The Last of Us is understandably regarded as a classic, but I'm not the biggest fan of the game. Sure, it had some brilliant narrative moments, but the gameplay and level design were far too formulaic, if well made, to be considered among the upper echelon of gaming.
I'm delighted to report that Part II's gameplay is far superior to the original in every aspect. It's still very much a linear action game, for most part, but now the encounters play out in a relatively wide area with plenty of options. This makes the gameplay far more dynamic and replayable. Of course, the game wants you to play stealth, and the mechanics here are dramatically improved. That said, it doesn't really hold up to the best stealth gameplay in the industry - stuff like Dishonored or HITMAN. If you're not interested in stealth, combat certainly plays a big part. There are few weapons in the game, but each one is fine tuned to perfection. The highlight has to be the melee, with incredible animations - some of the best I've seen.
The quality of animations are not just limited to melee - it's throughout the game. Sure, it doesn't quite have the breadth and depth of animations offered by RDR2, but short of that, it's the best I've seen in gaming. The character models and animations, particularly in cutscenes, also marks a new bar for gaming in general. The graphics, the physics, the sound - this is a technical tour-de-force, through and through. That's not to say it doesn't have weaknesses - it certainly does, mostly due to the limited power of the PS4 Pro - but overall, this is one of the most polished packages this generation.
Early in the game, we have a fairly open area which is readily explorable. It's definitely not an open world, but more of a hub area. This is definitely my favourite part of the game. There's some excellent environment design here backed by subtle, but beautiful, sound design. It's far more atmospheric, and immersive, than anything in the original.
Unfortunately, this feeling doesn't last long, as most of the game reverts back to the linear action/stealth game formula. It's still high quality stuff, of course - the environments are uniformly brilliant throughout, there are plenty of interesting setpieces, and the gameplay is always engaging - but ultimately, it's not my favourite type of game.
This is The Last of Us, and as anticipated the narrative is very much in your face. I managed to avoid the leaks, but some of the user reviews paint a very divisive picture. I can certainly see why - this is a bleak, constantly dour narrative which challenges expectations in every way. On one hand, I'm glad that the writers were ambitious enough to try something different - they could easily have gone with another crowd-pleasing narrative like the first game. On the other hand, I'm just not sure it works for a game like this. There's a clear disconnect between the gameplay and the narrative at points. And yes - while I don't have any issues with unlikable characters - it's often a bit disorienting to keep playing when you just can't reconcile the gameplay with the narrative. To be clear, the writing is on point throughout, and the performances some of the best this generation - it's just the overall concept that's questionable at best.
The Last of Us Part II is quality throughout. You can tell everyone on this game poured their heart and soul into it. When the creators are so passionate, the resulting works are often divisive and challenging. Part II definitely fits that category. Should you play it? If you loved the original game for its delightful interactions between the two main characters, you'll be left sorely disappointed. On the flipside, if you weren't impressed with the original game's humdrum gameplay, this one is a dramatic improvement. I think this is definitely a must play game for anyone mildly interested games - just go in with your expectations in check.
@tipu curate 3 :)
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