Video games have a variety of genres that cater to different people with different desires. Some people want a huge open-world game that they can sink hundreds of hours into just exploring every small detail. Some people want short games that they can just pay a couple bucks for on Steam for a one and done night. Some people want games to play with friends for an enjoyable hangout session. And then there are people like me, people who want a strong, character-driven story to really capture my attention and want to play the game. Obviously, a video game needs to have gameplay – duh – but a game that can have fun gameplay and a well-written, well-acted, and engaging story makes it so much more special for me. The absolute king of this realm is Naughty Dog, most famous for their Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, and Uncharted series. Uncharted, in particular, is one of the best examples of these cinematic games, providing tight, third-person, cover-based shooting gameplay with exhilarating set pieces and fun characters. Games like these are criticized – “Why not just make them movies or TV shows?” Critiques like these are annoying to me because you being the one who controls these characters, you being the one who hits the buttons that causes these amazing things to happen, makes the experience all that more powerful. Naughty Dog’s latest game, The Last of Us Part II, a sequel to their 2013 game (made after their third Uncharted game), takes this to a whole new level.
The original game from earlier this decade is one of the most emotional and powerful games I have ever played. It is the perfect example of games as art. It has tense, stealth-action gameplay where you must collect supplies to survive, making it fun to play, but it really shines with its entire artistic approach (to sound pretentious). Its minimalist soundtrack, composed by Gustavo Santaolalla, is beautiful; the graphics and art design are gorgeous, perfectly showing how nature can overcome a post-apocalyptic world with some of the most-stunning graphics for the time (and that hold up rather well); and above all else, the story is nothing less than extraordinary. At first glance, it’s bland; man must protect and escort girl. Pretty boring, right? But by the end of the game, you have laughed with these characters, you have gotten angry with these characters, you have cried with these characters, and you have rooted for everything to work out for them. The sequel also excels in all these areas, but where it changes things is how it makes you feel.
The first game has you commit horrific acts, but because it can make for fun gameplay and it is usually in the name of self-defense, you can accept it. The sequel is dark. It is depressing. It toys with your emotions with its approach to story and characters. Like the first game, the gameplay is fun – more on that later – but the actions you as a player are forced to commit are horrific. This is where it really proves its necessity as a game and not a miniseries or some other visual medium. One scene, in particular, has you interrogating an infected person i.e., someone who is going to die no matter what. You want information. The game doesn’t show anything too graphic because the camera shifts to look at your character’s face, but you must hit the button, multiple times, to get this information. It doesn’t last long because it cuts to black after a bit, but you don’t get to shy away from these awful acts. If you want to see where this story goes and what happens to these characters that you’ve grown to love, you have to partake in these events. It’s messed up, maybe even too much for some people, but as a piece of art, and more specifically as a video game, it is amazing.
It’s hard to talk about this game in detail without revealing spoilers, but if you go in with an open-mind, it’s good. Like, really good. It is definitely one of the greatest gaming experiences for me personally. But if you are one of those people who are expecting a certain story and will be upset if it doesn’t happen your way, you will loathe this game. It doesn’t conform to audience expectations. It tells a certain story the way it wants to tell it and fully commits. You have to give it a chance. There are some bold narrative decisions, but they help propel the story forward, make it different than the first game (if you want the same game, just go play the original), and make you not only agree with your characters’ decisions, but also disagree and feel conflicted with their decisions. That’s what is great about it. It doesn’t pull punches and doesn’t try to be something it is not. It is a dark tale about dark events with characters who are emotionally tortured. That’s not to say there aren’t beautiful, touching moments – there absolutely are – but they are brief releases from the extremely violent nature of the game. The game is unrelentingly harsh, but I applaud the willingness to commit.
However, being a game, there are gameplay aspects to discuss. That being said, nobody in their right mind would play this game without having a strong connection with the story, so I’ll keep it brief. Basically, it’s the same as the first game, but polished and better because of it. You can now go prone and sneak in grass, craft more items and use different weapons, face new and improved AI, and really just get a more cinematic (there’s that word again) combat experience that feels so fluid, largely because of how slick the animations are. It’s genuinely fun to play. Walking into an area that is filled with enemy patrols or infected (i.e., zombies), slowly taking some out, getting caught, then frantically trying to find cover as you kill some with your shotgun and toss a Molotov or two, only to go back in stealth and repeat the process creates some of the most exhilarating gameplay experiences out there. I can’t do it justice with words alone, but needless to say, it is not just an interactive movie – this is a game, through and through.
