The Last of Us Part II - What Needed To Change?

Last of Us Part 2 is a hot piece of garbage for a lot of people a daunting unrelenting slog of a game that beats its players to a pulp in its attempts to Garner any sort of sympathy for its characters on the other hand many praise it for being an astonishing achievement a game that pushes the boundaries of the medium with an ambitious morally complex story that'll leave you contemplating the journey long after the credits roll well it's a little bit of both when I initially played a game at launch I had mixed feelings about the experience overall I thought the story was a bit too melancholic for its own good and I didn't find it to be impactful in the right ways but the gameplay was awesome and there were enough hard pounding set pieces to make the experience worthwhile having not played it in a couple years I wondered if a second playthrough would make me see the game any differently maybe the story would resonate with me more since I know what happens and I don't have any preconceived expectations I ended up diving in again and I'll say my impressions are basically the same as the first time I want to clarify I think the game is pretty damn good overall and is a massive Triumph in a lot of ways everyone should acknowledge that the game is graphically impressive has incredibly detailed environments lighting character models the performances from the entire cast are phenomenal and the gameplay is excellent with fluid Gunplay and an exhilarating stealth system what I'm saying isn't controversial though most everyone would agree with these sentiments it's mostly The Narrative that's right out everyone up there are fundamental flaws with the story that I guess sour the experience at least for me and for this video I'm assuming that you're already familiar with the story and it's criticized shortcomings particularly it's structure characters and unrelenting reminder that yes revenge is bad did you know that revenge is bad the discourse around this game's story though is really painful honestly with often the loudest voices being on the super extreme ends of the spectrum it's a it's a masterpiece Abby's too strong she's a man as someone who enjoyed the gamer overall but acknowledges that there's issues I want to respectfully offer some suggestions on what I think needs to change in order for the story to be more palatable and to pack a punch I want to approach these suggestions in a way that will bring the story to its best version possible while also maintaining most of the pieces that were there originally because it's not my goal to completely scrap the drugs vision and replace it with my own fan fiction I won't do that to you druck so what exactly needed to change structure the early game especially many of the story's shortcomings are a result of a poorly executed introduction to sum up the first hour or so Joel the extremely complex compelling former protagonist is murdered in Cold Blood causing Ellie to leave and seek revenge and that's it look I'm I'm not opposed to a story revolving around Joel's death I thought what he did in the first game was horrendous and a story about him facing judgment for his actions was very intriguing to me but the game honestly pulls the trigger or or should I say beats him mercilessly way too soon for its own good Joel's death is used as a simple plot device a shocking instigating event done to artificially rage bait players into accepting the Revenge story they'll be taken on for the next 20 something hours the impact of his death relies purely on the fond memories players have of him from the original game and nothing more because let's face it he doesn't get any time to shine in this one what happens to him is abrupt and frankly unearned the intro is mostly focused on introducing Dina and Jesse and their Dynamic with Ellie as well as each other which is essential considering that they're the primary Ensemble of game but the narrative makes the Bold choice of omitting any new interactions between Joel and Ellie the only insight into their relationship is that something's off with them which you can assume is Ellie discovering or at least being suspicious about Joel's actions at the fire hospital and why she wasn't cured it's not until we're given some flashbacks littered across the game that we understand how Joel and Ellie's relationship progressed since the first Last of Us and the flashbacks are very important they answer a lot of big questions they cover Ellie's suspicions surrounding Joel and why the Cure wasn't developed and as expected she inevitably discovers the truth that Joel caused a rampage to save her perhaps dooming Humanity's only chance for a cure for his own selfish gain Ellie is clearly heartbroken and raged and she states that she's gonna come out of her life as you can assume from the beginning of the game these are the only flashbacks we get before we switch to Abby's half Edition with just these flashbacks to expand Joel and Ali's narrative you almost wonder why eliasota voted to killing Abby in the first place doesn't she see Joel as a monster isn't traveling across the country and putting herself and her friends in danger to seek revenge a bit Reckless especially when Joel's actions were so horrendous and irredeemable is there Vendetta worth it over a man like that Ellie initially concluded that A fitting punishment for Joel would be to cut him out of her life depriving him the very thing that he sacrificed everything for more time with her Ellie's reaction to his death from