The Last Of Us: What am I missing?

00slash00

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Dirty Hipsters said:
I loved the game.

The story is good, but it's not the plot that makes it good, the plot is fairly predictable, what makes it good is the writing and the characters. The actors completely sell the characters, and the character interaction and my attachment to them completely sold the story.

I also really liked the gameplay. Every moment of combat felt appropriately tense because Joel isn't some invincible superman. You're very limited on resources, and even 2 or 3 enemies are a very real threat. When the enemy count gets upped to 10 or more enemies, many of who are armed with guns shit gets real. I had a friend watching me play much of the game, and every time I wanted to hand the controller off to him so that he could play for a bit he would adamantly refuse because he said the game was too stressful and he couldn't handle the fact that every bullet was valuable.

The gameplay and story may not have been incredibly new or original, but they were polished as hell, and I found the game to be a blast the entire way through.

If you didn't like it, then that's fine, I'm sure you had your reasons, but I loved the game.
I thought the game play completely lacked polish. The stealth portions of the game were great but there were far too many parts where the devs just seemed to get bored of stealth and just turned the game in to a third person shooter. That would have been fine if the shooting had been any good but it just felt so clunky. I know they said that was a design choice because they didn't want Joel to be an action hero, but if that's the case then make guns an, "Oh shit" button, not a mandatory part of completing the game. Also, I played on normal and felt that they gave out ammo like it was candy. I never ran out of ammo for my guns and only rarely did I have low ammo. I would have much rather they make the shooting better but make ammo extremely hard to find.
 

gphjr14

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I was enthralled by the characters and graphics but the gameplay was god awful. You spend the majority of the game crouching and using the main character's x-ray "hearing" ability. When it came to combat and shooting the mechanics weren't quite up to the task. You spend 3 seconds fighting off an infected via QTE only to have another one immediately initiate the sequence again and all the while a clicker is waiting in line to bite out your neck.
 

V8 Ninja

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I've said this before and I'll say it again; The Last of Us is a very good example of extremely popular trends that have been thriving in the video game industry for the past 5-10 years. The game has cover-based gameplay that promotes quasi-stealth, a very strong narrative focus, and an overall grim tone. However, unlike other games where those trends are implemented haphazardly just to make a game more marketable in the eyes of a publisher, The Last of Us uses those trends meaningfully to masterfully present an above-par narrative. If you can't stand or can't care about any of those trends, the presentation of The Last of Us is meaningless and you simply won't like the game.
 

sabercrusader

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I loved it, my game of the year. But contrary to what you might be thinking, you don't have to like the game. No one's forcing you to enjoy it. If you don't really like it, it's not worth a second playthrough to be honest.

You don't have to like a game that tons of other people like, I had this same problem with Borderlands. I kept on hearing all about how fun it was, and how great of a game it is. I tried to get into 4 times. Four. Different. Times. I either borrowed or rented it, I even played it with one of my other friends, my best friend to be exact, and we can make just about any game we play co-op interesting for at least a time. I couldn't get into it, it was unbearably boring and uninteresting to me. I was also extremely disappointed in the way they put in all those bazillions of weapons by just making it come down to, "Oh, this one's exactly like the one I already have, only it has a scope. Joy." But I wanted to get into it, I wanted to experience with Borderlands what everyone else was experiencing, and you know what, it just wouldn't happen, because I didn't like the game, plain and simple. It isn't necessarily that you're missing something, it's that it just doesn't appeal to you. Despite what most people think, just because you don't like a game, doesn't mean it's bad or that you don't get it, it just means it doesn't appeal to you.
 

lunavixen

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I was left with the overall feeling of 'meh'. The story was very predictable (much like Uncharted) to the degree where I predicted EVERY major plot point before it happened, the gameplay was alright, the combat was alright (the clickers were a pain in the ass, you couldn't move any faster than a beached whale. That and the fire based weapons unbalanced things), the animations and dialogue were pretty good, yadda, yadda, yadda.

It was nowhere near the game the critics were making it out to be, the game wasn't bad, but it was nowhere near GOTY material for me.
 

Nazulu

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s69-5 said:
You mileage may vary of course and it won't be everybody's GOTY, but those that seem to really put this game down, I suspect, are either younger than 25, not a parent, really want GTA5 to win GOTY and/or are Xbox fanboys.
Or it could have been because it was overhyped to hell and back or the fan base is really arrogant. Not a parent? Are you kidding me? You make it sound like you'd be more biased.

