TLOU2 Review Thread

[Bartholen]

You don't just brain a dude out of nowhere. Essentially telling the audience "Fuck the character you like, you should like this stupid new character now." That's not how it works.

That... that's not... they didn't... just... what?

While Joel's death was surprisingly early in the game, I don't think it was by any means out of nowhere. The foreshadowing that Joel might not make it through the second installment was pretty goddamn obvious to me from literally the very first trailer. We see Ellie alone, vowing to kill "every last one of them", while Joel speaks to her from the shadows, seen only in silhouette and without us seeing his face. Oh geez, I do so wonder what would make Ellie so mad when this is literally all we know about the second part at this point. Seriously, I'm astonished that more people don't bring this up. There was that second trailer that was cut to make it seem that Ellie would be avenging Dina, but I seriously doubted Naughty Dog would go with such a cliche as wife in the fridge, especially with a LGBT character. Even with the final (and blatantly misleading) trailer where Joel appeared to help Ellie, I thought he might be a figment of Ellie's guilt, torment or whatever.

 

[Hawki]

Agreeing with Bartolen here, I'd be surprised if anyone didn't think that Joel was dead meat the moment they saw the first trailer.

 

[Bartholen]

One thing I'm still confused about is the end of Abby's day 1 in Seattle. Were they going for a fakeout there or no? Abby gets captured by the Seraphites, and an unknown amount of time passes. Next we see her in a rainstorm, on the island, and once she gets out of there she's headed for the Aquarium. I was totally sure that we were going to catch up with Ellie's storyline right then and there, and when I saw that lights were on in the boat, I thought "oh, maybe Owen faked dying and crawled away or something". But when I saw Owen's just fine and sitting in the boat I went "Oh... ya got me, I guess?"

If the intention was to play a "haha, gotcha" on the player, then that's a super frustrating one. Essentially a "You know how we left you at a cliffhanger in Ellie's story? You wanna see how that plays out right? Here it comes... SIKE!!! Now play 5 more hours as this character you may hate with all your guts!"

 

[Casual Shinji]

One thing I'm still confused about is the end of Abby's day 1 in Seattle. Were they going for a fakeout there or no? Abby gets captured by the Seraphites, and an unknown amount of time passes. Next we see her in a rainstorm, on the island, and once she gets out of there she's headed for the Aquarium. I was totally sure that we were going to catch up with Ellie's storyline right then and there, and when I saw that lights were on in the boat, I thought "oh, maybe Owen faked dying and crawled away or something". But when I saw Owen's just fine and sitting in the boat I went "Oh... ya got me, I guess?"

If the intention was to play a "haha, gotcha" on the player, then that's a super frustrating one. Essentially a "You know how we left you at a cliffhanger in Ellie's story? You wanna see how that plays out right? Here it comes... SIKE!!! Now play 5 more hours as this character you may hate with all your guts!"

I don't think she was on the island in that scene, I think she was in the same general area Ellie first encounters the seraphites. And I don't think the game tried pull a fast one on the player there, I think that moment, just as the following scenes in the aquarium as Abby, is there to make that setting feel more home-y, contrasting to how it feels when you're there as Ellie.

 

[BrawlMan]

Jim brings up the people who hate women in media and it made me think. These people never made these threats against the woman whose body Abby was based on. Probably because the people making these threats are cowards and that lady would crush them like insects if they did.

They're the same kinda people who complained about Atomic Blonde being "unrealistic" because Charlize Thereon kicking the ass of two men, while still struggling herself in the first teaser trailer. Y'all sure as hell was not complainging when John Wick got his ass hit by a car in the 2nd movie. In any realistic scenario he would have been dead or had several bones broken. I hate guys like that. The only time guys like that won't complain are only if it's something in the superhero genre (even then that won't stop a good amount of them), anime waifu bait, or if the woman in question is second fiddle and in a skimpy outfit.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

When I first heard about the death threats being made against Laura Bailey, my first thought was "wow, these people really need a better grip on reality". Jim brings up the people who hate women in media and it made me think. These people never made these threats against the woman whose body Abby was based on. Probably because the people making these threats are cowards and that lady would crush them like insects if they did.

Or... It's because none of them know who she is?

 

[Dalisclock]

They're the same kinda people who complained about Atomic Blonde being "unrealistic" because Charlize Thereon kicking the ass of two men, while still struggling herself in the first teaser trailer. Y'all sure as hell was not complainging when John Wick got his ass hit by a car in the 2nd movie. In any realistic scenario he would have been dead or had several bones broken. I hate guys like that. The only time guys like that won't complain are only if it's something in the superhero genre (even then that won't stop a good amount of them), anime waifu bait, or if the woman in question is second fiddle and in a skimpy outfit.

There was also that dipshit Andrew Klavan who tried to claim Queen Calanthe in the Witcher series was bullshit because "Women can't use swords."

‘Zero Women Can Fight With A Sword’ Claims ‘The Witcher’ Critic

The critical response to 'The Witcher' has been pretty crazy, but conservative podcast host and author Andrew Klavan's criticism of the show takes the cake.

www.forbes.com

Yeah....just yeah.

