Nobody said it wasn't linear. I think you need to learn how to read. There are open combat encounters all the time in the last of us. Fact. Look at my combat I fucking LISTED them. You saying those gameplay choices are inconsequential is not fact, it is your opinion. You say vanquish has options because of slow mo and dodging but think the difference between stealth and rush are not the same? Look up some TLOU combat runs with only melee and bottles. The way people get creative with the combat is insane and the level design fosters that freedom. Regardless if the game is linear in progression when you get those big scenarios for fights LIKE UNCHARTED, you have all the choices before you to fight. If you play the bill's town chapter and record your playthrough and then look at how I played that chapter I guarantee it would look not even close to the same. That level funnels you into a graveyard then opens up and let's you loose in a big open neighborhood. You can walk right up the street if you want and go right for the high-school but this route is FILLED with enemies. Or, you can slink around take longer, risk wasting more ammo but have a slightly easier time. Why can you go ahead and say these gameplay choices aren't significant? They fundamentally change the user experience and offer a lot of freedom in terms of how you can approach combat. Its the exact reason the MP is bumping today, the gunplay, ammo management, and stealth are sublime together. The mechanics of the game involves many more things besides normal shooting controls but they are layered into the level and resource design so I don't blame you for missing the significance.
All in all I just find it embarrassing that you say it is fact that I am overreaching with these gameplay decisions. That is not a "fact" that is the very definition of an opinion. Thankfully I provided full support and evidence against your claims and you have just insisted to say lol nah its fact your wrong.
OK kid.
The "open" human combat encounters in TLOU are basically the AI having more cover options (since that's how the human one works) in slightly bigger levels, with usually 2-3 main paths you can follow or go back to, and very rarely, some interiors in between (like the sniper fight). The zombie ones have some open sections, but they're nearly always for stealth segments making you follow (once again) a few select paths that you can usually see before getting in the level. Level design 101, like other elements you're describing, that doesn't change anything to its linearity.
All of them leading to the same point, and with detours during (not before/after) those sequences not leading to any interesting option (no, collectibles aren't options).
Of course you can play with only melee and bottles. Because the game was designed as such. Not because some players suddenly got some crazy ideas that the designers didn't envision, or because there's any sort of systemic design. It isn't the case, and no, that doesn't fundamentally change the user experience, nor does it have some hidden "significance" making it "sublime". Feel free to check their GDC videos on the topic, they're available to everyone.
I feel like giving the Vanquish example was a mistake, since just like before with BOTW, apparently people will focus on the other example to make a point rather than looking at the rest of the argument. In the end, TLOU still gives the same experience regardless of the "hm do I shoot or use a knife" choice, given the AI, the equipment available at X time on an average playthrough (by design), . That was the whole point, and still doesn't mean the game is bad. It's playing its cards really well, and why it's recognized as such. Not because it's bringing something new or even particularly interesting to the table in terms of gameplay (which no review has ever said).
Are we done now, "kid" (to take your words)?
edit:
HOW is the difference between stealth and no stealth not an option? Why is Slo mo an option in vanquishs combat but how you use different ammo types not an option in TLOU combat? Out of the myriad weapons you get in grounded you at most get 3 shots. You miss and your done, your out of ammo and you have to scurry around throwing bottles and bricks.
At this point you are just drawing different lines and giving different standardized definitions of what you think "options" are.
Many people criticize many games for things, doesn't mean they have any basis. A lot of people love TLOU story making it easier for the gameplay to fly under the radar but there is a reason TLOU2 has kept combat fundamentally the same. Its fucking great. We can hop in a match of TLOU online and I can show you the ropes a bit. I could teach you some moves you don't know about that may help you vary your playstyle in the single player. Don't get too mad if I beat you too bad though, the game takes a long time to become good at given the depth of the combat.
check above, same argument, same reasoning.
And I'm not sure why I'd like to play TLOU online, especially given how it's not really designed like the single player, and how it wasn't the topic at all. Let's say you've beaten me badly in the online, that doesn't make your arguement any better :p
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