A New Experience (for me) - The Last Of Us Game

jonski

Right , I enjoy watching my films and TV series and I also enjoy playing pc games . Recently I heard my son say he had watched the Last of Us on youtube and I found that a little odd , I have used youtube before for the odd walkthrough but it's mainly online shooters I have played in the last few years .

So I logged into youtube and he send me a link to one particular video ,The Last Of Us - The Movie (Marathon Edition) - All Cutscenes/Story With Gameplay (HD) , so I sat there and watched the opening scenes a bit sceptical but by the time it got to the opening credits I was hooked . It's a completely new experience for me , the thing was six hours long so I watched it over 3 nights but I really enjoyed it . Now it has to be said I do like the zombie movies , world war Z and all that but I think even if I wasn't into that particular genre I would still have enjoyed the story . The 19 year old son says they would do this fairly regularly depending on the game but my wife and daughters think this is the most ridiculous thing they have heard of when it comes to entertainment .

Me , if I was told of another equally entertaining game , story driven , I would give it another go .

Do other do this ? am I way behind ? or is it something that is only catching on now ?

jonnyfingers

I've done this for a few years. I don't really have the time to play games, or the money to buy all of them when they come out, especially ones I know I'll probably only play through once or twice.

So a few years ago I was looking for some videos of a certain game I was interested in and found a Youtube user (Centerstrain01) who recorded his playthroughs and watched a few of them. I really enjoyed them. He prefers stealth games and a stealth style which suited me and I found his playing style quite engaging, and even some of the comments he makes while playing weren't that distracting. So I would watch a few videos during lunch breaks or after work and it was almost like playing but without any effort or expense!

Since then he has improved his videos, everything is in HD so they look good. The length of each video is good too allowing whole chapters of games like "The Last of Us" to be captured. I too watched "The Last of Us" recently through his channel, but not just cut scenes and some gameplay, it was the whole thing as he played it from start to finish. I thought the story was fantastic and the game looked great too, even if the gameplay seemed a bit repetitive.

I've since watched his playthrough of "Beyond:Two Souls" and enjoyed that also. Another game where the story is more important than the gameplay I feel.

I know it doesn't give the same experience as actually being immersed in the game but for me it gives me a chance to at least experience something instead of nothing. Also with the stories in some games these days being better than films, and with good graphics and well-known actors starring in them, it's like watching a very long interactive film.

TheIrishGrover

You see a lot of playthroughs of games on Youtube (Or rather, you did. They get taken down a lot these days). Normally it's not from start to finish like that though: You'd see the endings of Mass Effect 3 for example or Half Life etc. However TLoU is unusual in that it is very cinematic so it lends itself well to posting all the scenes. To be honest, I don't see the point myself.For me it would be like buying a book, putting it on the table and getting someone to tell you about it. Half of the little things in a game like TLoU are in gameplay: listening to Ellie trying to whistle, her confusion over a twilight-alike movie poster. Alyx making moaning sounds in the dark in Half Life 2.

I've seen that video up on Youtube but avoided it as I wanted to play the game and discover it as I went along. Glad I did.

johnny_ultimate

Here's the thing - I'd say maybe 1% of games have a story that is coherent and 'watchable' when the 'game' is removed from the equation. Of that 1%, I'd say only 1% are interesting or well-written enough to be worth watching. Even then, I think a lot of the nuances of the story are only truly appreciated when you're controlling the characters to some degree (although the amount of agency the player actually has is typically limited). The Last of Us is bordering on completely unique with how cinematic its storytelling is, and the gameplay can at times even seem like a slight inconvenience (there's one scene where you have to commit a mini-genocide that simply does not work). But that the player controls Joel -

and temporarily Ellie

- for the game, even if it's only through a pretty linear world, creates a connection and engagement with the characters and situations that IMO would be lost through watching it on YouTube. At the game's best, it feels like it's up to you to save the day, not a fictional character on screen. In a much more consistent way than Naughty Dog's Uncharted games, you feel the weight of pulling a trigger - Joel's characterisation as a cynical, desperate and world-weary 'survivor' ensures much of the combat or co-operative gameplay is more consistent with the story instead of just a way to fill out the running time.

As said, The Last of Us has a strong story that makes it friendlier to 'watching' than the vastest possible majority of other games. But most of the best games have nothing comparable. I'm playing Dark Souls II at the moment, which is pretty much the pinnacle of strong world and game design. And yet it's all about your sense of isolation, exploration and challenge - it's as active as games get. That's a particularly strong examples, but most games are about the playing, the story a mere afterthought. Even in most games with great stories - anything from Journey to Papers, Please to Persona 4 - it's all about how the interactivity and the pre-written story interact. Nine or more times out of ten, good game stories (and there's depressingly few of them) are meant to be played, not watched. The likes of The Last of Us are very much exceptions, and even then I wouldn't really agree watching them will offer the same depth of immersion.

krudler

It's definitely possible to watch TLOU without playing it but you miss a lot of the world it sets up, exploring derelict houses and seeing the aftermath of the outbreak etc, you also don't have the sense of panic being separated from Ellie in game, one sequence you wind up being on a different part of a hotel from her and you're just scrambling to get back to her, it's rare a game makes you genuinely care about a sidekick/NPC in it but TLOU does in spades.

TheIrishGrover

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

....That's a particularly strong examples, but most games are about the playing, the story a mere afterthought. Even in most games with great stories - anything from Journey to Papers, Please to Persona 4 - it's all about how the interactivity and the pre-written story interact. .....

Spot on. Don't know how many times I killed meself or did something stupid intentionally or just did nothing at all when playing Portal 2 just to see what Wheatley or GladOS would say.

"Um. You've got a yacht. And... Boys! Loads of fellas. Hunky guys down there. Possibly even a boyfriend! Who's to say at this stage. But, a lot of good looking fellas down there. And, ah, a boy band as well! That haven't seen a woman in years. And they're not picky at all. They don't care if you've got a bit of brain damage. If you've been running around sweating. And... A farm! A pony farm! And... Just jump down, would ya?"

"Oh! Wow! Good! I did not think that was going to work."