 

[Casual Shinji]

There was also that dipshit Andrew Klavan who tried to claim Queen Calanthe in the Witcher series was bullshit because "Women can't use swords."

‘Zero Women Can Fight With A Sword’ Claims ‘The Witcher’ Critic

The critical response to 'The Witcher' has been pretty crazy, but conservative podcast host and author Andrew Klavan's criticism of the show takes the cake.

www.forbes.com

Yeah....just yeah.

I read that whole article, and man... it was like I was back in elementary school. 'Only boys can do this.'

 

[BrawlMan]

There was also that dipshit Andrew Klavan who tried to claim Queen Calanthe in the Witcher series was bullshit because "Women can't use swords."

‘Zero Women Can Fight With A Sword’ Claims ‘The Witcher’ Critic

The critical response to 'The Witcher' has been pretty crazy, but conservative podcast host and author Andrew Klavan's criticism of the show takes the cake.

www.forbes.com

Yeah....just yeah.

I guess he's never seen an actual woman use a sword before. He really needs to go on YouTube. From the sound of it, the guy rarely got any in his life, or if he did it wasn't the best experience. Most likely barely got a pity fuck.

 

[CriticalGaming]

That... that's not... they didn't... just... what?

While Joel's death was surprisingly early in the game, I don't think it was by any means out of nowhere. The foreshadowing that Joel might not make it through the second installment was pretty goddamn obvious to me from literally the very first trailer. We see Ellie alone, vowing to kill "every last one of them", while Joel speaks to her from the shadows, seen only in silhouette and without us seeing his face. Oh geez, I do so wonder what would make Ellie so mad when this is literally all we know about the second part at this point. Seriously, I'm astonished that more people don't bring this up. There was that second trailer that was cut to make it seem that Ellie would be avenging Dina, but I seriously doubted Naughty Dog would go with such a cliche as wife in the fridge, especially with a LGBT character. Even with the final (and blatantly misleading) trailer where Joel appeared to help Ellie, I thought he might be a figment of Ellie's guilt, torment or whatever.

My point is that, they didn't really build it up within the game, or give it justice.

Maybe if the early Abby storyline was a bit more built up where it became clear that she was hunting Joel and there was more of a lead up to it. Then maybe.

I'm not upset that he died, I don't care that much. But his death serves NO point in the story because the rest of the story is shit. I don't buy Ellie's revenge, I don't buy Abby's revenge, because neither character is written well enough and the situations don't convey enough motivation.

For example, Abby's story arch in the second half of the game after she kills Joel and got her revenge, it's never brought up again. No PTSD, no lingering relief, nobody asks her how she feels having gotten what she wanted, nothing. She never even thinks about Joel again until she finds dead friends.

For the fans of the game, killing Joel was a terrible terrible moment. For Abby, it was a Tuesday.

 

[Catfood220]

Or... It's because none of them know who she is?

That information is probably not hard to find. I imagine her name is probably in the credits and a very quick internet search gave me the name of the lady.

Mind you, seeing as they are cowards, its wouldn't surprise me if they were too lazy to do even a quick search too. So you are probably right.

 

[Dreiko]

Apparently this game was the thing whose review got Angry Joe banned from twitter. Definitely didn't see it coming. Also seems like collusion with resetera and twitter is afoot...and that's one smelly foot alright.

 

[stroopwafel]

My point is that, they didn't really build it up within the game, or give it justice.

Maybe if the early Abby storyline was a bit more built up where it became clear that she was hunting Joel and there was more of a lead up to it. Then maybe.

I'm not upset that he died, I don't care that much. But his death serves NO point in the story because the rest of the story is shit. I don't buy Ellie's revenge, I don't buy Abby's revenge, because neither character is written well enough and the situations don't convey enough motivation.

For example, Abby's story arch in the second half of the game after she kills Joel and got her revenge, it's never brought up again. No PTSD, no lingering relief, nobody asks her how she feels having gotten what she wanted, nothing. She never even thinks about Joel again until she finds dead friends.

For the fans of the game, killing Joel was a terrible terrible moment. For Abby, it was a Tuesday.

No, that just isn't true. You do notice the terrible weight on her shoulders and how she barely allows herself any kind of happiness. I mean, she lives in a world where everything and everyone wants her dead. Her trauma was not dissimilair to Ellie's and she also went way over the edge. They are people in survival mode they suppress and compertmentalize. Through various moments when the cracks do show it was treated with a palpable nuance and gravitas. Usually in games you don't see the effects of the extreme stress environment but here every character had it internalized. There was a depth and complexity to these characters I have not seen in any game, well ever. I had the impression almost everything, from motivation to psychological effect on character expression, was meticulously researched. You'd expect the writing to fall into cliche or overt dramatization to drive it's point home but not here.

 

[Gyrobot]

Apparently this game was the thing whose review got Angry Joe banned from twitter. Definitely didn't see it coming. Also seems like collusion with resetera and twitter is afoot...and that's one smelly foot alright.

