Re: The Last of Us Part II - Out now
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:37 pm
by Rapidly-Greying
Zilnad wrote:How did you get the PS5 early?!
That's exactly what I was thinking. The firefly picture is beautiful,give her a good lick out tonight. It's the least she deserves.
Re: The Last of Us Part II - Out now
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:06 pm
by Fade
OrangeRKN wrote:Captain Kinopio wrote:When you think on the characters for any length of time and go over their actions, they’re just strawberry floating awful people. I’ve just done the Joel death scene again and seeing what Abby does to him, her character just kind of feels all over the place.
Also what happened to Tommy throughout this game. At the start he’s reluctant to go after the Wolves but at the end after hunting them down, killing a bunch and having 18 months back home he’s suddenly desperate to go after them again?.
Fade wrote:I found the end of this quite narratively jarring.
The game asks you to keep trying to kill Abby even after its made her a character you don't want to kill
Here's the thing though, the game shouldn't make me do things like that if the story would make the player more sympathetic.
For example, in sections where the game asks you to press a button, if I don't want to press it then maybe the character should just carry on with their action anyway.
Otherwise it creates awkward moments that kill the cinematography.
Re: The Last of Us Part II - Out now
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:22 pm
by Samuel_1
OrangeRKN wrote:Captain Kinopio wrote:When you think on the characters for any length of time and go over their actions, they’re just strawberry floating awful people. I’ve just done the Joel death scene again and seeing what Abby does to him, her character just kind of feels all over the place.
Also what happened to Tommy throughout this game. At the start he’s reluctant to go after the Wolves but at the end after hunting them down, killing a bunch and having 18 months back home he’s suddenly desperate to go after them again?.
Fade wrote:I found the end of this quite narratively jarring.
The game asks you to keep trying to kill Abby even after its made her a character you don't want to kill
Just finished, totally agree with Orange. The game makes you feel uncomfortable, but this is a testament to its art; it is a stellar piece of work regarding the bitter cycle of revenge. If you stare long enough into the abyss, the adyss will stare back at you.
I cannot understand the controversy personally.
Re: The Last of Us Part II - Out now
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:29 pm
by Dual
Zilnad wrote:How did you get the PS5 early?!
Re: The Last of Us Part II - Out now
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:41 pm
by Zilnad
OrangeRKN wrote:Captain Kinopio wrote:When you think on the characters for any length of time and go over their actions, they’re just strawberry floating awful people. I’ve just done the Joel death scene again and seeing what Abby does to him, her character just kind of feels all over the place.
Also what happened to Tommy throughout this game. At the start he’s reluctant to go after the Wolves but at the end after hunting them down, killing a bunch and having 18 months back home he’s suddenly desperate to go after them again?.
Fade wrote:I found the end of this quite narratively jarring.
The game asks you to keep trying to kill Abby even after its made her a character you don't want to kill
RKN is bang on. For me,
playing that final scene, I was thinking "I don't want to hurt Abby, why am I doing this, I want to stop but I can't. I have to do it but why? Why?" It felt to me like my thoughts were probably the exact same thoughts going through Ellie's head in that moment and then she decided to stop.Okay, so I'm not great at putting my thoughts into paper but the final scene was done excellently and was a perfect ending. The game is strawberry floating incredible.
Re: The Last of Us Part II - Out now
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 10:13 pm
by Choclet-Milk
I don't think this is TLOU2.
That seems like an arbitrary distinction to me. If I'm supposed to empathise with the main character, a woman who's
seeking revenge for the murder of a loved one, then why should I feel guilty for wanting her to succeed? Plenty of protagonists make immoral choices in service of their goal. That's what makes the characters interesting, and their stories engaging. Should I feel guilty for every cowboy Clint Eastwood shot? Everyone John Wick killed over his pet dog?
I don't buy that the intention isn't to make you feel guilty for doing things, either. Giving every NPC a name solely for others to cry out when they're killed. The writhing and gurgling of mortally wounded enemies.
The pained whimpers from killed dogs. All of it is designed to evoke an emotional response from the player. But killing bad guys for this reason or that has been the raison d'etre of video games for 40+ years. People have been conditioned to think killing enemies is fun. And it is, even here! The combat is really enjoyable! So trying to make the player feel bad about it just falls completely flat, and feels really forced.
What's worse, though, is when you're not even given the choice. I've just tracked down
Nora and been presented with a cutscene in which
Ellie corners and interrogates her, and then picks up a length of pipe. You know full well she's going to kill her, but the cutscene stops dead just before it and prompts you to press square. And again. And again. It purposely makes you commit the deed, and won't progress until you do. And then Ellie goes home looking completely broken. They deliberately frame it as being your fault. Ellie does a bad thing, and they go "Look what you've done. That's awful. How could you."