The Last of Us Part II

 PlayStation 4
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 161975 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 84,950 out of 161975
  2. Mixed: 8,550 out of 161975
  3. Negative: 68,475 out of 161975
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  1. flint90
    Jun 29, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Highly disappointing game. Gameplay has not changed since part one - if you did not like it, you won't like it here either. The best qualities are the graphics and the level design, yet it's hard to enjoy them when faced with stale gameplay, boring puzzles and (most of all) the abysmal story. The second part of the game is painful to play. The developers tried really hard to make you like Abby, but everything about her story arc is uninteresting and forgettable. Her decisions make little sense, as do those of her friends.
    To make it short - the story is so bad that I barely made myself finish the game. I played worse games, and the score TLOU2 deserves is about 5 or 6. But seeing the game journalists outright lie about this game giving it a perfect 100, I feel justified to give it a 2 (+1 for the graphics and +1 for the level design) to counter the bots and raving fanboys who keep giving it straight 10s.    … Expand
  2. tiffac008
    Jun 29, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Give us an option to kill Abby.
    Its bad enough that the devs hoodwinked the fans with the trailers but giving us a hopeless story with a very unsatisfying ending is a slap in the face.
    The gameplay is solid, the graphics is great but the story is awful and the ending reinforced it instead of correcting it.
    Way to kill a beloved franchise.    … Expand
  3. hotdan95
    Jul 2, 2020
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game was amazingly well done and an absolute joy to play, but I felt like the end was an odd shift in tone, style, and feeling that didn't feel right with the rest of the game. I get what they were trying to do, but too many things bothered me in the end. Otherwise a 10/10… Expand
  4. GreggRichfield
    Jun 30, 2020
    9
    Brilliant game. A little longer than it needed to be, but the story is worth the effort.The bad reviews people are giving this game are sad to see, because they can't give up their love for a few beloved characters and can't stand to see some understandable actions that take place toward the end of the game. The place we left the first game in was an awkward and uncomfortable one and theBrilliant game. A little longer than it needed to be, but the story is worth the effort.The bad reviews people are giving this game are sad to see, because they can't give up their love for a few beloved characters and can't stand to see some understandable actions that take place toward the end of the game. The place we left the first game in was an awkward and uncomfortable one and the feeling between characters carries on that trend. I would not take into account the opinions of the people giving this game a 5 or below out of 10,because they seem struggle to empathise with characters motivations in the game. It is a brilliantly made game with a few bits of fat on it that could be trimmed down. Overall the cut scenes, graphics, story telling and settings are 10/10. Characters feel alive in this world. Gameplay is very much the same as the first game, with a few more added extras but it is noticeably the Last of us gameplay. Overall Brilliant, rivalling all time great games like The Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Mass Effect 2 and of course the 1st Last of Us game.… Expand
  5. remy68
    Jun 29, 2020
    8
    Graphisme Hallucinant Gameplay Bon
    Doublage VO et VF Très bonne Développement des personnages très bien écrit Scénario très bien écrit Sens du détail dans tout Musique très bien interprété Ambiance sonore un peu trop en retrait Boucle de gameplay Maybe game of the year..
  6. Crayzhurricane
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    Amazing ,.............................,.....................................
  7. BlarEdit
    Jun 29, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ‏At first I didn’t know whether to buy TLOU 2 or not due to the many negative reviews and many positive reviews, but I decided to to give it the benefit of the doubt. *Spoilers*. At first, the new characters introduced in the game I never really liked, cared or even remember them. The dialogue and chemistry between almost every character is horrible in my opinion. Except for Abby and Lev. I honestly enjoyed their story together, other than that nothing really. I felt like I was forced/supposed to like them just because Ellie does, unlike in most of the first game where you see the progression of Joel and Ellie’s relationship. When Joel died (obviously I was very sad) but at the same time I was excited. I knew Joel was going to die due to the trailers barely showing Joel and every time I heard anything about it was about Ellie. But I have to admit I didn’t think he was going to die this quick. I really didn’t like the pacing of the story. They showed Abby as the “bad guy” for most of the game, while playing as a character you knew and loved for 7 years! And then they wanted you play as and sympathize Abby. This was alright to me at first because of course in the The Last of Us universe there are no “good guys” nor “bad guys”. But every minute passes and it was more boring to me. I didn’t enjoy playing as Abby at all. Especially how most of her story and the reason why she killed Joel was being played in flashbacks. Talking about flashbacks. I didn’t hate all flashbacks. Like how they used flashbacks to show you how Joel told Ellie what he has done, I enjoyed them. Quite honestly I enjoyed all of them. But Abby’s flashbacks not at all. I think if they let you play all of Abby’s flashbacks at the very beginning, before she kills Joel. I think that would have been somewhat better. Most characters death are forgotten, by the other characters even the players themselves I’ve noticed. Nora, Manny, Mel, and Owen, I don’t recall Abby nor Ellie bringing them up, maybe just once. But for characters that are supposed to be one of the “protagonist’s friend group” that’s really low. Secondly, the AI in this game I didn’t enjoy, I played the game on Hard, Medium, and Easy. The enemy’s difficulty barely changed, but the amount of resources and bullets did change within each difficulty. I’ve barely on all difficulties saw the enemy attack one of my allies. (Something the first game excels in by the way) and they always focused you no matter what. Sometimes the enemy AI locks and just hides even though you’re just sanding or running. (Yet again something the first game did brilliantly). Don’t know about humans but if you had the high ground near zombies, they’ll rarely get up to you. And if they do, most of the time they fall down.

