Five years after the events of The Last of Us, Ellie embarks on another journey through a post-apocalyptic America on a mission of vengeance against a mysterious militia.Five years after the events of The Last of Us, Ellie embarks on another journey through a post-apocalyptic America on a mission of vengeance against a mysterious militia.Five years after the events of The Last of Us, Ellie embarks on another journey through a post-apocalyptic America on a mission of vengeance against a mysterious militia.
- Won 3 BAFTA Awards
- 39 wins & 37 nominations total
- Jesse
- (as Stephen Chang)
Featured reviews
This game is a master class of storytelling, character creation, paradigm shifting... all wrapped in a beautiful shell. No other game had ever made me throw the control away because I simply couldn't decide which character to hurt. And that's the whole point: this game makes us question violence in games and the futility of violence in general as a response to conflict. If nothing else, just for that, it deserves every recognition in the world.
The way it introduces the different characters and makes you realise that your antagonist may be someone else's protagonist, is flawless.
The characters are full of life and truth. They're believable and 3D, not flat archetypes.
I could go on and on. And I genuinely feel sorry for those who feel disappointed by this game. I honestly believe they missed the whole point of it.
10/10.
I REFUSED TO LOOK AT ANY LEAKS BEFORE PLAYING AND I LOVED IT!!
The story makes sense! Its true, its dark, realistic and its explores so many gritty and real themes. Like it says on the game case, it's a REVENGE story, not another cash-grab sequel. Everything that happens in the story happens for a REASON.
This game looks INCREDIBLE! I played this on the original PS4 and it shocked me how polished and beautiful it was. Definitely one of the best looking games out there.
The gameplay is very similar to the first game but feels quite a lot more polished. And the game is just so much more brutal than the last.
This game is already in the top 5 games on PS4 for me and I will always stand by that.
The Gameplay: Putting everything from the story to one side, this is stellar, top class gameplay. Combat is fluid, tense, and really exhausting in the best possible of ways. It takes everything we loved from the first game and only builds on it. You're able to approach encounters however you please, but playing smart (using stealth and your tools) feels immensely rewarding. I thoroughly enjoyed scavenging for materials and planning ahead to decide how I could be the most effective predator in combat while utilising as little resources as possible. Whether you're up against human foes, or the infected (Including the absolutely terrifying new infected types!) it's up to you as the player to determine how you can be the most effective against each very different enemy type. This is a true post-apocalypse experience.
The Story: It's extremely difficult to talk about the narrative, for many reasons. First and foremost, spoilers. (I won't be spoiling anything!) Reading the leaks and not playing the game will not give you the faintest idea of the direction this story takes. It's a video game, and it must therefore be played in full, by you. In my opinion, the story is truly complex and multi layered. Sometimes you want to cry, sometimes you want to laugh, sometimes you want to throw your controller through the TV. There's a lot at work here, and my understanding is that most of these emotions you feel are intentional. There are points in the game where you will NOT be satisfied with the outcomes of events, and this is the way it's designed. This is a story about the cost of revenge, sins of the father, and the near impossible ability to swallow hatred. The game is a message, and only by playing through the entire story could I piece together -and comprehend- the message I was being taught.
But given this, I believed the story was far too long, with some really odd and dissatisfying decisions mixed in. There's a particular sequence of the game that has you go back in time to relive events from a new perspective. There are moments here that are crucial to the overall narrative arc and your understanding of the plot, but it turns into a 10+ hour deviation. I found myself wanting to get back to "the game" as if I was playing something completely different. The game lost it's flow for me here, and I began to feel disconnected from all of the characters on-screen. There are moments (that I can't go into) Where the game wanted me to perform actions that I simply did not want to perform. This did not feel intentional to me, all I was feeling in these particular moments was confusion and disappointment. But, the final hour brings it all back together, and finally concludes what the game is setting out to say in a really intelligent and hard hitting way. I am likely to carry these feelings for years to come!
In conclusion, I saw this as a heavily flawed masterpiece. It added upon things I loved about the first game, and it took away things I loved about the first game. It was an exhausting journey through just about every emotion a person can feel. It was incredibly intelligent, well constructed, and beautifully rendered. I often found myself admiring random, totally unimportant spots in the game world, considering just how much work had gone into creating such gorgeous environments. But it's far from perfect, the concept of "If you don't like it, you don't get it" is preposterous, nobody can tell you how to feel. You are perfectly in your right to dislike this game, but only once you have played it for yourself.
It is not shock value if the shocking things hold meaning and builds character. The game takes place in a post apocalypse and the decisions the characters make are totally sensical given the confines of their world.
The game is better written than 98% of shows and films, and 100% better than any other game out there. Only the best filmmakers like bergman, kieslowski, haneke can write above this level and I doubt this games detractors even know these artists.
The game is relentlessly bleak, but it is purposeful. That being said, I understand how someone wouldn't enjoy this, but bleak plotting isn't automatically bad writing.
Did you know
- TriviaThe composer for both games, Gustavo Santaolalla, can be seen sat in a chair playing the theme on his banjo, just after you leave Ellie's and pet the dog.
- GoofsGasoline expires in a matter of months. After more than 20 years of untreated gas, the vehicles the characters commandeer wouldn't be drivable.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Ellie: You're such an asshole!
Joel: I'm not trying to...
Ellie: I was supposed to die in that hospital. My life would've fucking mattered. But you took that from me.
[Joel expresses his guilt for saving Ellie]
Joel: If somehow the Lord gave me a second chance at that moment... I would do it all over again.
Ellie: Yeah... I just... I don't think I can ever forgive you for that. But I would like to try.
Joel: I'd like that.
Ellie: Okay. I'll see you around.
Joel: Yep.
- Alternate versionsDue to CERO's strict policies on violence and sexuality, the Japanese version is censored to tone down the sex scenes and remove the gore entirely.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Last of Us Part II Remastered (2024)
Details
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1