That sounds like a great way to not enjoy something!
Also our copy arrived on schedule, ahead of the delayed schedule, horray!
...Lady Raven gotta continue working though.
He got about to the halfway mark and was just fed up with the game and done, and was just rushing through to finish just to finish it. He was already not enjoying it.
I am not having that problem whatsoever.
Especially because I just played the first game only a handful of days ago. The playability and gameplay improvements are substantial.
Abby is ducking awesome and all these boys whining about ‘how a girl has more muscle then me?!’ food to the soul. Ducking stop whining and hit the gym.
I wish the game had done better by her. It's such a wasted opportunity.
Thanks for this vague open spoiler.
Seriously, when did we just forget basic consideration?
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
I also don’t feel it’s a substantiated complaint either. If it makes you feel better it’s introduced in the first hour (or less) of the game. How it goes on I don’t know.
I can’t get over just how much better the stealth feels. Especially because lots of the early game don’t feel like a forced series of entirely linear encounters (though there are substantial sections that feel like the first game there).
So far some of the reviewers complaints like being overly bleak and violent are not holding up. I’m not at the second half of the game yet.
I also don’t feel it’s a substantiated complaint either. If it makes you feel better it’s introduced in the first hour (or less) of the game. How it goes on I don’t know.
I can’t get over just how much better the stealth feels. Especially because lots of the early game don’t feel like a forced series of entirely linear encounters (though there are substantial sections that feel like the first game there).
So far some of the reviewers complaints like being overly bleak and violent are not holding up. I’m not at the second half of the game yet.
Did you read the spoiler tagged post of mine when I though Ed was talking about 2?
I’d really like to know what you thought.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
I also don’t feel it’s a substantiated complaint either. If it makes you feel better it’s introduced in the first hour (or less) of the game. How it goes on I don’t know.
I can’t get over just how much better the stealth feels. Especially because lots of the early game don’t feel like a forced series of entirely linear encounters (though there are substantial sections that feel like the first game there).
So far some of the reviewers complaints like being overly bleak and violent are not holding up. I’m not at the second half of the game yet.
Did you read the spoiler tagged post of mine when I though Ed was talking about 2?
I’d really like to know what you thought.
I haven't yet, I'm trying to avoid having anything spoiled for me as the story has - so far - been very compelling. I did feel that initial part worked really well and successfully surprised me, but that's all I want to say before I have additional context (and for those still yet to start the game).
However, I reserve the right to change my opinions on that because I'm totally aware there is a bonkers second half to the game, which will heavily dictate how I might view the first part of the game. I'm totally aware that happened to a lot of reviewers - especially because the tone of the game so far has not been as hugely oppressive and bleak than I was led to believe.
In more non-spoiler thoughts of the game in general:
Stealth mechanics are much better done in this game. A good example is how you can easily maneuver around to break line of sight. Being able to jump opens up a lot of maneuvers, but you can also quickly squeeze through gaps and dart around a corner into long grass to go prone in it. This makes fights a lot more dynamic and there are more means of escape than in the original game. A well executed fight feels like you're more of a nimble assassin - especially when you upgrade the stealth tree so silent kills are faster.
What I do like are the new enemy types, which vastly change up the way normal combat encounters from the first game would play out. Infected that don't move - so you can't hear them using the listening mode - and ones that cannot be stealth killed add some new interesting wiggles into the combat. Additionally human encounters feel much more dangerous, because apparently in the time between the first game and this one, most human enemies have figured out how to actually aim their guns. At the same time, you can use the enhanced maneuverability and larger combat environments to get away, behind or otherwise reengage stealth. Dogs though are a massive problem and are scarier than anything in the game. They follow your scent and so if they are anywhere near you immediately pick up on your presence. This means what were often rather rote feeling stealth sequences with humans are a lot more dynamic, because the dogs present a very interesting problem to solve.
If you don't like hurting dogs though, I don't recommend you play this game because horrible shit does happen to them. Any encounter with dogs is very very hard to avoid having direct combat - because to engage with any stealth you really need to kill them.