    Thirdly, the gameplay is just as good as the first game. They added the dodging but it was very buggy for me and didn’t work as supposed to. Fourthly, glitches in the game was something common in the game. A random burst wrong colours were shown. I.e; A rusted grey drawer that magically has a very bright white lower drawer. Same thing with desks, beds, even garages. And sometimes a dark blue or black square of grass that’s surrounded by green grass. I also randomly got out of the map twice. Finally, some positives about the game is quite obviously, the graphics, they sometimes made me forget how much I hated the story. I liked the realistic physics in the game. Most voice actors were fantastic. All in all, if you enjoyed the game, good for you. And I’m really happy that you wasted your time on a game you liked. And I’m not saying that you’re completely wrong and I’m 100% correct. I’m just stating what I felt while playing the game and hope that you understand why I didn’t enjoy the game. I didn’t dislike it because I’m following other people hating on it. I came into the game neutral. And I didn’t enjoy it at all.

    I’d honestly give it somewhere between 2.7 and 3.3.    … Expand
  8. Camadactyl
    Jun 29, 2020
    0
    This is a contentious game that makes many surprising decisions. However, the game is beautiful and tells a story that makes the player think. The game says a lot about the world we live in and sets a new standard for video games.
  9. Overthelimit
    Jun 29, 2020
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Don’t let any of these people giving a negative rating sway you from playing, just cause they thought they were being misled by the trailers. This game is a beautiful masterpiece that i enjoyed from start to finished. It sucks that joel died but everybody is vulnerable in the Lou universe. So just play it for yourself and you decide. 9.5/10… Expand
  10. Grantoso
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    Very violent and heart-wrenching, yet beautiful journey, that left me conflicted and heartbroken, but it was worth it. After I finished it the first thing I wanted to do was to call my dad. Thanks to all of you hard-working awesomely talented people at Naughty Dog!
  11. ttarwate
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    I enjoyed the game don't listen to all the negative reviews play it for yourself and make your own opinion about it
  12. Chozo_jww
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    Wow....Just wow..Naughty Dog has proven yet again they are among the greatest storytellers on the scene. This game is nowhere what was expected by the community, and that is probably the best thing that could have happened. Unlike most review bombers on this site, I finished the game and was left speechless. Naughty Dog finds a way to build an amazing diverse and inclusive cast ofWow....Just wow..Naughty Dog has proven yet again they are among the greatest storytellers on the scene. This game is nowhere what was expected by the community, and that is probably the best thing that could have happened. Unlike most review bombers on this site, I finished the game and was left speechless. Naughty Dog finds a way to build an amazing diverse and inclusive cast of characters with mesmerizing landscapes that never feel copy/paste of other areas, while providing seamless transitions and combat, making you feel like you're living the experience. This story is gut wrenching all the way through and at times doesn't feel "fun." But what it does feel like is human experience, full of trauma, complicated emotions and decisions that leave you on edge, because this world is so unforgiving. It doesn't care about who you love, because your closest ally is someone's enemy and karma makes the final choice. I was nervous about this game, and somehow managed to avoid the leaks and pessimism and did it pay off! EPIC MASTERPIECE.… Expand
  13. Jakethesnake43
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Go into this game with a open mind, it is a beautiful, amazing, dark game that tells a great story, yes the leaks might ruin it for some people and I understand, but if you take the time and actually play the game then you will realize that Joel’s death is just a small part of the game, best graphics I have ever seen in a game, amazing gameplay, and the open world Seattle is breathtaking, so far TLOU2 is my game of the year and I think it will remain that way, Abby is a awesome character introduced, I loved playing as her and I loved her weapon class, her upgrades and honestly her character in general, her and lev make such a awesome duo towards the end of the game, if you truly liked the first game you will like the second, story is beautiful told in different parts but amazing, you will definitely feel the emotions, there are times wear it gets dark that you don’t even know if you want to kill that said person anymore, it just gets worse and worse, but that’s the beautiful thing about the ending, Ellie finds out why she doesn’t kill Abby and why she doesn’t takes a lot of thinking, I know why but I feel like it’s better when you find out yourself, I also loved the side characters very intriguing and cool seeing all the different characters, a lot of abbys friends are cool and Jessie and Dina are fantastic for Ellie! I highly recommended this game to any fellow gamer out there! I give it a 10/10 Also the collectibles in this game are so addicting there so fun and make the game so much more interesting, same with the artifacts and notes you can find along the way it really helps tell how people responded to the out break and during it! This game is beautifully done!… Expand
  14. MRGeovane
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    O melhor jogo que eu já joguei na minha vida, é uma experiência incrível que eu nunca vi igual, e ainda conseguiu superar o primeiro jogo em uma grande escala. Parabéns a Naughty Dog, uma grande OBRA DE ARTE (MASTERPIECE)
  15. yudgi
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    Esse jogo é muito bom, jogabilidade incrivel, gráficos também incriveis, e a história também é incrível
  16. whittybird
