Completed it last night. I let it sink in and...
I'm a gameplay first guy and I have to say, purely based on controls and how the game is crafted, this is by far Naughty Dog's best work. Thanks to the Corona thing I played two thirds of the Uncharted Remastered Collection and I played the original Uncharted. Well... during TLoU II I sometimes thought about that game thinking "man, Naughty Dog really grew over the last thirteen years." In their other games, something would go wrong with niggles in certain setpieces and you'd die cheap deaths. In this game hoewever... there is nothing cheap to see. If you die, its your own fault. At a certain point I'm underground and I see a Shambler and try to shoot that guy right of the batt; problem is, there are runners and another Shambler there which results in me getting ripped apart. If you rush an enemy blindly and shot in the face, thats your own fault.
But both situations are dumb, because there are plenty of ways to approach your enemy en kicking their butts. Ellie and Abby are great to play as. Even Abby, with her more bulky build is quite nimble but can beat the everloving crap out of opposing enemies. I saw others mentioning it, but the options in TLoU PII for movement and combat are somewhat comparable to MGS V. Crawling through the grass, sneaking up on baddies, sneaking past them or outwitting their furry friends. it really feels smooth. Especially gunplay, while not an obvious focus feels more natural compared to earlier ND titles. Btw, maybe its just me, but I had way more fun sneaking around and going for the stealthkill rather than just go guns ablazing. The latter is fun, but with limited ammo I'd rather take my time and clear the area first through stealth.
And if stealth wasn't an option... there is always distractions. There were only a few moments, but I absolutely loved the parts where you could distract WLF's by throwing a bottle and luring out the infected. Seeing them panicking at the sight of Clickers and Runners never gets old. Its also pretty nifty that you can clean up the scraps afterwards. Speaking of fighting, I feel the encounters in this game are far more balanced and fun. I remember playing the original, where encounters weren't bad or anything, but a few kind of dragged. In II that doesn't seem to be the case; encounters feel just right in pacing, with the only obvious outlier being Hillside, which made sense as that area was at high alert. That was the only area in the game that went on a bit too long. Overall though I think that thanks to the more movement options and the addition of certain enemy types like dogs, Shamblers and Stalkers the game became more diverse. The only enemy type that wasn't too great was the Brute, but they appear not a lot which does not bog down the experience too much.
Which also helped the game in regards to encounters and dicovering are the amazing enviroments. Seattle, despite its desolate state and still harboring infected is absolutely breath taking. The variety in area's is great too. The opening area is a bit open world, but it quickly trades it in for a more linear path and despite being linear, I feel the game really shows some diversity in its area's. From downtown area's, to houses and even abandoned aquariums, its been a joy. The real star in this case are the parts with Abby, in which she leaves the stadium (very cool to see that they turned a stadium into living space, like the idea and excecution a lot!) , the fanastic bridge event with her and Lev, the descent in the hotel and Ground Zero. Fascinating area's to explore. I can go on and on, but in terms of design, gameplay and overall atmosphere TLoU PII has it all. Outstanding. Its in my top 5 for the last couple of years in regards to games which are a joy to play. (For reference, other games I find amazing to play are Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Oddyssey, Smash Ultimate and Resident Evil 2)
Now for the story... hoo boy. That was a lot. It's a good old fashioned revenge story. I avoided spoilers so I came in fresh, but if there was one thing I was certain of was that Joel was going to bite it. It's a shame really, because at his core I really like Joel. I know that after the release of the original many are, (still actually) debating if Joel was a selfish, murdering psychopath. Honestly I always felt that the world post outbreak made Joel the man he was and acted like any other animal; survive at any cost.
Seeing him die though did tug on the heartstrings. Hating Abby was the first feeling I had, but I kind of had a feeling we'd discover down the road the reason why Abby wanted him dead. But the amount of hatred from Ellie... damn. Hell, Tommy joined in as well. Just some observations about the story;
- I think in the end, as in the actual end, this was a perfect ending considering the bleak world Ellie and all the others are living in. I think some would have liked for an happy ending, but I like the fact that they decided on Dina leaving the farm. I think in the end she knew that Ellie is so damn broken, that living with her would only cause more heartache. I think Ellie, on a psychological level, is so torn on being alive and escaping Salt Lake, that she never will be happy. Although she did make a good choice with letting Abby go and deciding that forgiveness is a thing.
- A first switching to Abby at the end of Day 3 felt a bit on the nose. I believe it was cheap, but an understandable choice to show what kind of person Abby is and in what environment she lives. But as the story unfolds, they really knocked it out of the park by presenting her character. She's not that different compared to Ellie and even Joel. Deep down she's not a bad person, but living in a world with the virus made her this person. But it's the little things I'm really enjoying actually. Like her design; she's not the typical female character we would normally control in videogames. (Like a sex symbol) Her physique is comparable to that of swimmer with those arms. Another thing is her fear of hights. Its a small thing, but I like it that high places have a an effect on her.
- I think I like Abby's relationship with Owen the best. It's feels really genuine and there is an obvious attraction between both of them. Every scene between them had some form of tension between them.
- The only downside to that relation is Mel; while I think her character design is pretty great (she's so plain, you don't see that a lot in video games), but she doesn't really offer much in the overall story. Yeah she gets pregnant with Owen's kid and eventually killed off by Ellie who is distraught by this action, I feel that she's... there? I believe that if you cut her out from the story, nothing really significant is missed.
- They could have done more with Lev as well; I know, he served his purpose by explaining the Seraphites, who they are, what they were, why they are so agressive now, but it would be cool to know more about him. I mean, born a woman, identifying yourself as a man/warrior, those conversations must have been harsh. Especially with his mother.
- But maybe that's part of the story; the story is about Ellie and Abby, and everything else in the background is just noise. Crazy cult is crazy, WLF's are harsh, that's all there is to it. Although I have to say, that whistle the Seraphites use is terrifying.
- I know some people would complain about "walking sections" in these games, but Ellie and Joel at the museum is one of my favourite moments in the game. Maybe my favourite. It's one of the few moments where Ellie is truly happy, with Joel beaming as well. That moment in the pod with Joel giving her a tape with mission control dialogue is amazing. It's akin to the Giraffe moment in the original actually, even happier. I really felt the connection between the two.
- Btw, as much as I hate Tommy for riling up Ellie to go to Santa Barbara, I really like him at the beginning when talking to Joel about how he and Ellie left Salt Lake City. The "I think I wouldn't have done it differently" is a cool brother moment between him and Joel. Still, it seems that he likes Ellie too. He lost his eye and his leg doesn't work the way it should. Why did he push her so much to go after Abby?
- I like Dina, at first I didn't feel the connection between her and Ellie. That did change on the farm. I really like how they were happy together. But alas... Ellie had to fuck it up. Her pleas for her to stay were heartfelt though, that scene was good.
- About the end... that last battle between Ellie and Abby was perfect. No words. No one-liners. Just two women, desperate to reach their goals and fighting an awful fight. It was brutal, raw and straight up hard to watch/play. The struggle could be seen in every motion, attack or scream. Also, holy crap at Abby; she was destroyed during her captivity. It was hard to see here so broken, skinny and fragile.
By all means, the story isn't perefct. The performance of the actors/actrices is great, full props for that. The dialogue could use some work. Some characters could have used more, for some it have would have been better to be cut out from the story. The pacing is not perfect in both the story and the gameplay. But these are minor niggles and overall I think I have played my GoTY. Naughty Dog continues to impress. Whatever Dr. Uckman will do in the future (wink wink), I'll be there to play it.
... can it be Savage Starlight? :D