The game even toys with your gaming expectations, with two notable examples coming to mind. The first is when I heard horrific sounds in an area, which led to my character automatically pulling out their gun. The level also started featuring ammo supply drops and showed my current health, signifying an encounter was about to take place. Then nothing happens. But I wasn’t disappointed because that tense feeling I got was special – I was on the edge of my seat and shocked that nothing happened, and it was wonderful. The other scenario was the opposite. I was in a safe zone upgrading my weapons and, out of the blue, a couple enemies come out and attack me. It was deceiving of the game to attack me while my guard was down during what is almost always a safe zone, but it genuinely shocked me and made me scramble to survive. It was amazing, and I loved it.
My only real complaint with the game is something that I have seen few people bring up and if they do, it’s usually complimentary, but I think it is a legitimate criticism. Naughty Dog has been adding more and more open levels to their games for some time now, basically since the first Last of Us (they have had a full-fledged Uncharted game and expansion pack since then). While their games are still very much linear and definitely nowhere near open-world, there are some very open areas that can take some time to explore. I, unlike most people, dislike these because while it is cool to have that sense of freedom, it destroys pacing to be walking around a huge area for an hour or more trying to explore every nook and cranny. Yeah, it’s not required, but you are really missing out if you don’t explore, both in terms of gameplay items and supplies and sweet character interactions. The linearity of Naughty Dog games creates not just tight stories, but great pacing, and so I am not the biggest fan of these more open levels, even if they are well-designed and reward the player for exploring. But I digress, this is not the biggest deal for me and certainly not for most people.
On another note, the game has the most accessibility options of probably any game ever. Most of the settings weren’t important for me, so I can’t confirm how accessible they make the game to more disabled players, but they seemed to have put a genuine effort into making this game playable by as many people as possible. That’s really cool. I even used some of the features myself. I don’t want to constantly tap a button to pick up supplies, so I turned on auto pickup. I hate mashing a button to get out of an enemy’s grasp, so I turned on a feature that just let me hold a button. There are so many features that I strongly encourage you to look through them all to see if there’s anything that can make the game a little more enjoyable for you. You can even adjust the difficulty on a detailed level! I played on moderate, but I found myself having way too many supplies and being quite overpowered, so I kept the enemies on that same difficulty, but turned the supply drop to hard. It made it more fun, which is what games are meant to be. This level of accessibility and player-choice should be encouraged, and I hope that other developers take notice.
The Last of Us Part II is excellent, really superb. At the very least, even if someone ends up hating the game, it’s worth playing soon (if you enjoyed the first) to be part of the discussion taking place. I think a lot of the hate is unwarranted, but despite my love of it, there are some very understandable points I have heard, including comments on the structure of the narrative. I didn’t have a problem with it, but that is a fascinating, legitimate counterpoint. I think that the real beauty of this game is that it created a discourse. Some of it is hate-filled and immature on so many levels, but some of it is intellectual and honest and makes you not ashamed to play games. Love or hate it in the end, this game has made so many people jump to the internet and post their thoughts. At the end of the day, isn’t that what art is supposed to do? Make you want to talk about it and discuss it with friends, and even strangers? The Last of Us Part II does that. It succeeds. And I love it.
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The Last of Us Part II Accolades
Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC
Reviews with images
Outstanding
As a big fan of the first game, I had been eagerly awaiting the sequel, and I was not disappointed. Everything about this game is top shelf.Visually, the level of detail is just ridiculous, whether it's the stunning shots of post-apocalyptic Seattle or the gorgeous scenery of Wyoming. The character animation is as good as it gets. The cutscenes are astonishingly close to live-action movies.The acting is excellent, especially Ashley Johnson as Ellie. I love love LOVE Ashley Johnson. Her performance displays a full range of emotion, everything from rage to love to heartbreak. The other actors are also great, including Troy Baker as Joel and Laura Bailey as Abby.Many people are complaining about the story. Some of them sound like the complaints of people who seem to think they own the characters. Some complaints are from bigots who hate anything that portrays LGBTQ characters positively. I find the story to be compelling and emotionally draining. This is a story that stays with you. It's not a simple revenge tale. It deals with the reasons for revenge, the consequences of seeking revenge, and how the same event appears very different from the perspectives of different people (e.g., what is revenge to one person is murder to another). The characters are well written, and you see very clearly how one person's actions impact other people.I'm not a person who plays a lot of video games, but I thought the actual gameplay was a bit better than the first game. There are some new weapons, and a number of new settings to customize the game. There are also new monsters (as if the bloaters in the first game weren't annoying enough!).Yes, it's fun and satisfying to kill all those monsters, and there's no qualms about that, since they're essentially the mental equivalent of plants. But killing people carries consequences and adds a great deal of emotional weight to the game. Overall, this is the best game I've ever played.
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