    Jun 29, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Wow. This game is absolutely, positively incredible. It has the same vibes as the first one. It is brutal, it is gut wrenching, it is stressful, it is kind of miserable, and it is heart-warming. The graphics are absolutely stunning and the game-play is so much fun. The voice acting and character writing is absolutely incredible. I adore the diversity and LGBTQ representation in it as well - LGBTQ people exist and are not a political statement; we deserve mainstream stories like this, even if it is a brutal post-apocalyptic gore and revenge throwdown. Overall I liked the story, despite minor plot holes and some loose ends. My biggest complaint about the story is the ending; SPOILER ALERT! I believe the tail end of it set in California was highly unnecessary and felt unfinished. I wish the theatre battle between Ellie and Abby was the final battle - Ellie could have had the same realization in the basement that she had on the beach. I am glad that Ellie, Abby, Dina, Tommy, and Lev all lived in the end and wish it ended with Ellie and Dina being happy on the farm and Abby and Lev going off to start new lives together. I would give it a 10/10 if the ending wasn't what it was. Overall, it was a great ride and I loved it. Thank you, Team NaughtyDog! (Also, thank you for not killing any of the LGBTQ characters - that trope is overdone and I was so worried the whole time one of them would die.)… Expand
  17. HamedShadow
    Jun 30, 2020
    9
    Definitely enjoyed the 1st game more and that'is why my rate is 9.
    Other than the non-sense extended ending (additional 2 hours gameplay for no reason) and a little bit of linear game play, this game is one of kind.
    It tries to remind the audience a fact from real life: People might die and also not everyone is necessarily a villain. People could confront each other while they are both    Definitely enjoyed the 1st game more and that'is why my rate is 9.
    Other than the non-sense extended ending (additional 2 hours gameplay for no reason) and a little bit of linear game play, this game is one of kind.
    It tries to remind the audience a fact from real life:
    People might die and also not everyone is necessarily a villain.
    People could confront each other while they are both right.
    Also as the director of the game said, it's more on the hate side than love.
    Don't get me wrong, I cried my ass off for 15 mins when I saw that big scene, but I guess I decided to enjoy this masterpiece and listen to it's message as apposed to blaming it for not being EXACTLY the same as the 1st game.
    It does take quite some balls to be the best PS exclusive game ever and yet take the risk hoping the audience would get it right !    … Expand
  18. AleVidaurre
    Jun 30, 2020
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Beautiful game perfect in almost all aspects, the problem everyone had with this game is the expectation on the story being better than Part 1, which probably will not happen in a long while because it's so good, the journey of Ellie into darkness and becoming the villain of sorts and then the journey of Abby after meeting Lev is great, most people who rated this game under 5 because of the story are not being objective and mostly taking over mass histeria without probably putting to much time to the game, this game has better story and characters than Assassin's Creed Origins and Horizon put together, and the same people giving less than 5 to this game gave around 8 to these 2 games, so there's clearly resentment to either LGTB content which doesn't affect the storyline, or can't get pass a good story just because their favorite character gets killed… Expand
  19. xanderfletch
    Jun 29, 2020
    9
    Pretty damn good. The hate is way overblown. Next level graphics, acting, gameplay. And a gut wrenching story that, by design, will infuriate you and force you to empathize with characters you’re originally meant to hate, and make you cringe at terrible things done by characters you love. I don’t think you can objectively say the writing is bad. The plot of this, and the first game forPretty damn good. The hate is way overblown. Next level graphics, acting, gameplay. And a gut wrenching story that, by design, will infuriate you and force you to empathize with characters you’re originally meant to hate, and make you cringe at terrible things done by characters you love. I don’t think you can objectively say the writing is bad. The plot of this, and the first game for that matter, isn’t masterful. But they are both driven by awesome characters and dialogue which I think more than makes up for It. My main gripes: it could be shorter, I’m not a fan of meticulously looking for collectibles, and pills and parts kinda fly in the face of realism. With this, the skill trees and weapon upgrades seem arbitrary and outdated (I’d prefer they make weapon upgrades awards from puzzles or harder enemies, and new skills unlocked depending on how you play to progress)… Expand
  20. Saniya
    Jun 29, 2020
    9
    Simply incredible, innovative, risky and Successful. We can easily appreciate all the effort and hardworking that has been put into this ellaborated project.
  21. Cverhey
    Jun 29, 2020
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Very pretty visually. Great sound design. Gameplay is similar to the first game. Encounters feel very intense. The story was just as good as the first game in my opinion. Good characters that I got attached to. I started out hating Abby’s guts, but by the end of the game I actually think she was a better person than Ellie. I was impressed at the games ability to make me switch sides. I think a lot of the negative reviews of this game come from people who didn’t actually play the game. The only glaring weakness I noticed is the AI making dumb decisions, which is true for most games tbh. Overall, if you like a immersive games with emotional stories, you should play this game.… Expand
  22. Kiarash76
    Jun 30, 2020
    7
    Great graphics, very good level design, good gameplay, good acting, HORRIBLE story, bad direction
    So much potential ruined
  23. Ahon
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    It was definitely an emotional rollercoaster ride. Love the story, gameplay, graphics, and sound of this game. What a masterpiece!
  24. WalkingGoldfish
    Jun 29, 2020
    4
    TLOU Part 2 is a very polished game with fantastic visuals and presentation. I was absolutely awed by all the little details and couldn't believe that it was running on my PS4 Slim.

