The Last of Us Part 2

- Reviewed on PS4 -

The Last of Us Part 2 released on June 19th, 2020.

Regarded by many as a masterpiece in the world of video games, The Last of Us Part 2 takes you on a journey that'll make you feel pretty much all the emotions there is to experience (at least within a video game). 

You'll be happy, excited, nervous, definitely sad / upset, and undoubtedly, 100%, you'll be angry while playing this game even if you're not invested in the story, although you should definitely be invested if you've played the first Last of Us game. 

This review WILL have Major Spoilers so keep that in mind before continuing...

What I immediately loved when I finished this game was the fact that A, Naughty Dog made a near perfect sequel (in my eyes), to satisfy the TLOU fanbase (well, at least what I have seen / read online) B, they answered all the questions the player(s) will undoubtedly have throughout this journey, and C, they will either get you to forgive Abby or flat out hate her forever making the player have their own personalized feelings towards the game. 

What I mean by that last point was, early on in TLOU Part 2 Abby (SPOILER) kills Joel for an unknown reason but throughout the game, as you play as Abby (more on that later) and discover what happened in her point of view (at the end of the first game), you will either sympathize with her actions or never forgive her as you (the player) have spent so much time with Joel and Ellie in the first game. 

Now that I covered the emotions within TLOU Part 2 and its climax within the story, let's talk about the actual gameplay. 

Earlier I mentioned TLOU Part 2 was being considered a masterpiece by players all around the world, my response to that criticism is "almost".

It's hard for me to even consider playing this game again as my first playthrough was so special and I fear that (with other games) if I revisit this title, I might not enjoy it as much as my first time playing.

You only get one golden time while playing these crazy good, triple a titles, and that's on your first run with the game, not knowing what's going to happen (that is if you have avoided spoilers of course). 

With great FPS and the most amazing animations for combat, talking, running, etc. The Last of Us Part 2 is by far, a more immersive experience than the first game in the historic series. 

The first Last of Us game had an issue with shooting / aiming (at least for me) and this sequel unfortunately did not correct those problems I had with the first game. Game breaking? No. Annoying? A little. 

Ellie, Joel, and Abby are of course not the only people in the game, sure you only play as Ellie and Abby but the support cast for TLOU Part 2 is just as important to the story / game more than any other game I've played (as of writing this blog post). 

The Last of Us Part 2 takes place in Seattle and the environment Naughty Dog created for Ellie and Abby to explore / navigate was breathtaking.

Sure, it was a run down, dangerous city but graphics wise, even for the PS4, the setting looked amazing and extremely realistic, just like Naughty Dog successfully did with the first game (The Last of Us) in the series with its many different locations / weather variants. 

Picture mode is available right from the start and even though I was too hooked into the story to use the picture mode, I did get a few takes in this beloved mechanic, and it is the perfect solution for people to express how much they love this quote on quote, masterpiece. 

The combat was very realistic in TLOU Part 2 where specific actions could cause really realistic / unique reactions from your enemy.  

Character development was on point, especially with Ellie and her relationship with Joel (via flashbacks for obvious reasons) and her eventual love partner Dina.

I feel like the humans in TLOU Part 2 are more of the scary component to the game whereas I got more scared from the first Last of Us game than the sequel. 

The enemies are scary and very well detailed in Part 2, but for some reason, maybe because I knew more about them, other than my first time with the first game, I simply did not get scared or feel scared at all when encountering the monsters in TLOU Part 2. 

I really didn't enjoy how much time you played as Abby in Part 2 but even though I was expecting a more Ellie type adventure throughout Seattle, I do adore how Naughty Dog showed you the perspective of both protagonists and eventually, (like described earlier) you get to decide who to sympathize with. 

Music is amazing but I do find myself kind of forgetting it when I haven't thought about my experience with TLOU Part 2, which means (to me) the music wasn't all that memorable, but it was still very effective with the game / gameplay itself. 

Finally, my last mention about this game is the massive time jump after the first big fight with Ellie and Abby. 

I was so attached to Dina's character and did not want her to die in Part 2, but even after all the emotions with her pregnancy, and how much of the story played off this, at the end of the day when Ellie and Dina are defeated in this battle, it jumps to a new location and the baby safe and sound, with of course Ellie and Dina still alive like nothing happened!

I know Abby didn't kill them but not showing us (the players) how they got to this farmland and how they escaped the horrible Seattle / movie theater was so shocking to me and the whole time I spent playing this portion of the game, I thought it was a huge dream Ellie was having!

I wish Naughty Dog had more content for what happened after this fight, but to be honest, it doesn't kill my love for this game and honestly the series. 

Will this be DLC? Who knows, but right now it isn't (as of writing this blog post) and I am definitely down to buying that part of the story if it even exists. 

So, at the end of the day, do I agree this game is a masterpiece, well yes and no. 

I believe parts / portions of the game are masterpieces like character development, graphics, animation, voice acting / dialogue, but there are some problems I have with TLOU Part 2 that unfortunately are too big to forget about. 

Pros: 

    - Great Character Development 

    - Outstanding / Unreal Game Animation

    - Realistic Graphics / Setting(s)

    - Amazing Story / Plot

    - Memorable Characters and Side Characters

    - Generates a lot of Emotion while Playing

Cons:

    - Weapon Aiming Still Hard to Control

    - Huge Time Jump with No Visuals

    - Not as Scary as First Game

My Rating for The Last of Us Part 2 (on PS4):

4 / 5

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Disclaimer

All Reviews, Ratings, Pros, Cons, and Opinions Shared on this Blog (Press A Reviews) are my (Connor Butler) own Thoughts and Feelings.