Revisiting The Last of Us: Part II

[SvennoJ]

@firebush03 

"Ellie having a bleeding heart upon murdering the team of ppl who killed Joel (yet she has no remourse for the scores of soldiers she killed along the way"

I just got to the part where Ellie confronts Nora. The 'sudden' bleeding heart she displays there is an important turn of events. From basically killing in self defense she has been doing all the time (enemies are all non hesitant to kill her) she kidnaps, pursues and then tortures Nora for information.

The emotional toll and moral price she pays for that is written all over her face, very powerful sequence. The game forces you to press square to advance the torture, all while focusing on Ellie's facial expression.

It makes a lot of sense. She goes deeper and deeper in the cycle of revenge killing rather than kill to survive.

And this time it made more impact on me as I was sneaking by the Scars and the soldiers while getting into the hospital. There is one mandatory confrontation, dude with a huge hammer coming after Ellie. Then she's already upset for killing Nora's friend in the basement, reflex after she resists.

But true, if you methodically kill everyone along the way, then it can feel a bit arbitrary. But still the move from "self defense" to torture is a big turning point in the game.

I'll be on the way to the Aquarium tonight, where things further escalate.