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    Home Unlabelled The Last of Us | The Last of Us Part II has been nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards! Cast your votes now!

    The Last of Us | The Last of Us Part II has been nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards! Cast your votes now!

    November 19, 2020

    The Last of Us | The Last of Us Part II has been nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards! Cast your votes now!

    The Last of Us Part II has been nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards! Cast your votes now!

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 09:01 AM PST

    Ashley Johnson was nominated for “Best Performance” in The Game Awards, here are some of the best moments of her brilliant performance.

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 03:33 PM PST

    Anyone else having a hard time choosing?

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 06:33 PM PST

    Ellie & Dina sketch by myself (@ashlee.draws.stuff on Instagram).

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 04:34 AM PST

    Yes I am a certified Naughty Dog Shill ��

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 10:08 AM PST

    Why "that" had to happen to justify doing a Part II in the first place.

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 05:02 AM PST

    Long one again. Apologies.

    You know what I'm talking about. I was in denial about it for a long time and I had all kinds of dumb theories over what the game was gonna be about, but deep down I always knew Joel was going to die at the beginning and I think that's the way it had to be to justify doing a sequel in the first place.

    It had nothing to do with being purposefully divisive, it wasn't about punishing Joel for what he did and it certainly wasn't about pushing some "agenda" or anything silly like that. Logistically I think it was just the story they had to tell. Here's why...

    1) Joel's character arc by the end of the first game was a perfect circle and there was nowhere else to take him without devaluing all of that.

    By the end of Part 1 Joel is fulfilled, he has stopped running from his past, he's allowed himself to get attached to people again and by the epilogue Joel has everything he needs to go back to being the man he was in the prologue. He's got a home waiting for him in Jackson, his brother Tommy back in his life, and Ellie, a new daughter to replace Sarah, was the final piece of the puzzle he needed to go back to being that guy. When he slaughtered his way through that hospital to save her, he was bringing out the monster he became after Sarah died for one final act that he felt was necessary, but afterwards he was able to hang that side of himself up for good and become the man he was 20 years ago.

    If you pay attention to the epilogue his demeanor has suddenly changed. He's in high spirits and he's joking about how he's "feeling his age now" something he never did before when he was fighting all the time, he's talking as if he's retired from that life. He also starts talking about Sarah openly without even being prompted to by Ellie. It doesn't hurt him to talk about her anymore because he has everything he had back when she was still alive. He's just that dad again, it's a perfect circle.

    And his new home, Jackson, by its nature is a place where people go for a fresh start and to be a better person. In the dam section of part 1 Tommy is talking about Jackson and the people there and he tells Joel "This place gives them a second chance, gives us all a second chance" and Joel even jokes that the people there are "born again" ("Jesus boy have maria get some of her born again friends to do it.") Right before Joel and Ellie head off to the university Tommy tells Joel "There's a place for you here" and after the ending Joel does find his place there, he does get his "second chance" and in a way he is "born again" all his character development was leading up to him becoming the kinder, gentler, more trusting Joel we see in part II.

    So to bring that guy back and have him go back to being the hardass again and have him be killing people and getting new character development that overwrites the old, would totally reverse all of that character work, and you can't just bring him back and have him do nothing the whole time either. The most useful and impactful thing he can do for this story is die. I take comfort in the fact that he died at "peak Joel" because it really put an exclamation point on his life, all his character development remains intact and that is the man he'll always be remembered as.

    Ellie was different, by the end of part 1 she was not fulfilled, she didn't find what she was looking for, she had the very thing that she was fighting so hard for ripped away from her and she didn't understand how or why. That was fertile ground for more character development for her. She was so young and there was so much more she could learn and so many ways in which she could change. Hers was the story that was left to be told not Joel's.

    2) There needed to be a really strong reason to justify throwing Ellie back out into that world and having her go through hell again.

    The Last of Us isn't the kind of series where you just do a sequel for the sake of seeing all your favourite characters again and having a new adventure, it's not like Uncharted. Uncharted is a fun romp set in action movie land where heroes never die and killing doesn't really mean all that much, the characters don't really go through hell in Uncharted so you can justify doing new adventure after new adventure without abusing your characters. The Last of us is completely different in tone, the characters lose people who they love repeatedly and they do awful things and have awful things done to them. They go through absolute hell and by the end of the story are forever changed by their experiences. To put Ellie though all that kind of thing again without a really compelling reason would be gratuitous and disrespectful to her character and would really cheapen everything she's already been through.

