-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Last Of Us Part I or Last Of Us Part II? Which One Do You Like More?
- Thread starter Star-Lord
- Start date
I always thought the first game was slightly overrated, Part II is better in every way IMO. You could argue about the story, but everything else is objectively better in part II. There's just way more too it.
I prefer the first one by a significant amount. Design-wise they are very similar in terms of Explore>Zombie>Shooting>Repeat, which was something I was hoping the second would fix, but I think the story of the first one is more impactful, as it doesn't rely so much on the suspension of disbelief of characters doing stupid things because they are so irrational.The second one is technically amazing though, but the first was also for its time.
There's a neither option but not a both. Shame! I find Part II to be an excellent and necessary evolution of the series. Part I obviously hit harder being first, it was a game-changer imo but that doesn't diminish how powerful Part II is.
I liked Part 1 but never loved it. The gameplay always felt just "okay" to me, and I hated the choice that Joel made at the end. 2 played significantly better, and I was glad they addressed that choice. I also thought the variety of environments and scenarios you go through in 2 were a lot stronger, whereas in 1 at times they felt very much like a traditional "level" at times and not as cohesive.
TLOU is one of the best games of the last decade (and was the greatest multiplayer game, before they ruined it with the Tac Shotgun and Bomb Expert).
TLOU Part II is too long, lacks interesting side characters and is probably the game that made me realize that I'm kind of tired of the Sony exclusive formula right now.
TLOU Part II is too long, lacks interesting side characters and is probably the game that made me realize that I'm kind of tired of the Sony exclusive formula right now.
I wish there was a 'both' option in this poll.
Maybe because it's I only finished part 2 a couple of week ago, but right now now the sequel edges it. the journey the characters go on has really stuck with me and I still think about it now. The gameplay is a massive advance over part 1 too.
Naughty dog really delivered with both of these games. I can't think of any other games which have engaged me in the same way the last of us games have.
Maybe because it's I only finished part 2 a couple of week ago, but right now now the sequel edges it. the journey the characters go on has really stuck with me and I still think about it now. The gameplay is a massive advance over part 1 too.
Naughty dog really delivered with both of these games. I can't think of any other games which have engaged me in the same way the last of us games have.
Thanks for the detailed post, you make several good points for sure and I agree that the foundation of the combat is quite good. That's the saving grace imo, shooting and punching and cutting and mashing enemies never really ceases to feel satisfying. And the options between stealth, guns blazing, bombs/traps and stuff is decent.I've seen this complaint make the rounds but like most TLoU2 complaints, I don't think it holds up. I am not up to the task of making a full combat system analysis, but I can say that the combat system is pretty flexible in it's approach, dependent on some factors like ammo availability.
First off, your kit allows for quite a bit of flexibility. You have your pistol weapon that serves as your jack of all trades, a power pistol for emergency situations, a rifle for longer ranges, a bow weapon for stealth, a shotgun for close ranges, and finally a secret weapon that is only available end game. Additionally, you have tools. Smoke bomb, molotov, and mine for Ellie and pipe bomb for Abby. And then you also have the different melee abilites, wherein Ellie has a knife and Abby has her muscles as their respective advantage. Assuming all things being equal, your set up allows you to approach any given encounter at minimum 5 different ways - you can stealth your way through, you can pick targets off at a distance, you can set up traps, you can go guns blazing at mid/close range, or you can run past enemies to the door.
Additionally, between the two characters, you have all sorts of nuances that are arguably minor differentiations, but they add up dramatically. Abby's shotgun does not feel like Ellie's shotgun, Ellie's sniper-rifle does not play like Abby's military rifle, I am more comfortable in a melee fight with Abby than I am with Ellie, I am much stealthier as Ellie than I am as Abby. That the game doesn't strictly prohibit any playstyle with either character does not diminish that these girls play very differently, especially once you level up both your weapons and your supplement abilities.