what the game shows is as if Joel was the saint of Jackson the emotional complexity of Ellie's grieving process has no room to breathe the way information is presented in the game makes Ellie's rage fuel Journey seem a little detached from what we understand has happened between them it isn't until the very end of the game that we're given a final flashback which recontextualizes Ellie's mindset during the story in it she decides to approach Joel telling him it should have been up to her whether to proceed with the surgery or not and that Joel should have never taken that choice from her after the scolding she opens up and admits that she's willing to try to forgive him and Forge their bond even if it might be impossible it's a punch to the gut especially since we know Joel is killed shortly after this exchange the scene is essential for explaining Ellie's pain throughout the game by fleshing out the existential crisis that motivates Ellie's Behavior she believed that providing a cure to the world was her purpose in life and without that her existence wouldn't matter at all when Joel took away the biggest thing she was willing to fight and die for it took away a piece of herself in the process she condemns Joel for his actions but still Harbors enough love and compassion for him that she's is willing to attempt to make things work since he was basically her father at that point she knew Joel devoted his life to her well-being and because of this was able to be sympathetic toward his selfish deadly tunnel vision that he had for her because she knows Joel is actually fueled by love rather than hate even if he does terrible things in a way Joel's actions taught her that there can be more to life than achieving a grand purpose life is about the experiences we have love for others learning growing though she felt deprived of any purpose since the incident through forgiving him and reforging their bond she might finally be able to heal herself and find that she's more than a vessel for the Cure she can be a daughter a friend a partner someone who uplifts her community mending her relationship with Joel was the first step to realize in this and finding new purpose but then Joel dies none of the Nuance of Joel's death and its effect on Ellie can truly be understood until the end of the game which is frustrating because so much could have been fixed by simply front loading the flashbacks and presenting them chronologically think about it the flashback gameplay with Joel and Ellie in the first couple of hours would have been a great opportunity to establish the current state of the relationship provide additional context and give players more bonding slash goodbye time with Joel all which would have improved the impact of his death having more of this information makes the plot so much more engaging assuming the Cure would have been developed if the surgery proceeded Joel basically stopped Humanity's chance at a new beginning and simultaneously took Ellie's perceived life purpose away from her and even after Ellie finds out she is still willing to give him a chance honestly a perfect outcome for Joel it's his Hollywood ending he would have gotten everything he wanted but it's arguably one he doesn't deserve so that's why on the precipice of rekindling his relationship with Ellie Joel's death could have felt like inevitable Karma rather than shock value and cheap advancement into the main plot additionally we would get a much better glimpse into Ellie's mental state and why she's so consumed by his death because we know she lost her second chance at a new purpose she's now aimless and the only thing she can conceive of doing with her life is avenging Joel because he was the last link she had for any sort of meaning if you're enjoying so far please consider hitting up that subscribe button Shameless plug one of the primary goals of The Last of Us 2 story is to emphasize that the world is not black and white that there is no true good or true evil it wants us to evaluate people who've had to make morally questionable decisions to keep themselves alive and their allies alive to understand that behind every Soldier is a soul and that's where Abby comes in Abby's primary function in the plot is to advance these themes to be a mirror of Ellie and to remind us that there's two sides to every story the game stumbles in how it chooses to approach this theme though rather than setting up an interesting narrative that balances Ellie and Abby's perspectives off of one another and shows how their actions directly impact each other and instead approach which is it by telling one side of the story Ellie's first and it stays completely silent on the other Abby's until about 10 or so hours into the game where then that story plays out and on top of that the plot never demands Ellie or Abby to really evaluate each other or contemplate the rationale for what the other is doing I don't think Abby ever tells Ellie that you'll kill her father and Ellie never really discusses her relationship with Joel to Abby instead the game just takes their destruction and jams it in our face you might be wondering what exactly do I mean so here's an example during the hospital encounters Ellie you likely shanked or blasted an NPC dog and heard someone wail around just an absolute despair it's horrifying you come to later find out that this dog bear is an important dog in the wolf community and when you play as Abby you can even pet bear oh my God yet that's the extent of it we have a quick moment where you feel bad but the story itself