The Last of Us 2

[theboardref]

So...Days Gone is the winner of the year long apocalypse gamefest? I've heard its been patched up a bit

Days Gone has a much better story. This is lazy story writing at its finest.

 

[theboardref]

Sounds like almost all of the critics are on board with it so far.


The Last of Us Part II


A 96 rating is only 1 point shy of the best score for all PS4 games.... Which is a tie between RDR2 and GTA5.

They were all paid off. There is no way this game got that score on its own.

 

[Battlelyon]

First 2 and half hours of playing, only 15 minutes of actual gameplay, it's more of interactive movie than a video game.

 

[Battlelyon]

Sounds like almost all of the critics are on board with it so far.


The Last of Us Part II


A 96 rating is only 1 point shy of the best score for all PS4 games.... Which is a tie between RDR2 and GTA5.

At one point movie critics like Siskel and Ebert, had a respected opinion on movies, you took the time to listen to critics and their reviews before seeing a movie. Not as much anymore, same can be said for video games. Now this game is the catalysis for great divide, and change. People are going to be hitting youtube even harder and making an informed decision instead relying on these critics are completely on the other side. The last of us part 2 will probably win game of the year, these same reviewers vote on the game of the year.

Interesting article on this
Two Warnings About ‘The Last Of Us Part 2’ Review Scores

First off, the review embargo itself is quite strict. While most video game embargoes contain some kind of restrictions on what you can talk about or use in video footage, this one forbids any discussion of the second half of the game and limits video footage to just three scenes.

The final 12 hours or so are completely off-limits, so the things that reviewers liked or disliked about that portion of the game can only be discussed vaguely. I understand wanting to keep spoilers out of reviews as much as possible, but this strikes me as more than a little over-the-top.


In SkillUp’s excellent review of The Last Of Us Part 2, the YouTuber compares Ellie and her story in The Last Of Us 2 to Daenerys Targaryen in the final season of Game of Thrones. That’s a deeply unflattering comparison and he means for it to be. Watch the whole video below, but some big takeaways for me are:

• Character choices and plot holes were so bad throughout that at times he would laugh out loud.
• The game is 25 hours long and one section feels like a 10-hour side-quest. He says he would not have finished it had he not been reviewing.
• There are improvements to graphics, combat and exploration but enemy AI is still very bad.
• The story is relentlessly bleak, there are no likable characters and no comic relief and everything you liked about the characters in the first game is gone.
• There are very few interesting scripted/cinematic scenes and the game is far too long and boring.
• On the plus side, it has the best difficulty settings fine-tuning ever and looks gorgeous.

 

[Clayton]

At one point movie critics like Siskel and Ebert, had a respected opinion on movies, you took the time to listen to critics and their reviews before seeing a movie. Not as much anymore, same can be said for video games. Now this game is the catalysis for great divide, and change. People are going to be hitting youtube even harder and making an informed decision instead relying on these critics are completely on the other side. The last of us part 2 will probably win game of the year, these same reviewers vote on the game of the year.

Interesting article on this
Two Warnings About ‘The Last Of Us Part 2’ Review Scores

First off, the review embargo itself is quite strict. While most video game embargoes contain some kind of restrictions on what you can talk about or use in video footage, this one forbids any discussion of the second half of the game and limits video footage to just three scenes.

The final 12 hours or so are completely off-limits, so the things that reviewers liked or disliked about that portion of the game can only be discussed vaguely. I understand wanting to keep spoilers out of reviews as much as possible, but this strikes me as more than a little over-the-top.


In SkillUp’s excellent review of The Last Of Us Part 2, the YouTuber compares Ellie and her story in The Last Of Us 2 to Daenerys Targaryen in the final season of Game of Thrones. That’s a deeply unflattering comparison and he means for it to be. Watch the whole video below, but some big takeaways for me are:

• Character choices and plot holes were so bad throughout that at times he would laugh out loud.
• The game is 25 hours long and one section feels like a 10-hour side-quest. He says he would not have finished it had he not been reviewing.
• There are improvements to graphics, combat and exploration but enemy AI is still very bad.
• The story is relentlessly bleak, there are no likable characters and no comic relief and everything you liked about the characters in the first game is gone.
• There are very few interesting scripted/cinematic scenes and the game is far too long and boring.
• On the plus side, it has the best difficulty settings fine-tuning ever and looks gorgeous.

The word I would use to describe TLOU2 is pretentious. Its why I was comparing it to Nier Automata (a good pretentious game) and The Last Jedi (well...)

From the spoilers I've seen the game has three problems.

Spoiler

It has the Metal Gear Solid 2 issue of removing the main character from the first game when everyone agreed that he was a great character. But it also has two other issues - the Daenerys issue where a character changes to benefit the plot when the character is no longer needed in the plot. The third issue is the ending and I won't get into that.

In terms of review scores, I'd probably imagine its still somewhere in the 7/10 or 8/10 range

 

[theboardref]

The word I would use to describe TLOU2 is pretentious. Its why I was comparing it to Nier Automata (a good pretentious game) and The Last Jedi (well...)

From the spoilers I've seen the game has three problems.

