This is not a story that really even tries to separate itself from the zombie story template that we’re so used to. I’ve watched ten seasons of “The Walking Dead” at this point, okay, and this game really just feels like it could have been another season of that show. The characters are good, and the story is fine. “The Last of Us Part 2” isn’t any different in that regard. Joel and Ellie were compelling characters to build the story around, but the story itself is pretty standard stuff delivered in a pretty standard way.Īlso Read: 'Grand Theft Auto 5,' 'Hitman 3,' Among Planned PS5 Game Releases I take issue with that somewhat - it was too much of a video game to be a narrative heavyweight to anyone who isn’t a gamer. “The Last of Us” was hailed by many back in 2013 as a landmark of video gaming as storytelling. Some folks from out of town show up, cause a very dramatic stir, and the setting moves to Seattle, where our heroes stumble into a war between a pair of huge local factions. This sequel picks up five years later, with Joel and Ellie living in an enclave in Jackson, Wyoming. So Joel reclaimed Ellie and killed so many still-living people on his way out. But it turned out that the procedure required to develop a medical defense would kill Ellie. The reason for that journey: Ellie is immune to the zombie plague, and some folks are hoping to develop a cure or vaccine from her blood. “The Last of Us Part 2,” as you no doubt are aware, is the follow-up to the 2013 original that was set amid a zombie apocalypse in which the zombies are humans infected with a brain-destroying fungus, and middle-aged Joel (Troy Baker) has to safeguard a teen girl, Ellie (Ashley Johnson) during a journey across the country. It trips over its own feet at every opportunity.Īlso Read: 'Uncharted 4: A Thief's End' Review: One Final Step Back for the Disappointing Franchise But just know that this is a game that simply refuses to be what it should be. It’s more or less impossible to sell you on what my issue was without sharing spoilers or going into other details that Sony asked critics to not discuss before the game is out. And that’s the story of my experience with “The Last of Us Part 2.” Shortly after I started having all those positive thoughts, the game took a turn that was so ineffective from a storytelling perspective, and so annoying from a gameplay perspective, that I no longer wanted to play it. For a couple hours, I thought that maybe this was one of those rare times when a sequel to a beloved game is actually a meaningful improvement over its predecessor.īut that feeling didn’t last.
The story really starts to move, the character interactions work really well, and the completely unnecessary crafting mechanics stop feeling so intrusive.
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(This review of “The Last of Us Part 2” is free of any story spoilers)įor a long stretch in the middle of “The Last of Us Part 2” it felt like Naughty Dog, the studio that created the series, had found its rhythm.