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SvennoJ on 31 December 2023
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Jaicee said:
SvennoJ said:

Great post, describes exactly how I feel about The last of Us 2 as well. Plus the second entry elevates the first game to new heights. Replaying the first game after the second makes you feel like an even bigger ass during the hospital escape. The first game already sets plenty question marks behind your 'collateral' damage and continuous escalation of conflicts, which the TV show further enhances. The second game puts a bigger spot light on your actions in the first game.

Part 2 is already in my top 10 games of all time after only 3 years. Now sits at #6 after SotC, another game that makes you think about your actions in the game. Looking forward to the upgrade, will play Part 2 again soon :)

Thanks much! I mean I completely get why it's too depressing a game for many people, just like turning on the news is depressing (and only partly because of the hosts). The reason it doesn't become too much for me is because it has a way of lending more power to the game's moments of relief, kindness, and joy, which one notices are generally more common and more elaborate than in the first game (lots of "giraffes" type moments here), as if to compensate for the fact that the over-arching story feels more downbeat. The resultant tonal balance works well for me.

Same for the wars and genocides happening all around us. The resilience people show while enduring atrocities is both incredibly sad and heart warming.







More impactful than just another bombed out building. The last of us 2 shows where revenge leads on an individual level. The real world shows where revenge leads on a national / political level :(

Games. movies and the news have desensitized us to violence for many decades. Sanitizing death, ignoring the fallout, ignoring the ones left behind. Glorifying violence as the answer to all problems. The Last of Us 2 breaks that ludonarrative dissonance and actually matches the gameplay to the story. (Of course you still get to shoot plenty 'props' that conveniently 'fall asleep' after you shoot them)