Game Debate #51: The Last of Us

[Reed Rothchild | 9,516]

[DarkTone | 984]

9/10. Amazing story. 

[O.G. CIB | 415]

9/10 for sure......... such an amazing game!

[Sumez | 2,935]

Been in my backlog for too long

[sp1nz | 611]

When I finished it I had the knee-jerk reaction to think of it as a 9/10 game due to the story impact (for video game standards) but at the same time I don't think I'd jump from joy to replay it. The game's approach to design is more grounded than grandiose or "fun". The gameplay is serviceable but nothing to write home about; you explore, you sneak, you fight, you loot, you craft. My immersion was constantly broken when sneaking because enemies don't react to your partner(s) being in plain sight or making noise but obviously this choice was made to not piss of people with AI babysitting. Most design areas beyond the gameplay were done really well and they really carry the overall package. It's a bleak journey worth experiencing once for most people, so I'll be in the 8/10 camp.

[themisfit138 | 523]

2/10. The story was alright, but the gameplay was a slog. Why give me the illusion of stealth if you are just going to have a big fight anyways. Just one of my many dislikes of the game. I have similar complaints about Uncharted.  

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

Never played it, but it sounds interesting.

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

Never played it, but definitely want to try it.  

[Gloves | 11,771]

Gave it an 8 based on my opinion of it when it first came out and when I actually (first) played it.

I got the platinum, maxed out the multiplayer, ran game nights with my trophy hunting friends, really played the shit out of it when it was THE thing to be playing.

Revisiting it on the PS4 ("HD Remaster") and accounting for the butchering the story took with the sequel soured me on it, but I prefer to remember a game for the time I had with it initially rather than necessarily judge it based on future hindsight.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

I think it's great all around. It's not overly long so I didn't get bored of the stealth, combat, or walking simulatoring around super detailed areas like I eventually did with 30 hours of Part II. It does a good job not letting any one of those aspects overstay its welcome. It does repeat the same plot cycle like 4 times of: We need to get to (far off structure) > Oh no, zombies! > The real enemy... is man!

Ellie is probably the strongest female child character in any game in TLOU1. It's easy to get behind the survival-at-all-cost characters on a quest to save humanity even if they're not "the good guys". TLOU2 made that pretty impossible, and it was filled with long sections trying to sympathize or humanize characters that are actual murderous psychopaths.

8 for me

[Nintegageo | 582]

Easy 9 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

4 hours ago, themisfit138 said:

2/10. The story was alright, but the gameplay was a slog. Why give me the illusion of stealth if you are just going to have a big fight anyways. Just one of my many dislikes of the game. I have similar complaints about Uncharted.  

Yep, gameplay absolutely killed it for me.  I know how it goes because of my brother (who slogged through it despite having the same issues withe gameplay I did) and YouTube.  Oh, you're using this gun in this area primarily?  Well here's tons of ammo for every other gun!  Now you want to use the gun we just spent hours throwing tons of ammo at you for?  Well, it's too bad you can't go back and pick any of it up!  And hey, we all know how backpacks work, you can only put a certain amount of every thing you're likely to find in it and not ALL of the ONE THING that you ACTUALLY USE...right?  I just hard turned off my Playstation when I ran into the issue of not being able to stab one of the "zombies" with one half of a pair of scissors.  I guess if I break all of the scissors in the house into two pieces, it's ok to let my kids run around with them, because in no way is one of two sharp, pointed, steel blades dangerous--it's only when they're in pairs!  I won't even get into only being able to use a pair of scissors once and apparently being too inept to remove them from a body for re-use.

So, great story but absolutely abysmal game design, as it's crystal clear that 99% of the stupid restrictions they have on inventory, weapon usage, etc., is specifically put in there to drag things out, and make what would probably be a 2-3 hour game with a great story into an absolute slogfest for people who don't enjoy operating within arbitrary, nonsensible restrictions that in no way reflect the way things really are.  Didn't and won't play again and more than happy to skip the sequel as well.

[Rocketship Evan | 55]

10 – I thought it was a perfect game. I don't play games for the story but I thought the story was good. The gameplay loop, the controls, the atmosphere, the multiplayer, I thought all of the was right on the money. I've beat it five times, I'd beat it on hard then hard plus then that next difficulty and it's plus and then the downloadable difficulty and I was working on its plus when I quit playing. The multiplayer I'm surprised didn't get more recognition, the way they integrated stealth and sound and how it worked with your mini map was revolutionary. The gunplay felt excellent, the sneaking was smooth as silk. I hated the uncharted series but I Loved this game. Best bow ever

[cj_robot | 540]

1 hour ago, Rocketship Evan said:

10 – I thought it was a perfect game. I don't play games for the story but I thought the story was good. The gameplay loop, the controls, the atmosphere, the multiplayer, I thought all of the was right on the money. I've beat it five times, I'd beat it on hard then hard plus then that next difficulty and it's plus and then the downloadable difficulty and I was working on its plus when I quit playing. The multiplayer I'm surprised didn't get more recognition, the way they integrated stealth and sound and how it worked with your mini map was revolutionary. The gunplay felt excellent, the sneaking was smooth as silk. I hated the uncharted series but I Loved this game. Best bow ever

Exactly my feelings about the game. I thought the single player game was great and played through it a few times. Then the multiplayer got me hooked like no other game ever has. Hands down my favorite game from that gen.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

On 5/27/2021 at 10:23 AM, Gloves said:

Gave it an 8 based on my opinion of it when it first came out and when I actually (first) played it.

I got the platinum, maxed out the multiplayer, ran game nights with my trophy hunting friends, really played the shit out of it when it was THE thing to be playing.

Revisiting it on the PS4 ("HD Remaster") and accounting for the butchering the story took with the sequel soured me on it, but I prefer to remember a game for the time I had with it initially rather than necessarily judge it based on future hindsight.

I've never played either one, but I remember reading a lot of complaints about the direction the story took when the sequel came out. 

[Tanooki | 4,932]

Disliked it, a lot.  Gave it a 3 which I see few agree with.  I found the gameplay wasn't the best, nor was the camera, a lot of stupid unnecessary deaths over it.  I'd go lower, but I thought the atmosphere, set pieces, primary characters, and story were pretty good, especially for a survival horror style-ish type game as it is.

[Webhead123 | 675]

Been in my backlog forever and I drag my feet on it because everything I've heard about it suggests to me that I will be disappointed.

a) I'm just not that into "cinematic experience" 3rd-person games of this sort. There are some games in this genre that I have enjoyed, of course. But such a game has to have really amazing gameplay if it wants me to forgive it for forcing me to watch hours of scripted encounters and cutscene transitions.

b) I know the zombie approach in the game is unique and I appreciate that immensely...but the zombie genre on the whole is such a tired horse in video games today. Quickest way to make me disinterested in your game? Make it about fighting zombies. And cutscenes. Or fighting zombies during cutscenes. Snore.

c) My brother actually played all the way through it and I asked some probing questions to help me figure out if it was going to be my cup of tea. He said that the "movie" element of the game was pretty impressive in terms of character drama, etc. But the gameplay was occasionally frustrating and limiting in the worst ways. According to him, anyway. I've come to more or less trust my brother's instincts when it comes to certain kinds of games. Did not bode well for this one.