(SPOILERS FREE) The Last of US 2 Discussion

[DonFerrari]

Angelus said:

DonFerrari said:

Perhaps you have to consider that life is made of mostly dull moments with sparks of big excitement. And the game cover that, day-to-day generic teen talk (since protagonist is a teenager) with sections of epic.

Even if that's what they were going for, that doesn't automatically make it good. Just because you're trying to make a point, or pursuing a certain theme, doesn't mean the result is necessarily a praiseworthy product.

This has actually been a rather disturbing trend among media members as well of late (not just in gaming either). Supposed journalists either being unable, or unwilling to distinguish between the themes and messages of the products they're reviewing, and the actual execution, structure, pacing, etc that said themes are packaged in. How the themes are delivered is apparently not as important as the fact that they're delivered at all, and how they align with the reviewer's own world views.

To use your example then, if a developer wants to make a point of highlighting the monotony of our own every day life by including a lot of monotony in their survival-action game....chances are, a lot of people are not going to find that particularly fun, engaging, or particularly worthwhile. Because most people don't play video games to be reminded of how many unremarkable, unexciting, or generally uninspired events/interactions real life is comprised of. In practice then, this is objectively bad design, and a failure to recognize it as such is a failure in proper overall criticism. 

And to be clear, while I'm aware of the overall plot of TLOU2, and have seen various segments of it in video, I don't know how much of what you've described applies to the whole 20some hour game. I'm just using the scenario you described in a general fashion if one was to apply it over the course of an entire experience.

Hey I didn`t say it is good or fun. I said that it could have been done with intent, to make the conversation among teens very mundane and annoying as they are in real life. That will mostly upset us in games as it does in real life =p