Zero Punctuation: The Last of Us
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
I think everyone (especially the episode Facebook commenters, what the hell...) really blew this out of the water. In fact, Yahtzee deliberately says in some of his reviews that he is flat out trying to find the bad parts of the game. It's a pretty old thing, he gripes on it because it's more interesting than him going on fanboy speeches about about great a game that he may have enjoyed is. It's his hook.
On the ending topic, I was pretty disappointed. The ending was lackluster, which I understand was the point, that the characters weren't really heroes or villains, they were set up as survivors from step one which was the recurring theme that transpired across the entirety of the game. It's the only reason they got back up from all the stuff they had to go through. But the ending didn't really have a peak "climax," there was no real final level and the hardest levels in the game ALL came from mid-game zombie levels, which weren't even paralleled in difficulty later on. I don't know why they even gave you any scrap materials in the last couple levels, because it was so easy to sneak by everyone in the end that it didn't matter. I only killed one enemy in the final "base" of operations because the game basically made me. It was a very risky ending that should have at least had a final escape level that could have added difficulty and gotten rid of the rest of your ammo, and added for more character bonding. But instead, I got a very short, scripted ending that capped off the character development. Not to say that it was badly done in context as a story, but as a video game (a AAA Naughty Dog title at that) the ending failed to meet expectations, it felt to me like they suddenly ran out of funding so they just finished it and called it good.
I see both sides, but I think the ending would've been better if they didn't force feed me character development, they should have earned it with a bang in the end and actually given me some gameplay to accompany.
On the ending topic, I was pretty disappointed. The ending was lackluster, which I understand was the point, that the characters weren't really heroes or villains, they were set up as survivors from step one which was the recurring theme that transpired across the entirety of the game. It's the only reason they got back up from all the stuff they had to go through. But the ending didn't really have a peak "climax," there was no real final level and the hardest levels in the game ALL came from mid-game zombie levels, which weren't even paralleled in difficulty later on. I don't know why they even gave you any scrap materials in the last couple levels, because it was so easy to sneak by everyone in the end that it didn't matter. I only killed one enemy in the final "base" of operations because the game basically made me. It was a very risky ending that should have at least had a final escape level that could have added difficulty and gotten rid of the rest of your ammo, and added for more character bonding. But instead, I got a very short, scripted ending that capped off the character development. Not to say that it was badly done in context as a story, but as a video game (a AAA Naughty Dog title at that) the ending failed to meet expectations, it felt to me like they suddenly ran out of funding so they just finished it and called it good.
I see both sides, but I think the ending would've been better if they didn't force feed me character development, they should have earned it with a bang in the end and actually given me some gameplay to accompany.
I disagree completely and here's why.Bonk4licious said:
This wasn't the right kind of game for a big boss fight. In fact, final boss fights in very story driven games tend to break immersion by being too transparently gamey. The Last of Us actually does this twice with the mandatory bloater fights, both of which were handled extremely well by video game standards, but were out of place in a game that was more about survival and openness and less about monster closets. A big, climactic, set-piece driven ending or a boss fight would have strained the game's believability.
Meanwhile, the ending we got was kind of perfect. There was no gameplay climax as you point out, but there is a wonderful emotional climax in the way that Joel's escape with Ellie in his arms mirrors his (and our) prior experience with his daughter Sarah. This was a frankly brilliant example of storytelling through gameplay. The kind of thing that only a few games like Bioshock, Journey, Portal, and Dark Souls have really achieved.
And then Jackson was the capper. Naughty Dog used the fact that we naturally identify with the character we're playing against us in this scene. Playing as Ellie helps us identify with her. Her size, her physicality, desires, emotions, etc. Had the game ended with you playing as Joel, it would seem as if you, the player, had some hand in lying to Ellie and that she just accepts it, but by having us play as Ellie, our complete awareness of Joel's lie and betrayal lends a fascinating ambiguity to Ellie's acceptance of Joel's words. What's in your head is in her head to some extent. So even though the end was, quite literally, a walk in the park, it was crucial to making the ending work. Yeah it was anticlimactic, but not all anticlimax is bad. Nearly every season of The Wire ends in anticlimax, but that's the point, it's in service to higher ideas and themes.
In summary, not only is The Last of Us great because it defies Hollywood story telling cliches, it's great for defying video game gameplay cliches as well. Ending as it should on an emotional climax (expressed though gameplay) rather than shoehorning in a decisive final conflict like an out of place boss fight, a battle against an overwhelmingly large force of thugs, or, heaven forbid, a quick-time-event.
