The Last of Us Part II

This game does give you the feels 

Game no: 369
Genre: Action 
Platform: PS4
Release Date: 2020

Forewarning that this review will be spoiler heavy so if you haven't played this game yet please do so. But the short version the review is that the game is an awesome game. Or just scroll down and read the last sentence of the review 

What it is about?

The continuation of the first game and the consequences of the events that transpired from the first game

What I liked?

The gameplay is stellar. The stealth mechanics are well improved from the first game. You will want to try to escape the zone as quietly as possible. I found myself trying t restart each encounter every time I failed a run

The weapons variety is good. You have a choice of from handguns to rifles and everything in between. Each weapons can be upgraded which awesome animations

The traversal sections are a nice break from the stressful action scene 

There are a lot of accessibility options which is good if you need the game to be easier 

There is a working guitar complete with different chords you can play. You can check videos on YouTube of people playing different covers to songs. 

There are some on the rail scene such as riding a horse and car which are awesome and intense 

There is a boat where we can use but just for a chapter 

An open world that is only on the first chapter and it just a contained open world which I liked. Since it's not that big 

Rope physics are awesome. Too bad we can use it all the time 

Safe cracking. It turns out you can do it manually using some headphones. I just use a guide 

There is a working psvita 

<spoiler>

Both Ellie and Abby controls the same with slight variations on their gameplay styles. I prefer Ellie in a sense that she can execute stealth kills on anyone and I prefer abby due to her better weapon types. 

And that's all the gameplay parts I liked. Now onto the story. This is going to be heavy on spoilers 

Story 

I can say the story is a mixed bag. 

I liked Ellie's motivation on why she is trying to hunt down Abby but when we get to Abby part I can helped feel for her for taking revenge on Joel for killing his dad. I think the person who is at fault here is Marlene and the fireflies. I think this game has too many levels since everyone is at fault on how small it is. It's a big chain reaction that just snowballs in effect. 

I loved the side characters in the game. Dina provides a certain humanity in Ellie as well as Lev shows a different side of Abby.

I loved the flashback moments where it shows what happened between Joel and Ellie between the 4 years before the game kicks off. I particularly like the part where they went to the dinosaur museum.

I like Abby and Lev relationship where it's like big sister and brother. 

I don't really mind all the sexual orientation each character has but I wish they showed more of it. There is a scene with Abby that is weird but hot in it's own way. 

The amount of detail if you stop and look at the surroundings weather is the town of Jackson or the WLF headquarters.I wish we could explore more 

The ending where you think it's the end but it turns out that there is still 2 more chapters ahead. I wish that was the real ending where Ellie and Dina lived happily ever after with their baby but it turns out no.. .

What I didn't liked?

The infected scene are really not my cup of tea. I mean I could handle them but I really rather fight humans than infected.

Some areas you can actually get lost on where to go 

There is this one infected boss there is so difficult that I manage to empty all my bullets and it's still not enough 

The game is design for you to explore everywhere and once you miss it, it's gone.

Nothing else I didn't like about the gameplay. The game is solid. If I had to give it a score (which I don't) on gameplay it will be a solid 9/10 

Now onto the story and the parts I don't like about it 

Story 

Ellie motivation of avenging Joel is noble but she didn't even want to talk to Abby about why she killer Joel in the first place which I really didn't liked 

The act of getting revenge and hate for something. I mean no matter how you put it. A story needs to have it upbeat moment. Or at least a moment where you can see that things are going to be better in the future. But this game is just a crap on top of a crap between a different type of crap. Just when you think that it could end on a high note (i.e the farm) It went all dark again and this time it was even worse. 

I really really didn't enjoy the last scene. This was actually the tipping point of the game for me. The game as you to fight with Abby again but I really didn't want to. Not as Ellie but as myself. I really couldn't stomach to hit a person while she is already down and the game seems to not give that option. So in my opinion is more like torture porn. Or this game enjoys making the gamer suffer. I mean it's all good but why... Why give Ellie such a bad motivation where she can't learn to forgive for her mistakes after Abby spared her life twice I might add. This game would have been game of the year for me if they ended it like this:-

Ellie found Abby in the last scene which in turn made her changed her mind in killing her since Abby had suffered enough in the hands of the Rattlers. She cuts her down and helped her escaped. After that there is a scene in the boat where both of them talk their feelings out and each of them forgive each other for what has happened. They both become friends due to the bond of loss. That would make much more of an interesting ending than what we got in the end. I mean in the end the real loser in this game besides us the player is Ellie. She lost everything all in the pursuit of revenge and for what. 

Didn't liked Tommy in this game 

I hated the fact that we are invested in the Seraphites and WLF war that there was no payoff or at least tell us what happened in the end as a small epilogue. I mean there are a lot of plot points that are left unresolved. 

Plot points that are left unresolved 

- What happened to dina?

- How did the war in Seattle ended?

- What happen to the people in Jackson

- Did Abby survived after that.

- Did Abby found the fireflies?

- Where did Ellie go at the end?

- What was the motivation of the Seraphites and who controls them 

I know they would want us to draw our own conclusion but this sucks. There is no ending.  I mean since they already write the whole story might as well tie all the other plot points together. 

Status: Finish the game until the end credits 

Fun Factor: Don't get me wrong the only gripe I have with this game is the ending and reading comments from other people online is either you'll like the story or you don't. You can't just give a game a masterpiece just because it is made by the best game studio in the world. But I have to say the gameplay is amazing and really if you are here for the gameplay you won't be disappointed. The story is not everyone cup of tea. Its either you like it or you don't as for me I enjoyed it until a certain point. My main criteria of a game is simple, you can have the best graphics, gameplay and story but in the end is it fun. The answer is yes. The last of us part II is a fun game but in order to make my game of the year list it needs to give me the feeling of satisfaction in the end. That is not the games goal because after the end I felt beaten. I mean I felt sad and anger for Ellie on what she did to lose everything. So yeah... one of naughtydog worse game but still a marvel to play.

Amendment 7th July 2020

Fun Factor Revisited: There has never been a game that requires me to do another review after I finish playing. Usually a game is done and dusted after the initial playthrough. All I can say that The Last of Us Part 2 is not that kind of game. I think it's the fault of my own of trying to finish the game as fast as possible that I forget to take a moment and understand the story even more. But after more a week this game is still fresh in my mind with the decision that was given to me. First of all I would like to apologize to naughtydog. This is not their worst game in fact this is one of their best game ever. The storyline was design that way to make you feel something, and I did feel something. I now understand what is Ellie and Abby's motivation behind the things that they do. The problem is you can do the things they do without consequences. The final showdown where Ellie wants to fight Abby and I as a player struggle to complete it really shows that in order for Ellie to escape his demons she needs to do it. In the end she finally realise that that all her revenge has brought her nothing back. This made me think of the first game where Joel was the bad guy by not letting Ellie safe the world. I mean this game has a lot of layers in it. In the end this is how they want to tell the story and I have to accept it. I am okay with it. I know it is not the happy ending I wanted but the ending is satisfying nonetheless. It sets out to tell a story that eventually hate will eat you alive. So my final remarks is that this is one of the game of the year of me. Probably in the top 3. This game really you can't play it as fast as possible. You need to take your time and understand each moment as slow as possible. I would love another playthrough of this. But probably not anytime soon  

Fun factor short version: Gameplay great... storyline is not for everyone