    However, the game eventually gets to a point where it's story is terribly annoying to me, the player, that it is hard to treat it seriously even with how great the game looks and feel. As many know, the    TLOU Part 2 is a very polished game with fantastic visuals and presentation. I was absolutely awed by all the little details and couldn't believe that it was running on my PS4 Slim.

    However, the game eventually gets to a point where it's story is terribly annoying to me, the player, that it is hard to treat it seriously even with how great the game looks and feel.

    As many know, the game badly represents it's established characters. Players will question the actions of the characters and it is hard to believe that the same characters that the players knew will do what they do in Part 2.

    Some (including Druckmann himself) will try to argue that these characters are not out of character at all, and that the time skip to Part 2 has changed them. But it sounds like a pretty weak argument to me. The game does not attempt to show or hint you on the changes to any of these characters. Why should the players study into something not shown or hinted to them and speculate a reason that could never be confirmed (unless through a DLC) to justify a questionable action in the game?

    Not to mention that Druckmann eventually fires at the players for thinking that they understand the character more than him when they don't, which is such a cheap shot. If the character development was not shown in the game and the writer(s) has to clarify it during an interview, this is just a failure in storytelling on their part.

    Next big issue. You play as another character named Abby for almost half of the game. I really don't think this should be considered a spoiler since shes almost like a secondary protagonist. The general idea of playing as Abby is that the game wants you to like her as a character and sets you off on a journey similar to that of TLOU 1.

