![]() More-so than the initial entry, The Last of Us Part II isn’t afraid to get dark, which includes rampant dog-murder.Īs someone who hasn’t eaten meat in many years, sometimes I find the prospect of even consuming flesh digitally unappealing (don’t freak out, it doesn’t stop me from playing or anything!), so dog killing can be fairly harrowing when it’s sparingly attempted by creatives. #The last of us part 2 review scores full#That doesn’t mean it can’t be a power fantasy (this game is full of believable badasses), but the grounded nature of having to stab people in the neck while they squirm hits home more than most unattached stealth romps. #The last of us part 2 review scores series#I think what Last of Us does really well as a series is hammer in the theme that you’re not a superhero, both physically and emotionally. The dodge-heavy melee system is effective because of how brutal and simple it all is, as is the act of sneaking around and causing distractions. Even so, it does all come together in the end when you’re actually engaging in stealth or combat. ![]() Limiting ammo is fine as it fits with the post-apocalyptic theme - but there aren’t a whole lot of new ways to approach situations this time. Picking up items and crafting them is still tedious given the stringent item limits and slow rate of acquiring new abilities, not to mention the so-so efficacy of some of the early-game items. ![]() A clear-cut runner-up: portions where you’re strictly running forward, then holding the Triangle button to open a door at the end of a path. Last of Us Part II also seems to have more “oh the door is locked, let’s find another way around” moments than any other game I’ve ever played. There’s still lots of scripted moments with NPCs and some light QTEs (mainly mashing while grappling, that sort of non-annoying thing). And that’s mostly okay, as this is a character-driven game, even if it gets grating. While that echelon of budget is what you’d expect out of a 2020 first-party production, gameplay-wise, Part II doesn’t really provide any surprises, or elevate the survival-action genre. A few of them are absolutely burned in my brain and persist in my mind’s eye long after clearing the campaign. Although they’re arguably too linear in some cases (more on that in a moment), the zones often feel like characters themselves given how much personality they exhume. By resisting the urge to go fully open-world, Naughty Dog was able to meticulously design chapter-based sandboxes, making them feel cohesive, but not overwhelming. The splendor of the environments augments those performances. ![]() Sometimes scenes are very low key, but those moments actually matter, with dialogue containing themes that echo throughout the story in more subtle ways. While many moments in the original Last of Us were filler-oriented, the sequel’s script is mostly meat. You know how you start to notice a significant other’s idiosyncrasies over time, for better or worse? I experienced that very tangible and human sensation with most of Part II‘s cast.īeyond the impressive full-body performances from the cast, credit goes to Last of Us boss Neil Druckmann and his co-directors Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau, who really draw the most out of the talent and allow the camera to linger in a way that captures the emotion of each scene. It sounds hyperbolic, but much like a performance in a prestige film or television series, microexpressions and simple acts like lip smacking add a human element to Part II in a way that many other games have only tried to accomplish. Ashley Johnson is still fantastic as Ellie all these years on, and she has a whole lot more to work with in the sequel as she delves further and further into the survivor identity that Joel has molded her into.Ī lot has changed since the first game was released in 2013 (!), and Naughty Dog was able to marry recent technological advances with nuanced emotional storytelling in a meaningful fashion. There’s no weird esoteric side tangent from an unnamed character to parse: it hits the ground running and tells a cohesive emotional story with Ellie at the helm. Kicking off with essentially recapping the ending to the first game, Part II feels like a true continuation. Last of Us Part II is no exception, improving what its predecessor did all those years before it. Crash, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, and Last of Us all made big splashes when they were released and arguably have enduring appeal (I’m going to bat for the first few Jak games here). ![]() Every once in a while when looking at Joel or Nathan Drake, I imagine Crash going “Booyah Grandma.”īut that just goes to show you how impactful Naughty Dog really is when it comes to the wide world of gaming. Despite playing every one of their recent award-winning games, I still can’t believe Naughty Dog went from “the Crash Bandicoot company” to a cornerstone of the age-old “games are art” conversation. ![]()
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