On normal, I feel there has been a huge abundance of stuff to craft with and use. The game has actually been really straightforward, but that's mostly because I did just play the first on survivor and that was a miserable experience. I've died about 4 times and most deaths were just me failing to pay attention to encounters with infected (and one hilarious accidental fall). I'm not sure what Hard or Survivor are like, but I did get the feeling the second game wants to give you a bunch of tools, like traps, stun bombs, improved melee weapons etc and just let you go about how to handle things. This goes nicely with the often substantially larger combat environments than the first game.
I've got to say, listening to enemies actually call out to one another and react to the death of their comrades was actually really chilling. Random mook #42 is a bit different to hearing someone crying out because you killed Cathy. Or that "Fred got his skull bashed in, oh shit" or whatever else they come out with. It's not something I can think of any other game doing before, but I will criticize the game here - you're pretty much forced to brutally dispatch the majority of enemies you find. It's too difficult to easily scan the environment for the numerous collectibles or stuff that's just everywhere in this if there are enemies present. You're also unlikely to be able to succeed the small button prompt events to move things out of the way etc while enemies are present, because these all seem to be as loud as possible by design to encourage every enemy to stop you. It's a really odd disconnect between humanizing enemies, yet directly rewarding and encouraging as much violence against them as possible.
If that's upsetting for you, believe me when I say they get really mad when they find you've killed their dog.
Many environments are quite large and have lots to explore and see. Some areas are just entirely open and let you explore numerous locations, many of which are not required for advancing the story at all. I really enjoyed that and best of all, they have taken a lot from the DLC for the first game mixing encounters with infected/humans together. I have had a lot of fun experimenting with this and it works really well in creating absolute chaos. There was one particular part where I was able to get onto a snipers ledge, kill the fellow with the rifle and then shoot a random to create a fight. As the others shot back at me, their shots drew all the infected in a nearby building out and they were basically ambushed from behind to be utterly annihilated. I then mopped up the couple of remaining infected easily and moved on having spent the grand total of 1 bullet.
In terms of puzzles, I can confirm there are no pallets, ladders or planks so far. Most of the environmental puzzles I've encountered make a lot more sense and feel more natural to the overall environment than the first game.
Overall, I'm having a fantastic experience and I can't wait to get back to it later. I'm very interested to see how I feel about the extremely divisive second half - but the first half so far has easily been an amazing game.
Well I just finished the first game. Towards the end I was absolutely just playing to get to the next bit of cutscene. A lot of the puzzle mechanics got old the third time doing it. The fifth and sixth times I was openly joking to myself, in my empty apartment to no one at all, that Joel must've had a 3" vertical leap because he couldn't reach a ladder hanging within arms reach.
Other than that, though? Easily some of the best writing and acting in a game I've ever seen. That list is basically just God of War 2018, TLoU and Uncharted 4.
The shit at the very end, with Joel slaughtering like 90 dudes and capping a surgeon, then straight up murdering Anna? Then he lies to Ellie about it and the credits roll immediately? Yeah that's not what I was expecting at all and I absolutely loved it. I love when stories subvert the idea of learning lessons. It's such a strange turn but it's so absolutely on point for his character arc when you think about it.
I will say the start seems a bit. . .slower than the first one. It's still a good opening to me and the journey makes sense (with me doubting them a few weeks ago) but it's definitely of the slow burn fare.
"Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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Zavianuniversal peace sounds better than forever warRegistered Userregular
I will say the start seems a bit. . .slower than the first one. It's still a good opening to me and the journey makes sense (with me doubting them a few weeks ago) but it's definitely of the slow burn fare.
The prologue of TLOU 1 was really great in my opinion even though it was basically an on-rails walking simulator, but it managed to eek out emotion for me and I really loved it. Ive been working today so only got a few hours into TLOU 2 and while a lot different, I did appreciate getting into the gameplay a lot faster. Ellie is one of my fav video game characters, and I'm glad she's a lot more prominent in 2. It's really sad to see so much hatred online towards her solely because of her sexual orientation, but Im glad ND didn't shy away from it and embraced it in 2.
I'm also doing my best to avoid any and all spoilers, maybe my opinion will change by the time I'm finished playing, but I've been really enjoying TLOU2 so far.
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
That segment of the internet is really going to hate this game. There is diversity (well written at that) everywhere. There is a considerable increase in the variety of races present, including a lot more female enemies in combat too.