The game tries to have you diversify your approach, so you have to take into account atleast 2 other factors - who you are fighting and where. The factions you have are the WLF's, the Seraphites, and the Infected. Infected obviously play differently from humans in that they are all attack, except for the stalkers, which encourages stealth where infected don't spot you right away, but guns blazing if they do. Meanwhile the WLF and Seraphites will rarely rush you, but play much smarter, will flank you, use tactics and a variety of weapons, including dogs (who both take priority as stealth targets and can scent you out but act as sort of mini-infected in it's attack pattern if it's aware of you, meaning you're fighting an infected-like enemy while also the WLF). Meanwhile, the WLF is pretty cool about vocalizing their tactics when you fight mostly them for half the game, which makes you realize how often you relied on hearing enemies call out their tactics when the Seraphites are able to use whistles to communicate. I think this is something that I would not have even noticed in other games that don't have the enemy shout out their flanks, but because they did, and then they took it away, I got flanked more my seraphites. So, in the general game, you have arguably 2 enemies that mostly act similar, and then one that is very different from either. They overlap to an extent, but the differences are very much felt.
Which brings me to environments, which encourage and in some cases demand different approaches. The suburban environment of Hillcrest on Day 2 encourages a far stealthier playstyle over the urban environment of Seatle's streets you've been walking through in Day 1. The water-drenched Day 3 adds verticality not just by taking place in mutli-story buildings, but also having a network of water ways beneath the floors that let you traverse in ways the AI can't, but sets you on a breathe timer. All of which plays nothing like the Infected sections where environments are designed to be claustrophobic and you have shamblers whose explosive spores block off entire entryways through a map. All this before the game flips the script on Infected behavior when there are stalkers present or walled Clickers are present and then the challenge shifts to you being aware of your surroundings enough not to be caught off guard by them hiding and ambushing you. And all these can mix and match in various combinations, including having infected and WLF in the same room, which offers a huge variable factor because the AIs react unpredictably and open up new possibilities if they are against more than one enemy.
Which leaves the set piece moments...LoU2 has a few of those, like that car ride Ellie and Jessie have at the end of Day 2, but I agree there are fewer of these scripted sequences. Good.
I personally have a distaste for the sequences you describe. They're not bad, but they are shallow in their scriptedness. There's no way that you pushing the car with Ellie and Bill will ever play out differently no matter what you do. You're in a big open area where you are demanded to stay close to the objective point (the car) and infected come at you in specific, scripted intervals. The most choice you have is whether you use your revolver or shotgun to hold them off, since both are objectively the more advantageous choice over the pistol and rifle against infected in this open environment. The sniper rifle incident allows for a tiny bit more flexibility as you push through the houses to get to the sniper nest, but not significantly. And then once you do get to the sniper, you are literally stuck looking through the scope until the game tells you your not. What if you wanted to leave earlier to get a clearer path for Eliie, Henry and Sam? Too bad, game says you need to snipe. Not to mention the absurdism of that particular encounter, but that's more of a narrative gripe admittedly.
I like that Last of Us doesn't force cinematographic action sequences. They simply provide YOU the tools to make your own fun. Like, one of my favorite moments was during Day 3 as Ellie, I had another building full of enemies to take out. It was 10+ enemies, and I'd be coming at them from a hard to see (for me) position and not know where they are or where I could go for safety....but then I noticed to my left that there was a big tram on top of a broken bridge that I could climb. I decided to go explore there first before hte big fight. And what I found was ammo for my sniper rifle, and an open door overlooking the building the enemies were hiding in. It's line of sight was perfect. I laid down and took aim. It is the only place, to my recollection of two playthroughs, that's completely safe as a sniper spot in the game, made specifically for this moment, but you find it on your own. And if you don't, then you tackle that encounter like I had originally planned to do. This was also when the storm was already roiling, so it was dark, it had loud, heavy rain, interspursed with the occasional lightning. When I fired my shot, the AI couldn't spot me because I was too far away, but that was perfect to the scene. I felt like that Sniper from the Enemy Gate movie, where he shot in time with the thunder to mask the sound of his gunshot, so the enemy was utterly confused where the bullets were coming from. It was gloriously cinematic, while being 100% in game.
There are dozens of examples like this. Like, one everyone encounters is those assholes hiding in that one building that attack you when you take a workbench. This isn't some forced sequence. If you're paying attention to the environment, you can figure out that they are there. You can only enter the building one of two ways, both of which involve making noise. But one of them is a noise alarm that can only have been set up by a person. And if you try to open the door they're hiding in, the first time you do it, you hear their voices for a split second. In Last of Us 1, this moment would have just been a mandatory sneak attack that the game sometimes had, but not only can you be an observant player who spots this themselves, you can set up traps so when they come out and try to ambush you, they'll instead meet a happy mine ready to greet them with love and explosions. How is that not better? All this is besides the fact that the game is so polished, so well animated, that even regular gameplay can often end up looking as cinematic as if it had been scripted? From our very own Much:
So, you have a diverse weapon set with several significant nuances between both characters, who themselves are have different styles of play, who are themselves put in wildly different situations depending on different environments and different enemy lay out. They encourage vastly different playstyles at different beats of the game, but will rarely ever force you into a specific action. You can favor stealth, or aggression, or patience almost to your hearts content. I've even heard of people trying to play the pacifist and avoid/escape all the fights they can, and they got through a good part of the game like that. All this while the game looks so good you can't believe it's unscripted so much of the time. So if you were given all that, and you were 'doing the same thing over and over', is that really the game's fault?
