[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

So I avoided this thread for potential spoilers until I finished the game at least once. I'll spoiler most of my comments just in case.

Overall impression - best game I've played on the PS4 easily. I understand why all the reviews gave it such high praise as I felt it was deserved. I think there are a few reasons why it didn't get as well received by the public though:

1) Naughty Dog hit a 400ft home run which objective reviewers saw as a huge success. Expectations of the public was for a 500ft home run and left people feeling like they wanted more

2) The morals and the objectives of the game seemed more in conflict with what is generally considered "right". There are also a lot of more progressive characters that some people in the world are not comfortable with

3) The issues around Naughty Dog as a company tainted the release and gave the negative side a running start before the game was even released

On to specifics and the spoiler tag

Spoiler!

Gameplay - Simply put, the second iteration improved greatly on the first installment. Crafting was so much better (hello silencers and ammo) and I actually felt compelled to make stuff and use it. AI was so much better - there were not a lot of times I felt like I had been detected unfairly but I also didn't think it was too easy to stay hidden. The dogs were a really nice touch that forced you to change your style (I think my wife is still mad at me for killing some of the dogs though...) I honestly don't think I could go back and play the first one again as its missing so much in terms of gameplay compared to this version. The mix of enemies was great too - I didn't find anything too repetitive and they created some really unique situations (fighting infected and non-infected at the same time, getting caught in a battle between the Seraphites and WLF, action scenes that got your heart pumping, etc) I did only play for 1-2 hours at a time so that probably helped too. The landscapes were great too and they gave more of an open world feeling, where you could choose to go some places or not and it didn’t affect the story. The ability to run away in combat was also great as that would be very realistic – just get the heck out of whatever trouble you were in.

Story - I went in knowing that this story was never going to top the first one, so I didn’t feel let down with the story as others. The first story was perfect – you were on a “noble” quest and at the end were forced to do Joel’s bidding and wreck the whole thing. This time around you started out with a much less noble goal and then you were suddenly playing Abby. I really liked the way they told Abby’s story and in the end I actually like her more as a character than Ellie (I wonder if others felt this way a bit and that’s what’s left a bad taste in their mouth?) The intermissions of peace were fun and playing through the two timelines was done well. I initially didn’t like the Santa Barbara part but realized how important it was to the story. The final battle in the water was intense but I like how it felt forced. Like Elly finally made it all the way to Abby and both Abby and Elly are shells of their former selves feeling obligated to “settle the score”. It didn’t feel right, which I think was the intent. Was it a very different story from the first one? Of course, but I still think it was a good one.

Themes – This is what really struck me as well done in the game. The ongoing theme of “an eye-for-an-eye leaves the world blind” was really well done. There was no real reason the WLF and Seraphites couldn’t co-exist or even work together and countless lives were lost for no reason. I especially enjoyed the fight on the island where you could hear it constantly and it reminded you that you were only playing though a few peoples stories, but hundreds of other stories were out there. It also really hit hard that Elly’s quest for revenge caused her to essentially lose everything – Deana and her kid, Eugene, two fingers and the ability to play guitar, the list goes on. I also thought it talked well about how people need to feel like there is some sort of purpose to everything. Elly felt like her purpose was to be operated on and Joel stole that from her, so she needed a new purpose, which was killing Abby. But when it came down to it, how awful of a purpose is that? Both Abby and Elly could have lived fulfilling lives had it not been for their need for revenge.

Elly vs Abby – As I mentioned above, I think the way you were forced to play both sides of this battle caused people to not like the game as their initial idea was that Elly was the good guy, but really she was the villain (at least in my eyes). Elly went on a totally selfish quest and ended up hurting and losing those she loved around her. Abby’s quests were much more noble in nature; going to find Owen when she thought he was in trouble or misunderstood, helping Lev and Yara, trying to track down the fireflies and re-join a group with goals that align with her values. Abby was also the first one to call the truce, buy not killing Deana and Elly at the theater. Quite simply, Abby was a better person than Elly in this instalment and that was a bit difficult to swallow when playing the California portion of the game. I also really liked how Abby’s kit was very different from Elly – it allowed you to play two different styles in the game which helped keep it fresh for me.

I think it wasn’t universally well-received by the public because as a game or experience or piece of art or whatever, everyone’s opinion (outside the technical details) is subjective. I think trying to boil it down to things like “expectations were too high!” or “the characters were progressively” or “people had a grudge against Naughty Dog!” is pretty dismissive and kind of silly. My expectations didn’t exist, I went in clean, hoping to love it but ready to enjoy it for whatever it was, and it just didn’t deliver in any way. And I’m definitely the last person in the world who is going to care about how progressive characters are, but just throwing LGBTQ characters into your game doesn’t score points with me if their stories don’t feel genuine.

It’s no different than a Marvel movie. Some people love them for perfectly valid reasons related to the films themselves, some people dislike them just as valid reasons. There’s not a lot of sense in saying “the only people who didn’t like it did so for reasons beyond the actual game experience.” That’s be no different than me saying the only reason you loved it is because IGN told you it was a 10/10. Silly, right?

The only things that can truly be talked about objectively are the technical elements. Reviewers of games, movies, music, etc are not objective any more than you or I.