The Last Of Us 2

shrewdness

Very encouraging to see the vast majority of reviews are overwhelmingly positive, can't wait to play it.

Of course there were always going to be a couple less complimentary, so if you had a negative view on the game to begin with, naturally you're going to side with those reviews. Again I don't know about the leaks so the reason for any negativity is a mystery for me, but it definitely seems like a game to be played in full and experienced. I'm going to go with a 96 on metacritic as a fairly sound endorsement that will warrant me buying it without hesitation.

Just skimmed over the scores but the one review I watched was IGN. They seemed to confirm a "Lost Legacy" style open world in part, which I'm guessing is part of Seattle when you reach that point. It was alluded to plenty in recent previews so no surprise.

maximoose

deceit wrote: »

I woke up to my first review of the game. A youtuber called Skillup.
It seems to have a differing opinion on the game from the typical media outlets scores.
https://youtu.be/GB20A8CitRU

He's negative about quite a lot of the elements of the game, but explains his reasons very well. Has a lot of praise for other elements though, it's a good review.

A lot of the things he has gripes with ring true for me, but still looking forward to the game.

Leroy42

Skillup was a good review, as in well done.

A game like TLOU is always going to be about personal opinions. It is the aim of Neil, and they achieved it very well in the first game, that the game had such an impact on people. Far more than many other games.

Whilst the gameplay itself was far from the best, when I played it the game play was mainly just a vehicle to get from one point in the story to the next. That is not to say the gameplay wasn't important, it is the point of a game after all, but it was more about surviving and moving forward, the tension and the fear of what was coming next. I felt connected to the characters, it was me and I cared for Ellie. I wanted to know what happened next, where we were going.

I remember the emotion I felt when Tess got infected, even rewatching it now it gets me in an emotional way that, really, it has no right to.

But with that comes the issue that if the story doesn't connect then it can fall flat. If one isn't emotionally invested then what is the point?

And that is where Skillup has the biggest issue. He didn't connect with the story, the characters. That is always a risk in any sequel. Can the magic of the first be recaptured, when of course it cannot just be a rehash of the original? Should people even expect the same level of experience.

He seems to lament that Ellie has changed but of course she has. She has gone from a child to an adult, we all change during that, but that is exacerbated by the situation she is in. She is born into a cruel world, loses her parents, loses her best friend to the disease, finds a guardian in Joel only to have him lie to her. She is then faced with a new hope in this town which, it appears, something happens which snatches that safety, and hope, away.

Its the exact same arc as Joel in the first game, but with him it is understandable and even something to pity, but with Ellie is is simply incomprehensible?

Of course Ellie is going to have changed, the last scene from the 1st game told us that. The world will have changed. 5 more years and far from things getting back to 'normal' they are getting worse. Even thinking about our own experience of Covid and the lockdown, you can see the impact it is having, imagine 1000 times worse and instead of a road map out you were told that lockdown would get more extreme!

I am worried that I won't like the story, or characters, but that is the risk with any movie, book, TV series and game. But the only way to know is to play it. No amount of reviews can do that. I am really excited to get my hands on the game, but also very apprehensive that it will not be as good as I remember my first play through of the TLOU or the expectations I have in my head.

Retr0gamer

From the more negative reviews there's two things that pop up:

1. The game seems bloated. It's apparently 30 hours long which is insane for an action game. But the gameplay doesn't quite differentiate itself enough over those 30 hours.

2. The plot isn't as tightly focused as the first game and the patchwork series of stories it tries to tell is never quite tied up satisfactorily.

Also it's a hard game to stomach as it's very violent and all the characters are horrible people, which sounds interesting to me.

gimli2112

I'm not a fan of skill up, I just had to listen to him prattle on for the first ten seconds of his review to remember why. I do agree a lot with Leroy's thoughts on the first game posted above.
My issue is going to be I'm so invested in Joel and Ellie I'll forgive them pretty much anything. Joel's a shocking character really but I still love him. I can't believe I won't be rooting for them no matter what.

Retr0gamer

Think that's the thing about the first game. Joel is actually a really horrible person. But that's what the world does to you. And we are probably going to see that with Ellie.

johnny_ultimate

I like the sound of a game that grapples with its own violence, and that doesn’t put the character on a clean, easy redemption arc. Bleakness is a perfectly legitimate tone for a story to take.

The reviews do make it sound as if there’s some brute force attempts to hammer home its message (and possibly some brute force hammer attacks :pac:), and definitely sounds longer than it perhaps needs to be. Still, even the more skeptical reviews I’ve read make it sound interesting if not entirely successful. Definitely keen to give it a go, although might be one where you really need to reach the ending to figure out of the game’s trajectory ultimately works for you or not.

Dayjur

Ha collective head explosion for all the losers doing cartwheels to justify the hate they gave a game that hadn't come out, Naughty dog has done it again

Rob2D

Polygon not too gone on it either:

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/6/12/21288535/the-last-of-us-part-2-review-ps4-naughty-dog-ellie-joel-violence

SomeSayKos

I thought Joel was a great character but I never 'liked' him playing the first game. I pitied him because of what he went through and how it changed him into being a total scumbag. Seeing him soften throughout the game as his relationship with Ellie became stronger was bittersweet. The decision he made at the end of the game however was messed up and made purely for selfish reasons, but the game is so well executed that you understand why he made that decision.
I think what I liked most about the first game is that it's about the protagonists inadvertent quest for redemption and then betraying it in end because he's a traumatised and broken person in a vicious world.

I'm looking forward to where part 2 takes this story.

