dependent on the source - a review of the last of us (2023)

last video I made I talked about a video game series that means a lot to me turning into a streaming show that's really bad this time I thought I'd switch things up and talk about a video game that I mostly like turning into a show that's very good The Last of Us there's a lot of Praise going around for this show it got accolades for breaking the video game movie Curse Pedro Pascal is having the worst press tour of his life no and its finale had more viewers than House of the Dragon like damn people really like this thing and I happen to be one of them but it's simply the show is very good and people are crooked and saying that this is a faithful adaptation the writing is sharp the characters feel perfect Pedro Pascal does a great Joel Bella Ramsay is exceptional as Ellie Nick Offerman turns incredible Standalone episode of television as Bill the show itself is headed by Neil druckman the game director for the original Last of Us and Last of Us Part Two along with Craig Mason who's known for writing the thrilling series superhero movie I got a better [ __ ] down on too Blow That Thing Up In all seriousness though when this show first got announced I just finished her Noble and as soon as I saw Mason's name attached I got super excited that show is probably the only thing to genuinely scare me like tell me that diver scene at the end of the second episode isn't nerve-wracking as [ __ ] this guy is perfect for that job [Music] foreign but as much as I can praise and recommend this show it does raise a question that I've had in my mind for a while what exactly is the future for video game adaptations because yes this show is very good at using its source material but in a way it's also kind of too good like so much time and energy is going into recreating scenes from a game frame by frame to allow you and get a raise from fans of the original that feels like it's forgetting how to be its own thing and it's not like the show doesn't know how to do that the first episode is a great example it's faithful to the first couple hours of the game but it also creates these scenes that weren't in the game to begin with third episode is probably the strongest example focusing on bill and his partner Frank Bill's segment in the show is completely different from the source material it's a similar idea but the execution focuses on two people building a relationship that's eventually growing into a Bittersweet end rather than Joel and Ellie just exploring another town with traps everywhere before we go further into this let's really think about what makes a video game special to me it comes down to a simple word interaction you can move touch talk bite Drive swing you can interact with the world you don't live in we're at a point where video games have never been more realistic the details are so crisp the lighting is almost perfect the characters look and sound like people they're so Advanced to this kind of stuff that progression and gaming Hardware is at a standstill don't believe me ask someone what's the must play game on the PlayStation 5. so now that we're here let's ask ourselves what do we gain from turning video games in television or movies you see a game like Castlevania has some cool ideas it's got cool characters monsters settings music writing but it also looks like this [Music] so if you heard Netflix is making a 2d animated show that's fully voice acted and several seasons long you probably expect there to be some notable differences but these two working hand in hand because where you might lose something like interactivity in Castlevania you get new takes on characters and designs or even ideas you might not have considered while playing it now looking ahead at the last of us considering what we've just went over what benefit does putting this on a silver or small screen give that balance of taking away something unique that you can only find in a video game in favor of showing something realistic or to give this illusion that it's come to life isn't as good of a deal as one might expect well there's always people that might be interested in the story but don't want to spend 15 hours opening emptying drawers walking through hallways creating the same flicker gift animation over and over dealing with [ __ ] stealth Mechanics for this example we're going to take a look at the ninth episode when we are in need so expect some spoilers for both versions of The Last of Us now in this part of the game Joel has been injured badly after an encounter with some Raiders in Colorado Ellie is forced to take reins here and guide him towards shelter the usual routine of following Joel across the country has come to a stop now she has to live off the Wilderness alone and keep an unconscious stroll alive through her attempts she comes across a group of survivors being led by a man named David she's skeptical at first to their aid but Joel's condition isn't getting any better maybe we could trade you for some of that meat there what do you need weapons ammo clothes medicine do you have any antibiotics we do the cab welcome to followers I'm not following you anywhere while David's hunting friend goes to retrieve the supplies Ellie and David are left alone and forced to fight off a horde of infected finding themselves constantly on the Run they eventually hold their ground and Ellie let some of her guard down which is where Ellie learns about David's motivations this winner has been especially cruel few weeks back sent a group of men out nearby Town look for food only a few came back he said that the others have been slaughtered I uh crazy man and get this crazy man traveling a little girl everything happens for a reason Ellie returns to Joel but knows David and his Hunters are on her tail so she flees in order to lead them away as a result Ellie is captured and suing Joel regains Consciousness Joel is now on the brink of losing another child close to him and is willing to get her back by any means necessary I tell you [ __ ] it's all right I believe him no wait Jill fights through Raiders Ellie breaks free and fights David resulting in her taking the life of a man who nearly killed her if it weren't