i still say its the human thing to do. would anyone call a dad selfish for saving his daughter and not saving others? if so, then selfish is the right thing to do

Yes, humans are selfish they'd choose to save one person instead of millions.

I'd kill all of you to save Ellie. Just so we're clear.

LOL

The greatest achievement in the game for me was I freaking love Ellie. Generally in fiction I loathe teenagers as whiny entitled self centered brats. When I saw footage of Ellie I thought generally negative thoughts. Meeting her in the game initially felt meh towards her. She grew on me though, those subtle conversations, the character development. She felt real and became invested in her story and wanted to protect her. Playing as her was a master stroke experiencing how her world was different. I could no longer melee my way through enemies. Stealth and traps became critical to success.

I honestly had no idea how much I loved this character until late in the game she jumps a fence to unlock a door and a clicker sneaks up on her. I actually, in my living room, screamed "ELLIE!" and unloaded into that bastard in a panic.

Never has a game done that to me. To care about a series of 0s and 1s so intensely. Ellie will live long into my memory as one of the greatest most realized characters in gaming.

Often we put hyperbole in gaming, but I truly think Naughty Dog achieved something special here. Their crowning achievement and a landmark for my gaming life.

Bravo Naughty Dog, bravo.

Well the game is "Last of Us" not Last of me. Nothing selfish there. The chances of vaccine being a success on a large scale seemed almost zero.

Many others have said it better than me as to why the ending fit really well with the rest of the game. The part towards the end where he is running out of the firefly building is very similar to the starting where he carrying his daughter in the same manner. He has been through a lot and scars of not being able to save Sarah are still haunting him. Saving Ellie is his redemption. It is easy for us to sit on our comfortable chairs and say things like i would have done different or it was selfish. In reality things can be far more complicated.

My 5 cents.

Thats what makes the story so good.  You play from Joel's perspective and understand why he saves Ellie.

On the ending I loved carrying Ellie to mirror carrying Sarah at the start and how he failed to protect one making him desperate to protect the other. The best part? None of this was shouted at me, their was subtlety and you read into actions and expressions. This shows how greater technical ability can be turned into powerful story telling mechanisms.

gosh, i need to play this game again. augen your comments are amazing btw. best game ever made IMO

Great game and great story, even though Joel may have just wiped out humanity. Still the best story in narrative I've seen in a game.

question. if you had to chose between saving naughty dog or ellie, who would you chose?