Dayjur

Rob2D wrote: »

Polygon not too gone on it either:

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/6/12/21288535/the-last-of-us-part-2-review-ps4-naughty-dog-ellie-joel-violence

Cringiest thing I've ever read about a video game

johnny_ultimate

Rob Zacny’s largely negative review is worth a read too.

The game’s operatic tone and length can’t obscure the simplicity of the themes it repeats to exhaustion, and its grandiosity is poorly served by a Naughty Dog house style that has become less a signature than a straitjacket.

https://twitter.com/robzacny/status/1271358216526594048?s=21

Barlett

Any game that makes you question why you are killing lots of people, sounds good to me, it's rarely explored in video games and great to have a game with massive production values that doesn't have some usual, safe, forgettable ,story.

RedRochey

Surely in a game set in a post-apocalyptic world full of gangs and bandits where you have to kill to survive is going to be full of violence and murders

deceit

Dayjur wrote: »

Ha collective head explosion for all the losers doing cartwheels to justify the hate they gave a game that hadn't come out, Naughty dog has done it again

I find this comment funny when the poster felt the need to hide their comment behind a throwaway account, rather than use their main account they probably live their life through.
Why not use your main account to make such a comment?

Retr0gamer

Rob2D wrote: »

Polygon not too gone on it either:

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/6/12/21288535/the-last-of-us-part-2-review-ps4-naughty-dog-ellie-joel-violence

Actually makes some really good points that one of my friends brings up a lot especially when talking about Bioshock and grim future realities.

Everyone turning on each other and every man for themselves is actually not very realistic when throughout history when faced with disasters way out of our control humans have banded together and been mostly altruistic and helped the people around them, even complete strangers. Humans aren't inherently evil and when faced with their consequences of their actions up close it's human nature to help each other out. It's when the scale of deeds becomes massive and you are divorced from your actions is when people do awful things. Mob mentality or a politician or general able to command people to do awful things on a grand scale but away from the actual act themselves.

I think the anime 'Attack on Titan' takes a much more realistic view position on it. In that series humanity is on the verge of being destroyed and every life is precious so when some of the characters are forced to kill another human being, no matter if their life is in danger or if the person is threatening the life of others it seems utterly abhorrent to them.

Dayjur

deceit wrote: »

I find this comment funny when the poster felt the need to hide their comment behind a throwaway account, rather than use their main account they probably live their life through.
Why not use your main account to make such a comment?

What are talking about?

LessOutragePlz

Played the first one but more for the mutliplayer, still debating whether I'll pick this up tbh, as I'm kind of addicted to war zone at the moment and season 4 is out today. Might wait til the multiplayer is released before I get it, although I could be waiting a while for it.

Zero-Cool

Interesting one, this guy loved the 1st one, saw the leaks and hated the direction it was going and didn't even want to play 2. He said the leaks are such a small part compared to the journey and now he loves 2 more than 1.

Also, he seems to enjoy the violence as 'fun combat'. Nice to hear over the what sounds like whiners complaining it's too violent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTweaXhmocQ

Retr0gamer

In news at 6: angry entitled neck beard incel a hypocrite.

In other news the sun will rise in the east tomorrow.

Jordan 199

Retr0gamer wrote: »

In news at 6: angry entitled neck beard incel a hypocrite.

In other news the sun will rise in the east tomorrow.

The Raging Bile Duct

Retr0gamer wrote: »

In news at 6: angry entitled neck beard incel a hypocrite.

In other news the sun will rise in the east tomorrow.

In fairness, he could have doubled down rather than admit he was wrong which seems to be the default setting for a lot of people these days.

Retr0gamer

Yeah but hard to say that to.... some people.

johnny_ultimate

The Phantom Pain wrote: »

Video games are not like films.

On this count, they absolutely are Reading a plot synopsis or even bullet point details of any narrative - written, filmed, interactive or spoken - is nowhere near the same thing as experiencing the thing play out in its original, intended form.

jones

Weird I cannot initiate the download on psn. I can go to the game and see download but it just goes into a loop and ends up back at the same screen.

Zero-Cool

jones wrote: »

Weird I cannot initiate the download on psn. I can go to the game and see download but it just goes into a loop and ends up back at the same screen.

Someone got it working by going to the TLOU 2 page on the PSN store and download it from there.

I saw random posts about the same thing in all different regions. Have you set it to Auto Download? I had and when I turned on the PS4, started downloading straight away. You could try enable it and restart the PS4.

Also this:

I was able to start my pre-load now, 15 hours late. It's most likely due to load management, we will all get our turn.

If you're having trouble starting the download, if you press the button and it just prompts you to press it again, try every 45-60 minutes, pressing again and again in quick succession isn't the way to go, it won't change anything.

Also, it may be that your auto-download isn't valid anymore and you will have to start it manually.

When you see the controller silhouette change to the game logo in the library, you're most likely good to go.

jones

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Someone got it working by going to the TLOU 2 page on the PSN store and download it from there.

I saw random posts about the same thing in all different regions. Have you set it to Auto Download? I had and when I turned on the PS4, started downloading straight away. You could try enable it and restart the PS4.

Also this:

Cheers for the tips I tried them all and nothing works. I had it set to auto download but when I go in the box isn't ticked. I'm on ****ty 7mb line so the earlier I can download this the better... First world problems ha

If I try download it from the store on my mobile and go into the queue it says download error

Zero-Cool

Try restoring your licences.

(Settings) > [Account Management] > [Restore Licenses].

jones

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Try restoring your licences.

(Settings) > [Account Management] > [Restore Licenses].

Oh I'll try that now thanks the funny thing is it keeps downloading the theme for last of us but not the game.

Edit just did it and it downloaded the theme again grrrr

Update it just started on its own it must have been the licences thanks for the help