I don't however think the game does nearly enough to encourage various playstyles and tactics, at least on normal difficulties. Most encounters played out the same way for me, start with stealth, when that breaks down it became more of a chaotic experience. Fun, but repetitive.
Enemies have good behaviours but it's not like stealth is ineffective against some, or that melee is impossible on others, or so on. That's the type of stuff that would push the player to change their approach. If one tactic is effective in 99% of encounters, it's not on the player to force themselves to use different means of approach.
I was referring to
Jesse, Owen, Mel.. there are some others that I feel got killed without too much of a reaction..
I'm not sure which I prefer. To me, both have incredibly strong openings, great first acts, a somewhat muddled and eventually tiring middle section, and culminate in an ending which at first I'm not sure about, but that grows on me upon reflection. The first has the benefit of better pacing, so I recall less time spent with it where I was questioning its potency as a whole, but the second plays much better moment to moment, irrespective of how the narrative might struggle to keep hold throughout those moments. The tighter focus of the story in the first works for it, but there's a boldness to the second that's commendable whether it wholly works or not. Each sits with me as an impressive work whose sheer impressiveness strangely underscores its own shortcomings.
First the Zelda question and now this. I am not sure why I come to this site any more, all it does is stress me out with such decisions.
I think Part 1 is a masterpiece and I can't quite believe that Part 2 somehow managed to top it. So 2 might just edge it for me. I loved all the main characters, the story, the tension it built and the way it made me change my opinion of certain characters.
I think Part 1 is a masterpiece and I can't quite believe that Part 2 somehow managed to top it. So 2 might just edge it for me. I loved all the main characters, the story, the tension it built and the way it made me change my opinion of certain characters.
One was a pretty good narrative focused game that I really liked but I was never quick to agree with the second coming of jesus type reverence people had for it. But part two? That game straight up blew me away, it was so thematically dense and everything worked so well. I was so emotionally exhausted by the end.
I liked the first one better because of more variations in locations. I grew tired of Seattle already 1/3 of the way through the game and looting identical store #43.
2 is better in every way. The gameplay is much improved, it looks better, it has way more accessibility options and it tells a more ambitious story. Bonus points for pissing off alt-right dickheads.
Well, then, you're just....kinda forcing yourself to play in the most boring way and are complaining about being bored. I mean, no one can help you if you make yourself do things the worst way.
Like I said, it's GOOD that the game doesn't make a gameplay style off limits in most cases. I don't want enemies that are impossible to melee. But some enemies are more difficult to melee than others, like the clickers, so you're incentivized to find other ways of fighting them. But if you really want to, you can. That's great. Besides, one thing I forgot to mention in my post is how customizable the game's difficulty is. If you found Normal too easy, the game doesn't just offer you difficulty settings, but allows you to specifically tune the difficulty of specific aspects of the game, like how aggressive enemies are or how easily they spot you. If your found stealth too easy....turn up the stealth difficulty.
There are so many ways to approach the combat, and the game obviously does all it can to encourage you to play differently without ever blocking off paths, it feels hard to blame the game for you choosing to do what you did.
I'd say the sequel is more varied actually. While most of it is set in Seattle they don't copy paste any interiors and locations range from forests to parks to convention centres, train yards, skyscrapers, a flooded mall, a hospital, mountain areas, snowy areas, a school etc.
The sense of place in the locations in the game is insane. They copy paste some buildings you can't go into, but I think they do that more as a way of signifying that you can't go in there. Any store you CAN go into is actually fully unique. Not just unique, it's insanely detailed like a real place. Like, I remember on multiple occasions going into a place, and looking at art on the wall which appears in no other part of the game. There was this one with cats that Lev comments on that I thought looked cool as fuck and wanted to as a poster. There's actual, unique art in the places you enter. It's insane.