never asked its character to engage with it more than that it's quite a common reoccurrence in this game even with big character deaths while playing as Ellie you kill someone later is Abby you find out that person was important in one way or another and that's it you the player might feel bad about it but the narrative never meaningfully covers Ellie or Abby processing the ramification of each other's actions and how it affects them they just kind of continue on as usual and it feels weird when Abby's roommate and one of her closest friends Manny gets blasted by Tommy Abby just kind of moves on right away Ellie kills melon Owen kind of bugs out for a second but she never seriously considers backing down because she's fully committed to doing as many [ __ ] up things as possible I guess later on Abby finds Owen and Mel's bodies does a little yacking a little crying and then immediately leads to Avenged him she pulls up to the theater obliterates Jesse but conveniently shows Mercy to Ellie and Tommy two who are way more involved than everything and oh my God it's just too much in my opinion character deaths just aren't done right the structure of the game makes it so you know who exactly is gonna die like I was saying the format Ellie kills blank Abu reacts but it doesn't do anything interesting with it a game that approaches this idea in a similar way that's actually interesting is Red Dead Redemption 2. and Red Dead 2 protagonist Arthur Morgan is diagnosed with tuberculosis which is basically a death sentence in the 1800s and the game is pretty upfront that he will not make it yet the diagnosis ends up elevating the story beyond what most would have imagined because what appears to be a basic Western tale transforms into a really introspective character study about a man Reckoning with his mortality and whether or not he can use his little time left to perhaps make some amends after an entire life of misdeeds Arthur who had spent most of his life as a Lackey in Dutch vanderlands gain dropped his own self-interest in favor of helping those that actually have time to turn their life around becomes a mentor to the good souls in the gang and tries to steer them away from gang leader Dutch in hopes of giving them a chance to live an honest decent life Arthur's final ad is helping Red Dead one protagonist John Marson and his family escape the vanderling game in hopes that they'll be able to live the life he never got to since Red Dead 2 is a prequel to Red Dead 1 and released almost eight years later Arthur's character hadn't even been conceived when the original came out yet you can't help but feel his impact on Jon when playing the the original again as if Rockstar were masterminds and had it planned out from the beginning it's proof that amazing writing makes characters transcend death keeping them relevant long after their passing and ultimately making their time alive feel that much more impactful the last of us too does not do this characters do not transcend their death Owen's death doesn't leave a void in Abby's story it just happens Jesse's death means nothing and if anything his character just existed to introduce a baby in Ellie and Dina's relationship everyone just moves on to their next objective like nothing happened because nothing is actually processed by any characters in this game it's a domino effect of one death to the next and it seems like us the player are the only ones that are expected to care the excuse that Ellie and Abby are consumed by revenge and therefore will act a little silly and a little goofy isn't quite adequate enough to rationalize a lot of their behavior in this game on a bit of a side note I also felt that most of Abby's group were just kind of lame in comparison to Ellie's like Ellie's Jackson Squad at least have an interesting dynamic because they bring their own unique charm and personality it makes traveling with them more fun and engaging and gets you more invested in their well-being Abby's group on the other hand is really vanilla they feel like co-workers who are forced to get along because you have to see each other every day Mel often comes across as really annoying and irresponsible like she put her baby in danger for absolutely no reason Owen though he sometimes is pretty reasonable especially with the Joel death he actually seemed to show some restraint but he's still a sleazeball who's willing to leave his child behind without much regret and he hops between Abby and Mel throughout the game Manny is charismatic but that's all we really get from him because you know him and basically the rest of her group don't really get a chance to express themselves Beyond basic personality traits the game refuses to provide more than surface level explanations for their motivations and then expects that to be enough to care about them and it's no wonder why people care more when a character like Joel dies because he has so much more depth and has had time to develop whereas Abby's group isn't given that luxury but the game still expects that same amount of sympathy speaking of Abby she's definitely the most to the bunch and I think she's a great character but she still deserves a little bit better than the game gave her we know her dad died because of Joel which is sad so okay that's her main underlying motivation we know about her role as a soldier within wolf we get a grasp on her relationships within wolf but it's the smaller finer details that I found maybe the most interesting about the character for example there's a small optional dialogue