Exactly. I'm saying that inclusion is not a matter of politics but a natural progression of storytelling in the modern world and that including gay/trans characters to a narrative shouldn't be seen as a political statement. Because, you know, it's not. 

But you and others are saying it is. That's the problem here. Having queer characters in a game shouldn't be some point of contention, it should be a perfectly viable, and normal way to tell stories. That's how we remove the stigma associated with it, by normalizing it. The arguments I'm contesting are the ones that maintain the status quo by acting like literally any inclusion of queer characters is some SJW agenda and should be treated as a political issue. To make matters worse, just like @Soundwave said, the talking points around the issue have shifted becuase it's agreed on a widespread level that you can't just say 'get the gays out of our game' anymore, so now people are twisting these points and these stories so that they can justify their bigotry by claiming it's 'bad writing' or 'hamfisted character inclusion' when it's no worse than straight male inclusion. It's just another character archetype, not a goddamn political statement.

I have yet to see an ACTUAL argument about the game's story that didn't circle back to 'b-b-b-but my sensibilities! SJW propaganda!' Many try to avoid it, but it's not hard to read between the lines. 

Personally, I absolutely hate The Last of Us, but it's not for the story/writing. I always found the gameplay to be boring and mundane and frustrating. I always found that the gameplay only ever existed to perpetuate the plot...but I always felt the plot was outstandingly well-written and well-presented. the game's visuals, audio, and storytelling elements were all top-of-class and I acknowledged that while also not liking the games becuase I care more about gameplay than the other elements in a game. People forgave the bland and lacklustre gameplay elements becuase the story and character work was so good. but now? Now that Ellie's sexuality and various other progressive inclusions are a part of the story, suddenly everyone hates their writing? 

Naw, I don't buy it. I've experienced the modern political climate long enough to not trust that. I've been on the internet long enough that I have no doubt in my mind that this assault on The Last of Us Part II has nothing to do with the actual writing/storytelling and almost everything to do with the perceived SJW agenda of the development team. This fan hatred is nothing more than thinly veiled bigotry masquerading as legitimate criticism. 

Again, if you and others could accept that this is truly about your discomfort and resistance of progress, then maybe we could have a productive discussion about it. But instead of actually explaining yourself, you're just playing the victim to try and get sympathy points while calling me a meanie for expecting you to be held accountable for your regressive beliefs all while being purposefully disingenuous about your opinions on the matter and attempting to justify the backlash. It's not helpful. If you don't like the game, don't play it. If you don't agree with the direction of the story, don't watch a playthrough of it. but for the love of progress, please don't try to hold the rest of us back with your regressive views and play the victim when you're called out on it. 

**Edit** I got DonFerrari and EnricoPallazoo mixed up. My bad. Assume all my points in this post were directed at Enrico, not DonFerrari. I am unsure of DonFerrari's stance on the matter. 

It's overwhelmingly about the narrative. Even if every character in the game were just plain ol' heterosexuals and there were no political agendas whatsoever to be found, the way the beloved characters are treated is just massively disappointing and off-putting, especially after seven years of waiting. The whole dynamic that made the first game so well liked is completely obliterated in the sequel. It's weird, like either Druckmann doesn't understand what made the first game tick, or that he somehow became so overwhelmed by having to improve upon the former perfection that he imploded and found no other recourse than to deconstruct the whole thing. Like he knew he couldn't top what he had done before, so he decided to piss in the pool before the fans got to it first.

Maybe the Last of Us is one of those things that should have been a one-off, no sequels needed.

Not that I fully agree with these rules but I don't understand why they would be rules for minority characters specifically and not characters period? Things like settings and character development are equally important for white males.

How do you feel about the Uncharted series showing Elena and Nate having romantic moments and kissing throughout the series? Are Naughty Dog pushing an agenda there as well?

How are they treated? You know they live in a world that isnt all sunshine and rainbows, right? Should they all get a heroic send-off or ride into the sunset and live happily ever after? 

I dont know. I like darker subject matters more than others I guess. I like it when things arent predictable or are tied up in a nice bow for me to feel all fuzzy inside. TLOU2 kept surprising me with the narrative. I know people will say that it was all made just to manipulate the feelings of the player. That may be true in some instances, but Im not sure why this is the game that broke the camels back on that. Thats usually what entertainment in general does. I just think people are being a bit harsh on this game. I think it was a breath of fresh air tbh. 

I don't remember that game having been marketed with heterosexual relationships as a selling point and trailers focusing on them making out.

As an aside, Elena is actually a good example of how to write strong female characters without making it political and stupid. Just write a good character.

The first TLOU was dark as well, but here was an element of hope and innocence with Joel and Ellie navigating the world and their respective histories together. The sequel takes that whole dynamic away right at the beginning and what's left is just misery and torture porn with no hope of anything better or redemption of any kind. I like dark, that's not the problem but there's so many ways they could have gone with the story, it could have been so much more meaningful and it's actually hard to come up with something worse than what they did.

The game was not marketed with homosexual relationships as a selling point either. But I understand you think a lesbian character isn’t a good character. You obviously take issues with homosexual representation in gaming media. That tells a lot.

And while I’m here let’s remind people like you that they had no issues with this:

https://youtu.be/MIuccdsDGEM