I am eyeing all these TLOU2 reviews like "Uh..... what?" This story and these characters are botched up on so many levels. It looks amazing, it plays great, the voice acting is superb, but this plot.... yeeeesh. This is bad.
How so? I feel like the plot was pretty straight forward.
This spoiler refers to TLOU2
A lot of my issues come from how they completely mishandled Abby in my opinion. I'm fine with Abby killing Joel, but if you want to kill Joel and you want it to be done by a new character that you would also like your audience to empathize with one some level, then they went about it just about the worst way they could. Trading actual investment into both Abby and Joel in that moment for pure sudden shock value of it happening so fast and so soon.
First of all this group marches through all of Washington, Idaho, and into Wyoming in a post apocalyptic world, in winter, just to kill one guy.
Did you know that the original game was supposed to have Tess follow after Joel and Ellie after a supposed betrayal and Tess was hunting them down for revenge? But the team sidelined that plot because they thought it was to ridiculous and dumb for someone to waste so much time and energy on a petty revenge quest against one person in this kind of world.
So Joel saves Abby's life, and she tortures him anyway. A girl busts in and they beat her, pin her to the ground making her face him so she can watch Abby deliver the final blow and bash Joel's head in. And then.... for "reasons" they inexplicably leave Tommy and Ellie alive. The only two people that even knew they were there, and they left them alive. They knew that Joel lived in a large, heavily populated, heavily armed, fully functioning has goddamn electricity city that is just right down the hill, and they let the only two witnesses live after traveling all that way just to brutally murder someone.
You can obviously assume they are firefly leftovers, so their motives are clear. So I don't care about Abby's backstory at this point, her cartoonishly evil introduction has wasted that opportunity.
What's more is her laughable gall to say "I let you live and you squandered it!" when she confronts them at the theater. Like, yes. You let Joel's brother and this girl live, after brutally murdering someone in front of her. WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
Did none of these people who were wearing uniforms with the name of where they come from on them even stop and think that it's going to be obvious who would come from out of nowhere and single out Joel specifically to kill? Did they really think his own brother wouldn't know? That Ellie wouldn't know? That no one would come after them?
The entire setup is just all so ridiculous. And such a waste.
I think they would have been much better off putting Joel's death into a different scenario. One a little further into the game so that we can have more time with Abby. Tease out a little bit of her back story here and there. Make her meeting with Joel and his group a by chance occurrence.
Because the best outcome for the audience I believe, is if you engineer it so that your players realize that Abby's father was the surgeon Joel killed at the same moment that Abby realizes who Joel is. Have Abby and Joel alone together in that moment and let her murder of him be an on the spot in the heat of the moment kind of thing, where she gives into anger and revenge.
It would also make Ellie's revenge killings more impactful if the people in Abby's group she kills weren't actually complicit in Joel's death the way they are in the beginning of this game.
TLOU was a game I enjoyed from beginning to end, the prologue was incredible and the epilogue was a nice complicated human bookend to the story.
TLOU2
It actually felt like they saw the Negan beating Glenn to death episode of The Walking Dead and thought that was a good idea. It was an unearned death with basically nothing surrounding it that felt realistic in tone. I actually thought most people I know who played the first game and DLC reacted positively to Ellie being gay. They're still pretty irritated at how this game rolled over some important character traits. Joel died a cheap death for someone who cried as his daughter died in his arms.
The environments and AI were basically the same as the original to me. I'm sure they're much improved, but I played the PS4 version of TLOU and didn't notice 7 years worth of advancement. Stumbling through failed settlements and stuff in the original felt way different. The nursery, meeting Sam and his father. It felt more like a world than a game filled with plot devices.
Still a good game, I'll probably replay it in a few months. I do think there's going to be some criticism because it's about Ellie and Abby instead of Joel, but original run Joel and Ellie were better written and interacted differently, so it's not so easy as just dismissing it as homophobia or internet trolls. Maybe some DLC will iron it out and give more rounded story to it.
Is it me. . .or are my companions blowing my fucking cover? It's not automatic, but I swear if they are out in the open too long they get peeped by bad guys. Like they don't have sight invulnerability like Ellie from the first game.
"Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Yes, they can be seen by enemies that get close enough.
They will even apologise to you afterwards if they did.
