Read my review of the original The Last of Us. It’s like a time capsule. That was so long ago now (2013), that my writing quality, grammar, and structure have greatly improved since then.
I’m seeing lots of criticism regarding the woke/SJW/LGBTQ/whatever aspects of the game, so I want to nip that in the bud straight away. I’m not a big fan of SJWs myself, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, SJWs are mostly trolls and bullies in activist’s clothing. That said, I don’t think anything in this game concerning those issues was shoved down our throats, preachy, agenda-driven, or done in poor taste.
I don’t think it’s that strange. Video games are no different than movies, TV, or other storytelling mediums:
- There has been a lot of representation happening for a long time now, giving minorities more of a voice in stories. I don’t see why that should be a problem?
- Writers like variety. Do you think they really just want to write about straight, white men and women all the time? Hell no. It takes all kinds to make up our world, so why wouldn’t they want to explore those less told, rich stories?
Even if you just don’t see it that way, and all you can see is leftist, liberal agendas being thrown in your face, I still think you can relax, because The Last of Us Part II is a massive epic, and all that woke stuff only takes up about 0.1% of it.
However, that 0.1% of the game has caused an incredible amount of controversy and negative reviews. Read a fairly decent timeline of those events on Polygon, which all started with a portion of the game that was leaked a few months before its release.
This game has become super politicized, in a basically “Red vs Blue” kind of situation. It’s pretty depressing, and I really feel for the developers of the game, because they worked really hard, spending years to make something truly remarkable. While I can’t imagine that the creators are in anything except for bitter pain at what’s happened, I hope they know that many fans loved the game, and can put all that exhausting bullshit aside and enjoy their achievement in storytelling.
If you’re a gamer and you know, actually played the game as opposed to just holding a torch and marching with a mob of anti-whatever, I think we can all agree on a few things. Surely, we all like a bit of the ol’ ultra violence ;). Surely, we all like to be scared out of our whits. Well now, this game is. fucking. intense. Sharpen your machetes, because there’s as much blood and gore here to bathe in as you can stomach.
But of course, I came for the sappy stuff too. The father/daughter drama continues with Joel and Ellie where The Last of Us left off, with “the big lie.” But dear god, do they take our emotions so much further in this sequel. Enter nemesis Abby, probably the most three-dimensional “villain” to ever be written into fiction. As shocking as what she did to Joel was, it’s even more shocking that we grow to love Abby, and at times, almost see Ellie as the true villain, in a “Breaking Bad Heisenberg” kind of way.
Looking over the voice actors on the IMDb page, of course all the original talent has returned, but you might also recognize the voice of Jeffrey Wright (Arnold from Westworld) as Isaac. But, the biggest shoutout has to go to Laura Bailey, who did a top-notch job voicing Abby.
What Does the Future Hold?
I cried no less than three times playing this game, and the only games I can recall doing that to me before were the original game and Red Dead Redemption II, when my horse died. Clearly, I’m deeply invested in this world. Sadly, other than an online multiplayer mode that’s coming (that I couldn’t give two figs about), it looks like there’s not going to be any story DLC coming this time around, revealed by co-writer and director Neil Druckmann in a podcast:
What that means is that if there’s not going to be a Part III, this is the end of the road, and if there is a Part III, it likely won’t happen for at least another 5 years.
Goodbye The Last of Us (hopefully just for now). Thanks for the ride. 😢
UPDATE — Oh yeeeah… I kinda forgot about a little ol’ thing like the fact that a live action version of The Last of Us is coming to HBO! That’s definitely something to look forward to.
Videos of My Journey Through the Game
Snaps of My Journey Through the Game
Support Halloween Love
If an item was discussed in this article that you intend on buying or renting, you can help support Halloween Love and its writers by purchasing through our links:
(Not seeing any relevant products? Start your search on Amazon through us.)