where Abby asks a fellow wolf girl about the book Monte Cristo and wants to discuss the ending with her they have a little banter about how they're excited to read and discuss it with each other it's a Gateway into Abby's love of classic literature which provides an interesting contrast to her tough Persona as a wolf Soldier and it adds so much this is just one example and I'm sure there's more I can't think of right now but I think the game needed to include more small moments like this for Abby it's nice to just take time to shine light on her interest and what she's passionate about besides revenge and slaughtering her foes Abby's Arc with Levin Yara has the most heart and is honestly the highlight of the whole game because it's where Abby is to break free from the wolf and Ellie mumbo jumbo and she's given jurisdiction to forge her own path in the last of this world Abby realizes that she's straying far from the person she was and wants to be she often dreams of the Firefly hospital the night her dad was killed and it's a reminder that her dad someone she viewed as the embodiment of helping people and valuing life was taken from the world leaving this void that's been consuming her ever since this void pushed her to do things like seeking brutal revenge on Joel and it's in the aftermath of Joel's death that Abby rationalizes rather than continuing to succumb to this Darkness she might be able to replace it with light instead in an act to seek Redemption from her life as a soldier and her ruthlessness with the Joel situation Abby helps two siblings from the opposing scar Camp levinara Escape their cult and she eventually forges a strong bond with them after freeing the children and giving them a chance Abby dreams of her dad again but this time it's not all scary and nightmarish he's actually there just smiling in approval Abby finally has some light within her again and it's a satisfying conclusion to her Redemption arcade obviously not like she's completely redeemed but she's on right track and helping them has clearly opened up a part of her that had been closed for a very long time and speaking of character deaths yes Yara does die but unlike the other deaths it actually feels like it serves the story more in a positive way because she does sacrifice her life to save Abby and Lev rather than just dying to increase the anger and make us mad serve the Revenge story Levin Abby become all each other have at this point so they become each other's best friend family even and they would do anything for each other it's the only relationship of Abby's that I find makes complete sense in this game and the only storyline that isn't extremely depressing maybe that was a point though like maybe it wasn't healthy for Abby to be around the wolf personalities that mob mentality they had going and maybe she needed new friends and family to correct herself but if that's the case why does the game put so much of its Stakes on trying to get us to sympathize with these wolf people and expect us to feel remorse for their deaths I also think there's some basis to the argument that the plot seems to favor Abby over Ellie a little bit by giving Abby a lot more opportunities for Redemption question and appearing as a good person clearly in an attempt to make up for Joel's death the players already know Ellie so maybe they thought that they could just get away with making the story so Bleak the whole time with her because we know she's good deep down but I do think that they wanted to portray her more as like the villain in this one so if Ellie is clearly more of a villain in this game why doesn't Abby win a lot of people over well it's probably because the game makes the unfortunate decision of portraying Abby just as an absolute monster as early as possible when she bludgeons Joel to death moments after he saves her life she doesn't hesitate At All by the way it's not a good look to take out a fan favorite character so brutally yes we know it narratively makes complete sense that she would have a motivation to kill Joel yet the presentation of the sequence is quite tasteless like I was saying it feels like shock value rather than good storytelling I'd like to present a hypothetical framework for the beginning of the game that gives Abby's decision to kill Joel a little more nuance and complexity to begin Abby would separate from her group and run into Joel just like the normal game but instead of them being in the life or death's zombie Ambush the entire time let's have some quieter gameplay with Joel and Abby together to those asking wouldn't Abby find out it's Joel right away let's say Joel uses an alias outside of Jackson because he might be concerned people would seek retaliation for all the things he's done in his life even beyond the Firefly Hospital event he's done a lot of [ __ ] up [ __ ] and made a lot of enemies and in the last of his Universe clearly shows that it's very easy to find people across the country bringing these characters together gives time to establish Chemistry Between Abby and Joel they could have a chance to see each other as decent compassionate human beings and begin to learn more about each other on a deeper level this would help naturally Implement Abby's character into the core Last of Us Universe by giving her interactions with the main cast and making her integration into these characters lives more organic rather than keeping her story so separate from everything with this framing once Abby discovers the truth about Joel she has a crisis she's begun to admire this man