@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L ......I get what Scollurio is saying. I've always been a bit of a day dreamer and as such find it easy to get wrapped up in books, films and in particular games where you're involved making decisions. This in turn means I get emotionally involved in games even though they're just fiction (pixels as you put it). The plus side is I think you get more out of games because you more immersed in them but the downside is when something harsh happens like Joel's death it affects you more. I think a lot of people who experience games like me bought into the original game simply because of the way it was structured around the narrative and empathy for the two main characters and why many where so affected by the decision Naughty Dog took to take the story where they took it. Still in many ways though a landmark game.
The TLOU created a fan base that had been built on the growing emotional relationship between Joel and Ellie. Many players empathised with the characters, particularly Joel from the start when he loses his daughter. I can’t think of many more games that have that emotional impact on players. A land mark in gaming that was justifiably lauded.
To then destroy what many fans loved about the game in the first few hours of the sequel was always going to be a big call and it definitely split fans down the middle.
It wasn’t so much Joel’s death, it was what died along with Joel and that was that precious relationship fans loved so much. I have to admit I was really tied into that relationship myself and the shadow of Joel’s death was always ever present as I played the game.
Moving on to the game itself, the graphics and look of the game blew me away. The realism of both the landscape and the emotional expressions on the faces of the characters throughout the game were amazing. The facial expressions in particular have, I’m sure, helped to trigger deeper emotions in many players, it certainly did in my case. Discovering the vistas and urban landscapes on horseback was a pure joy and I wish there had been more of that.
The combat actions are smooth and natural, the encounters made more real by the conversations between your assailants, that heighten the tension. The violence in the game is more extreme, again heightened by the quality of the graphics and the simple number of encounters there are. It made me wince at times.
As far as the story is concerned I thought it suffered terribly from bad pacing, it jumped all over the place and in the end it seemed to stutter to its final scene ,rather than have a smooth transition in order to reach it.
A good example of the poor pacing was the build up to the tense theatre confrontation, only to cut to Abby as a young girl wandering through the woods with her Dad, so returning to that scene 12 hours on didn't have the same impact.
Another was the cut to Ellie and Dina living in a secured farmstead some considerable months down the line, with all appearing happy in their world. Then Tommy turns up and Naughty Dog fire a starting gun again. All a bit clumsy and not really thought through for me. Tommy getting angry over Ellie's reluctance to renew the pursuit of Abby didn't feel right for that character. He had already twice tried to protect her from that confrontation. It felt forced in order to drive the narrative. Reminiscing about Joel and pulling on her heart strings would have felt more convincing as a trigger for Ellie to return to the pursuit.
I think I’d have empathised more with Abby if we’d been told her story leading up to the confrontation with Joel and Tommy. But because Naughty Dog were so hell bent on getting a shock reaction, even going to the point of spitting on Joel’s dead body, I never empathised with that group or Abby.
Naughty Dog trying to put over that there are good and bad people on both sides was done very clumsily and at times I felt myself saying “Alright, alright enough already, I get it”. It felt very patronising and preachy at times.
The first game certainly had bleak moments but it was constantly punctuated with the interactions between Ellie and Joel which were the main narrative of the story and that gave the game story warmth and hope at times.
The TLOU2 has non of that, except in the flash backs of Ellie and Joel, although a joy to experience, still illicit a sadness in the player, now knowing what’s ahead for them.
It’s a cold story with a bleak landscape and a bleak message, I felt drained and more than a little sad when the credits rolled.
All in all though there are many things to admire with this game and it has certainly given game designers and players alike food for thought. There is a heavy price to pay for that though and that’s the death of the legacy of the first game, which many who play through it again after experiencing TLOU2, will never quite feel the same about.
Comments 2
Re: Talking Point: The Last of Us 2 Spoilers Discussion
@1_W1NG3D_4NG3L ......I get what Scollurio is saying. I've always been a bit of a day dreamer and as such find it easy to get wrapped up in books, films and in particular games where you're involved making decisions.
This in turn means I get emotionally involved in games even though they're just fiction (pixels as you put it). The plus side is I think you get more out of games because you more immersed in them but the downside is when something harsh happens like Joel's death it affects you more.
I think a lot of people who experience games like me bought into the original game simply because of the way it was structured around the narrative and empathy for the two main characters and why many where so affected by the decision Naughty Dog took to take the story where they took it.
Still in many ways though a landmark game.
Re: Talking Point: The Last of Us 2 Spoilers Discussion
The TLOU created a fan base that had been built on the growing emotional relationship between Joel and Ellie. Many players empathised with the characters, particularly Joel from the start when he loses his daughter. I can’t think of many more games that have that emotional impact on players. A land mark in gaming that was justifiably lauded.
To then destroy what many fans loved about the game in the first few hours of the sequel was always going to be a big call and it definitely split fans down the middle.
It wasn’t so much Joel’s death, it was what died along with Joel and that was that precious relationship fans loved so much. I have to admit I was really tied into that relationship myself and the shadow of Joel’s death was always ever present as I played the game.
Moving on to the game itself, the graphics and look of the game blew me away. The realism of both the landscape and the emotional expressions on the faces of the characters throughout the game were amazing. The facial expressions in particular have, I’m sure, helped to trigger deeper emotions in many players, it certainly did in my case. Discovering the vistas and urban landscapes on horseback was a pure joy and I wish there had been more of that.
The combat actions are smooth and natural, the encounters made more real by the conversations between your assailants, that heighten the tension. The violence in the game is more extreme, again heightened by the quality of the graphics and the simple number of encounters there are. It made me wince at times.
As far as the story is concerned I thought it suffered terribly from bad pacing, it jumped all over the place and in the end it seemed to stutter to its final scene ,rather than have a smooth transition in order to reach it.
A good example of the poor pacing was the build up to the tense theatre confrontation, only to cut to Abby as a young girl wandering through the woods with her Dad, so returning to that scene 12 hours on didn't have the same impact.
Another was the cut to Ellie and Dina living in a secured farmstead some considerable months down the line, with all appearing happy in their world. Then Tommy turns up and Naughty Dog fire a starting gun again. All a bit clumsy and not really thought through for me. Tommy getting angry over Ellie's reluctance to renew the pursuit of Abby didn't feel right for that character. He had already twice tried to protect her from that confrontation. It felt forced in order to drive the narrative. Reminiscing about Joel and pulling on her heart strings would have felt more convincing as a trigger for Ellie to return to the pursuit.
I think I’d have empathised more with Abby if we’d been told her story leading up to the confrontation with Joel and Tommy. But because Naughty Dog were so hell bent on getting a shock reaction, even going to the point of spitting on Joel’s dead body, I never empathised with that group or Abby.
Naughty Dog trying to put over that there are good and bad people on both sides was done very clumsily and at times I felt myself saying “Alright, alright enough already, I get it”. It felt very patronising and preachy at times.
The first game certainly had bleak moments but it was constantly punctuated with the interactions between Ellie and Joel which were the main narrative of the story and that gave the game story warmth and hope at times.
The TLOU2 has non of that, except in the flash backs of Ellie and Joel, although a joy to experience, still illicit a sadness in the player, now knowing what’s ahead for them.
It’s a cold story with a bleak landscape and a bleak message, I felt drained and more than a little sad when the credits rolled.
All in all though there are many things to admire with this game and it has certainly given game designers and players alike food for thought. There is a heavy price to pay for that though and that’s the death of the legacy of the first game, which many who play through it again after experiencing TLOU2, will never quite feel the same about.