for Left Behind it's what I would consider to be the best part of The Last of Us what makes this special though is how much time it all takes I can easily say this is the hardest part of the game for the past several hours it's been searching and Scavenging with little skirmishes and encounters with enemies in between but this chapter though items are even more scarce than they already are and there's very little down time to search for ammo and supplies now that you're playing as Ellie you're far more limited in weapons and equipment but you do get a knife so you don't have to make ships even when you do get to play as Joel he's slower is part of his recovery so sneaking up on people is a lot more difficult you're feeling the desperation of both these characters because you're really playing them the moment David Reveals His True motive is devastating because you just spent an hour trying to stay alive and help each other through hell Joel's section is a Race Against Time and you feel every second of his desperation to find Ellie so let's take take a look at the HBO version of this chapter it's well acted it's put to life well visually the cold Baron Forest is intact they even do the final confrontation with Ellie and David Justice and Bella Ramsay does a great Recreation of this very pivotal moment in Ellie's Arc yet all the attention to detail all this polish it's just not the same that interactivity and time a player has to put in that makes this chapter so good is now missing when the reveal happens like yeah it's well delivered and probably got a gap out of some people but it's nowhere near the same effect as in the game but might have taken half an hour for some people is now a five to ten minute reveal and that's what ultimately makes these last two chapters suffer as accurate as they are the pacing's [ __ ] up now this kind of story just doesn't work in the 50 minutes to an hour time span the show gives it so it just feels like you're watching some guy's cutscene compilation on YouTube it's just more or less the same exact thing that being said though sometimes this show has the lack of a game element work in its favor for instance when Joel and Ellie meet up with Tommy it starts with the Traverse overs and terrain leading to the two of them to a dam followed by a brief encounter with some guards which turned out to be people from Tommy settlement this leads to Tommy and Joel exploring the dam passively while it's getting repaired this part of the game is actually pretty short and it's mostly an Excursion to see the night environments but towards the end there's an attack by Bandits and now you're defending the dam with Tommy and his repair crew sounds like a cool idea start with an exploration segment introduce some new characters along with a familiar face then transition to a combat section that might catch you off guard but there's one little problem naughty dog's level design doesn't work for the stage throughout the game you'll notice these [ __ ] big ass rectangular blocks of cover they could be crates Furniture debris whatever but no matter what it's always that same [ __ ] layout that just screams there's gonna be a fire fight later get ready it's the most obvious thing in the world and it just totally puts you out of the experience the HBO series on the other hand doesn't have to put up with that [ __ ] in this version the damn element is just completely removed Ellie and Joel are exploring Wyoming they come across Iron Man on Horseback who turn out to be working with Tommy and majority of the episode is spent showing Ellie a life without danger lurking around every corner Ellie learns about Sarah and creates this brief Rift between her and Joel Joel tries to get Tommy to escort Ellie to call her Rado rather than doing it himself since this narrative remains a strong in the game and isn't bogged Bound by stupid [ __ ] I'd say this segment works a lot better there is one minor complaint I have about this section though as some of you may know one of the creative Liberties taken was the outbreak starts in 2003 rather than the game state of 2013. this of course is so they can have this deep meaning thing where present day is 2023 during Joel's and Ellie's brief conflict Joel mentions how you have no idea what loss is great line but it doesn't work you see now that the outbreak started in 2003 Joel can't really know what loss is because the comic didn't come out until 2008 while the last of us might be the groundwork on this video really I wanted to address the idea of turning video games into movies or television as a whole people have been wanting some kind of Last of Us show or movie for years now since the story is very cinematic with a focus on defining themes and Rich characters along with this very brutal environment and setting that off often puts characters in troubling situations recently there's been a new wave of these video game adaptations most of these I haven't watched so I can't really tell you if they're good or bad but the demand is definitely a surprise to me for the past year it feels like Sony has been announcing a new adaptation for every exclusive they have like late 2022 they announced a death stranding movie seriously how the [ __ ] are you gonna do that it's already a giant [ __ ] movie it's super realistic looking and they've already got well-known actors that have been in actual movies or television with their likeness being pre-created one to one it's made by a guy that loves that [ __ ] what could you possibly gain from making it an actual movie it's already [ __ ] with how successful the show is I'm partially afraid that it might set a bad precedent with adaptations in the future because what's more important making everything as accurate as possible to please the capital G Gamers or looking at what makes the original as great as it is and building something new on those ideas The Last of Us proves that both can be possible but if you ask me the latter is far more interesting [Music] foreign [Music] [Music]

Channel: lulzy

Views: 622

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Id: 0b1MYKlp1Rg

Length: 11min 54sec (714 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 22 2023