My feelings of Last of Us 2 are very tough to describe. Full disclosure, the first game is one of my favourites. I avoided almost all the media for the game (outside the first two trailers). I've had some time removed from the game so forgive me if my memory is off. I could probably go into depth if I look at my previous thoughts journaling, ways I might restructure the game and etc but no one would care to read it.
RE Joel's death. My assumption going into the game was that he would die around the 3/4th mark. Him dying early actually didn't bother me. In fact, Naughty Dog was brilliant in invoking the emotion out of me. I dreaded the whole time the walk to the cabin, the sounds of Joel in pain, etc.
His "wake" was fantastic. I think his usage throughout the game (via flashback) was great. Finding his "closure" with Ellie at the end was amazing, Ellie following similar paths ala Joel and then realizing it was all for nothing were great broad strokes.
The problem was just everything falling flat for me. Abby as a character was, fine. I felt pushing us back in the timeline just to sync up again was very annoying pacing wise. Her revenge against Joel and redemption didn't speak to me as much as I wanted it to.
On Ellie's behalf - I thought there was far more that could have been more.
Joel didn't have to go out like a hero in this brutal world, that's silly considering what he's done and what we've seen.
What's also really difficult is that Joel is an extremely compelling character to me. Troy Baker's delivery alone outshines everyone he's with. The character is flawed and human. He lost so much and is still learning to process Sara's death. Every scene of backstory he's in, you're just reminded how good the character is and how you're ultimately controlling Abby - someone who didn't resonate with me. Or Ellie, a character I kept waiting to go to that next level.
My memory is extremely hazy of this game and I'm not ready to revisit it for a while. I just kept feeling the game was flat or boring. I remember hitting around day 2 with Ellie and thinking to myself, I'm really not enjoying this game - what's wrong with me? And then we get a Joel flashback scene. But once it was over I was back to this game and just no longer enjoying myself.
I guess ultimately I didn't have a problem with the fact he died. I just feel that the follow-through and execution of those ideas for the game thereafter were completely flat for me.