    Remember that this is a combat based series where you're going to be killing lots of people and it just so happens that revenge is an extremely strong motivation to do that. Nothing compels you to want to kill people more than avenging a loved one, except perhaps protecting a loved one, but they already covered that in the first game and they can't just rehash the same story. This time someone had to die and it had to be Joel not only because his story was finished but also because you would not feel it the way Ellie is feeling it if it was anybody else. Think back to how hurt you were when Joel died, how angry you were at Abby and how much you wanted to kill her. Your mindset matched up perfectly with Ellie's, you felt exactly what she was going through, because your bond with Joel matches up with Ellie's bond with Joel and you don't have that kind of bond with any other character. If they had just introduced a new character for the purpose of killing them off to motivate Ellie, or killed an existing character like Tommy, the story wouldn't be nearly impactful enough to justify itself and it would also not be relevant enough to the end of the first game.

    3) They needed to make the player understand the consequences of Joel's actions at the end of the first game.

    What Joel did was a huge thing with enormous consequences, you cannot just pretend that didn't happen if you're doing a sequel, it is part II afterall. It's the second half of the story, and the consequences of what Joel did was one of the big things that was left over. You have to make all that matter, you have to feel those consequences. The thing is, there is no way of making the player really feel the general worldwide consequences of what Joel did. You could show people getting infected who otherwise might not have gotten infected if there was a vaccine but that's not really gonna tug on anybody's heart strings. To make the player feel it you have to make it personal to them, and to both the player and Ellie, Joel being killed for what he did is the most personal consequence of what he did. That's why it wasn't really about the vaccine in the end, it was about the killings involved, they made it personal to Abby as well. This isn't to say that the game is judging Joel for what he did, afterall he, like most of the main characters in this series was motivated by love and by his past trauma in the end. It's just saying that there are consequences to what he did, the world doesn't just revolve around your side, other people are affected by what you do.

    ​

    One other tiny reason is that if they brought Joel back for a whole game, it would just be another dad game which has been done to death by now. So many other games, tv shows and films have told that kind of story, both before and after The Last of Us and many of them were influenced by the game itself. They needed to do something different this time.

    There are so many other reasons that are important to the story but I'm really just talking about the reasons that lead them to go in this direction in the first place. I truly think they had to go in this direction for a sequel, I think the real question is should they have done a sequel at all? After playing it my answer is yes personally because I think lots of people willfully misinterpreted the first game and a sequel was necessary to put it all in perspective.

    TL;DR: Joel's story was finished by the end of the first game and Ellie's was not, but they needed the most compelling reason possible to justify putting her through hell again and only killing Joel would cut it because the players bond with Joel matched up with Ellie's bond with him and they didn't have that kind of bond with any other character. Also the only way to make the player understand the consequences of Joel's actions at the end of the first game is to make it personal to them.

    submitted by /u/JupeJitsu
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    Subtle hint of Dina's predicament during Seattle Day 1 (caught this by chance)

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 12:53 PM PST

    Love or hate the game. Ashley deserves this award for the big spoiler scene alone. Her acting in that scene was just so pure!

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 02:12 PM PST

    Video on why Grounded Permadeath Whole Game is bad for your mental health...

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 06:09 PM PST

    Took absolutely ages to plat but love this game

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 10:33 AM PST

    Gustavo Santaolalla and Geoff Keighley teasing more TLOU?

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 05:24 PM PST

    I’m not that good yet still but tried my best ��

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 08:22 AM PST

    Why did he go for the gun?

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 03:59 PM PST

    Here’s a pretty good defense of Part 2 I found while scrolling through comments of multiple reviews, it’s a shame no one saw it

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 08:07 PM PST

    The Last of Us Part II and Hades became leaders in the number of nominations at The Game Awards 2020

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 12:37 PM PST

    Naughty Dog should use the opportunity and announce an PS5 update or new content at the “Game Awards”!

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 11:15 AM PST

    With whopping ten nominations "The Last of Us: Part II" is one of the most nominated games at the Game Awards of all time. Since it's really certain it'll win at least some of those categories, Naughty Dog basically has all the attention the studio can currently get.

    Announcing a PS5 patch at the awards and releasing it shortly after would be a genius move. Same if they have new content or play modes (you know what I'm talking about) in development.

    submitted by /u/AdamantiumLive
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    Thoughts on TLOU2

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 01:02 PM PST

    This is going to be a long post so bear with me here. Or don't. It's up to you! There will be multiple paragraphs and subjects I will be discussing here and I'm sure I'll think of some more things to share about the game later than what is in this post, but these are my thoughts thus far.

    First off, I will state that I really really enjoyed this game. The gameplay is a 10/10 for me, the music and audio is phenomenal and the acting by everyone such as Laura, Ashley, and Troy is probably the best acting I've ever seen in a game (other than the first one). No matter your opinion of the game you cannot deny that these aspects really work well.