Dark Raven XLaugh hard, run fast,be kindRegistered Userregular
Hah, welp. Up to Chapter 7
think I've clocked why Gamer boys are losing their shit. Well, all the women and minority lead characters too, but seeing an incredibly beefy woman beat our grizzly former male protagonist to death, that's gotta trigger some fools. Also. That was rough. Fuck.
So hey - does that horde get explained? Seems fuckin' weird that so many infected got so close to Jackson.
I will say the start seems a bit. . .slower than the first one. It's still a good opening to me and the journey makes sense (with me doubting them a few weeks ago) but it's definitely of the slow burn fare.
TloU's intro aside, one of the things I think it did wisely was make a protracted battle Vs. human enemies - its combat at its very best - a big part of the first act. The shootout at the docks with Tess.
TloU 2's first three hours were "a relentless thrill ride," for me, but I was missing the awesome battles Vs. human AI. Now I'm in those battles and whooo dawgies this is what I'm here for. These animations and voice lines and how tense it feels, despite being actually pretty easy-going.
Awesome gameplay, for the most part.
As far as the game being... intentionally challenging for people who find representation offensive...
Here's my problem with it, so far. I think I'm up to Chapter 15, and... so far, I'm prepared to say, the "representation" feels... like a mask for a bunch of stuff that strikes me as low-key misogynistic, in terms of the story and, so far, beats with its characters. Never "oh god that's awful," but always "huh, now that I think about it..."
Ellie herself is a dick. Like she's actually just kind of an asshole to everyone, almost all the time, even before the INCITING INCIDENT occurs with the golf club. To view this better, go back and run some of her scenes in your mind, but re-cast Ellie as a dude. He's kind of a turd. A phenomenally capable turd who's super-fun to play as.
I'm not sure how Dina's going to end up - probably dead, and violently so - but I feel like the pregnancy thing was picked out of a hat of Women's Things to pop up so her relationship with Ellie could stop moving forward and get shoved into Ellie's Motivation Stockpile. It felt so... easy. So convenient just to shuttle her off to the side, for now. "But how can we get rid of her?" "With lady business!" "Ahhh. We get the issues." "We do." (Both nod smugly as they stroke their beards.)
The fact that every major antagonist so far is female smells... smells like that article about how Druckmann's first draft of the first game was the cordy-zombie virus could only infect women, and Tess was a villain that pursued you across the entire game, and Druckmann didn't understand how a player spending an entire game beating monstrous women to death was problematic. I dunno. It feels like he's letting himself have this lurid violence he wants, deep down, for reasons he doesn't understand, while clothing it in the mask of Woke-Ass-People.
Now as a gamer, I'm actually here for the lurid violence and tense, tactical, amazingly flowy gameplay. I love that shit, and the game does it well. I'm just saying it also feels like even though it's doing an excellent by-the-numbers job of being a positive example of representation, something about that feels like consciously-chosen skin, drawn over a mind telling a story that's still kinda' problematic in a lot of little ways - but this time he didn't listen to anyone when they tried to point it out.
Or worse, Druckmann had no one around to point it this time at all.
It's like the opposite of Lollipop Chainsaw.
Lollipop Chainsaw had a blatantly problematic surface, but when you looked at the actual themes and lessons of the story, it was a Feminist Hero Manifesto from James Gunn. I'm maybe 8 hours into TloU2 and I can tell you it is not as intelligently and intentionally feminist as Lollipop Fucking Chainsaw.
On the surface, TloU2 does thoughtful representation perfectly, but this conceals a problematic spirit and a story with some icky vibes.
'Chance, you are the best kind of whore.' -Henroid
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited June 2020
I think you undermine your own argument heavily there.
Would you make the complaint about the antagonists of the game both being men? Why do you feel them being women is just being “woke” and not something that could just naturally be the case? Did you have a comment about the fact there were no notable female antagonists in all of the first game?
I reserve the right to change my mind and agree with you if they just murder Dinah. It seems the kind of extreme violence the reviewers mentioned...
Edit: I have the most awful way of dealing with dogs now.