    The issue with this experience is that it feels extremely forced and there does not seem to be a clear direction with this. A good half of Abby's part is almost pointless to the overarching story that people are interested in, other than, look, she has friendly friends and do everyday people good things. The other half involves her going on a journey while caring for younger and vulnerable people like how Joel's relationship to Ellie in the first game.

    However, this journey was so poorly executed that it becomes apparent that the game is trying to get you to like her. In the first game, we understand that Joel has a hardened personality because of his daughter's death and his journey with Ellie helped him to break out of his shell and allowed him to accept and face his past. This is likely why we liked him, as we see him go through these development with Ellie, and it rarely feels like the game is trying to force us to like Joel.

    Abby's journey on the other hand feels meaningless. She is pretty much the same character before and after the journey. Her journey started on the premise that, "They saved me, so I have to save them", which doesn't say much about her character, she could have been like this the whole time. Eventually she continues to care for the younger character simply because they both has nowhere else to go.

    Asides from the poor execution of the journey. Abby also makes very questionable and unlikable decisions in the game. So it feels like the game wants you to like her, but at the same time, the writers don't seem to understand what is unlikable, or that they overestimated how players would have overlooked those actions.

    Overall, it really seems like something that was written on a whim with little care to the story details.    … Expand
  25. Atypical_ghost7
    Jun 29, 2020
    10
    Simplemente, asombroso Al chile ya ni se que poner
    Solo porque quiero que el juego suba de calificación
  26. Jimenez_King
    Jun 29, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Tremenda jugabilidad y los detalles son increíbles, pero la historia fue muy mal dirigida. Un personaje de ese calibre no puede morir así y jugar tantas horas con Abby ya uno odiándola por matar a Joel fue horrible… Expand
  27. soulwaxshibuya
    Jun 29, 2020
    4
    I'll start this review out by saying I didn't enjoy the gameplay of The Last of Us 1 very much. Zombies are a very overused and drawn out horror trope and the first game didn't really do anything to make the gameplay stand out very much in terms of survival third person shooter games. The one thing that honestly carried the sub par experience in my opinion was the story. Unfortunately,I'll start this review out by saying I didn't enjoy the gameplay of The Last of Us 1 very much. Zombies are a very overused and drawn out horror trope and the first game didn't really do anything to make the gameplay stand out very much in terms of survival third person shooter games. The one thing that honestly carried the sub par experience in my opinion was the story. Unfortunately, this game drops the ball with both aspects. The gameplay isn't changed much aside from things that make it annoying, like human enemies having invincibility frames when they melee attack you and new zombie types that are uninspired and even more annoying to deal with than the normal zombies. The stealth gameplay is literally the same as it was in the first game except now stealth areas are in front of loading doors that make you do a prompt for 10 seconds or so to open a door that has some debris in the way or something. It's also a little too hard in my opinion, I don't consider myself to be particularly bad at stealth games, and I was playing the game on normal difficulty, but I kept finding myself getting discovered during almost every stealth section because of how densely packed the areas are with enemies. The gunplay is fine, and I didn't really mind it much but it's not anything special either. Every time a zombie section came around I audibly groaned because I loathed them so much. The zombies are not fun to fight in this game, especially because the clickers still one hit kill you, which I found to be annoying and cheap in the first game, and the others will grapple you which forces you to preform a quick time event to escape while your health steadily drains. I was really relying on the story to at least be somewhat close to the quality the original had, but to no avail. None of the newly introduced characters in this game are likable aside from Yara and Lev. Every other character essentially has 2 personality traits that they cling to like glue. Abby falls into this as well and essentially goes from very unlikable to somewhat unlikable throughout the course of the game. Decisions that previously established characters make in this game made me roll my eyes because they were so sudden and out of character. The game also tries its absolute hardest to make you feel bad for the actions you preform throughout the story but with such unlikable characters and them trying so very hard to make the player feel bad it just doesn't work out. I essentially enjoyed three sections of this game and that's about it. The rest was just a gray puddle of indifference in my mind. The graphics are really beautiful though, I guess I can give the developers that. This is a pretty game for sure. Overall though there's not very many things I can say I enjoyed about this game without getting into spoilers. Very disappointing sequel and I can see why so many people are upset with it.… Expand
  28. LiliumValkiria