and was starting to see him as a friend after meeting him and learning about his love for Ellie she can see that ironically his action were a result of intense humanity and love rather than evil and in his blinded state to save the person he cared about most he did Terrible Things sure it doesn't have to be enough to win her over by any means but it can give her an understanding of why this man took her father from her continuing with our new framework Abby would eventually reunite with her crew inform them she's made contact with their Target and then they all confront Joel Abby this time though would feel conflicted and is hesitant to go through with it but her friends not having had the time to meet and empathize with Joel convinces Abby that he deserves it and they remind her of all the pain he's caused and that they didn't travel all the way out there and risk their lives for nothing Abby's hesitation would give the moment more of an emotional impact because she'd be questioning her morality does she have the right to be the judge jury and executioner will it really make her feel better she's come to learn quite a bit about this man and he's not the complete monster she expected him to be so although he made these grave mistakes could he be redeemed does he deserve it and then you deliver the killing blow but have Abby just shoot Joel instantly killing him no brutal execution or drawn out violence just a quick death Abby doesn't need to enjoy the killing and make it a spectacle because the decision to pull the trigger is Tough Enough for her and as the player we can sympathize with her in this moment while simultaneously feeling the sadness of Joel's death Ellie will still be enraged having just opened her heart to Joel again and find a new purpose like disgust and it leaves the trajectory of the plot in the same state this would provide more engaging character development for everyone involved especially Abby because we can understand her motivations and avoid Joel's theatric death it's a better way to expand the themes of the game because learning both sides of the story at this critical juncture doesn't paint the wolf group as complete villains and we can evaluate the complexities of each side's motivations we also have more respect for Abby and become more open to her gameplay sections when they arrive because we know she has depth we can anticipate her reaction to the aftermath of Joel's death and the destruct functionality is causing to find her yes I know I said I want to stay away from altering the story a lot and writing fan fiction but I do think framing this story like this would have done wonders for the game without changing too much even if we couldn't write anything though just showing Abby's flashbacks first would have given players more to work with in terms of sympathy and opening up to her character the game appears to have wanted to flip the script halfway through and use Abby's perspective as like a Twist but that approach to the story did a disservice to Abby and was ultimately a less interesting way to present the story on the surface The Last of Us One appeared to be a run-of-the-mill apocalypse story where people are fighting to survive in a world overrun by infected and bandits with Ellie's immunity in the journey across the country giving it that Hollywood high-stakes appeal yeah these are just a vehicle to tell the real story the relationship between Joel and Ali the real enjoyment is getting to watch a Joel start to open himself up again after living a life of trauma and beginning to believe that maybe the world can change for the better Last of Us one hits hard because it's about the ways in which love and Humanity Prevail in dark times and the lengths people will go to protect those they care about no matter the cost on the surface of the last of us too it appears to be a Revenge plot but at its core it's in anti-revenge plot I guess unlike the last of us one which had tasteful dissection of ideas and themes while the second one really says is something many other stories have already covered seeking revenge is bad the last of us too doesn't work as well particularly because the game feels a bit soulless in comparison the characters often act like they don't have any Humanity left in them and they go through arduous lengths to prove it with their Revenge plots complex ideas and themes are present in this game but there's stuff in the jumbled mess of the revenge's bad concept Abby's story in the Lev Yara Arc is actually pretty impactful Abby herself was consumed by rage and hatred over the death of her father and went to extreme lengths to avenge him but afterwards she didn't feel any better and in fact it was basically the nail in the coffin not only for her life since it brought Ellie after her and her friends but for her Humanity in general because she killed a man brutally after this she contemplates whether or not she'll ever be a good person again she feels the need to help Levin Yara because she needs to redeem herself to bring back the light in her life that had been gone for for so long since her dad's passing Ellie acts almost has a force of nature in Abby's story like the Grim Reaper slowly creeping closer and closer as Abby's trying to become a better person and lead a new life if Abby were to die it would suggest that no matter how hard one tries their prior actions May forfeit them from Redemption which is an interesting idea and directly relates to Joel's death but the game goes for a bit more of a positive outlook in this regard when