I haven't played it yet, I was planning on trying it when I get my new TV. However, I've seen many comments like yours, and you're going to make me over critical before I even see it.

Cut it out already.
 

kazann

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s69-5 said:
Is it my GOTY? Yes. Hands down.

You mileage may vary of course and it won't be everybody's GOTY, but those that seem to really put this game down, I suspect, are either younger than 25, not a parent, really want GTA5 to win GOTY and/or are Xbox fanboys.
or ADHD Michael Bay fans that need hundreds of explosions and action going on within the first 5 seconds and the protagonist is your typical jrpg cardboard cut out.

inb4 flame
 

scorptatious

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jetriot said:
Reviewers tend to be a bit older and often with young kids. Story arcs that involve young kids and families do really well with this demographic. Until I had my own family, I often considered stories like the ones in Last of Us and Walking Dead to be average at best. Now that shit tears me up inside and I can't help but connect and immerse myself into the world. As an older gamer I rarely find myself really immersing myself in a world like I used to. When it happens, its special and I rant and rave about it.

It may be just me, but I suspect a lot of reviewers(who are mostly around my age) have had those same experiences.
That's an interesting perspective, I've never really thought of it that way before. Thanks for the insight.

OT: I haven't actually played the game, I watched Two Best Friends play through it instead. From what I can tell, it seems to be a pretty good game. The environments are beautiful, there's an emphasis on survival and stealth, and the characters are pretty well written for the most part.
 

Nazulu

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s69-5 said:
Nazulu said:
s69-5 said:
not a parent
Not a parent? Are you kidding me?

I haven't played it yet...
Not kidding at all. But then again, you haven't played it, so how would you know anything about the reasoning behind my comment (and many other comments similar to mine).

If you are a parent, you will get a certain perspective from the game that many non-parents do not. It's that simple. It ties in very neatly with the ending (which I will not spoil) so maybe you should, you know, play it before passing judgement on the game or my commentary on it.

Edit: I did also qualify it with my underline. Some are very harsh on this game for no appaarent reason (or for reasons that they let slide or do do not place to much weight into with most other games). It is mostly due to this game being as good as it is.
Oh jeez. How did I know you would bring up 'I haven't played it' to cover your flippant post. It has nothing to do with that at all. And no, being a parent doesn't give you some extra judging points. It's no way that simple, and you're going to explain it to me now because I just see you hiding behind an excuse. Reveal your logic to us so we know what you're actually talking about.

Also, there is no such thing as no reason when people make an opinion on something, and you're being very general with the people you disagree with. All these are signs of being very defensive.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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Nazulu said:
s69-5 said:
Nazulu said:
s69-5 said:
not a parent
Not a parent? Are you kidding me?

I haven't played it yet...
Not kidding at all. But then again, you haven't played it, so how would you know anything about the reasoning behind my comment (and many other comments similar to mine).

If you are a parent, you will get a certain perspective from the game that many non-parents do not. It's that simple. It ties in very neatly with the ending (which I will not spoil) so maybe you should, you know, play it before passing judgement on the game or my commentary on it.

Edit: I did also qualify it with my underline. Some are very harsh on this game for no appaarent reason (or for reasons that they let slide or do do not place to much weight into with most other games). It is mostly due to this game being as good as it is.
Oh jeez. How did I know you would bring up 'I haven't played it' to cover your flippant post. It has nothing to do with that at all. And no, being a parent doesn't give you some extra judging points. It's no way that simple, and you're going to explain it to me now because I just see you hiding behind an excuse. Reveal your logic to us so we know what your actually talking about.

Also, there is no such thing as no reason when people make an opinion on something, and your being very general with the people you disagree with. All these are signs of being very defensive.
He's being general to avoid spoilers for the end of the game.

And yeah, I can kind of see what he means about appreciating the ending in a distinct way because he is a parent. It's not really an accurate thing to say that the ending is more enjoyable only if you're a parent, or that one will only understand the ending if they're a parent, because I'm not a parent, nor planning to be (because I fucking hate children), and being a parent has nothing to do with enjoying the ending. More than anything, I would say that the ending is accurate to normal human psychology, what with people being selfish pricks, especially when friends and family are concerned (and I really don't want to go any further than that because spoiler territory).

