[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I just powered through to the end because why not. Short answer: not as good as the first one. I just don't really know what story they were trying to tell. The first one worked in terms of character growth and culminated with a big philosophical issue. This one... I just don't know what it was trying to say, other than the hamfisted stuff about the cycle of violence.

Spoiler!

Also, why Santa Barbara? Why that at all? I actually thought it was over on the farm with Deena and Ellie and the kid (Spud?) and they were going to give her a nice happy ending. Big nope to that. Was this an attempt to set up for a third game? I do not know what that whole chapter was trying to say about Ellie, why she couldn't let it go, what we're supposed to learn about the human condition by going through that. Just a weird decision in a very good game with a lot of weird decisions.

... Oh, and I agree that it was poorly ordered. Even sprinkling some of the MILLION CUTSCENES at the end (I thought I was watching Return of the King extended edition for a minute there) throughout the main story would have worked a heck of a lot better. Those flashbacks didn't need to happen right at the end like that.