Deliberately leave a scent trail they can easily follow, but put a proximity trap on the route. It usually blasts them and the handler to pieces.
obviously it's a brilliant game and there's a lot to see yet
i am really unsure if i feel the plot is just telegraphed, or aptly foreshadowed. the foreshadowing is buttery thick, in any case, and if it plays out exactly as i feel, i might be a little underwhelmed. i don't put it past naughty dog to pull the rug out a few more times, so i'll reserve judgement. as for where i feel this is going, let's just say i expect the "day" count to get into the hundreds. if not... thousands. it's time consuming.
i also wonder about the pacing. maybe i misjudged the pacing for myself. first session - about five hours, up to the first human conflict in seattle - was brilliant. but the next four or five hours, through some of the open-world seattle stuff and the TV station, felt like a real slog, and i wasn't motivated for much of it. i wish the game had given me a better cue at some point about where to pause. there's a LOT about that i'd re-order. for one i'd put the theatre flashback in between the first seattle encounter and TV station. but again, i'm not done yet, so maybe there's Reasons. i paused overnight at the theatre, and just did the dino museum flashback today, and i'm back on track.
btw you're a coward if
you didn't close your eyes with ellie in the space capsule
Oh also Google on my phone does this thing where it recommends articles and normally I don't mind but lately it's started showing really baity articles for reviews for new games. Nothing outright but enough that it's like, why would you title your review that way when it hasn't even been out 24 hours yet? So dumb
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited June 2020
I almost had the ending spoiled by a dumbass on YouTube trying to be first uploading everything. They should have had to wait until the American release at minimum. I saw videos flooding YouTube before the Aussie release.
Big spoilers for the second one, do not open unless you have seen the first major event in the game. With the club
Seeing Joel die and Ellie's reaction was rough. But damn walking around his house and seeing her react to stuff got me. Made me pretty teary eyed. Maybe thinking about how much it would hurt my son to lose me, although he is much younger then Ellie. Was really really hoping to get to see Abby die right there. Despite what he did to Firefly, Joel was still the man, so it hurt to see him die.
Big spoilers for the second one, do not open unless you have seen the first major event in the game. With the club
Seeing Joel die and Ellie's reaction was rough. But damn walking around his house and seeing her react to stuff got me. Made me pretty teary eyed. Maybe thinking about how much it would hurt my son to lose me, although he is much younger then Ellie. Was really really hoping to get to see Abby die right there. Despite what he did to Firefly, Joel was still the man, so it hurt to see him die.
About that
In his house you can spot a book “Space for Dummies”. From where he was reading about space to better connect with Ellie
Big spoilers for the second one, do not open unless you have seen the first major event in the game. With the club
Seeing Joel die and Ellie's reaction was rough. But damn walking around his house and seeing her react to stuff got me. Made me pretty teary eyed. Maybe thinking about how much it would hurt my son to lose me, although he is much younger then Ellie. Was really really hoping to get to see Abby die right there. Despite what he did to Firefly, Joel was still the man, so it hurt to see him die.
I uh, teared up pretty hard at Ellie hugging Joel’s jacket, if you check out his closet. It was by far the most powerfully resonant part of that whole scene for me.
Big spoilers for the second one, do not open unless you have seen the first major event in the game. With the club
Seeing Joel die and Ellie's reaction was rough. But damn walking around his house and seeing her react to stuff got me. Made me pretty teary eyed. Maybe thinking about how much it would hurt my son to lose me, although he is much younger then Ellie. Was really really hoping to get to see Abby die right there. Despite what he did to Firefly, Joel was still the man, so it hurt to see him die.
About that
In his house you can spot a book “Space for Dummies”. From where he was reading about space to better connect with Ellie
Yeah that part specifically seemed very sweet to me.
Seriously though this is maybe the most graphically insane game I've seen?
The idea that we've got this game looking like it does and we're about to move into a new generation that can do even more is nuts.
I think they are doing the thing where they both read data from the disc and the hard drive at the same time. I assume it is a very difficulty trick to pull off because Rockstar did it for GTA V 7 years ago but no one else seemed to bother. I am not surprised that Sony would make sure this game came out showcasing every last drop of power that can be squeezed out of the system. The audio design is also no slouch, walking through the various scenery is incredibly captivating with my headphones on.
Gamertag: KL Retribution
PSN:Furlion
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AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited June 2020
This game has made me a monster. After realising enemies check their fallen comrades on seeing them I now do this:
I booby trap the corpses by putting proximity traps under them.
Edit: Holy fucking shit Ellie.