Last of Us 2 is better as game only. The gameplay is almost perfet. If you didn't play the first game, porbably Last of Us 2 will look better in your eyes. For people who loved the first game, most will not like the second because of the story Naughty Dog choose to tell. I'm not even talking about that one character who goes away in te beggining of the game, but how bad they try to make you feel about one charcter over the other and everything doesn't feel natural or real as the first game does.
So, the 1st game is better than the second in my opinion. The 1st game will be something I'll remember for the rest of my life. Magnificent game. The second is ok, I guess? I hope to see a new uncharted with that gameplay actually.
So, the 1st game is better than the second in my opinion. The 1st game will be something I'll remember for the rest of my life. Magnificent game. The second is ok, I guess? I hope to see a new uncharted with that gameplay actually.
I think this thread would indicate that a lot of people that love the first game also love or even prefer the second to be honest.
I remember being so excited for the PS4 generation coming off of TLOU 1. It felt like the flagship game and template for Sony games going forward. But yeah now I have the opposite feeling after part 2. It fell completely flat and I'm over the general direction of Sony's first party stuff at the moment.
It's amazing how much time you spend doing this. I guess we deal with it for now because everything is so pretty, but holy cow at how monotonous and mindless it is. I think withing the context of a game with tighter pacing and a better story it wouldn't be as noticeable.
Last edited:
But...
Abby immediately goes after her friends' killer because it's just happened and she knows where they might be. She even mentions them when she confronts Ellie so obviously there's pain there. Jesse was killed in the middle of that confrontation so there really isn't any time to mourn him in that precise moment. With the amount of time jumps and perspective changes can't we assume that these characters are mourned off screen?
Objectively speaking, Part 2 is a better game and one of the best games ever made. If I had to replay one of them now though, I would probably choose Part 1. Part 2 had too many parts that looking back were an unnecessary grind and I'm not sure I want to do them again for a while. Plus I much prefer the narrative in Part 1.
It's not at all difficult to ask for enemy and encounter design that's varied and forces/encourages different approaches in a game that's ~30 hours long.
I think it's neat some of the examples you brought up, but this to me is a 30 hour, largely linear storydriven experience. I can't see myself doing multiple playthroughs, can't see a majority of people doing that. It's not a game that imo pushes the player to experiment. Resources are fairly scarce, meaning stealth is nearly always the first option encouraged. Just as an example, if they designed the game for the player to experiment with traps, sniper rifles, bombs, grenades etc. they should have given you more resources.
Part 1 without a doubt.
Story-wise Part 1 was more coherent, more grounded, made me be more invested in both main and secondary characters. The loss of one was impactful, you fucking felt it like a train in your face.
Part 2 was nowhere near that to my sentiment, sure it had its moments of awe but it tried to do so much on too many levels it lost the essence.
Maybe I'm jaded of all these fucking flashbacks & fragmented simultaneous story arcs in current film media. Part 1 went for the simple and tested recipe, Part 2 felt like I'm playing a netflix show in 3 seasons. When it gets to the point you just want the game to end...hmm not a good feeling.
Of course technically Part 2 overshadows by far Part 1, understandable given the experience the studio gathered over time. I enjoyed the gameplay additions, the majestic level design and absurdly perfect animations. ND really sets the industry standard when it comes to this kind of stuff.
And how can I put Part 2 above Part 1 while it lacks the amazing Factions?
Story-wise Part 1 was more coherent, more grounded, made me be more invested in both main and secondary characters. The loss of one was impactful, you fucking felt it like a train in your face.
Part 2 was nowhere near that to my sentiment, sure it had its moments of awe but it tried to do so much on too many levels it lost the essence.
Maybe I'm jaded of all these fucking flashbacks & fragmented simultaneous story arcs in current film media. Part 1 went for the simple and tested recipe, Part 2 felt like I'm playing a netflix show in 3 seasons. When it gets to the point you just want the game to end...hmm not a good feeling.
Of course technically Part 2 overshadows by far Part 1, understandable given the experience the studio gathered over time. I enjoyed the gameplay additions, the majestic level design and absurdly perfect animations. ND really sets the industry standard when it comes to this kind of stuff.
And how can I put Part 2 above Part 1 while it lacks the amazing Factions?
I only had time to sit down and play part 2 this last week, so I had seen a lot of the 'noise' on the internet and didn't really know what to expect. It was an amazing story, with a few pacing issues here and there. I'm still thinking about it days later and have scenes clearly imprinted in my mind. Most movies don't even do that so yeah, great game and great story.
