Unskippable: The Last of Us, Part 3
- Thread starter Graham_LRR
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My point was she wasn't alive long enough to make that connection. If they had killed her off and the end of Act 1, then I could see the emotional aspect of her death since it gave you time to actually bond with the character. As it stands, we are supposed to be sad simply because she is a kid.Casual Shinji said:
No it shouldn't- but if the guilt is there, it completely changes the dynamic of the interaction between protector and protectee.008Zulu said:
This is not someone acting out of moral code or societal expectation, lacking a grasp of the severity of failure. This is someone who's been in the role before and failed- he knows what happens if he screws up. There's also a double whammy of self-redemption and frustration over being able to succeed for a stranger but not his own child.
Basically, it makes the whole thing way more interesting than being good because it's good.
As for connecting emotionally to Sarah... well, you weren't really supposed to excactly- the game gives you just enough to see Sarah was a real person, not just a backstory element that's easy to write off entirely. Makes the whole 'my daughter died' thing MEAN something.
I don't know, she was to me. Obviously this is just a backstory, but thanks to the terrific performance from both actors you get a very effective father/daughter relationship in a short ammount of time.008Zulu said:
And here's the thing, the very second Sarah appears on screen (she's actually the first image the game starts out with) you know she's going to die. And Naughty Dog knew this, which is why they threw a few curveballs. The first character you play is her. This instantly gives her a player connection; Just a few minutes ago you were playing as her wandering around the house not yet aware of the chaos that was about to errupt, and now she's dead. We've all at some point in our youth been in a family situation where we're powerless to do anything about it because we were just kids. So all we could do was just quietly observe the crisis unfold and hope for the best. The intro perfectly recreates that sensation, but with the added punch of the observer dying. Again, we knew she was going to, but with everything that preceeded it, it adds a lot more weight.
Another one is how she died. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought she was gonna get bit or outright killed by a zombie. But instead it's the person they thought would protect them who ends up killing her. Thinking they were out of the woods only to immediate walk into the lion's den.
And all of this is not written in simply for the sake of Joel wanting to protect Ellie. Because when they first meet Joel doesn't give a shit about Ellie at all. In the 20 years he spent in the apocalypse there've probably been countless teenage girls he's seen get killed. To him this is just the next one in line. Initially it's actually Tess who bonds with Ellie and strikes up conversations with her. The scene where they find out Ellie's secret and the military comes sniffing around, Joel just runs and leaves Ellie and it's Tess who helps her on her feet. The guilt laden obligation for Joel to protect Ellie actually comes from Tess, and it isn't untill halfway through the game that Joel protects Ellie because he genuinely cares about her. The purpose of the backstory doesn't really come in effect untill the second half of the game.
honestly, I agree.008Zulu said:
I can respect what the game was trying to do, and the opening was certainly unpleasant to experience, but there wasn't enough time spent with the character to make her death especially impacting, at least for me. Indeed, the whole opening was framed in such a way (driving home how almost picturesque-ly happy the family was) that it pretty much screamed that the poor girl was doomed... well, okay... normally after watching a bunch of scenes like that I would have assumed the father was going to die... but her father was on the box, so... nice knowing you, kid. XD
the opening did a good job of setting the tone for the infection, and serving as a reason for Joel's actions later, but I had no especial emotional attachment to Joel's daughter. there was the tragedy that always comes from seeing someone innocent killed, but no personal feeling of loss.
It might just be because I'm not too sensitive about dead kids, might be that I've never played the game, might be that a lot of other perfectly human lives were snuffed out without a care in that cutscene, but I found this episode hilarious.
Granted, Robert Fucking came a little after the girl died, but I laughed harder than I did in the previous two episodes at that little string of gags.
Granted, Robert Fucking came a little after the girl died, but I laughed harder than I did in the previous two episodes at that little string of gags.
Yeah, I could say the same thing. Well, I don't know about hilarious, but humorous, at least. I guess it was "From the studios that brought you Crash Bandicoot!" that had me break down in giggles. Still feels so wrong to laugh at a scene like that...LaughingAtlas said:
The scene is still very powerful and moving but I did laugh when Graham said the whole "From the studio that brought you Crash bandicoot" joke so kudos to you guys.
I couldn't stop laughing at the 'Naughty Dog' bit. XD
I wondered if you would do a third part, and you done it brilliantly!
I wondered if you would do a third part, and you done it brilliantly!
Wow, I was not expecting you guys to do a Part 3 o.o
I haven't gotten around to this one yet (although it is high up my list) so the emotion didn't pack quite the same punch... particularly with the jokes leading all the way up to it. However that is... still too damn sad
I did laugh though at the thought of Crash Bandicoot just there, watching and grinning as this happens before him
I haven't gotten around to this one yet (although it is high up my list) so the emotion didn't pack quite the same punch... particularly with the jokes leading all the way up to it. However that is... still too damn sad
I did laugh though at the thought of Crash Bandicoot just there, watching and grinning as this happens before him 
I did not hear anything Graham and Paul said during the death scene, so I watched that part again after reading about the Crash Bandicoot joke in the comments. Still could not see the humour of it.
It looks like this episode goes down much better with those who have not played the game.
It looks like this episode goes down much better with those who have not played the game.
Multiple people in this thread have said that they found it funny. Thus, they did manage to make it funny, to some, at least. So your statement is false.chkdsk1991 said:
Also, BOO HOO, A VIRTUAL GIRL IN A VIDJYA GAME DIED! HOW GRIPING! HOW EMOTIONAL! SO SAD!
Plenty of people died in this scene, why does only her death matter? Just because she is a child? Don't see anyone crying about the hoards of people that where viciously eaten by the bloody zombies. Are their virtual lives not worth getting all teary eyed about?
No, that is the opposite of where I was coming from, think of the bible story The Good Samaritan.Arakasi said:
I don't dispute the character development, but I do with the connection we are supposed to have simply because she is a child who dies. Jim Sterling did an excellent piece on this very subject.balladbird said: