The Last of Us: Remastered

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

I didn't have any high expectations for the game. I jsut expected a good game with a good story. That is what it is. All I am saying is the game was severly over hyped in my opinion. Nothing about it is revolutionary, the graphics aren't amazing(which tends to be a big topic these days), and the gameplay is very average. It does have a very top tier story. That's this game wrapped up in terms of the offline experience which was hyped up like crazy.

The game met my expectations, I am just saying it does nothing revolutionary which confuses me as to why it received all of the hype it did.

Story-wise I think it is revolutionary. How many other games have stories even competent enough to be included as a comparison basis? Much less a list of well developed characters that number more than three?

Not to mention the fact the presentation of the game is as close to a TV or movie production as you can get. Yeah, the gameplay is adequate, yet calculated and tightly controlled in order to control the game's atmosphere. This game is tense and dramatic. I can't think of too many games that was able to string along a story and characters over the course of it's length, but I felt compelled to help Joel and Ellie rather than just completing a string of random, loosely connected objectives.

[canes21]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

Red Dead Redemption has a great story with great characters and as good of quality as anything you'll find on TV or in a movie. LA Noire is right there at the same level. Max Payne presents its story in a fashion that is of top quality. The Walking Dead series is a no-brainer.

To me, those games all have the same quality of production in the story as this game. I've never said the story was bad. I said it was top notch just like the games I listed above and I am missing others I am sure. However, I feel the game was just way overhyped. That is all I stated. I'm enjoying the game. It's climbing the ladder and probably going to be in my top 10 of all time easily. Al lI am stating is that it had way too much hype surrounding it in my honest opinion. Yes, the story is amazing, i agree, but the gameplay is so generic it keeps this game from being in the discussion of a GOAT.

Like I said, it has a top tier story, but as much as I love immersion, I also need gameplay and this game has good enough gameplay to keep me wanting to play it further and continue to experience the story, but gameplay will be easy to forget. The story will be unforgettable, the details will too, but the gameplay. Not a chance.

[The JareBear]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

I am about to finish my third playthrough (on Grounded Plus now).

After that I will probably do a run on easy or normal with a guide to collect all items and complete all challenges/achievements/trophies. After that I will finally play Left Behind and maybe try multiplayer. Depending on if I get D3 this week or not I will either finish this all by Madden release or it will take me through September. Either way in already at 50+ hours with the game and it was worth every penny.

I've never 100 percented a game before and this is the first game that has made me even think about doing it. I just really enjoy playing it. Can't really say why.

I agree the gameplay, as far as the encounters, is pretty generic. You sneak or you shoot, some variances here or there, and that's about it, but the total package the game presents just really appeals to me.

I've already gone back and forth regarding the ending. I know I'm in the minority on this board, but I've found a lot of stuff from around the web from people with similar interpretations as me. That doesn't mean anything, but it at least makes me feel like I'm not crazy.

Here is the last thing I'm gonna say about the ending:

Spoiler

I think it's easy to relate to Joel because he's the character we control in the game and thus, almost automatically, he becomes the protagonist without even thinking about it.

This is why I think everyone is quick to criticize the fireflies and judge them but give Joel a free pass on everything so easily

I think that's the real beauty here though and probably Naughty Dogs greatest achievement. The character you control, you as Joel, is not a true hero. There is no way, in my opinion, that the ending can be viewed in simple "black and white," no way, in my opinion, that anyone can say he's good, they are bad, end of story.

Joel was a hunter for awhile, he killed innocents. He's done what he has had to do to survive, just like everyone else left alive. The fireflies are in the same boat. The hunters are in the same boat. David and his crew, same boat.

Regardless of what you think of the fireflies, Joel massacres the people he swore to find, the people he fought so hard to deliver Ellie to. The scene in the doctors office was brutal for a reason. I don't think anyone at naughty dog would say they want people viewing Joel as an angel, as the white knight, as a real hero.

Ellie is the hero. Joel and the Fireflies are flawed, tragic figures with lots of blood on their hands and have ended many loves serving their own agendas.

I don't think it's a question of who is good, who is bad, they are all good and bad, except Ellie, who is a pure soul willing to sacrifice herself. The question is, which decision was the best for the greater good. Joel might have made the best decision. Maybe Ellie's kids are immune too, and their kids kids, etc and that's how humanity is ultimately saved, maybe the fireflies could have found a cure, who knows.