And now my heart broke
End of Seattle Day 2. This is a major story spoiler:
I have waited seven years for Joel to face what he did and have to tell Ellie. It was worth it.
I think I'm about halfway through, based on what I know about the structure of the game (from trailers and other media). Some non-spoilery screenshots that I will in spoiler tags anyway to save vert scroll:
I love the tower of Greeked/fake board games here:
Panda. Patrol.
It's an old PS3!
Later on, you meet a person who is playing a PlayStation Vita, and the game on the Vita looks like... Hotline Miami?? WHOA.
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I am not having that problem whatsoever.
Especially because I just played the first game only a handful of days ago. The playability and gameplay improvements are substantial.
Tim Rogers done did an exhaustive / exhausting review of the first one.
Thanks for this vague open spoiler.
Seriously, when did we just forget basic consideration?
I can’t get over just how much better the stealth feels. Especially because lots of the early game don’t feel like a forced series of entirely linear encounters (though there are substantial sections that feel like the first game there).
So far some of the reviewers complaints like being overly bleak and violent are not holding up. I’m not at the second half of the game yet.
Did you read the spoiler tagged post of mine when I though Ed was talking about 2?
I’d really like to know what you thought.
I haven't yet, I'm trying to avoid having anything spoiled for me as the story has - so far - been very compelling. I did feel that initial part worked really well and successfully surprised me, but that's all I want to say before I have additional context (and for those still yet to start the game).
However, I reserve the right to change my opinions on that because I'm totally aware there is a bonkers second half to the game, which will heavily dictate how I might view the first part of the game. I'm totally aware that happened to a lot of reviewers - especially because the tone of the game so far has not been as hugely oppressive and bleak than I was led to believe.
In more non-spoiler thoughts of the game in general:
Stealth mechanics are much better done in this game. A good example is how you can easily maneuver around to break line of sight. Being able to jump opens up a lot of maneuvers, but you can also quickly squeeze through gaps and dart around a corner into long grass to go prone in it. This makes fights a lot more dynamic and there are more means of escape than in the original game. A well executed fight feels like you're more of a nimble assassin - especially when you upgrade the stealth tree so silent kills are faster.
What I do like are the new enemy types, which vastly change up the way normal combat encounters from the first game would play out. Infected that don't move - so you can't hear them using the listening mode - and ones that cannot be stealth killed add some new interesting wiggles into the combat. Additionally human encounters feel much more dangerous, because apparently in the time between the first game and this one, most human enemies have figured out how to actually aim their guns. At the same time, you can use the enhanced maneuverability and larger combat environments to get away, behind or otherwise reengage stealth. Dogs though are a massive problem and are scarier than anything in the game. They follow your scent and so if they are anywhere near you immediately pick up on your presence. This means what were often rather rote feeling stealth sequences with humans are a lot more dynamic, because the dogs present a very interesting problem to solve.
If you don't like hurting dogs though, I don't recommend you play this game because horrible shit does happen to them. Any encounter with dogs is very very hard to avoid having direct combat - because to engage with any stealth you really need to kill them.
On normal, I feel there has been a huge abundance of stuff to craft with and use. The game has actually been really straightforward, but that's mostly because I did just play the first on survivor and that was a miserable experience. I've died about 4 times and most deaths were just me failing to pay attention to encounters with infected (and one hilarious accidental fall). I'm not sure what Hard or Survivor are like, but I did get the feeling the second game wants to give you a bunch of tools, like traps, stun bombs, improved melee weapons etc and just let you go about how to handle things. This goes nicely with the often substantially larger combat environments than the first game.
I've got to say, listening to enemies actually call out to one another and react to the death of their comrades was actually really chilling. Random mook #42 is a bit different to hearing someone crying out because you killed Cathy. Or that "Fred got his skull bashed in, oh shit" or whatever else they come out with. It's not something I can think of any other game doing before, but I will criticize the game here - you're pretty much forced to brutally dispatch the majority of enemies you find. It's too difficult to easily scan the environment for the numerous collectibles or stuff that's just everywhere in this if there are enemies present. You're also unlikely to be able to succeed the small button prompt events to move things out of the way etc while enemies are present, because these all seem to be as loud as possible by design to encourage every enemy to stop you. It's a really odd disconnect between humanizing enemies, yet directly rewarding and encouraging as much violence against them as possible.