    I can understand valid arguments as to why there are people who do not like the game. I get people really liked Joel in the first game and thus seeing him die in an "unfair" way two hours into the game can be upsetting. He's a really intriguing character and I would have to loved to hear him discuss with Ellie more about before the outbreak and what his life was like immediately after and all his thoughts and feelings during that time frame. So I can understand that aspect. I can also understand to some degree why people didn't like the Abby part of the game. It felt a little long at times and I will admit I would sometimes wonder when I was getting back to Ellie. However, going into it and seeing it says "SEATTLE DAY 1", it should be pretty obvious right off the bat that you will be Abby for a while. I can also get why people would feel frustrated playing her because she killed a fan favorite and it's odd playing as someone who is not Joel or Ellie in this world. Those aspects I can get.

    Here are reasons that are not valid for hating the game:

    1: Hating Abby for the way she looks. A lot of people have been stating that she is too masculine and has too many muscles and that she downright looks awful. Okay and? It's normal for some women to look this way. There are women who look this way in real life. Get over it. I personally thought she was a beautiful character but hey that's me. Also hating on Laura in general for the fact her character killed Joel is disgusting. She was receiving death threats and being called a slew of names. If you're one of those people that did that and call yourself a true fan of this series, I hate to break it to you but you're not. No one deserves any of this hate. Furthermore she was just following a script.

    2: Hating on it due to LGBT representation. It's no secret that when you play the first game that Riley was clearly more than just a friend to Ellie when she speaks of her dead friend. That is also confirmed in the DLC. So going into this game and acting shocked and appalled that Ellie would speak of past relationships with women, be in an actual relationship with Dina, and even indirectly tell Jesse that she is strictly a Lesbian and not just bisexual, is so dumb. These people exist in real life. Taking it as being shoved down your throat is so idiotic. But let me guess if the same dynamic between Ellie and Dina had been shifted to it being Ellie and Jesse and it was the exact same, then that wouldn't be shoving it down someone's throat would it? Completely and utterly idiotic logic.

    Now onto my personal thoughts and feelings on the game itself.

    I really enjoyed it. I thought the gameplay and combat system felt more fluid and better than the first game by a long shot. I like the story of the first one still a bit better but I'm sure that has to do with the special place it's had in my heart for the last 7 years and Part 2 will probably start to find a special place further into my heart as well. This is probably the most beautiful game I've ever played in terms of visuals, audio, music, and gameplay and I'll definitely have many more replays of it in the future.

    For me, Joel's death makes perfect sense. Every trailer I saw for the game that involved him, it either had to be early in the game or it meant he was dead and they were trying to throw us off as best as possible. This is a game about consequences. There was no way that one should go into this game thinking it will end well for Joel given what he did at the end of the first one. It should have been known since the first one came out that if they ever made a second game you could have bet that he would die in a second one. Originally I was furious that it was someone like Abby who ultimately killed him. It felt unfair. However this is a world where everything bad that happens could be argued as being unfair because it's a messed up world.

    Now, as far as Ellie's part of the game goes:

    Every section there was absolutely stunning in my opinion. From the winter part at the beginning, to starting to explore Seattle, to the hospital, to being on the boat and trying to get to the Aquarium, I was amazed. In terms of Ashley Johnson's acting, it was absolutely incredible. To the screams with watching Joel being murdered, to the way Ellie would speak to enemies when stealth killing them, to how she spoke when torturing Nora, to the PTSD moments and panic attack in the aquarium after killing Owen and Mel... just... wow and Ashley deserves an award for it.

    Furthermore, I felt with Ellie every step of the way. When Joel was being killed I wanted to scream. When torturing Nora I felt so grossed out and ashamed during and after it. I really wish the game didn't make me hit her with the crowbar. But, the reason for that is it parallels with how Joel was killed so perfectly which made the connection to Abby all the more real. I also really hated killing Owen and Mel before the Abby section because I could really tell that they were uncomfortable with the way things were handled with Joel and it was difficult to deal with Abby due to her being so consumed by revenge.

    Now onto Abby's section:

    I will admit her part felt a little long at times, but I expected it to be that way. As soon as I was dealing with an Abby flashback in Salt Lake City, I knew I was going to have to play those three days as her. And honestly I'm really glad I did. It makes these connections to Ellie's part of the game which, when thinking back on it, makes Ellie's part all the more impactful. Also, upon finding out Joel killed her dad in that hospital, I started to empathize with her, even though I still don't like the fact she killed Joel. Maybe it has to do with me losing my own dad unexpectedly, but let's just say I did feel bad for her.