I think this is the beginning of the end for me enjoying these reviews. I think it's reached a point where Yahtzee has reviewed so much shit he can't see a good game right in front of him. He's made the transition from out spoken gamer to full blown critic. The Last of Us honestly is one of the best game I've played for years, finally a game that puts more emphasis on story and character development than the three gs gameplay/gimmicks/graphics. We're given two likeable three dimensional characters and as gamers I don't think we're used to that so our natural instinct is to shun that and brush it off.
The most important thing about this game is that I genuinely felt emotionally involved in Joel and Ellie's life, I cared about the characters and that doesn't happen in a majority of games and that's how this game makes the leap from game to art.
To comment on the morality of the game is a bit of a straw man because the whole game is grey and although Joel's choice at the end is selfish, it's important because it's his choice. He's not just a game character he's a thinking person that makes his own decisions whether you like them or not. I think if it gave the player the choice at the end for the purpose of a second playthough it would have lost all weight.
The most important thing about this game is that I genuinely felt emotionally involved in Joel and Ellie's life, I cared about the characters and that doesn't happen in a majority of games and that's how this game makes the leap from game to art.
To comment on the morality of the game is a bit of a straw man because the whole game is grey and although Joel's choice at the end is selfish, it's important because it's his choice. He's not just a game character he's a thinking person that makes his own decisions whether you like them or not. I think if it gave the player the choice at the end for the purpose of a second playthough it would have lost all weight.
Well this annoying. I know I'm a month late to the party (I just beat it) but how did he not like this game? Its like he didn't even play it. Not only that, something I expected Yahtzee to praise was that so much of the game's narrative relies on the fact that its a video game. So many games have movie style "show and tell" narratives that separates the story from gameplay but the Last of Us unifies it. Especially when:
Ellie can't be seen by enemies is a problem but if she kept getting caught running in front of enemies it would have destroyed her character more. Suddenly the game would have become "fucking Ellie messing shit up" instead of "I have to protect Ellie". It would have been cool if they could have made the tracking more accurate so allies would have moved more realistically but since that wasn't done or wasn't possible this was the best alternative
And as for all "hurr durr butt hurt, never seen a Yahtzee video" his videos usually have valid criticism even in games I like where I have to sit back and say "Yup. I can't argue that thing X was bad" but this just ridiculous. Even a bad game like Crysis 2 he gave credit where credit was due
you switch to playing as Ellie at the end after you played as Joel to rescue her. Suddenly Joel's comments come a little creepy when you hear them from Ellie's perspective
Ellie can't be seen by enemies is a problem but if she kept getting caught running in front of enemies it would have destroyed her character more. Suddenly the game would have become "fucking Ellie messing shit up" instead of "I have to protect Ellie". It would have been cool if they could have made the tracking more accurate so allies would have moved more realistically but since that wasn't done or wasn't possible this was the best alternative
And as for all "hurr durr butt hurt, never seen a Yahtzee video" his videos usually have valid criticism even in games I like where I have to sit back and say "Yup. I can't argue that thing X was bad" but this just ridiculous. Even a bad game like Crysis 2 he gave credit where credit was due
Literally one of the best games I've ever played, for reasons other people have already covered, and I just acknowledge that Yahtzee's video's are for entertainment purposes and don't really reflect my buyer's choice 
I was really hoping he'd bring up the shitty controls and the fact that, for a stealth game it really liked trapping you in small rooms and forcing you to just shoot bad guys for an unspecified amount of time. I didn't hate this game, but I definitely didn't enjoy it.
So I waited to comment on this until I played the game for myself, and I feel the need to ask what, precisely, Joel and Ellie did that made Yhatzee dislike them so much.
I mean, it's implied that Joel has done some questionable things in the past by another character, but during the actual game, all he really does is defend himself. Up until the ending, at least, but his actions at the end of the game are understandable; not agreeable, mind, but totally within the realm of a normal human being.
And Ellie pretty much just defends herself too, but never crosses the moral event horizon like Joel arguably does.
I would not equate killing maniacs in self defense with murder.
I mean, it's implied that Joel has done some questionable things in the past by another character, but during the actual game, all he really does is defend himself. Up until the ending, at least, but his actions at the end of the game are understandable; not agreeable, mind, but totally within the realm of a normal human being.
And Ellie pretty much just defends herself too, but never crosses the moral event horizon like Joel arguably does.
I would not equate killing maniacs in self defense with murder.