The Last of Us: Part II

17,612 Views | 200 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by Head Ninja In Charge
bluefire579
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AG
n_touch said:

I am in the boat that she went back to Jackson and is back with Dina. They made it a point to pan to her boots. I remember somewhere in the game that her shoes vs boots were brought back up.

All in all, I enjoyed the story and it made sense for me. Not sure what all the outrage was about.
The controversy boils down to a few different points, depending on which review you read:

* A beloved character getting killed (Joel)
* SJW angle, due to Ellie being gay and Abby thought to be trans during the leaks
* Having to play as Abby
* Not killing Abby in the end
cr0wbar
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AG
So I'm going through the NG+ to get the platinum, and I've been having WAY too much fun in photo mode. Here are a few.

















Edit: I suck at image hosting. IDGAF
YNWA_AG
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Avoided this thread, but just beat the game. That fight on the beach was so painful, I didn't want Abby to die during that fight. So glad Ellie held back. What an emotional journey. So many ways they could take this story in part 3
n_touch
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they did a great job humanizing Abby from what she did to Joel. I was hoping she would let her go as well.
fav13andac1)c
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Night and day difference between Moderate and Survivor (started on Survivor+, which according to the game is more difficult even than Survivor). I'm pretty consistently almost completely out of ammo, every shot feels weighted and lost if I miss. The enemies are much less forgiving and see you much easier, and use more tactics to combat you. My deaths have already doubled from the Moderate run, and I'm not even halfway. Survivor difficulty is brutal. So much fun.
Fenrir
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fav13andac1)c said:

Night and day difference between Moderate and Survivor (started on Survivor+, which according to the game is more difficult even than Survivor). I'm pretty consistently almost completely out of ammo, every shot feels weighted and lost if I miss. The enemies are much less forgiving and see you much easier, and use more tactics to combat you. My deaths have already doubled from the Moderate run, and I'm not even halfway. Survivor difficulty is brutal. So much fun.


I am just now to the cruise boat but I don't understand how survivor difficulty would be doable for me. I did survivor on the first game but even on moderate I feel like the human AI is harder at times than survivor was on the first one.
bbattbq01
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Just finished. Had to take a month off after getting to the halfway point. 37 hours, I'm slow. Brutal, brutal game. I kept going back and forth who I wanted to win. Man, the visceral violence of that last fight, geez.

Also: f those guys who jump out of the walls.
Fenrir
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Because Survivor wasn't hard enough apparently, soon you can do Grounded mode with Permadeath.

Chase McGuire
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All in on Grounded. It was one of my favorite features of the first game, and it's the only way I'll play it now. Permadeath may be a step too far for me though. Imagine losing your progress 20 hours in...
n_touch
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Holy crap. I hope I could get past the intro lol.
Not a Bot
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Part one depressed the hell out of me.

This one is worse.

I need a happy game to play.
bluefire579
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Moxley said:

Part one depressed the hell out of me.

This one is worse.

I need a happy game to play.
If you have PS Plus, Fall Guys is one of the free games this month. Definitely a much happier tone to it
hph6203
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7 wins. Stood at the crown and mistimed my jump on at least 3 more.
.
Fenrir
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Just finished. 26 hr 38 min.

I will say that lots of this story were very well written however that was definitely a very disappointing ending for me. I get a lot of the themes a d enjoyed them, I don't even really disagree with anything in the ending once I got to that point...just doesn't have nearly the same impact as the first game or what some reviews hyped up the ending imo.

The flashbacks with Joel were the best part of the game. I wish the story focused on those events and Joel/Ellie coming to grips with the things they'd done more so than Abby's story. I'm sure they wanted to do something different but it just didn't resonate for me, probably in part because it kept being contrasted with the story I cared about more.

I also don't think that this has near the replayability factor the first one had. I played the first at least once a year but for this one I'll probably clean up collectibles, eventually, and move on.
johnnyblaze36
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Avoided this thread for awhile but finally finished this last night and I bought it the day it came out. Just had to be in the right mood to play it at times.

