The Last of Us Part 2

['stone hammer]

Out on the 19th of June. I'm rather excited.

The Last of Us is my favourite game of all time. I remember reading a thread recently on the Gaming Room where quite a few posters called it overrated; plenty of valid points, the gameplay was somewhat repetitive, after the opening scene it takes a long time to get going again. However, the story, the soundtrack, the dialogue, the atmosphere, all outstanding. The emotional investment I found myself giving to the game was striking, the opening 15 minutes had me welling up. I found the ending extremely satisfying and left room for a justifiable sequel.

I have seen that there were some leaks regarding the game; I have avoided them and haven't read any actual spoilers, however I have seen plenty of reviews from reputable sources stating that they think the game will be terrible judging from said spoilers. Having played and loved many of Naughty Dog's games (I don't think I've played a bad game by them), I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and completely disregard what I've heard.

Anyone else buzzing for this and gutted when it got delayed from February?

[RayleighIrons]

Yeah I'll defiantly be on this when it comes out. Should fire the first one up and have a rerun.

[Up the Junction]

I was one of those who didn't feel the love for Pt 1. I may pick this up if the reviews are good but I'm not a huge fan of on-rails games.

[SirStoneyOfBow]

The first game was a good if overrated experience in my eyes. It does have a terrific story, excellent voice acting, gritty and atmospheric environments but the gameplay was honestly nothing special. It occasionally suffered from a loose and floaty combat system and some unrealistic AI issues.
In any case I’m hoping for a tighter combat system and a real stealthy approach to allow progression to be told in how you play the game. That might be too much to ask for but I can only hope.

Still looking forward to seeing how the story grows at least.

['stone hammer]

Why so UTJ? Do you prefer more of an open world/sandbox game?
I'm quite the opposite, and generally find myself replaying linear games far more than I replay open world games. Linear games are much more tightly paced, and generally much less of a time commitment. I absolutely loved Fallout 3 and Skyrim; my Mrs has Red Dead 2 and I just couldn't bring myself to play it because generally the learning curve with those kinds of games is much slower.

As Stoney said regarding the Last of Us, I'm hoping for a big improvement on the AI - both friend and foe, it was definitely one of the standout flaws. In terms of the gameplay being nothing special, I'm okay with that, as long as it is enjoyable, as gunning down zombies normally is.

[Up the Junction]

Do you prefer more of an open world/sandbox game?

Generally, yes.

... generally much less of a time commitment...

Agreed - but usually less immersive, I find.

[prophet:marginal]

Anyone else pre-ordered? Out next Friday.

YouTube is bursting with negative reviews.

[SirStoneyOfBow]

I watched the IGN review who gave it a perfect 10 and you can tell the reviewer had made his mind up before he had even played it. He was smitten with the idea of the game.
I’m not going to bleat on like a broken record about the first game but I still have my concerns about the gameplay.
It looks great no doubt but if it’s more the same I’ll still wait for the PS Store to sell it for $20 in a year’s time.

[Hammer1972]

[SirStoneyOfBow]

I’m sure this will likely be a PS5 launch title, if they have any sense.

[Mayday]

Well, I've played it for 3 hours now and it so far is nothing short of stunning.
And if your eyes dont water during the intro, you have no heart.

[Hammer1972]

Mine has just popped through the letterbox, just need to find time to start playing...

Bloody work, always getting in the way!

[prophet:marginal]

Well, I've played it for 3 hours now and it so far is nothing short of stunning.
And if your eyes dont water during the intro, you have no heart.

Me and the boy both had to go to work today; both itching to get home and get cracking.

[westhamgardner]

Mine is downloading, can't wait. At of midnight floods of awful reviews came in from people who can't have even played it yet, I don't understand people.

[Hammer1972]

Mine is downloading, can't wait. At of midnight floods of awful reviews came in from people who can't have even played it yet, I don't understand people.

My understanding is that the story goes a bit 'woke' for some, so there has been a backlash coming from a number of gamers who like all protagonists to fit a certain mold...

[westhamgardner]

About 6/7 hours in and really enjoying this

['stone hammer]

Played about 3-4 hours so far. Absolutely loving it.

They've kept plenty from the old game - the minimalist soundtrack, crafting system, item Dpad layout etc whilst improving the character movement, which I felt was slightly clunky in the first game.

The story has had me getting emotional at times too.

I heard about the negative reviews, but generally stayed away from anything that could potentially be a spoiler, but if there are negatives, I haven't seen them yet.

*SPOILER*

I'm just past the point where Joel has been killed. I felt like I hadn't seen much of Joel in the opening, or not enough for my liking anyway. I'm absolutely gutted that we won't get an Ellie/Joel journey, or just more of them interacting, however I'm equally interested as to where the story is going to go from here

[V-M]

Is this a PS exclusive? Loved the first one when I was on PS3 but on Xbox these days.

I do prefer the Xbox as a console but miss titles such as this and the Uncharted series.

[SirStoneyOfBow]

It’s a Sony exclusive, and one of the key reasons why the PS4 has outsold the Xbox One this gen.
My friend has plugged 20+ hours into this and he’s only halfway through it, that’s fair play.

[V-M]

Fair doos.

I noticed Wither 3 was available on the game pass and played it for a bit, then found the game of the year version on sale at around a tenner which included all the DLC. Had to start over but this game will keep me entertained for a long time.

Shame I wont get a look at LOU2 as I found the first one was very good indeed