I think naughty dog did a perfect job presenting a morally challenging scenario without a clear cut hero/villain and very deep and meaningful shades of grey instead of just black and white.

Just my opinion, of course

[The JareBear]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

Ok, for real final post about ending/characters in general

Spoiler

You find his motives more appealing than David, the hunters, and the fireflies.

You may find his reasoning more noble than David, the hunters, and the fireflies.

Bottom line is, at the end of the day, Joel is a murderer just like David, the hunters, and the fireflies. Joel is a stone cold, vicious, cold blooded killer.

While the Fireflies may not have the best track record of reliability, it's not like Joel hasn't failed quite a bit himself. How many people has he failed to keep safe? The people he has kept safe, at what cost (Tommy seems scarred by their past and what Joel did to survive, and Ellie, well, we've gone over it).

Not very clear cut, in my eyes.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

I beat this on Friday. For some reason my time reset once I got to the tunnel at the end of the game, but between having to redo certain "combat only" areas and stopping for photo mode I put in about 24 hours playing on Survivor. I'm going to go through and try to find all the items and run through on Survivor Plus. I'm undecided on if I want to venture into Grounded Mode.

I'm going to read through the threads and if necessary dish out on my take of the story and ending, but survival and redemption is what I took away from the experience.

As far as the actual game goes other than RE4 I don't remember a game being this tense and stressful over the course of its run-time. The gameplay mechanics are stiff enough where mistakes will get you injured (or killed on the higher levels), but they never hinder the experience or feel cheap. Some of the enemy mechanics can be corny and some of the scripted events leads to some understandably frustrated encounters, but overall the sneaking past an army squad or collection of Clickers feels tense and rewarding when you're successful. Gun play is tight, but as a resource manager first I always went with the cheapest, most plentiful resource: Joel's bare hands. Whether it was suffocating an unknowing enemy or just beating their head against the wall this game conveys that sense of brutal survivalism very well. There is a case to be made to the gameplay's simliarites to RE4, but that's about as far as I would go calling the gameplay generic.

[m_maclean24]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

My wife bought me a PS4 for my 30th birthday - the TLOU Remastered bundle - came with a digital download of TLOU and I also picked up The Show 14. Coming from Xbox previous gen, I was not too aware of TLOU at all, and I have to say, it is one of the better games I have played. I am still under ten hours into it, but I have really enjoyed it so far! I am really impressed with the visuals, and glad that I am playing it through for the first time on the PS4.

[canes21]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

It's fine if you all are enjoying the gameplay and feel it isn't generic. You aren't wrong because it is just your opinion. All I am saying is that in my opinion the gameplay is very lacking and I am glad I had low expectations and did not listen to all of the hype. I knew better than that.

I am playing on the second highest level it allowed me to pick(the one right under grounded I think), and I just haven't had any tense moments. Sneaking past a group of clickers is just crouch walking and staying more than 5 feet from them at all times. Sneaking past a group of enemies is just strangling one, walking away, strangling another, etc. They should have had patrols partnered up more often, had them talking to each other more often. As it stands now you can pretty much just sneak around, not caring about how much noise you make as it it doesn't seem to matter at all, and just strangle everyone.

And if you decide to take the guns blazing approach, the enemy is so conservative that you can easily just rush them and fight each one with your hands even if they all have guns. I've yet to have a situation where I was out of ammo and scared, or running low and scared. The hand to hand is very generic. Repeatedly tap square to kill them after 5 taps with no loss of health at all. Kill one guy, sprint off and the AI uses their 20/150 vision to lose you after 10 feet. The AI lacks any true vision which just kills the game.

I guess I was just expecting a true lack of supplies and being stealthy to actually require time and thought. As it stands now you can move within 2 feet of the AI and they won't notice you because they have terrible hearing and no peripheral vision. That's what disappointed me with this game. I didn't expect revolutionary gameplay, I just expected a game where stealth really mattered and was challenging. Even on the level I am playing on, supplies are plenty and the AI is plain dumb.