Absolutely loved it as much as I thought I would. The funny thing is I played it a bunch with my buddy who had only played the first one sparingly and at the end of the game last night he told me he thought Joel was Ellie's Dad all along. Made me crack up.

I look forward to going through it again next level up. I feel like I might have missed a ton of items and other things the first play through.
johnnyblaze36
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Tabasco said:

This is so good. BTW, not a spoiler, but in Seattle make sure you check out the music shop on 5th ave. There is a guitar there you can play and she does an awesome rendition of a very popular 80's song. Could easily be missed. Bonus, note the Pearl Jam poster. Surprised me with licensing and stuff these days.
Damn I need to find this on my second run through. PJ is my second favorite band of all time and I lost it when Joel played "Future Days" for Ellie and then gave her the guitar
johnnyblaze36
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Cromagnum said:

I'm sure better vids will come but pretty strong first effort for what the game gives you. Im very impressed the designers got the chord shapes nailed and animated.


Is there a mode on the game with this I haven't seen?! I just said to my buddy last night they need to make some DLC where you can play a hundred different songs.
n_touch
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johnnyblaze36 said:

Cromagnum said:

I'm sure better vids will come but pretty strong first effort for what the game gives you. Im very impressed the designers got the chord shapes nailed and animated.


Is there a mode on the game with this I haven't seen?! I just said to my buddy last night they need to make some DLC where you can play a hundred different songs.


Just find some tabs online and go into practice mode. You can play them all there
Tabasco
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Fenrir said:

Just finished. 26 hr 38 min.

I will say that lots of this story were very well written however that was definitely a very disappointing ending for me. I get a lot of the themes a d enjoyed them, I don't even really disagree with anything in the ending once I got to that point...just doesn't have nearly the same impact as the first game or what some reviews hyped up the ending imo.

The flashbacks with Joel were the best part of the game. I wish the story focused on those events and Joel/Ellie coming to grips with the things they'd done more so than Abby's story. I'm sure they wanted to do something different but it just didn't resonate for me, probably in part because it kept being contrasted with the story I cared about more.

I also don't think that this has near the replayability factor the first one had. I played the first at least once a year but for this one I'll probably clean up collectibles, eventually, and move on.
This sums up my experience and thoughts pretty well.
Tabasco
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n_touch said:

johnnyblaze36 said:

Cromagnum said:

I'm sure better vids will come but pretty strong first effort for what the game gives you. Im very impressed the designers got the chord shapes nailed and animated.


Is there a mode on the game with this I haven't seen?! I just said to my buddy last night they need to make some DLC where you can play a hundred different songs.


Just find some tabs online and go into practice mode. You can play them all there
yeah tabs are the way to go
Halibut
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The game's story was a lot weaker than the first one. Maybe I've just seen/read too many revenge stories, but the message of the game felt like beating a dead horse.

I had a hard time identifying with Ellie's motivation for basically the whole game. A big part is because the game wants you to be stealthy, but it wants you to kill more than it wants you to sneak around. So by the time you come across some of the earlier pivotal moments for Ellie, you've already probably killed 100 dudes. It just felt like the game wasn't presenting her emotional conflict in congruence with what the game wants you to do mechanically. The cinematics are really well done, and they do A LOT of heavy lifting to try to make you feel specific emotional beats, but most of the time it missed the mark for me.

I actually enjoyed the second half of the game a lot more. And then I thought the very last act was fun to play, but unnecessary. I won't get anymore into that because I don't want to spoil anything.

That said, as much as I'm down on the story, I did still really enjoy it. The gameplay was phenomenal. One of the best stealth murder games I've ever played. The set pieces were all top notch. The descent in the hotel in the second half of the game, and the hospital after that were legit terrifying. There were probably a dozen jaw-dropping moments (scary or otherwise). And the minute-to-minute dialogue, acting, and performance capture were also amazing. Everything you've come to expect from ND.