Only thing I remember from part 1 is the ending, so yeah part 2 :)
- Walking along the beach at the end in the rain and coming across the avenue of crosses, looking for Abby and realising... holy shit is that her up there ? WHAT DID THOSE ASSHOLES do to her ?
- That final fight, where she has that short flashback (or mental image) of Joel looking up from his guitar and simply giving her the slightest look of empathy and encouragement to turn away from the dark side.... oh man goosebumps.
- That bit where Lev stops Abby from murdering a pregnant woman: you can see the rage in Abby and how much it took for her to back down from where she was (deepened by the complex history she had and guilt around Mel).
Only bit I hated was Tommy's behaviour at the end and the fact Ellie thought she could just leave her family behind, after how much they had paid to get their life together... That didn't seem rational or likely.
- That final fight, where she has that short flashback (or mental image) of Joel looking up from his guitar and simply giving her the slightest look of empathy and encouragement to turn away from the dark side.... oh man goosebumps.
- That bit where Lev stops Abby from murdering a pregnant woman: you can see the rage in Abby and how much it took for her to back down from where she was (deepened by the complex history she had and guilt around Mel).
Only bit I hated was Tommy's behaviour at the end and the fact Ellie thought she could just leave her family behind, after how much they had paid to get their life together... That didn't seem rational or likely.
Only thing I remember from part 1 is the ending, so yeah part 2 :)
They are both amazing and both made me cry at the end. 10/10 games honestly. Part II really kicked up the combat though to godly levels so it gets the edge for me.
That's what I'm trying to tell you - it does do that. It just doesn't restrict you, but it encourages various play styles for different occasions in it's character builds, in it's weapon utility, in it's environments, in it's enemies. You just ignored it.
Not exactly. The game is designed to keep you at a certain ammo count depending on difficulty. Suppose your playing on normal and you have 4 bullets in your pistol and the game wants you to have 6. If you stealth the section, the game will maybe only drop you 2 bullets. If you decide to use your 4 bullets in an aggressive fight, the game will detect this and decide to give you 5 bullets since it detects your running low. If you constantly stealth to save on ammo, the game is going to notice that and just decide not to give you more ammo because your at the ammo count it wants you at. This is because resource scarcity is more about what you bring into a given fight rather than having a concrete number of bullets you can get in the game.
In practice, it's a little more complicated than that, of course, the game will also give you less and more ammo for a specific gun as events for a specific section of the game draw near (as in, you will likely get more shotgun ammo in an area with infected in it), but the system isn't made with a set amount of ammo you'll have irrespective of how you're doing in the game. Which you might have learned through experimentation if you tried it.
Last edited:
That's kind of a difficult question... I'd prefer a "they're both masterpieces" option. I really liked the road trip vibe of Part 1 and how it was more of a journey across country with two people getting to know each other. Maybe it's a bit of a rose-colored glasses situation but it made me feel better than Part 2, or made me suffer less, so in some ways I "like" it more. Part 2 had a much stronger sense of urgency and made me feel like a miserable, emotional mess most of the time lol, but in the end I found it to be an even more powerful experience than its already amazing predecessor, so I guess I'd have to go with it.
The first game for me is a total masterpiece, rarely some media had such an impact with me as TLoU did.
Part II is a huge technical achievement, and plays really good. But the story has so many moments where, the more I think about, more I dislike it. It's a steep roller coaster that feels like it will never end, and eventually I kinda stop caring about what was going to happen, which is terrible for a game like this.
Part II is a huge technical achievement, and plays really good. But the story has so many moments where, the more I think about, more I dislike it. It's a steep roller coaster that feels like it will never end, and eventually I kinda stop caring about what was going to happen, which is terrible for a game like this.
1 is great, and 2's story sucks even when you give it the video game curve, so 1.
2 does have the distinction of at least being interesting to analyze due to having one of the most preposterously bad narrative structures I've ever seen though.
2 does have the distinction of at least being interesting to analyze due to having one of the most preposterously bad narrative structures I've ever seen though.
Yep, this.
I wasn't upset they killed Joel, but I surely missed him.