    Jun 29, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 1. Personajes forzados para hacer un "queda bien", una lesbiana y la otra transjenero. No hay nada más que me irrite que el intentar quedar bien para que la prensa hable bien de ti. 2. Quién es Abby? Porque todo lo que ocurre con ella es tan forzado? Simplemente era elaborar un poco el guión para que esas casualidades ocurran con más lógica...
    3. Joel, personaje principal de la primera entrega de TLOU. Se merece esa muerte? Enserio? Esa muerte es digna de un personaje secundario...
    4. Que coño es eso de que Ellie no le va a perdonar a Joel por salvarle la vida? Que ella tenía que decidir el vivir o no? Cuando ella no sabía ni lo que estaba pasando? Quién ha decidido hacer semejante mierda? Esto supongo que lo habréis hecho porque es una mujer y por eso ella es la que tiene que decidir no? Volvemos al tema de "quedar bien"
    5. Ellie se carga a toda la gente que se le pone enfrente con el único objetivo de vengarse de Abby, se carga a sus amigos y a gente que ni conoce Abby, todos poco que ver con toda la trama, podemos decir que son inocentes... Bien, llega el momento de enfrentarse a Abby cara a cara, (en este caso controlando a Ellie, porque lo del teatro también telita eee Naughty Dog...teliiita....).
    Que ocurre? Que Ellie deja viva a Abby... Se ha cargado medio planeta para matar a abby pero cuando tiene la opción de acabar con ella la deja irse...muuuuy biiiien.... Estupendo. El juego está lleno de errores de guion. Pero con esto es suficiente para demostrar que el guion lo ha escrito un mono.    … Expand
  29. CandyTheVintage
    Jun 29, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Abby did things that made her as bad as Ellie yet the story overlooked it, gave her a happy ending and constantly tried to emotionally manipulate the player into feeling sympathy towards her (One example being how it showed Abby freeing a zebra from barbed wires while you're forced to put down a dog while playing as Ellie making a comparison on how Abby is "Good to animals so she must be a misinterpreted saint) anyone who's "good" or "misunderstood" doesn't beat a person into a bloody pulp and force them to watch their surrogate father who they grew up with get killed in front of them in the most demeaning and brutal way. Even the only potential the story had of giving us a satisfying ending and redeeming its jumbled mess of story was ruined by Ellie leaving behind Dina and her child to go after Abby. She then proceeds to get her fingers bit off (making her not being able to play the guitar) and then in a totally unforeseen turn of events, lets Abby go and because she decided to be the better person and not start another cycle of revenge (Spoiler alert) SHE was the one that suffered in the end. Joel also did something similar, that thing is him saving Abby from the horde of infected and ultimately paying the price for it. It's as if the game is constantly chiding the characters it's trying to get you to dislike for being good people while at the same exact time chiding them based on actions they have been forced to take when they get stuck in a moral dilemma. while Abby, the bully that doesn't genuinely seem remorseful when faced with bad decisions she isn't even forced to take or is apathetic when someone outside her colourful and inclusive cast of friends dies, is constantly held in a moral high ground; never going through a redemption arc and is Immune to anything that makes her an evil person. Speaking of evil people, lets take a moment to talk about Joel, the redheaded stepdaughter of TLOU2. A Cynical and depressed old man whose daughter (Aka Ellie) was forcibly being experimented on (Sidenote: IDGAF about humanity being saved, that still wouldn't have condemned Ellie's death if it happened. Her life isn't any less important than a few hundred that will only continue to live in a dystopian society with infected roaming it) now in this universe's bleak moral values you would expect that saving your daughter and killing her captors is a sane thing to do, right? WRONG! Joel, a character loved by fans unlike Abby gets killed due to this action. Though say if Ellie *did* get killed by said captors wouldn't the masses immediately ignore the fact that they killed a 14-year-old girl and hail them as a heros (See the double standards here?). That's why the developers fail to make us players hate Joel. The death of those fireflies from the first game isn't something we cared about in the first game so why should we suddenly do now? This game is a visually stunning, polished hot garbage with a world that is in a constant existential crisis not able to decide whether it should be linear or open also the controls are so tediously easy that it makes you feel like you're watching an over-glorified Hollywood movie rather than playing a videogame. This game used to be praised for its "bittersweet" story even sparking the debate at the time it got released on whether or not video games should be considered art. but sadly that in no way applies to TLOU2 and TLOU2 deserves no way near a perfect score. Whoever gave it that just proved to everyone how an utter joke game journalism really is and how nobody should trust them when all they ever did was base their ratings on propaganda and personal "preferences" in the game that doesn't apply to the majority of it's intended audience. When Rockstar is able to pump out every 5 years or so a game with phenomenal storytelling yet make it a perfect open-world sandbox then it becomes clear that whoever spent 7 years writing this isn't very competent and any excuses from naughty dog's side become stale.… Expand
  30. bball14
    Jun 30, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have never written a review for a game before, but after completing TLOU2, I felt compelled to dispute the overwhelmingly negative reviews on this website