With all that being said, I still think the game is very good and is carried by the story. As average gameplay and AI as there can be, but an amazing story. That's this game in a nutshell for me. Add in some pretty good graphics and it is still a game that I don't regret buying because I am fortunately a sucker for good stories in games and this game delivers that. I just wish it also delivered on the gameplay front.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

It sounds like the difference in difficulty makes the game entirely different. Playing on Survivor I never had a full round of ammo or enough loot/materials to have any significant form of weaponized stockpile. I kept a healthpack on hand at all times, but outside of that it seemed like half of each recipe had adequate number of materials and the other half were scarce. I died multiple times just trying to sneak past certain areas much less if I wanted to waste bullets and try to Rambo my way through.

Hell, one of the easiest sections to me was the hospital.

[Valdarez]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

Ok, for real final post about ending/characters in general

Spoiler

You find his motives more appealing than David, the hunters, and the fireflies.

You may find his reasoning more noble than David, the hunters, and the fireflies.

Bottom line is, at the end of the day, Joel is a murderer just like David, the hunters, and the fireflies. Joel is a stone cold, vicious, cold blooded killer.

While the Fireflies may not have the best track record of reliability, it's not like Joel hasn't failed quite a bit himself. How many people has he failed to keep safe? The people he has kept safe, at what cost (Tommy seems scarred by their past and what Joel did to survive, and Ellie, well, we've gone over it).

Not very clear cut, in my eyes.

Agree.

Spoiler

Joel indicated he worked with Hunters early in the game when he recognized a trap (when the person was pretending to be hurt but wasn't). At the end of the day Joel chose his feelings for Elle over the salvation of humanity. Spock would not have approved (the need of the many always overrides the need of the one). Joel's choice a hint of nobility (doing what's right despite the cost), but ultimately it was selfishness based on Joel's loss of his daughter and his want/need to fill that whole in his life.

When life gets whittled down to the bare necessities and brutality rules the day, it becomes far more difficult to judge right from wrong when survival is the ultimate goal.

[canes21]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

It sounds like the difference in difficulty makes the game entirely different. Playing on Survivor I never had a full round of ammo or enough loot/materials to have any significant form of weaponized stockpile. I kept a healthpack on hand at all times, but outside of that it seemed like half of each recipe had adequate number of materials and the other half were scarce. I died multiple times just trying to sneak past certain areas much less if I wanted to waste bullets and try to Rambo my way through.

Hell, one of the easiest sections to me was the hospital.

I am playing on Survivor..

[BenGerman]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

Yeah, I just got done playing (and beating) the game on Survivor. If you're looking for a "realistic" way to tackle the apocalypse, it's the only way to go. There were long stretches of the game where I didn't have a single thing of ammo, and was forced to survive via other ways.

PS: I felt like Left Behind was just as good as the main game -- if only because they did SUCH a good job with the atmosphere seeming just a hair lighter than when Ellie meets up with Joel.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

I am playing on Survivor..

I must suck more than I thought haha.

[canes21]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

I must suck more than I thought haha.

Haha, I doubt it's that. I think I just expected more of a survival game than what it is and that's where the problem lies. It's a good game, great story. I just thought it would be more survival based than it is.

[Gerg04]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

Wow. Finally finished the story. Took me around 18 hours. Also being able to read everyone's impressions on the ending and the game as a whole is phenomenal. There was close to the same sense of accomplishment as finishing RdR. Having said that, Ellie has become my favorite video game character of all time.

If the discussions here (and other forums I'm sure) don't help shape the fact that VIDEO GAMES ARE A TRUE ART FORM, I don't know what other argument can be made. This was the best story I've ever played/watched. Video game or movie. And the fact that you interact with it beginning to end with 15-20 hours worth of entertainment is a true testament to the value of entertainment vs dollars spent.

I'd love to get into some of my view points about the ending and game as a whole, but I could be here all night. Still have the DLC to go and definitely another play thru at some point.

Basically came here now to reinforce my thoughts from my 1st 10 min of game play. And that is: The Last of Us is the epitome of quality gaming and Naughty Dog is a truly amazing and unique development group who GETS it and is able to deliver on so many levels (MP don't forget), a memorable and exhilarating experience that I personally will appreciate for a long time.

[Pezell04x]

Re: The Last of Us: Remastered

I'm still early into the story, but one thing that has bothered me is my partner's AI (not Ellie, whoever else we have).

Spoiler

I just met up with Bill and I'm going through the Clicker graveyard. We are about to get to the end, I distract the last Clicker and Bill starts shooting the ****ing place up. This happened a good 5-6 times and I went to bed because I was getting pissed off.