Having said all that, just play the damn game dude. Don't ask people to explain to you exactly what they mean when they're talking about why they like the game in very general terms, because that's just going to get the game spoiled for you. Then, when you do play the game you won't enjoy it as much because it's already been spoiled, and you'll come back and make a thread just like this one asking why people like this game.
 

Nazulu

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Dirty Hipsters said:
He's being general to avoid spoilers for the end of the game.

And yeah, I can kind of see what he means about appreciating the ending in a distinct way because he is a parent. It's not really an accurate thing to say that the ending is more enjoyable only if you're a parent, or that one will only understand the ending if they're a parent, because I'm not a parent, nor planning to be (because I fucking hate children), and being a parent has nothing to do with enjoying the ending. More than anything, I would say that the ending is accurate to normal human psychology, what with people being selfish pricks, especially when friends and family are concerned (and I really don't want to go any further than that because spoiler territory).

Having said all that, just play the damn game dude. Don't ask people to explain to you exactly what they mean when they're talking about why they like the game in very general terms, because that's just going to get the game spoiled for you. Then, when you do play the game you won't enjoy it as much because it's already been spoiled, and you'll come back and make a thread just like this one asking why people like this game.
This thread is for the people who have played it, he doesn't need to be general. Also, I've already had it spoiled for me because of people who forget to [spoil ] their posts. Now I want him to prove why those who aren't over 25 or isn't a parent or is an Xbox fanboy are more critical, in his words. How does that work?

What you said isn't what he said. I'll play the game when I can, and don't predict how I'll react, neither of you are masters of psychology.

This reminds me of the people who said you had to be smart to get Big Band Theory.
 

Dirty Hipsters

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Nazulu said:
Dirty Hipsters said:
He's being general to avoid spoilers for the end of the game.

And yeah, I can kind of see what he means about appreciating the ending in a distinct way because he is a parent. It's not really an accurate thing to say that the ending is more enjoyable only if you're a parent, or that one will only understand the ending if they're a parent, because I'm not a parent, nor planning to be (because I fucking hate children), and being a parent has nothing to do with enjoying the ending. More than anything, I would say that the ending is accurate to normal human psychology, what with people being selfish pricks, especially when friends and family are concerned (and I really don't want to go any further than that because spoiler territory).

Having said all that, just play the damn game dude. Don't ask people to explain to you exactly what they mean when they're talking about why they like the game in very general terms, because that's just going to get the game spoiled for you. Then, when you do play the game you won't enjoy it as much because it's already been spoiled, and you'll come back and make a thread just like this one asking why people like this game.
This thread is for the people who have played it, he doesn't need to be general. Also, I've already had it spoiled for me because of people who forget to [spoil ] their posts. Now I want him to prove why those who aren't over 25 or isn't a parent or is an Xbox fanboy are more critical, in his words. How does that work?

What you said isn't what he said. I'll play the game when I can, and don't predict how I'll react, neither of you are masters of psychology.

This reminds me of the people who said you had to be smart to get Big Band Theory.
Alright, well in that case I'll feel free to spoil the game for you.

A lot of people (including Yahtzee) are critical of the game's ending, because Joel decides to be selfish, and rather than allow Ellie to be killed and studied for a cure (which is what she wants), he kidnaps her, kills the doctors operating on her, and then lies to her about the whole thing, all so that he doesn't have to lose her the way he did his daughter. Now, considering that this is a completely story driven game, a very large part of whether you like the game hinges on the story, and especially on the ending.

From the perspective of a parent, as they play the game and Joel becomes more and more of a father figure to Ellie, the player begins to think of Joel's choices in the game regarding Ellie in the light of "well how would I react if that was MY child." Because of that perspective they are a lot more likely to accept the ending and see Joel in a good light, rather than as a selfish asshole who doomed the world, because they know that if put in the same situation, where they had the choice of sacrificing their kid in order to save the world they would say "screw the world." So the ending ends up having more impact to parents who end up internalizing the conflict and sympathizing with Joel.

