'The Last Of Us 2' Crushed Me

When the spoilers for The Last Of Us 2 leaked earlier this summer, I of course read about them immediately because I'm the type of person who would rather know what happens than be spoiled later. And when YouTubers began reviewing the game for pre-release, I of course watched those too. While what I saw was jaw-dropping, watching the game being played out in person by my brother was an entirely different experience. Today he finished TLOU2 and needless to say, we are both numb and completely speechless. So, I'm gonna discuss my thoughts while they're fresh in my mind.

**WARNING: There are spoilers for The Last Of Us 2 beyond this point so if you'd like to avoid them, please stop reading here.**

(source: https://gameroom.lt/en/sony-playstation/products/the-last-of-us-part-2-654)

• It's visually breathtaking.

WOW. Just wow. The game jumps from Jackson to Seattle to California and no matter where you are in the game, it is beautiful. I especially enjoyed Seattle and the overgrown streets and cutesy urban apartments we looted. The attention to detail in this game when it comes to environments and textures tricks you into believing you're watching a live action movie, it's insane.

• It was much more hopeless than I thought it'd be.

Look, I know that life isn't all puppies and rainbows (especially in a zombie apocalypse) but good lord, I wasn't expecting this game to be so defeating and soul crushing. I have to admit that the first game wasn't nearly as depressing as this one. There are so many d*aths in this game it is an absolute bloodbath, and I'm not referring to the CPUs. I get the tone that they were going for but my goodness, it was worse than The Walking Dead. And there were way too many dog d*aths by the way - where did Naughty Dog get all of those soundbites of dogs yelping in agony?

I also am so beyond disappointed that Ellie is just not allowed to be happy. I see the parallel in Abby starting off happy and losing everything and the same happening to Ellie but, come on man. Ellie loses Joel, Dina and two fingers. Like I get it, "oh but what about Abby? She lost so much more". Yeah, but Abby isn't the main character, she's the main anti-antagonist - we have no emotional connection to her and while I sympathize with her in the end, I'm still not rooting for her. At least Abby's still got all of her fingers, damnit. 

• The MoCap/VA is incredible!

Holy moley bologna, the voice acting and motion capture in this game is beyond impressive. The insane details to the peeling of skin from sunburns to the utter realism of the kissing and facial expressions, even down to injuries and hair textures. I almost can't believe such impressive and believable technologies are possible. It completely enhances the storytelling, helping extract more raw emotion for you as you watch the characters' stories unfold.

• Chloe Price and Mark Jefferson!

That's right, Derek Phillips and Ashly Burch do VA in this game! The second I heard Abby's dad speak I immediately made the connection. "Oh my god, that's Mark Jefferson!" And when Mel spoke at the Wolves stadium hideout, the lightbulb went off in my head, I recognized Ashly's voice immediately. It was nice to hear those two again since I'm constantly stuck in Life Is Strange withdrawal.

• The Ellie vs Abby battle was EPIC.

This was the scene that took my breath away (no, I haven't watched Joel's d*ath scene). Just the way they watch each other, Abby's insistence to remain passive and then the second the gears shift, the low hum of the music kicks in and then BAM! CUE THE WAR DRUMS! I went through all of the emotions watching that fist fight in the sea - anxiety, shock, sadness, excitement, anger. I was sweating buckets watching this scene, despite already knowing how it ended. Just wow. The music in this game and the time at which it chimes in...*chef's kiss* incredible.

• Abby's portion of the game was too long.

I get why they did it. They want you to know why she is the way she is, why she did what she did. They want to highlight her humanity and the fact that she does have a heart. I get it. But her portion of the game was way too long. You assume the focus will remain solely on Ellie this time around but instead, it feels more like an Abby spin-off. I don't care about Abby, I care about my babygirl Ellie.

• We should've been given the option of alternate endings.

If they're going to k*ll Joel, I at least think they should've given us the option of either k*lling Abby or deciding to let her and Lev go. I think this would've been the perfect scenario to test that out. Will the player forgive Abby and move on or finally complete Ellie's mission? I don't know, sounds like a missed opportunity to me.

• Joel's d*ath destroyed me.

Not to roast myself but I am one with daddy issues so I immediately latch onto fictional father figures. Sulley from Monsters Inc, Tony Stark, Bob from Bob's Burgers and yes, Joel Miller. I absolutely fell in love with Joel in the first game (as did many) and hearing his gruesome end in TLOU2 and then watching the before and after scenes...I can't tell you how many times I've cried over Joel. I had to walk away when he was being mu*dered. It actually reached the point where every time they showed flashbacks of him post his d*ath, I immediately burst into tears. I sobbed my eyes out over the love of my life Ben Solo, but I've now officially cried more for Joel. I know Joel k*lled a lot of people and made mistakes, but he only wanted to protect Ellie, he loved her. He deserved to live. Period. I still have not recovered. I get two seconds into Future Days and my eyes are already leaking. So thanks for breaking my heart, stomping on it, kicking it into the dirt, st*bbing it, setting it on fire and feeding it to the Rat King, Naughty Dog.

And that's about all. May our hearts heal from this depressing bloodbath of disappointing endings. How cheerful of me! ;)