If that's upsetting for you, believe me when I say they get really mad when they find you've killed their dog.
Many environments are quite large and have lots to explore and see. Some areas are just entirely open and let you explore numerous locations, many of which are not required for advancing the story at all. I really enjoyed that and best of all, they have taken a lot from the DLC for the first game mixing encounters with infected/humans together. I have had a lot of fun experimenting with this and it works really well in creating absolute chaos. There was one particular part where I was able to get onto a snipers ledge, kill the fellow with the rifle and then shoot a random to create a fight. As the others shot back at me, their shots drew all the infected in a nearby building out and they were basically ambushed from behind to be utterly annihilated. I then mopped up the couple of remaining infected easily and moved on having spent the grand total of 1 bullet.
In terms of puzzles, I can confirm there are no pallets, ladders or planks so far. Most of the environmental puzzles I've encountered make a lot more sense and feel more natural to the overall environment than the first game.
Overall, I'm having a fantastic experience and I can't wait to get back to it later. I'm very interested to see how I feel about the extremely divisive second half - but the first half so far has easily been an amazing game.
Other than that, though? Easily some of the best writing and acting in a game I've ever seen. That list is basically just God of War 2018, TLoU and Uncharted 4.
The prologue of TLOU 1 was really great in my opinion even though it was basically an on-rails walking simulator, but it managed to eek out emotion for me and I really loved it. Ive been working today so only got a few hours into TLOU 2 and while a lot different, I did appreciate getting into the gameplay a lot faster. Ellie is one of my fav video game characters, and I'm glad she's a lot more prominent in 2. It's really sad to see so much hatred online towards her solely because of her sexual orientation, but Im glad ND didn't shy away from it and embraced it in 2.
I'm also doing my best to avoid any and all spoilers, maybe my opinion will change by the time I'm finished playing, but I've been really enjoying TLOU2 so far.
TLOU was a game I enjoyed from beginning to end, the prologue was incredible and the epilogue was a nice complicated human bookend to the story.
TLOU2
The environments and AI were basically the same as the original to me. I'm sure they're much improved, but I played the PS4 version of TLOU and didn't notice 7 years worth of advancement. Stumbling through failed settlements and stuff in the original felt way different. The nursery, meeting Sam and his father. It felt more like a world than a game filled with plot devices.
Still a good game, I'll probably replay it in a few months. I do think there's going to be some criticism because it's about Ellie and Abby instead of Joel, but original run Joel and Ellie were better written and interacted differently, so it's not so easy as just dismissing it as homophobia or internet trolls. Maybe some DLC will iron it out and give more rounded story to it.
They will even apologise to you afterwards if they did.
So hey - does that horde get explained? Seems fuckin' weird that so many infected got so close to Jackson.
This is gonna be a game, huh?
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
TloU's intro aside, one of the things I think it did wisely was make a protracted battle Vs. human enemies - its combat at its very best - a big part of the first act. The shootout at the docks with Tess.
TloU 2's first three hours were "a relentless thrill ride," for me, but I was missing the awesome battles Vs. human AI. Now I'm in those battles and whooo dawgies this is what I'm here for. These animations and voice lines and how tense it feels, despite being actually pretty easy-going.
Awesome gameplay, for the most part.
As far as the game being... intentionally challenging for people who find representation offensive...
Here's my problem with it, so far. I think I'm up to Chapter 15, and... so far, I'm prepared to say, the "representation" feels... like a mask for a bunch of stuff that strikes me as low-key misogynistic, in terms of the story and, so far, beats with its characters. Never "oh god that's awful," but always "huh, now that I think about it..."
I'm not sure how Dina's going to end up - probably dead, and violently so - but I feel like the pregnancy thing was picked out of a hat of Women's Things to pop up so her relationship with Ellie could stop moving forward and get shoved into Ellie's Motivation Stockpile. It felt so... easy. So convenient just to shuttle her off to the side, for now. "But how can we get rid of her?" "With lady business!" "Ahhh. We get the issues." "We do." (Both nod smugly as they stroke their beards.)