Do you need to be a parent to enjoy the ending? Hell no. Like I said, I'm not a parent and I dislike children, but I found the ending to be very human, which colored my perception of the rest of the game's design choices and mechanics retroactively, once I knew how the game had been planned out by Naughty Dog all along. Casual Shinji talks about the mechanics of the game better than I do, so you should read his post, but he essentially says everything that I want to about it. Essentially it's a kind of "sum of the parts is better than the whole" thing, where all the mechanics are perfectly held up by the story being told. If you don't like the story then you won't be forgiving of the mechanics, because the mechanics are clearly emergent from the needs of the story.

So I do think it's valid to think that parents are less likely to find fault with the game because they'll be heavily engaged with the story. Are they going to be significantly more engaged than everyone else? Not necessarily. Are people who aren't parents going to necessarily be more critical than parents? Also not necessarily.

As far as the xbox fanboy comment goes, I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be a joke. An asinine joke, but a joke nonetheless, so no need to get too ruffled up about it.
 

Casual Shinji

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The Wykydtron said:
Oh and the thing with the small community with Ish would have been poignant and shit until you learn the only reason it got infected was because someone left a fucking DOOR open. What? No. I refuse to believe they would lose everything because "oh I forgot the most important thing lol XD"
That's the whole reason it is poignant. You have these people setting up a nice, care free community causing them to let their guard down for just a minute resulting in a catastrophy. There's even a note saying Ish gave the kids a couple a squirt guns, because they have more than enough water thanks to the rain catchers.
 

RicoADF

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jetriot said:
Reviewers tend to be a bit older and often with young kids. Story arcs that involve young kids and families do really well with this demographic. Until I had my own family, I often considered stories like the ones in Last of Us and Walking Dead to be average at best. Now that shit tears me up inside and I can't help but connect and immerse myself into the world. As an older gamer I rarely find myself really immersing myself in a world like I used to. When it happens, its special and I rant and rave about it.

It may be just me, but I suspect a lot of reviewers(who are mostly around my age) have had those same experiences.
I don't have kids yet it had a similar effect to me, I'd say it's just apart of getting older, more mature and growing out of the "boom headshot" age. It seems like games that are about more than just some new gimick are what get my attention, especially unique ones.


Captcha - Call me - ..... no.
 

Nazulu

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Dirty Hipsters said:
Alright, well in that case I'll feel free to spoil the game for you.

A lot of people (including Yahtzee) are critical of the game's ending, because Joel decides to be selfish, and rather than allow Ellie to be killed and studied for a cure (which is what she wants), he kidnaps her, kills the doctors operating on her, and then lies to her about the whole thing, all so that he doesn't have to lose her the way he did his daughter. Now, considering that this is a completely story driven game, a very large part of whether you like the game hinges on the story, and especially on the ending.

From the perspective of a parent, as they play the game and Joel becomes more and more of a father figure to Ellie, the player begins to think of Joel's choices in the game regarding Ellie in the light of "well how would I react if that was MY child." Because of that perspective they are a lot more likely to accept the ending and see Joel in a good light, rather than as a selfish asshole who doomed the world, because they know that if put in the same situation, where they had the choice of sacrificing their kid in order to save the world they would say "screw the world." So the ending ends up having more impact to parents who end up internalizing the conflict and sympathizing with Joel.

Do you need to be a parent to enjoy the ending? Hell no. Like I said, I'm not a parent and I dislike children, but I found the ending to be very human, which colored my perception of the rest of the game's design choices and mechanics retroactively, once I knew how the game had been planned out by Naughty Dog all along. Casual Shinji talks about the mechanics of the game better than I do, so you should read his post, but he essentially says everything that I want to about it. Essentially it's a kind of "sum of the parts is better than the whole" thing, where all the mechanics are perfectly held up by the story being told. If you don't like the story then you won't be forgiving of the mechanics, because the mechanics are clearly emergent from the needs of the story.

So I do think it's valid to think that parents are less likely to find fault with the game because they'll be heavily engaged with the story. Are they going to be significantly more engaged than everyone else? Not necessarily. Are people who aren't parents going to necessarily be more critical than parents? Also not necessarily.

As far as the xbox fanboy comment goes, I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be a joke. An asinine joke, but a joke nonetheless, so no need to get too ruffled up about it.
I wanted S69 to explain, but thank you. I really think it just comes down to the individual though. parent or not. I mean, we all have someone we feel we need to protect one way or another.

Could you please stop covering for him. He said if the shoe fits.