Game Review: The Last Of Us Part II (in-game story spoilers)

I finished TLOU Part II yesterday, after a long play of almost 30 hours. Even though I disliked the game storywise, I’m gonna play it a second time to try and get platinum. Yes, I’m a trophy hunter. Now you may wonder: why? When you dislike the game in a way? Well, the game itself is very beautifully made and the gameplay is very smooth and loveable. Anyway, the reason why I’ve got mixed feelings with this game will be explained in this game review!

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Five years after the events of The Last of Us, Ellie and Joel embark on another journey through a post-apocalyptic America in Ellie’s mission of vengeance against the followers of a mysterious cult.

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The cool thing about Part II is that you can craft more things than the first game could. And the prone part? That’s honestly such a cool thing they added. It helps to remain a tiny bit more hidden from enemies. Also because of the high grass they put there to crawl through. What I also really like, is breaking windows to enter abandoned buildings to loot stuff to be able to craft. I just love the sound of those windows when I throw a brick haha.

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The other thing I really like about this game is that you can actually see them ‘upgrading’ the weapons. They use many tools, like they would in real life, to upgrade the weapons whenever you reach a workbench. The first game showed nothing but it just being done. And now you’re like: oh, so that’s how they add a stabilizer and make a scope?

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The game looks absolutely stunning in graphics. The environments are so beautifully made. I caught myself staring at multiple pieces for quite some time. They really outdid themselves with how beautiful it looked. That’s what made the game wonderful. The gameplay was very smooth, the new infected were pretty awesome and the environments are beyond beautiful. But, that doesn’t save the game. No, story-wise, it sucked. At least, that’s my opinion.

SPOILERS COMING. DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED THE GAME.

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You’re playing as two females in this game. Now, the left one is Ellie, the girl from game 1 who grew up. She went from 14 to 19. The one on the right is Joel’s murderer. That’s right, Joel dies. Early in the game. I was so pissed about that. The way he went? Too cruel. I was hoping he maybe got bitten or infected and they’d get a proper goodbye with one another before Ellie had to shoot him to spare him becoming a clicker. But no, Abby, as the right character is called, kills him by smashing his head in with a hockey stick. Like, what the hell? On top of that, Ellie wants revenge for Joel’s death. I mean, same. I want her dead too. Now, the game doesn’t give us that. In fact, it’s all incredibly pointless at the end. Ellie goes on a very long journey to get a friend killed and one losing his eye. Also, she finally found the love of her life and left that behind to try and go after Abby again. Because yes, the first time she gets the chance, you’re playing as Abby and kick the hell out of Ellie. So, when she seems happy, someone tells her about Abby’s whereabouts and Ellie goes after her. Her revenge isn’t done yet. Then when you finally think she’s gonna murder Abby, she realizes revenge isn’t the solution (while she killed many, many humans and dogs to get to that point). So, she lets Abby go. And when she returns, there’s no one at home. Her love left. Like, what was the point of the entire journey if the murderer stays alive while her goal was to get revenge for her murdering a loved one? It doesn’t make sense. And on top of that: if she hadn’t left, she would’ve stayed with her love and be happy, while Abby had died. So, the entire gameplay of 30 hours seemed pointless at the end. Nothing was achieved, lives were lost for nothing and it wasn’t a happy ending at all. It really upsets me, because I had been waiting for this game for so long and was so thrilled to play it. But when I played through it, I got less and less excited up to the point where I’d rather quit than continue.

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I’ve played all the Naughty Dog games so far which include shooting (all Uncharted games and the first The Last Of Us game) and in every game, the enemy died. So, why change that now? Why make a game that story-wise doesn’t make any sense in letting the enemy live while the goal was to go get revenge? It just didn’t make sense to me. It doesn’t come through to me. Like I said, I’m a trophy hunter and will, therefore, play it a second time. But other than that, I won’t play it again. I’m not gonna say I wasted my money on this because I don’t believe that’s true. The game still has its perks. Sadly, the story is the biggest issue for me. And that makes me dislike the game overall. Which, makes me sad. But to end with something positive: I really liked the guitar parts. Especially the singing. Oh, and the music in general. Beautiful soundtracks.

I shall give The Last Of Us Part II: 2 out of 5 stars!

Have you played the game?  

Love, Deem ❤

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