The Last of Us

Once again, TLOU is quite literally a marathon of pressing a few buttons to find the most efficient and creative ways to murder unsuspecting targets, split up by cutscenes that remind us they aren't emotionless meat puppets who commit murder for my entertainment.

So wanting to tackle the "cycle of violence" is kind of weird, but I guess it's the sort of pretentious, out-there message that set the first game apart from every other zombie game. It's not about enjoying the violence, it's about enjoying the father-daughter relationship that's created in the midst of that violence. It's not about pressing buttons to efficiently and creatively murder waves of enemies, it's about realizing just how awful each act of murder really is.

...still going to buy this game and creatively, brutally murder people while missing the point the developers were going for when it's on sale, but Journey, Firewatch, Celester, and even Death Stranding seem a little more tonally honest than TLOU 2 seems right now.

Edited by Soble on May 14th 2020 at 6:53:38 AM

You also forgot to mention how Youtube regularly fucks over LGBTQ content creators.

Yeah, i'm also tired of hearing criticism that are just "Abby is an ugly as sin tranny omg Wall Street Journals ruined gaming" because that's just not what most people are mad. Anyone be it left, right or inbetween would hate Abby even if she was the most boring and safe character imaginable for the simple reason of killing off the previous MC just for shock value

I will admit the Senator Armstrong jokes are hilarious tho but only because i love armstrong. Oh and the choke edits, those are hysterical as well.

Edited by fasoman1996 on May 14th 2020 at 10:51:40 AM

Naughty Dog has been DMC Aing and Copyright striking anyone who talks about the leaks and their feelings on them, even if they didn't show footage or talked about what happens in the spoilers in detail, and they recently copyright struck a fricken Parody of the leaks themselves.

While its prevent spoilers, it sets a bad precedent if they get away with it completely.

Any one else think this game, if it reviews poorly come launch, will set the path for Naughty Dog to become a Fallen Creator? Especially since apparently 70% of the Veteren staff from Naughty left and was replaced outright?

I don't see part 2 flopping, but I don't see it performing as well as Naughty Dog's games have been.

I think it says a lot about consumers (and nothing good) that the fact they treated their employees horribly didn't turn them into a Fallen Creator already.

Archer was right, you really can wash away any disgrace with results.

Edited by HailMuffins on May 16th 2020 at 1:50:06 PM

Inside the Gameplay:

"Ellie can Jump now."

Truly innovative........not.

So basically Uncharted mechanics. Cool, not that innovative tho.

Gameplay looks interesting.

Part 2 State of Play on Wednesday, May 27th at 1 pm PDT, 10 pm CEST, 5 am AET on the 28th.

....Oooh, boy. OOOOHHHHH BOY. They better be careful. This is gonna get nasty, I can feel it.

RE:Reviews - There's no way this game reviews poorly. Before the leaks, 10/10 reviews just for showing up were probably ready to go. After the leaks, I could see some outlets giving the game 11/10 as a reward for pissing off gamers. Putting my facetiousness aside, the game is a technical marvel, so that alone will justify high scores, even if the story is poor and the gameplay merely functional, if unspectacular (which isn't as much of a dealbreaker as you'd think, because let's be honest, who plays Naughty Dog's games for the gameplay?) Audience reception and word-of-mouth is what will matter in this case, and we can't see how that will go until the game is out and people are playing it.

I do agree that it's not this game's performance Sony and Naughty Dog need to worry about, so much as their next one. Ellie is in the new Playstation Studios opening, so the series will remain an ongoing concern for Sony, which could mean trouble for The Last of Us 3 if the second one doesn't go down well.

Something else that's occured to me: with how grim and gruesome the game seems to be, The Last of Us 2 could be the video game equivalent of Schindler's List or Requiem for a Dream if everything works out: brilliant, and yet too harrowing to experience more than once. Has there ever been any other game to achieve that?

Edited by GavsEvans123 on May 27th 2020 at 7:53:04 PM

Nier and Nier Automata, Shadow of the Collosus.

Just to name some that come to mind.

State of Play going on now. Not impressed so far.

x3 - I can’t think of any media that hates its primary readership as much as game outlets hate gamers.

Automata is sort of set up to discourage repeat play as it is since the ending of the game encourages you to delete your save file.

Edited by Beatman1 on May 27th 2020 at 4:15:12 AM

I would not put Shadow of the Colossus on such a category because the minimalistic nature of tye storytelling means plenty of players can simply not give a sh*t about the story and focus on the gameplay.

In which case, yes, it can offer replay value.

Something more fitting of the comparison would be Spec Ops: The Line.

Undertale also tends to discourage repeat playthroughs, but only on either extreme. If you complete Pacifist, you're encouraged not to do another playthrough. And Genocide, well, everyone knows about the lengths it goes through to make you feel like shit for pursuing that path.

This game stopped being realistic the second a survivor is seen using a Vita. Talk about Alternate History

Seeing that gameplay makes me wish there was a Dues Ex-like multiple choice progression system, where you use a combination of bluffing and stealth to sneak throughout the compound without killing anyone.

Jesus Christ, was this really needed, Naughty Dog?

Uhhhhh, wow.

That's certainly... something all right.

Who are they trying to pander to exactly?

Wait, wait, what am I looking at exactly?

Do we even want to know?

Its Abby from the spoilers. She's the mystery woman from the 2017 trailer that people thought was Ellie's mom. The left is what she looked like in the 2017 trailer, the right is what she looked like in the recent State of Play earlier today.

The former on the left hand side looks like someone that's a survivor in the post apocalypse, the latter looks ridiculous for a grounded setting...

What exactly is different in the right image?

Look at the arms.

The person is more bulky. Particularly in the arms.

Is she still played by Laura Bailey?

Edited by RedHunter543 on May 27th 2020 at 6:00:19 AM

Huh alright I see it.