I tried The Last of Us: Part 2 again...

The Last of Us Part 2 is one of the most praised games of all time. Its received hundreds of Game of the Year awards, and is one of PlayStation's most successful launches of all time. But now, 2 years later, we have to ask: is it as good s everyone thought it was? Today we find out.
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Luke Stephens
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[YeOldeMachine]

What really blew me away abt Tlou2 was the character animations. Honestly, its the best character animation work in any game ever.

[Who-Uhm-Cares]

Playing this on highest difficulty and zero UI is probably some of the most immersive experience I’ve ever had from a PlayStation game

[hamzashah]

I remember Seattle Day 2, Ellie embarked on her journey towards the Hospital without Dina. The sombre atmosphere didn’t just remind me of the loss of Joel as Ellie traversed the empty streets, but the dread that comes with the thought of losing the only parent one has in this world. The feeling of being lost and subsequent realisation that the only fear you had your whole life, being all alone, has now become a reality. The graphical technology has definitely advanced, but to paint a picture that expresses this much is the work of a true artist.

[plustico]

I think some of the themes they wanted to explore were okay, but the direction wasn't the best. I think it would have been better to have you play as Abby and Ellie, but Abby is trying to kill Joel for the most of the game. The player would want to keep Joel and Ellie safe, whilst getting to know Abby and her perspective. It would have the theme of the pointlessness of revenge and the perspective shift. I think the directions they chose were shocking for th sake of being shocking without actually having the nuance and subtlety needed to explore themes like those.

[IamYasha]

I remember describing this game to my friend after finishing it.
I just said, "I am emotionally exhausted." Very few games made me feel so many intense emotions.

[beccaf]

I think it’s also important to not forget that 70% of the staff quit due to crunch and some were even hospitalised. We have to demand better treatment for the developers making these games.

[antikiller]

The main issue that I personally have with this story is how inconsequential it is. This revenge story is just one, of hundreds, if not thousands of revenge stories occurring in the game's post apocalyptic world. Any one of the NPCs that Ellie and Abby kill are fathers/mothers, sons/daughters, husbands/wives. Any one of them could come back to restart the cycle of revenge. In the first game, Ellie and Joel's story was unique to them. Only the girl that was immune and the smuggler that took her could have a journey like that.

[normankerft]

its very weird how many ppl defend the decisions made in this game by calling them "intentional." Doing something intentionally doesn't automatically mean it was done well. 

"I meant to make this story as shitty as possible" 

" Wow, 10/10, so brave"

[rocket-sprocket]

hey Luke, long time watcher here. i love there retrospective videos you've been doing lately, they really allow a conversation to open up about games such as TLOU2 with out all of the immediate drama around release, as well as allowing a deeper appreciation of the games that a lot of us adore. just wanted to say cheers for the great content and hope you and yours are doing well. oh and congratulations on becoming a dad, don't work too hard!

[wizardtower]

I think that the story of the first game is way more fluid and tight as a narrative, where the second one falters a bit with the pacing. But I found some of the jarring moments to be quite emotional. I’m more of a character study kind of guy when it comes to story telling, and this hit in more ways than I was expecting. Part 2 tries things that most games don’t even dare trying, and I think it works way more than it doesn’t. Plus, the end scene with Joel and Ellie is the most emotional ending to a game I’ve ever experienced. My favourite game of all time

[danielsan]

When I first played this game, I wasn’t all that disappointed with this game. I guess after hearing everyone talking down at it made me go in with low expectations. I think Kratos said it best when he said to “keep your expectations low and you will never be disappointed.”

[marlaballard]

I never had a problem with Joel dying, per se. The death of the mentor is a pretty common part of the hero’s journey. Granted, I wouldn’t have minded if it happened later in the story. My biggest issue was that I’ve never played any game that went to more effort to make you feel like absolute crap for playing it.

[Sknk-mpmm]

It took me 2 years to get through the 5 stages of grief for Joel, it’s weird how real his death felt

[MRDDev]

If I put myself in Joel's shoes I'd still do all those things. I don't have kids, but if it was between my wife's life and everyone else's, well, I am sorry for everyone else. That is why is hard to empathize with Abby

[Mysterynovus]

The real murder was to Ellie's character in terms of personality. By the last third of the game, Ellie had all reason to give up, call it quits, and just live a fulfilling life. But we can't have that in Druckmann's Tour of Misery.

[TAMKILL]

People talk about Joel’s death when the real murder was of Ellie’s character. She was thrown under the bus so people like Abby better.

[stevebob]

I just finished this for the first time, I played it in chunks throughout roughly 1 year. Yeah it's a painful game. I'm conflicted about it, there are good and not so good elements. It's technically impressive and there are genuinely emotional moments which are often cut off by head scratching and eye rolling choices. It's strange, I neither like nor dislike it, but it's messy for sure.

[TopNotchStoner]

I understand why some people dislike the game, but I love it. It's one of my top 3 favorite games of all time, along with The Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Also, I feel like everyone should play it at least two times. The story is much easier to process on subsequent playthroughs, because you can just take it all in without the shock that is present during the initial playthrough. It's also much easier to pick up on certain subtleties and nuances(facial expressions, body language, voice tone/inflection, etc.) during subsequent playthroughs, because you're more aware of the characters' motivations, as well as their feelings and regrets regarding certain things.

[Young_]

Part 2 was missing Bruce straley, who was the one who told Neil not to make the first game a story of revenge. He was very important in helping Neil filter out many narrative choices thar were considered for the story. So I’d say part didn’t have the same people working on it narratively, as Neil was left alone and in charge to do anything he wanted, given brice wasn’t there to say otherwise. I’m my honest opinion, Neil has talent, but he needs someone to help him filter out his ideas. He didn’t this time, and it shows.

[taunfountainjr]

I recently started replaying TLOU2 and came to the realization that it is very similar to Attack On Titan The Final Season. I say that because of the themes that are addressed and the perspective shifts that occur. Personally I think that TLOU2 could’ve been a masterpiece if it had a better story structure. It’s a technical marvel of a game held back only by awkward pacing and a story that doesn’t really say anything new in an interesting way.