The Last of Us Part II (2020) SPOILERS WITHIN

 

To say this game has been polarizing is a understatement, I can't remember the last time I saw a divide over a piece of media this strong. The game has had a sea of controversies surrounding it and I decided I would provide my own thoughts and views on it. I will break this post down into sections....also before you proceed.

                    THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!!

For a change of pace, I will adress some of the most frequent complaints and discussions about the game and give my two cents here:

Abby is an unlikeable character and deserved to die at the end

What Abby does is horrific, but at the same time I could see what the developers were doing and I didn't mind it. I was sad as hell about seeing Joel get killed off, but at the same time I get Abby's motives and would feel the same if in her shoes. I do think we should've spent a bit more time with her and her father, Jerry. Her character took time to grow on me, but in the end I did grow to like her character and get invested in her story.

Now for the ending, if Abby rode off in to the sunset with no consequences, then that would be dumb but think about it. All her friends got killed because of her revenge quest, one of whom referred to her as a shitty person before being killed, she gets captured and tortured for months and forever has to live with PTSD knowing her actions will always haunt her. Abby lives, but with a lot of dread. 

Will she be haunted in Part III?.....we can only guess

The game panders to SJWs

I didn't see this at all. Ellie and Dina being a couple didn't feel like Lesbian propaganda being shoved down my throat, the themes with Lev transitioning were not "pandering". I just didn't feel this aspect of the game, I didn't find it as bad as some of the negative reviews made it out to be.

Joel died because of the idiot ball trope

I didn't want Joel to die, nobody did but I must rebuttal the claims his death was out of character with a few points. He slipped up and made a mistake in panic, we've all done such things in our lives. Also he just assumed Abby was a lone wanderer, in Part 1 when he runs over the man begging for help...he knew that a dangerous group was around. Abby was wandering around the outskirts of his town, so he thought she was a just passer-by who needed help....obviously a mistake that impacts the story.

The Last of Us Part II may not have story elements that were praised, but I enjoyed the game for taking risks and further developing the story and characters. I did not just want a carbon copy of Part 1, I wanted to see the story go on and the characters grow further.

I will admit, I found Mel and Owen hard to get attached to since I saw them get killed just minutes ago, but I still found them to be well written and they had enough going on to where they felt like fully developed characters. 

I never felt bored at any point, but it definitely felt like the game dragged on in certain places, I felt super fatigued by the time Ellie arrives in Santa Barbara towards the climax. Also I get the messaged was meant to be "revenge can consume you" but the final duel did nothing for me. It was graphic and brutal but it needed more "big bang" moments to grab you. Just my two cents

In conclusion, The Last of Us Part II is a good game in my books. It has a few faults, but overall I applaud the game for taking risks and actually further exploring things and not just playing it safe.