    First and foremost, I am a HUGE fan of the first game - I would rate it in my top 3 games of all time. I am a fan of storytelling games and narratives with an emotional punch, so getting to watch the dynamic between Joel and Ellie play out was an enormously satisfying experience. Like many, I was extremely disappointed to learn (from the leaks) about Joel's demise. However, I decided to give Naughty Dog the benefit of the doubt and I could not be happier that I did not listen to the all the negative criticism and left my evaluation until after experiencing the game for myself

    This game is a MASTERPIECE. Most of the reviewers who claim the story is terrible seem to nitpick at idiosyncratic elements of the game (Why is Abby so buff? How come Joel didn't know he was walking into a trap?) and have completely missed the greater theme of the narrative. Joel's death served as a key catalyst to drive a true emotional investment in Ellie's story. I felt deeply invested in her bloodlust and single-minded desire to extract revenge. But then Naughty Dog used multiple clever narrative tools to slowly change my - the player's - perception of Ellie's quest. Dinah and Lev served as foils to better illustrate the futility and cost of Ellie and Abby's actions. Abby - and her own story of loss and lack of purpose and agency - was the mirror coin to Ellie. In addition to humanizing the enemy, her story made me truly feel the horrific cost of Ellie's rampage. Even the gameplay itself served to exhaust the player, giving you little to no respite between fights, giving the NPCs names, making stealth kills brutal and gruesome.

    I have never played a game that made me feel almost exactly the same as the main character - first her loss, then her anger, then her pain and exhaustion, and finally, as she sat on the beach emotionally numb and drained, the emptiness from the futility of her pursuit of revenge as a way to fill the gap from her loss of agency. This is a story about a girl who had her purpose in life stolen away from her just as she was finding a new purpose in life, and the personal journey she had to take to realize that an endless cycle of violence would never plug that hole in her.
    The journey I took with Ellie and Abby felt intensely personal, and although I still haven't recovered enough to fully understand and digest all my thoughts from this experience, I can say for a fact that I thoroughly enjoyed the process. There are a hundred vanilla games out there where the story is straightforward and vanilla, and the hero gets to ride off into the sunset in the end, and if that's what you're looking for then yes, this game is NOT for you. But what is a story-driven video game really? It is a chance to live a life and immerse yourself in someone else's story, one that you could never experience in your own reality. To artificially experience feelings - revenge, anger, loss, triumph - that you can't conjure from your daily circumstance.

    If you want to LIVE a story, FEEL what the characters feel, and emerge from the other side better for it, then please do give this game a try.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PS4 Game of 2020
1
#1 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2020
3
#3 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 121 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 113 out of 121
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 121
  3. Negative: 0 out of 121
  1. GameMAG
    Sep 13, 2020
    90
    The Last of Us Part II is the high point of the PlayStation 4. The plot is controversial, but the game is the incredibly addictive adventure of Ellie, from which it is impossible to pull away from the opening and to the very end.
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  2. PLAY! Zine
    Sep 5, 2020
    93
    Not everyone is going to enjoy the motives of The Last of Us Part II. But if you try and manage to accept the subliminal and not so subtle messages as a fact that the world has gone awry and that people have the need to have somewhere or someone to belong to as their own way out, then... You will witness the boundaries of gaming expand. You will witness a true masterpiece.
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  3. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Sep 3, 2020
    75
    If you loved the original for its great characters and well-paced story – stay away from this game. However, if you’re aching to sink into the depths of depression, or just want to cut some throats and burn some zombies – Part II will deliver. [Issue#247, p.72]
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