I have serious nostalgia for TLoU1 (+ the Left Behind DLC) due to the intimate character-focused storytelling, and the haunting and beautiful settings that Joel and Ellie travel through. Their conversations as you're walking or riding through the ruined world made a lasting impression on me. It's about the sense of a connection being forged between two complex personalities more than the exact words that were exchanged. The side characters they meet during their journey are memorable as well, for their own reasons. They help paint the picture of the infection's impact through tragic vignettes.
I also enjoyed the gameplay, and its Uncharted DNA. I think that with Uncharted 2 Naughty Dog's controls and physics had found a satisfying groove, and all they had to do from there in order to keep delivering enjoyable gameplay in later titles was iterate on that template. This worked out very well for TLoU1's combat, stealth, and traversal. All of these things feel good to me on a visceral level, with a great balance of responsiveness and weight in the various actions.
With that all said, I think TLoU2 improves on the first game in every area. The building of Ellie and Joel's relationship is unforgettable -- the single most defining element of the series for me. The way that TLoU2 builds a story about the cycle of violence around this emotional core, while deepening and enriching Ellie and Joel in the process, is so powerful.
Two big broad areas of the game launch TLoU2 to the top for me. The first is the stunningly excellent characters, which includes their impeccable voice acting and the writing that interconnects them. I'm thinking of not just Ellie and Abby, but the supporting characters as well: especially Dina, Jesse, Tommy, Owen, Lev, and Yara. What a striking palette of diverse backgrounds, personalities, motivations, and conflicts. And what a compelling tapestry of story threads they weave together. I was so impressed and moved by TLoU2's cast.
The second area that makes TLoU2 the peak of the series to me is the incredible polish at every level of the gameplay and presentation. From the lifelike animations and how the human enemies have names and relationships, to the gorgeous natural scenery and the care with which each indoor area is arranged and decorated with a wealth of details that tell their own story. The attention to detail in this game is insane.
Beyond that, the gameplay is full of additions, refinements, and variety that make TLoU2 significantly more fun to play than the original. And the huge array of accessibility settings establish a new bar for the fine-grained tailoring of your experience as a player.
TLoU2 is a AAA title in the most complimentary sense of the term: a premium experience where each high quality element is seamlessly integrated with the whole.
I believe TLoU2 is second to none in its category. It's so ambitious and polished, so gorgeous, packed with so much good writing and gameplay variety. It's fun, well-paced, cohesive, accessible, and super replayable. Naughty Dog would have to pull off a miracle to improve on this game anytime soon.
I also enjoyed the gameplay, and its Uncharted DNA. I think that with Uncharted 2 Naughty Dog's controls and physics had found a satisfying groove, and all they had to do from there in order to keep delivering enjoyable gameplay in later titles was iterate on that template. This worked out very well for TLoU1's combat, stealth, and traversal. All of these things feel good to me on a visceral level, with a great balance of responsiveness and weight in the various actions.
With that all said, I think TLoU2 improves on the first game in every area. The building of Ellie and Joel's relationship is unforgettable -- the single most defining element of the series for me. The way that TLoU2 builds a story about the cycle of violence around this emotional core, while deepening and enriching Ellie and Joel in the process, is so powerful.
Two big broad areas of the game launch TLoU2 to the top for me. The first is the stunningly excellent characters, which includes their impeccable voice acting and the writing that interconnects them. I'm thinking of not just Ellie and Abby, but the supporting characters as well: especially Dina, Jesse, Tommy, Owen, Lev, and Yara. What a striking palette of diverse backgrounds, personalities, motivations, and conflicts. And what a compelling tapestry of story threads they weave together. I was so impressed and moved by TLoU2's cast.
The second area that makes TLoU2 the peak of the series to me is the incredible polish at every level of the gameplay and presentation. From the lifelike animations and how the human enemies have names and relationships, to the gorgeous natural scenery and the care with which each indoor area is arranged and decorated with a wealth of details that tell their own story. The attention to detail in this game is insane.
Beyond that, the gameplay is full of additions, refinements, and variety that make TLoU2 significantly more fun to play than the original. And the huge array of accessibility settings establish a new bar for the fine-grained tailoring of your experience as a player.
TLoU2 is a AAA title in the most complimentary sense of the term: a premium experience where each high quality element is seamlessly integrated with the whole.
I believe TLoU2 is second to none in its category. It's so ambitious and polished, so gorgeous, packed with so much good writing and gameplay variety. It's fun, well-paced, cohesive, accessible, and super replayable. Naughty Dog would have to pull off a miracle to improve on this game anytime soon.
