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The Last of Us 2 Review (5 Years Later)

I had meant to get this out sooner but got busy with work then I got caught up on playing other games. But here it is finally lol. Back when season 2 of Last of Us came out, I couldn't believe what I was watching. I already didn't like the show but I kept hearing how bad season 2 was so I had to see and my God was it bad. And then this made me think, is the game better?

It had been five years since I played TLOU2 cause I made a promise to myself I would never play it again. Well, this year made me break that promise. So I played it and I had my friend, Slinky, come along with me as she wanted to see for herself as well. Also so she could help point out stuff I missed out on.

And in some ways yes the game is better than the show but it is still bad. It's like putting up two piles of dog shit and asking me which one smells worse. So while playing the game, I took some notes and thoughts on certain things on the game. And I will say my criticism from my first review still stands but I also had some new things and a few positives to say about this game. So, let's dive on in to my notes and thoughts of Last of Us pt 2.

The game starts with basically a recap of the ending of the first game and what Joel did. While it is good of Joel telling Tommy what happened, I don't like how the game framed it as Joel being evil instead of a desperate man saving the little girl he cares for. Also this is the only time we play as Joel. We only get to play as him for like 5 minutes and it's just to gallop back home. I feel like that's criminal and we should've gotten to play as him more, especially since the game is gonna kill him in a couple of hours.

I had heard that we only got to play as Joel like that at the beginning as a parallel to how we played as Sarah in the first game. Only thing is, we got to play as Sarah for like 10-15 minutes and also we play as her just to see how the world is falling apart through her eyes to see the scale and scope of the horrors going on in the game. All we got with playing as Joel in the sequel is just pretty scenery, look how much the graphics have improved since 2013!

The guitar scene with Joel and Ellie is incredibly sweet even if they felt a bit awkward. But that is expected given how the first one ended and obviously Ellie would be a bit wary of Joel, since she knows something had happened at the hospital with the Fireflies but not the full story.

I also really wish we got more time in Jackson just to see more of Joel and Ellie's life and how they interact with the people of Jackson, including more time with Tommy and Maria. And more time with Dina and Jesse since Neil wanted them to be important to Ellie.

Abby still looks ridiculous with those muscles. It wouldn't be bad if it was an accurate female body with muscles. But it really looks like a man's body with a woman's head and small boobs. I know her body is based on a female bodybuilder but that's the key word, bodybuilder. And even she said that for her to keep the body she has she has to have a certain diet, certain workout routine and her sleep schedule. Things Abby wouldn't really be able have access to in an apocalypse that's been 25 years in.

Having her fold her arms and pout when Owen tells her there's no way they'll find Joel makes her look really childish. I don't understand why Neil and Halley just didn't go with their original idea with Abby and her crew infiltrating Jackson to find Joel. That would've been a bit better and made Abby and her group a bit smarter and cunning.

Dina and Ellie's relationship really feels like we're coming in when it's at like a 90-95% completion until we get to the scene at Eugene's weed room. Then it's at 100%. It's just not compelling. I wanted to like Dina but she kinda comes off as bland.

The way Abby finds Joel is still so contrived and shows that she has this amazing luck. It would've been better either:

A. She and her crew infiltrated Jackson, got to know the people while looking for Joel. And once they find him, have them act friendly to Joel. Build up trust with him as he is someone that doesn't trust easy.