    Meeting Alice and Bear, I started to feel kinda bad because I knew I killed them as Ellie. Seeing Mel and seeing how Manny attempted to get her and Abby to reconcile, made me feel awful for Abby as well, especially more so at the end of the game because we find out Ellie was trying to do that with Joel but never got the chance. Abby and Mel never got that chance again either.

    Hearing about there being someone at the Marina from Abby's viewpoint, we know we're going to come face to face with Tommy and I felt that section was really interesting, especially when Tommy starts to shoot at the cars to get the infected to come after Abby and Manny. It's a great reference to a flashback we have earlier in the game and I just love any moment in this game that ties together with a previous moment. For me it's stuff like that that really makes this game work.

    The boss fight in the hospital was epic. It's also nice seeing Abby turning on the lights and knowing then that earlier when you were in the hospital as Ellie, that's why the lights were on. Another example of things being tied together.

    The island with the scars was so intriguing and I forgot for a moment that I was playing a game in a world where zombies are kinda a thing due to the fungus. It was one of my favorite parts of the game.

    Now, moving onto the theatre section. I found it really cool being on the receiving end of Ellie. Shows how much you don't want to be on her bad side. Now, everyone complains that when Ellie let's Abby know that Dina is pregnant and Abby replies with "Good" that ruined every reason for them to like Abby like the developers tried so hard to get us to do. However, it made sense to me even though I didn't care for the response either. Abby just found the love of her life dead and Mel who was her friend. She didn't get a chance to really reconcile with Mel and it's obvious she cared for her personal well being while she was pregnant despite the two not being on good terms. If I were in that situation, I'd want to make the person who killed my pregnant friend to feel the way I did.

    This game is about twist and turns and not just about revenge and how bad it is. You often expect things to go a different way than what they ultimately do. You think Abby may not kill Joel because you see hesitation when Ellie is begging her to stop. You think Tommy and Ellie will end up dead too and it will actually be a game centered around Dina and Jesse, maybe even Maria. You think Nora will actually state how upset and sorry she is for what happened to Joel instead of viciously insulting him. There are probably more aspects too in which one will think the game goes differently but does not.

    To sum it all up: This game is phenomenal in any way you can think of and it's definitely one of my favorites. I'll work up to doing another play through eventually and I'm sure I'll catch even more things that I didn't before. This is such a complex game and goes beyond the event of Joel dying. There's layers upon layers of topics to discuss. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! If you want any clarification on what I said feel free to ask! I'm open to discussion with this game! :)

    submitted by /u/HonoraryBender
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    I love doing digital art and made this because it’s my favorite scene

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 07:57 PM PST

    A Perspective from a Cinephile - on TLOU II

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 06:49 AM PST

    I posted this initially on r/lastofuspart2. But posting here as well to have a more general discussion.

    I have watched multiple reviews and analysis of TLOU2 but to my knowledge none have actually made this point which is worth talking about. To preface this discussion, I want to make it clear that I am not a "gamer" in the traditional sense of the word. I am a cinephile and more generally fascinated by the art of visual story telling. As such, on a gaming scale I would land somewhere between casual gamer and a gaming enthusiast with an inclination towards story driven games.

    Okay, with that long-winded introduction out of the way, I have played this game (and its predecessor) and I believe it deserves every praise that it gets from the critics but I also understand why it divides the fanbase. To me TLOU2 pushes the gaming medium forward like no other game has. Games in general have been considered a medium of "having fun" that delivers "satisfaction through button pressing". However, what differs from games from other mediums like films or books is the added level of immersion that it brings through agency. You are not only watching Joel or Ellie do what they are doing but by pressing the buttons on your controller, you are directing them to do those things. In most games, that act of pressing a button and getting a response from a character is most often reduced to deliver an element of positive satisfaction to the gamer. Like pressing a button for a headshot in an FPS game or parrying and delivering a killer-blow to a boss in an action RPG. Then Naughty Dog comes along and says that we can use this medium to deliver feelings and experiences that are not meant to be enjoyed but make you feel exactly as the characters are feeling. A feeling of loneliness, disillusionment and abject misery is what this game seeks to deliver and it bloody well does. It is depressing because it is meant to be depressing. It is taxing because it means to be taxing.