The fact that every major antagonist so far is female smells... smells like that article about how Druckmann's first draft of the first game was the cordy-zombie virus could only infect women, and Tess was a villain that pursued you across the entire game, and Druckmann didn't understand how a player spending an entire game beating monstrous women to death was problematic. I dunno. It feels like he's letting himself have this lurid violence he wants, deep down, for reasons he doesn't understand, while clothing it in the mask of Woke-Ass-People.
Now as a gamer, I'm actually here for the lurid violence and tense, tactical, amazingly flowy gameplay. I love that shit, and the game does it well. I'm just saying it also feels like even though it's doing an excellent by-the-numbers job of being a positive example of representation, something about that feels like consciously-chosen skin, drawn over a mind telling a story that's still kinda' problematic in a lot of little ways - but this time he didn't listen to anyone when they tried to point it out.
Or worse, Druckmann had no one around to point it this time at all.
It's like the opposite of Lollipop Chainsaw.
Lollipop Chainsaw had a blatantly problematic surface, but when you looked at the actual themes and lessons of the story, it was a Feminist Hero Manifesto from James Gunn. I'm maybe 8 hours into TloU2 and I can tell you it is not as intelligently and intentionally feminist as Lollipop Fucking Chainsaw.
On the surface, TloU2 does thoughtful representation perfectly, but this conceals a problematic spirit and a story with some icky vibes.
I reserve the right to change my mind and agree with you if they just murder Dinah. It seems the kind of extreme violence the reviewers mentioned...
Edit: I have the most awful way of dealing with dogs now.
I am going to hell for this.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I did. I am just waiting until I finish the game before I decide how some of these elements come together.
It does not make my question any less pointed or valid. Despite the fact I also think he will be right about a certain characters fate in future.
just started
i am really unsure if i feel the plot is just telegraphed, or aptly foreshadowed. the foreshadowing is buttery thick, in any case, and if it plays out exactly as i feel, i might be a little underwhelmed. i don't put it past naughty dog to pull the rug out a few more times, so i'll reserve judgement. as for where i feel this is going, let's just say i expect the "day" count to get into the hundreds. if not... thousands. it's time consuming.
i also wonder about the pacing. maybe i misjudged the pacing for myself. first session - about five hours, up to the first human conflict in seattle - was brilliant. but the next four or five hours, through some of the open-world seattle stuff and the TV station, felt like a real slog, and i wasn't motivated for much of it. i wish the game had given me a better cue at some point about where to pause. there's a LOT about that i'd re-order. for one i'd put the theatre flashback in between the first seattle encounter and TV station. but again, i'm not done yet, so maybe there's Reasons. i paused overnight at the theatre, and just did the dino museum flashback today, and i'm back on track.
btw you're a coward if
PSN:Furlion
Some of these have been quite fun puzzles.
But man the dialogue around this game has been interesting to hear while trying to remain spoiler free
I'm really looking forward to playing to see what the fuss is about
PSN:Furlion
About that
The idea that we've got this game looking like it does and we're about to move into a new generation that can do even more is nuts.
...30 fps tho. ;p
I hope this saves someone else several minutes of confusion.
Yeah that part specifically seemed very sweet to me.
I think they are doing the thing where they both read data from the disc and the hard drive at the same time. I assume it is a very difficulty trick to pull off because Rockstar did it for GTA V 7 years ago but no one else seemed to bother. I am not surprised that Sony would make sure this game came out showcasing every last drop of power that can be squeezed out of the system. The audio design is also no slouch, walking through the various scenery is incredibly captivating with my headphones on.
PSN:Furlion
Edit: Holy fucking shit Ellie.
And now my heart broke
End of Seattle Day 2. This is a major story spoiler:
I might have missed this in the news cycle. Cyberpunk has said they will have a free upgrade, has Naughty Dog announced anything similar?
Didn't Sony say any PS4 game from July 2020 on had to run on the ps5? So Ghost of Tsushina Definitely Yes - I think TloU2 is merely a very safe bet.
This honestly pisses me off. Record keeping is a big part of my job and international date standard is YYYY-MM-DD.
This allows any system of documents to automatically organize files chronologically. It's handy! It's consistent! Use it!
I think I am in the second half now.
Panda. Patrol.
It's an old PS3!
Later on, you meet a person who is playing a PlayStation Vita, and the game on the Vita looks like... Hotline Miami?? WHOA.