Spoiler

It has the Metal Gear Solid 2 issue of removing the main character from the first game when everyone agreed that he was a great character. But it also has two other issues - the Daenerys issue where a character changes to benefit the plot when the character is no longer needed in the plot. The third issue is the ending and I won't get into that.

In terms of review scores, I'd probably imagine its still somewhere in the 7/10 or 8/10 range

Probably fair, but I’m not finishing it. Think I’m done buying games for a while. May not buy a new system after this turd. If this is the new norm and we are going to make games for ‘conversations’ instead of good stories and staying true to characters we grew to love and waited for for 7 years... this might be it for me.

 

[Clayton]

Probably fair, but I’m not finishing it. Think I’m done buying games for a while. May not buy a new system after this turd. If this is the new norm and we are going to make games for ‘conversations’ instead of good stories and staying true to characters we grew to love and waited for for 7 years... this might be it for me.

Ghosts of Tsushima actually looks like its more my style so that's the next game I expect to buy.

 

[theboardref]

Ghosts of Tsushima actually looks like its more my style so that's the next game I expect to buy.

I’m going to be THAT guy, but I don’t play games I have to read. Looks great from a game play perspective though.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

I've played about 6 hours and am mostly enjoying the gameplay. Story is eh.....but then again I didn't really think the first game's story was as amazing as many other people did.

Early on I just found it completely fucking obnoxious any time one of the infected would attack you. I've played plenty of zombie games before (got back into COD WW2 multiplayer and Zombies a few weeks back) but I never felt like my eyes and ears were getting raped every time a zombie came at me. To the game designer's credit this has made me more engaged in the game as I make sure every single one of those fuckers is dead when I can.

But really, the biggest issue with this game is the complete lack of multiplayer. Factions was the best part of the first game. This game has no multiplayer and it sounds like if they release any multiplayer at all it's going to be a separate game. That's gay af. I'm probably going to finish this game up within a week and then just delete it to make room for some of the other shit I have in my backlog.

 

[Clayton]

I’m going to be THAT guy, but I don’t play games I have to read. Looks great from a game play perspective though.

It has English. Its basically Assassin's Creed Japan. My only worry is that the game might be too easy.

 

[Comeds]

I just finished TLOU2. I thought it was excellent. Beautiful game that is fun to play. Nice story too, not nearly as dark as I was made to expect. However the dark parts are really dark....

 

[Clayton]

I just finished TLOU2. I thought it was excellent. Beautiful game that is fun to play. Nice story too, not nearly as dark as I was made to expect. However the dark parts are really dark....

Where do you think it ranks compared to other Naughty Dog games?

 

[Comeds]

Where do you think it ranks compared to other Naughty Dog games?

That's a good question. The "worst" that I have played would be the first Uncharted game and it was still pretty great. Uncharted 2 is probably my favorite game ever. So the rest would be in between, not too much difference in quality in my opinion.

 

[seattlefan75]

spoilers

I just finished the game I think people want to complain more than give it a chance and considering this is an all female main plot cast and killed off joel turned off a lot of fans.

I think its awesome that they told two stories from the point of view of 2 different characters was amazing. It game a great listen on revenge and holding grudges. In each group had people telling their main person to let it go and not try to press for revenge then as the story went on each of the characters friends were getting killed and dragged into the war. I think it should be in the running of game of the year there hasnt been too many great games released in 2020 so far.

 

[ChiSoxFan]

Loving it so far. Great game.

 

[Clayton]

spoilers

I just finished the game I think people want to complain more than give it a chance and considering this is an all female main plot cast and killed off joel turned off a lot of fans.

I think its awesome that they told two stories from the point of view of 2 different characters was amazing. It game a great listen on revenge and holding grudges. In each group had people telling their main person to let it go and not try to press for revenge then as the story went on each of the characters friends were getting killed and dragged into the war. I think it should be in the running of game of the year there hasnt been too many great games released in 2020 so far.

Spoiler

The fundamental issue with the idea of revenge and the cycle of violence is that you can't choose to break it after the fact. For the theme to come to fruition, Ellie and Abby both have to die, too. Either that or we have to be given a more proper heroic protagonist who can break the cycle without having someone else's daughter coming after them.

I actually think the issue I have with something like Skill Up's negative review is that he is too harsh on the gameplay and a little too dismissive of Abby. I think I've seen every review on TLOU2 just because its such an interesting game to talk about and this one seems like its the best as far as i can tell:

 

[Clayton]

D'oh I posted the wrong review. Delete that.

 

[seattlefan75]

Spoiler

The fundamental issue with the idea of revenge and the cycle of violence is that you can't choose to break it after the fact. For the theme to come to fruition, Ellie and Abby both have to die, too. Either that or we have to be given a more proper heroic protagonist who can break the cycle without having someone else's daughter coming after them.

I actually think the issue I have with something like Skill Up's negative review is that he is too harsh on the gameplay and a little too dismissive of Abby. I think I've seen every review on TLOU2 just because its such an interesting game to talk about and this one seems like its the best as far as i can tell:

Man I butchered that 2nd sentence in my post. My argument to what you posted is that I believe they would really destroy the franchise if they killed off both Elllie and Joel in the game if they look to make a part 3 they would essentially be rebooting the whole story. I think they are trying to bring on Abby as a prominent character but I feel it would be really hard to do after seeing her brutally murder Joel.