The big picture story is my only complaint, and maybe it's too big of an ask given each game's themes, but it just didn't come close to the first game's story for me.
Tabasco
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I'd agree wiry that assessment.
johnnyblaze36
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n_touch said:

johnnyblaze36 said:

Cromagnum said:

I'm sure better vids will come but pretty strong first effort for what the game gives you. Im very impressed the designers got the chord shapes nailed and animated.


Is there a mode on the game with this I haven't seen?! I just said to my buddy last night they need to make some DLC where you can play a hundred different songs.


Just find some tabs online and go into practice mode. You can play them all there
Awesome. I have a subscription to Ultimate Guitar Tabs already for regular guitar playing of which I still suck. Should be much easier to play via Ellie.
Max Power
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So I've been neck deep in this game for a couple of weeks now, currently 26 hours in. Just made the switch to Abby's character. The first one is probably my second favorite game ever after Horizon Zero Dawn. I've been making a point to go slowly, try to savor this gaming experience. I don't think I've ever been as emotionally vested in 2 video game characters like I am with Joel and Ellie. I was legitimately upset with what Abby did to him, had to walk away.

You're on this journey with Joel and Ellie, you're not in this game alone, it doesn't feel like they're your avatar in the game, it feels like you are with them, and they're with you. I partly feel so attached to this game because I have a daughter, this story just calls to me. Which is why that scene is so upsetting, I'm still upset about it and that was last week.

I know I'll get to it, but right now the last thing I want is to play this game from Abby's perspective. Her dad was going to kill Ellie, and you could tell from that interaction there's no way he'd do that to his own daughter. Plus Joel had a daughter, whom he lost, Ellie was his second chance at being a father, he'd walk through hell itself to protect her.

The fact I'm so into this is why I think it's a masterpiece, regardless of how it ends. A little has been spoiled from reading this, but that's probably for the better because it gives me some reason to play it through.

I tired to explain to my wife that HBO is doing a series because it's an incredible story, and the team behind Chernobyl makes me know I'm in good hands. I can't look at Joel and not see Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from later GOT seasons, I think he could nail it if he doesn't try to use a Texas accent. I think Josh Brolin would also be an incredible Joel.

This is what video games should aspire to. Regardless of how this plays out, I want a part 3. If Uncharted is over, and TLOU, then what's Naughty Dog got in the pipeline?
Ghost of Bisbee
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Finished a Grounded run through on NYE and have started a permadeath run. TLOU is one of my favorite franchises of all time and the experience In TLOU2 seems to get better with each new run through I do.
That said, I think I view video games a bit differently than most others because I work in this industry, but that doesn't take away that this is one hell of a game and I'd recommend it to anyone who can stomach the violence.
Max Power
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So I finally finished this one up, what a game! I definitely played the Abby portion with reservations, did a better job laying out her and her perspective than I expected. Still not attached to her as a character like Ellie and Joel, but better than I thought. By the time you get to the end and find her on the beach looking like she went through a concentration camp it definitely felt like the circle was complete.

Man, that fight with the Rat King was intense down in the bottom of the hospital. Glad I was full of all my ammo, took a long time to get that done, I just kept getting cornered and dying thanks to not being able to see anything.

I would like them to continue this franchise but I feel like Ellie's story is complete. There's definitely more they could do with a new character set in a different part of the country.

Now I gotta figure out what to play next, I've got a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 I haven't opened or maybe I check out something else. Maybe Uncharted 4, Ghost of Tsushima, Jedi Fallen Order, who knows.
Head Ninja In Charge
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I've played all of those and considering you just got done with TLOU2, I'd go Uncharted 4. The bones are similar and it's a good palette cleanser; plus you can knock it out in 15 hours. The other campaigns are pretty long.
 
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