Whilst this blog post discusses The Last Of Us Part II, I have made every effort to not explicitly mention any specific details.
I would say it’s spoiler free, but consider this fair warning.
I was late to The Last of Us. Released in 2013 I picked it up for the first time in 2018. I was sceptical about the amount of praise that surrounded the game but upon completion I joined the choir. So it will not come as a surprise that I was just a bit excited for the release of the sequel. That excitement quickly turned to concern though when I began to read about some of the gameplay. Killing dogs, other enemies calling out in grief when you’ve killed someone and the repeated mentions of lots of bloody violence.
The more I learnt about this game the more I began to doubt whether I was actually going to like it. I decided the best thing to do was to just avoid and ignore everything to do with the game before it’s release. I was always amazed that I did not have the first game spoiled for me in any way and I wanted the same for this one. Sadly that was not to be. There was a major leak online and despite my best efforts, unfollowing and blocking everything I could think of, I was confronted with a very unpleasant spoiler. Thanks Twitter.
I tried to convince myself that there was always the possibility it was fake. That people could be putting anything online just to mess with fans but there was no denying it made a huge dent in my enthusiasm. At this point I was very stressed in relation to the game. I knew there were people out there desperate to spoil it, I knew there were aspects of the gameplay I found less than appealing, it had already had delays, would there be more? I just wanted the damn thing to arrive so I could play and get it over with.
Despite this I was absolutely ecstatic when my copy arrived. I had spent months saving and indulged in one of the fancy collector editions. Unboxing, re-ignited my excitement as I pawed through all the goodies and focused on how much I had enjoyed the previous game.
It was a long wait until the evening when I could play it. Lengthened by the lack of distraction from social media as I had uninstalled everything. No social media. No spoilers. This game was mine and mine alone from start to finish. I made sure to do the lengthy install ahead of play time so I was good to go right away and once I got started I was so relieved. It was, initially, everything I had wanted. The visuals, the music, control, the little character elements, it was all perfect. So perfect I was shedding a few tears before it was even 10minutes in!
That feeling didn’t last though as it didn’t take long to learn that the spoiler I had encountered was in fact truth. Learning that truth in game was very brutal and left me very uncomfortable, to the point I felt unable to play on that evening. I ruminated on what happened and formed a clear picture in my mind of how I thought this was going to shape the rest of the game. I was less than thrilled. I felt defeated before I had even started. But how could I be so sure? Surely I needed to trust in the game developers and let them tell their story? So on I played.
It took me 26 hours and 49 minutes over 2 weeks to complete the game. Whilst there were many aspects I did enjoy, there were many more I didn’t. I didn’t enjoy being forced down certain paths, having to take certain actions, some of which felt unnecessary and others had such obvious consequences that it seemed stupid having to follow through. The switching between characters got annoying and frustrating. It felt like a never ending cycle of disatisfaction. That said I am conflicted because despite the frustration, displeasure and annoyance it is a completely unique gameplay experience. I felt it confronted a lot of things many games gloss over and that I as a player have never been forced to consider and I am still trying to wrap my head around it all.
With the game complete and my mixed feelings, I returned to the online world looking forward to finding critical reviews and engaging debate over the aspects included. There was certainly much to discuss. Sadly I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Instead of intelligent conversation there was hate, death threats, bigotry, sexism, petty bickering and it was disgusting. There was blind defence of the game refusing to acknowledge that there could be any fault and equally blind hatred refusing to admit there were truly amazing elements worthy of praise. It was more disappointing and enraging than anything in the game, it truly extinguished the last embers of anything positive I felt towards this game.
It’s been a couple of months now and my thoughts on the game are still conflicted. Despite having returned to the first game several times I still have zero desire to replay this. In fact I promptly uninstalled it to free up space on the PS4. It was good but not. Gameplay was enjoyable and also not. There were many amazing elements that did not live up to their full potential and potential that was completely missed. Characters were relatable in so much as I could understand their thought process but not enough that I developed any sympathy for them. In fact I just felt they were all kind of pathetic and pitiable. The story made enough sense to connect it all together but was also full of holes. I got what I wanted but at the cost of much that I didn’t. Unsatisfied is the only word I can think of to describe my opinion but it still doesn’t quite cover it.
What by far bothers me the most is my inability to decide whether it is was all done with clever purpose or whether it is simply the result of throwing it all together and hoping for the best. I know Naughty Dog presented a certain narrative to preserve plot secrets, somethings were deliberately misleading in trailers and presentations to that end but it leaves me feeling a sense of having been missold what this game was meant to be. Maybe that is why I see saw between thinking this game is a work of genius with clever intent and slapdash performance that falls short.
Perhaps the unprecedented success of the first game meant it was never going to live up to expectations? Perhaps it is ahead of it’s time, destined to age well? Maybe I am not yet able to fully appreciate the nuanced details and a future replay will reveal it to me in a new light? I want to think positively but maybe, just maybe it’s really just not that good and that’s okay. Not every game has to be a mind blowing spectacular and a much loved classic. Not everything needs a sequel, no matter how good it is. It’s okay that it was just okay. I don’t regret being invested and playing it but I am not eagerly awaiting a part III either.
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