Sorry, not reading any of the posts for now, I'll be remaining spoiler free, avoided all reviews and even tech reviews.

I started the game last night after figuring out how to get HDR to work again. (wrong cable) First impressions, wow, I love the slow start. So much to see, so many details to take in, the lighting is amazing. I stood around for over 5 minutes simply watching a bunch of kids play in the snow. I didn't get very far since the game didn't unlock untill midnight, I'll be playing more this evening.

I got in 4 - 5 hours last night. Playing on hard difficulty.

On a technical level, TLOU: Part II has no rivals, the detail and polish is unmatched. The animations set industry standards. The facial expressions are incredible. Even squeezing through crevices feels next gen lol. Graphically it is the best console game I have ever seen. It really makes you think what ND can accomplish with 10TF.

The gameplay has absolutely been taken to another level. There's more vertically, with the ability to jump, adding a dimension of platforming which enhances exploration/scavenging. The guitar mini game is surprisingly fun. It makes great use of the touchpad! Gunplay feels tight and melee combat is a lot more engaging with the dodge mechanic. Although it took me a while to get used to it. Stealth is a lot better, with more variety, and you can also prone. The world design is great. Its still semi linear but it is more open with branching pathways. There is an open world level and it is impressive. There are collectibles, weapons, gear, side stories, rather than just items you can use to craft. Also, the encounters and set pieces are much improved.

In terms of plot, it definitely is going to be a bit divisive, but I'm curious to see how ND ties it all together. A lot of people are saying the game is bleak and it looks like its only going to get more miserable from here on out. I don't think what happened to Joel is bad writing, or out of character either. It made sense within the context. It feels like ND took everything they learned from UC4/TLOU/TLL and put it all together for TLOU: Part II.

I agree with the dialogue and overall characters.

Kind of surprising because the Uncharted series and the original TLOU had great character interactions. The moments of subtlety so far aren't as impactful. 

So my disc finally arrived. Early impressions seems that the tone of the leaks may have been more on point that I was willing to acknowledge at the time.

I also have noticed a problem that I had with the first game. When Joel’s daughter died, it had been what p, 10 minutes of gametime - I didn’t care because nothing had really been established. I get it sets up as the basis of Joel’s relationship with Ellie, but it left me out-of-sync as the pacing was off.

So far it seems to be doing a similar thing here - grounding a few characters and character relationships in events that happened off-screen, where they therefore have no meaning to the player. This isn’t helped by having you repeatedly switch characters in the first half an hour of the game.

Removed a portion of your excellent view on the start of the game. Please also edit your original since that could be considered spoiler.

Man my son was on the coming at the time I played TLOU1, so even if there was no construction of his daughter I could feel his pain and despair just by the label daughter

Fair enough. I don’t have any kids which may contribute to my detachment from it, but I feel it’s a mark of a could game if you feel the character’s pain even if you are detached from their situation.

I had similar problems. Pre-ordered it at the end of April during lockdown when I had no idea if shops would be open to get the game in release day. I bought it alongside Ghost of Tsushima. The email confirmation said it would be delivered between 17th and 20th of July (Tsushima’s release date). That got me a bit worried.

I am around 6 hours in and still in awe of how this good looks. The amount of detail attached to everything is on another level and if this looks even a bit better on the PS5, it's gonna be a long time until another game looks radically better than that. The gameplay? 10/10.

The story so far is intriguing to say the least. Ellie and her friends have some cringey dialogue at times, but you have to keep in mind their age and the context of it all. Not saying some dialogue couldn't have been improved, but overall it feels natural I guess. Even so, without having any idea what happens next, I feel like this should be the last game in the series. It truly feels special playing it and I don't want that to start feeling old with another sequel.

It honestly makes me so sad the way the story goes with the tlou2. I am very disappointed. If you enjoy the game, I'm happy for you but this is just unbelievable. So far I would give the game a 6/10