Ellie spares Abby it suggests that people can find themselves again after being lost and they can be forgiven at least story is interesting in how it shows the ways in which her extreme grief is ruining her life gone is The Eccentric silly girl from the first game now a piece of her is missing after Joel passed and on top of that her immunity doesn't matter anymore so she feels hopeless at least judgment becomes clouded by the grief she's battling and she sees Revenge as the only step forward to escape the darkness I'm not opposed to Ellie's side of the story being about the consequences of her actions how they impact herself mentally how they impact her relationship with her friends especially how they impact Abby because that's all all very interesting overall I thought Ellie's side of the story was pretty decently told and fit the themes well up until the Santa Barbara section I find the Santa Barbara section to be just the most egregious part of the game by far like come on Ellie you're telling me after your little Escapade gets one of your best friends shot in the face almost kills your girlfriend and your child disables Tommy permanently and just causes a whole lot of [ __ ] that isn't enough to let it go Abby literally let Ellie live too so you think Ellie might analyze that decision and maybe learn oh I [ __ ] up and I should let it all go no but she leaves her batty GF her cute baby the dope Farm life she has just to travel an extremely far and perilous Journey with the slight potential of finding a girl who's honestly faced enough judgment already because let's face it you killed all of her friends oh oh but when you miraculously find her in the lizard people camp you then decide to save her beat her to a pulp and then let her live huh how many people did you kill why lives did you ruin just to get to this point but now you've come to your senses it's just so dumb and extra I honestly think Ellie killing Abby would have been a more tragic and compelling ending at that point it would show that Ellie's rage had consumed her and that Abby was not able to escape the sins of her past even though she had started a new life or tried to it's yeah a pretty bleak ending but would be more satisfying in the moment I think I understand that the message of the actual ending is pretty hopeful for Ellie I get it she realizes that she's begun to lose herself and that taking Abby's life would be the nail in the coffin for her Humanity which is very similar to the struggles Abby was facing I also like the flash of Joel Lacs when she decides to save Abby because it's a direct parallel to Abby dreaming of her father when she saves Levin Yara and basically choosing the good thing and I like that the game isn't trying to completely take all the goodness away from Ellie but did we really need an entire new section of gameplay to have Ellie abruptly come to this conclusion in the middle of the final fight it feels like naughty dog made up the Santa Barbara section slapped it onto the end of the game and then had to write some sort of story to wrap things up and it just didn't connect well at all I don't think I just wish that section of the game had been cut completely or reworked somehow to fit better in the narrative everyone who plays the game knows the game insists on shouting in our face revenge is bad which we already know the whole game just seems to be about who can cause the most damage and it's honestly exhausting the characters can be conflicted make mistakes do some [ __ ] up things at times but Ellie and Abby are so far gone in this game that it almost makes it hard to relate to them and play them as characters I think it would have been best to take the Revenge aspects of this game and just dial them down a bit to let the humanity shine through because at its core The Last of Us is about Reaching For Humanity in Dark times at least that's what the first one was hammering in it's now that the last of us two isn't really about that because that idea is still there but I found that it didn't do it nearly as well because it's too Bleak for its own good with a little bit of restructuring The Last of Us two could definitely be a more profound experience and win people over presenting the game chronologically adjusting Abby's character introduction and so doing the extreme event themes are a step in the right direction in my opinion but with the game like this it's hard to know exactly what the right move is honestly I might change my opinion on a lot of things as time progresses but I just wanted to write down my thoughts now while I'm while I'm held in and while the new last of a show is coming out right now because I like to compare to the adaptation and stuff and I'm curious what they're going to do with season two overall I still highly enjoyed the last of us too and always prefer games that leave a lasting impact on me rather than those I forget just after a week I play them so I do appreciate that about the game like for real I just made a how long video about it so so to the two people if I'm lucky who watch this video I just want to say thank you very much I'd love to hear your thoughts on the game this video whatever you want honestly go crazy in the comments if you enjoyed Smack That subscribe button perhaps and I'm looking forward to catching you guys next time on whatever I do so peace

Channel: TheBoiChuck

Views: 24,319

Keywords: TLOU2, VideoEssay, Gaming, HBO, Ellie, Abbie

Id: tdywAJNQfvU

Length: 27min 26sec (1646 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 06 2023