There is no collusion, Resetera never enjoyed the opinions of potential shitheads. Given Angryjoe's history ofwhat would be considered an unpopular opinion on Resetera along with Skill Up as they are both beacons for the alt right chuds looking for a professional authority to say the game is bad.

They did the same thing with Pete Davison years ago when he defending shovelware weebshit like Senran Kagura and banned subsequent discussion of shitty weeb games like Monster Monpiece or Gun Gun Pixies

 

[CriticalGaming]

No, that just isn't true. You do notice the terrible weight on her shoulders and how she barely allows herself any kind of happiness. I mean, she lives in a world where everything and everyone wants her dead. Her trauma was not dissimilair to Ellie's and she also went way over the edge. They are people in survival mode they suppress and compertmentalize. Through various moments when the cracks do show it was treated with a palpable nuance and gravitas. Usually in games you don't see the effects of the extreme stress environment but here every character had it internalized. There was a depth and complexity to these characters I have not seen in any game, well ever. I had the impression almost everything, from motivation to psychological effect on character expression, was meticulously researched. You'd expect the writing to fall into cliche or overt dramatization to drive it's point home but not here.

You have examples of this. Because I've played through the game twice now, and I never saw any of this with Abby.

For example in the beginning of her section, she hangs out and jokes with Manny about how much pussy he gets. She pleasantly interacts with people in the cafeteria, including Manny's father. And the only point of contention is how she and Mel aren't really friends any more. And an off handed comment about what they did. Outside of that, it doesn't get brought up again.

You could argue that much later when Mel calls her a piece of shit, it might be a reflection of her revenge. But that's more likely Mel trying to get Abby to leave Owen alone because love triangles are a thing in this game.

Also during her section she saves the scar kids, but it is never ever hinted that this has anything to do with any sort of regret of her revenge on Joel. She kind of saves them by circumstance after they cut her down. Then she goes back for them later simply because this game wants you to feel like Abby is the hero of this story. That she is the good guy. She plays with dogs and she saves kids, look at how wonderful she is. Joel surely must have deserved her anger because she is just so great you guys.

I don't buy it. It's poorly written and stupidly executed.

 

[BrawlMan]

There is no collusion, Resetera never enjoyed the opinions of potential shitheads. Given Angryjoe's history ofwhat would be considered an unpopular opinion on Resetera along with Skill Up as they are both beacons for the alt right chuds looking for a professional authority to say the game is bad.

They did the same thing with Pete Davison years ago when he defending shovelware weebshit like Senran Kagura and banned subsequent discussion of shitty weeb games like Monster Monpiece or Gun Gun Pixies

This is why I hate Twitter so much. They are so goddamn hypocritical. they talked about not inciting hate or violence on Twitter, yet they let most of Trump's speeches go up there most of the time. It wasn't until recently that they've now hammer down on him or certain politicians they have been favoring. yeah people get banned for criticized ever having the gall to talk about a freaking video game.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Also during her section she saves the scar kids, but it is never ever hinted that this has anything to do with any sort of regret of her revenge on Joel. She kind of saves them by circumstance after they cut her down. Then she goes back for them later simply because this game wants you to feel like Abby is the hero of this story. That she is the good guy. She plays with dogs and she saves kids, look at how wonderful she is. Joel surely must have deserved her anger because she is just so great you guys.

Yeah, I don't know how you came to that conclusion. Even with the heavy handed way in which the game tries to humanize Abby, what she does to Joel is never framed as rightous. I don't understand your logic of 'Game makes Abby do something just, therefor game says Abby is a good guy, therefor Joel must be evil because Abby hated him. '

 

[Specter Von Baren]

This is why I hate Twitter so much. They are so goddamn hypocritical. they talked about not inciting hate or violence on Twitter, yet they let most of Trump's speeches go up there most of the time. It wasn't until recently that they've now hammer down on him or certain politicians they have been favoring.

Can someone explain what alternate universe I fell into? Because in the one I come from Twitter extremely left leaning and Trump wasn't on the left.

yeah people get banned for criticized ever having the gall to talk about a freaking video game.

I feel like there's something missing between your above statement and this one.

 

[BrawlMan]

Can someone explain what alternate universe I fell into? Because in the one I come from Twitter extremely left leaning and Trump wasn't on the left.



I feel like there's something missing between your above statement and this one.

There is no alternate universe or separate missing pieces. Trump ain't on the left, but up until recently, with the countrywide riots, Twitter would usually ignore some of his more hateful or raciste rants on the side. It wasn't until he started those whole "when the looting starts, the shooting starts speeches, they then decide to freaking act.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

There is no alternate universe or separate missing pieces. Trump ain't on the left, but up until recently, with the countrywide riots, Twitter would usually ignore some of his more hateful or raciste rants on the side. It wasn't until he started those whole "when the looting starts, the shooting starts speeches, they then decide to freaking act.

So... They were following the tenant of free speech until now?