    To draw an analogy from the world of film, there are different genre of films like action, fantasy, thriller etc. But there are also films that are made to explore the darkest corners of the human psyche. These films are usually not big budget and generally considered arthouse because of their limited appeal but you often see them win big come award season. This is mostly because these sort of films explore what the Academy Awards call the "human condition" full of its many contradictions and idiosyncrasies. Messaging in these films are subtle and meaning is communicated through visuals rather than exposition. That is when you say something is "cinematic". Examples that come to mind are "Requiem for a Dream" "Black Swan" or even "Schindler's List" or "Shoah". For even a more exact comparison check out the "Human Condition" by Masaki Kobayashi or Ingmar Bergman's entire filmography. These films are hard to watch and make you feel dejected and depressed throughout. Nonetheless, these films are important because they evoke feelings on a completely different end of the human emotional spectrum which may not always make you happy/positive but are equally important to the human condition.

    In that, TLOU2 is a brilliant example of gaming as a medium to examine a the human condition from a completely different lens that what we have ever seen before. It might very well be the first and only example of an "arthouse" game. I am sorry if there are others that exist and I have not played them yet. There is a moment in TLOU2 that brilliantly exemplifies this *spoiler alert* when you are playing as Abby and you have to fight Ellie. You don't want to hurt her or in the end choke her but Naughty Dog says instead of satisfaction, they want to deliver a feeling of abject horror and misery because who says that games cannot do that?

    submitted by /u/ofarooqi
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    he just ����‍♀️

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 06:07 PM PST

    "The peanut butter falcon" movie

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 06:01 PM PST

    This movie gives off some joel and ellie energy in its own redneck way. Its a good movie that I recommend.

    submitted by /u/Dragongamer1406
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    In your replays of TLOU2, which scene(s) gave you the most anxiety knowing you were heading into the enounter?

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 05:45 PM PST

    I'm torn between the tension of heading into Seraphite forest, the stress of entering the ICU, or the emotional crush when Joel is killed.

    submitted by /u/jeekster24
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    [TLOU2] I'm glad I liked the game, really

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 01:49 AM PST

    When the game was first released and got bombed with hate, I was very frustrated since I thought it was a great game. Whenever I see a negative post, I would feel this compulsive urge to write an essay to defend the game. But now that some time has passed, I can say that I'm glad I like the game, and I feel sorry for people that don't and are still actively hating on it. It's exhausting to hate, but it's pretty effortless to love. Years down the road, I would still have pleasant memories of this game, while all the people that hated it have probably grown tired of themselves. So I'm glad that I liked the game, really.

    submitted by /u/Wontoncube
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    The Last of Us Part II and The Game Awards 2020

    Posted: 18 Nov 2020 11:19 AM PST

    A few hours into my playthrough of The Last of Us Part II, I was struck by the incredible level of effort that had gone into the game's creation. The motion capture was the best I'd ever seen; the voice acting and facial animations were the most compelling I'd ever seen or heard, lending an unmatched level of nuance to the cutscenes; the audio was fantastic; the music was always perfectly on point; the story was bold; the characters were, by and large, well realized; the gameplay, while mostly unremarkable, was a marked improvement over that of its predecessor.

    TLOU2 was the first game to make me appreciate the impact of technology on gaming as a storytelling medium. The tech that Naughty Dog had developed for the game was a big contributor. Naturally, not every animation could be mo-capped, so Naughty Dog developed new tech to blend mo-capped animations together in a more realistic manner. This had the effect of immersing me quite effectively in the game world.

    The voice lines and detailed animations of the human and canine enemies made me feel an aversion to killing them in a heretofore unprecedented manner. I would eventually grow sick of all the murder, opting instead to sneak and run past encounters whenever possible, even if it meant potentially missing out on useful items. Games like Spec Ops: The Line and Undertale had already made me not want to kill my enemies, but those games had done so primarily through dialogue, narrative, and user interface.

    The music fit what was happening on screen whenever it appeared, enhancing the experience. In calm moments, it added serenity; in sad moments, it added deep melancholy; in angry moments, it added primal rage.

    The voice acting and facial capture produced the most convincing performances I'd ever seen. Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Troy Baker, and others came to life wearing suits of polygons. Minor expressions were able to imply meaning in ways that spoken dialogue would've had to directly state, resulting in some of the finest visual storytelling I'd yet seen.

    With all this in mind, I was certain that the game would be nominated for every possible category it could qualify for, and likely win the majority of then, including the coveted title of Game of the Year. Having just watched the nominees be revealed for The Game Awards 2020, I'm pleased to see that others share my thoughts on the matter.

    There will undoubtedly be many unsubstantiated rumors that the awards are rigged, as there were last year when Death Stranding was nominated for -- and won -- most of the categories it qualified for. With Cyberpunk out of the picture due to delays, the only game I can see taking GOTY over TLOU2 is Hades.

    What are your thoughts on the matter of TGA 2020, particularly with regard to TLOU2?

    EDIT: formatting

    submitted by /u/SalamanderCake
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