranquilizer gun. I'm pretty sure that animal lovers were freaking out about it. I had to pop a dog last night and my wife was taken aback. Those damn Shamblers! That garage scene where the sniper (won't say his name) picks you off and all those runners and that Shambler are chasing you was my most difficult level. Must have died 20 times before deciding to use pipe bombs.
I felt similar when I finished, but I think the point of having you play as Abby for a good chunk is intended to showcase the parallels between her and Ellie. I don’t see either character as an antagonist tbh. I didn’t love playing as Abby at first, but after sitting on the game for over a month, I think it’s a really bold choice that works very well.
Got the Platinum trophy for this game last night. I really enjoyed the gameplay but there are some story and pacing issues. The first games story is pretty tight. Not many plots holes. Part 2 has a good amount. I think there was a good outline to the story of Part 2 but the execution was a bit botched up. WLF and Scars could been more fleshed out. Both are just bad gangs in a war. Isaac could have used more scenes and I think the Scars needed a prominent leader character. Some of moments in Abby’s story felt like it was chosen for spectacle first and story second. The whole sniper moment was cool to play but it’s narrative came out of no where. It’s just not that believable that in the whole city of Seattle that Abby just magically finds her friend in a shoot out. Scars are cool in concept but it’s to soon to have its religion become what it was. Ellie’s friends all magically go to Seattle at different moments just to meet up. The whole first kiss scene should have been early in the game. It had no impact later in the game. The Joel and Ellie moments were easily the best moments in the narrative showing how strong those characters are together. Overall the game is like a B. Still above average but it’s far from a masterpiece.
There was an update on Thursday introducing a “permadeath” option as well as some cool filters and additional cheat options. Great for replayability. Personally, though, I’m more interested in the Factions 2 multiplayer they’re developing. I don’t know if it’s going to be a standalone game or an add-on to TLOU2. Either way, I can’t wait. I’m really into the Factions multiplayer from the first game.
Thanks to a close friend (and because I apparently hate myself) I recently subjected myself to TLOU2. We were having fun laughing at how terrible it was at the beginning, but then it just kept going... and going, and going and by the end we just wanted it to end. Calling this game shit is an insult to shit. I'm not even the biggest fan of the first game but I understood it and appreciated what it did well. TLOU2 does basically nothing right and should only serve as a lesson on how not to create a piece of art. There's so much more I could say, but to be perfectly honest besides the memes and great critiques, the game itself is just such an ugly and unpleasant thing to look at that I genuinely feel like I'm wasting my time devoting energy to it when many other more talented individuals have worded why it's so awful better than I ever could. It's a terrible game with a terrible story and terrible characters, I feel like Neil Druckmann should compensate us for drudging through that garbage. Literally the only positives about this thing are the memes and fat Geralt, whose entrance involves him fully winding up a punch and knocking someone flat out onto the ground. We had to pause the game momentarily because of how hard we were laughing. So yeah, play Ghost of Tsushima instead.
Lmao are you not excited for part three?! I mean, that's the only reason I can think of why they didn't let you kill Abby; none of that "revenge bad" horse sh*t. The only way ND would be able to redeem themselves is if TLOU3 stars Fat Geralt as the main protagonist and he doesn't get killed in the first three seconds.
ND as a developer is basically dead. The whole "fastest selling title on PS4" title means jack and shit because what are the total sales to date? The game's sales drop-off in the Asian countries was abysmal (the fact they had to sell the damn game in bundles with consoles that could not play the game at cheaper prices than the console by itself simply to get rid of stock should say a lot about how bad it did). I'd be shocked if the game ended up doing more than simply breaking even given the insane resource sink it proved to be ($100 million and 7 years). The upcoming multiplayer might breathe some life back into the game, but the disaster of the campaign probably killed a lot of interest in that respect and ultimately hurt the bottom line significantly.
I don’t think ND is dead but anything Druckmann touches could be. I think ND needs to go back to basics for their new PS5 game. Do something light hearted like Crash or Jack & Daxter but make it a new IP.
"How to divide a fanbase." Sounds new. They are making a new Crash game but ND isn't making it. I don't find anything to fault with ND in terms of making a game with good gameplay and such. Maybe just change up the narrative directors to appease the people out there. That's not hard to figure out why. I wasn't a big fan of the first game either but I came to realisation this isn't the type of franchise or characters TLOU is about. IMO, art is always going to be held to discussion and it's ridiculous to think otherwise. You mean the environmental stuff was rendered terribly for you? Sorry to hear that. Hope the technical problems can be fixed for you. The only positive is how funny people may look and memes. Okay then.... Or you can have both and not put these games at war with each other. It's like saying play Mario instead of Sonic. Play Street Fighter instead of Tekken and instead of Mortal Kombat. I also think GoT and TLoU don't have too much to compare aside from that they're games with beautiful photo modes. So there's that.
Suggesting that Naughty Dog is dead is foolish. Yeah, the game is divisive and not without its flaws, but this isn’t going to kill them as a developer.
There are so many more developers that messed up and are still running. The Last of Us 2 only fails in its narrative. The production quality is still top notch and above the rest. The attention to detail is amazing. There is no denying that. If you think the game sucks in every way then you are just hating to hate. I understand story hate and the gameplay isn’t for everyone but the game nails a lot of things really damn well. Crunch sucks but that’s the industry and not just a ND thing. These bad business practices towards employees are everywhere.
Chances are it won't but hopefully the drop-off in player numbers and sales gives them a bit of a wake-up call.
Oh I think it is a wake up call. If there is a Part 3 I expect ND to play it safe. They need someone like Bruce Straley to add light to Druckmann dark stories.
No but having Druckman just might. They literally had to hire hollywood animators to finish the game because they couldn't get people to work for Naughty Dog. Can't exactly have a well run company if nobody wants to work for you.
Despite working conditions being underwhelming. I’m sure some new up and coming people would still work at ND. The name alone would still be a huge resume builder. Despite Last of Us 2 reception ND is still a very high profile studio.
