The Last Of Us

[Goron_3]

Finished!

 

Man, what a game. The level and sound design was absolutely fantastic and I look forward to playing it again one day on a difficulty.

 

I did however have 2 problems with the game:

 

1. I thought the AI was horrific, particularly early on in the game. Having early run past enemies when I was trying to be stealthy completely ruined my immersion in the game. Enemy AI was weird too.

 

2. 'Silent kills' are actually ridicuously loud but no one, including the clickers, picks up on it. It's a small problem but I wish the sound guys just turned it down a bit..again, it completely ruins the tension and immersion.

 

3. The Sniper section was fantastic but after finding an area near the Sniper's window, I was annoyed to find out there wasn't actually a sniper/enemy there and despite the static animation for the rifle, it would magically fire at you in any direction. I thought this was slightly lazy and it ruined the section somewhat.

 

That said, what an epic game. I look forward to the DLC

[The Bard]

Now play multiplayer with me, it's fucking incrediballs.

[Cookyman]

Now play multiplayer with me, it's fucking incrediballs.

 

Me too!

 

[Nintendo Fan]

So this was the first game i played on PS4 last month and oh boy did i love it!! I had no idea how great of a game this was going to be. This has to be one of my all time favorites, it's one of those games where i wish i could go back and experience again for the first time.

 

This felt 'next gen' to me, all the location looked beautiful. The story was F****** AMAZING the pacing even! The way the game started..daaaamn no messing about, not only that but it manages to keep your full attention throughout, like a TV show you always want to know what happens next. It did not disappoint, i can tell you that.

The combat was done really well and with ammo being scarce i felt sooo relieved after each encounter, yes i'm safe for now i can go scavenge for more. It did a good job of creating that survivalist atmosphere.

 

I still have Left Behind DLC to play but i haven't touched it yet. Maybe i'm weird, the reason i haven't played it yet is because i don't want it to end Lol.

[nekunando]

The Last of Us is easily my favourite PS3 game and one that, along with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories on Wii, my wife always asks me to play through again.. but I keep telling her it's too soon

 

The thing with The Last of Us is that I never once played any of the game alone as my wife enjoyed watching me go through it to follow the story and somewhat crappiung herself that the clickers were going to get me

 

It's a superb game and I will venture through it again some day but there are too many other things to be getting on with right now for it to be the right time It's also still fresh in my mind, too!

[Mr-Paul]

This thread bump has made me really want to play through this again - too bad I have too much else to play. It will be looked back at as a classic, for sure. I haven't even played Left Behind so maybe I'll download that at some point to get my fix of The Last of Us.

 

Will be so excited if a sequel is announced, although I do think it functions quite well as a standalone story and would understand if they left it as that.

[Hero-of-Time]

Didn't anyone on here watch the Teens React series when they played this game? It's on YouTube and has around 20 episodes. They play the game from start to finish and it's amazing seeing some of the reactions from the teens playing it. I don't usually care for watching other people play games but this was so gripping. Watching an episode every other week was like watching a TV show. I highly recommend give it a watch.

[lostmario]

God damn you @Hero\-of\-Time, I came here expecting The Last of Us 2 news...

[Fierce_LiNk]

I've started playing through this for the second time and I've fallen in love with it all over again

 

I've forgotten just how amazing the environments and characters are. I'm still in the Summer chapter/arc of the game and it's just breathtaking to look at. What an unbelievable game. I can't put it down.

[nekunando]

I've started playing through this for the second time and I've fallen in love with it all over again

 

I've forgotten just how amazing the environments and characters are. I'm still in the Summer chapter/arc of the game and it's just breathtaking to look at. What an unbelievable game. I can't put it down.

 

I only played the PS3 version a couple of years ago but I've already had the urge to go back plenty of times since then and I'll probably satisfy that desire in the near future

 

My wife enjoyed watching me play through it (I actually never played it without her ) and she has also been asking me to play it again!

[S.C.G]

I only played the PS3 version a couple of years ago but I've already had the urge to go back plenty of times since then and I'll probably satisfy that desire in the near future

 

My wife enjoyed watching me play through it (I actually never played it without her ) and she has also been asking me to play it again!

 

If you do end up getting a PS4 when there are inevitably more deals, I can definitely say that The Last of Us Remastered is well worth getting.

 

Originally I did buy the game on PS3 but it was the title which nearly finished off my aging original NTSC model console at the time, plus I didn't really "get" how to play it for some reason.

 

So getting it on PS4 was like giving the game a fair trial in my eyes, indeed what a trial it was!

 

The whole game world not only looked so much more convincing - from the PS3 original which already looked fantastic - but everything was running just as it should which drove me to stick with this unique, story-driven survival game and I'm so glad that I did as it's easily one of the most rewarding videogames I've played on the PS4 to date, probably even this generation.

[nekunando]

If you do end up getting a PS4 when there are inevitably more deals, I can definitely say that The Last of Us Remastered is well worth getting.

 

There was a time when I was looking through my PS3 games and thinking that basicaly everything I appreciate on it has been remastered on PS4, including The Last of Us and Uncharted. I considered perhaps selling the PS3 and making the switch but I'm at a point now where I'm more than happy to keep things as they are and wait.. and wait.. and wait.. and wait.. for NX

[Fierce_LiNk]

Finished both this and Left Behind. I've posted my thoughts in the Game Diary thread.

 

An absolute masterpiece. Generation defining. One of those games that shows you how far the medium has come and where it can potentially go next. I loved everything about it. The exploration, combat, stealth, graphics, sound, level design, character development, script...it just all comes together to form a beautiful game.

 

Not sure how Naughty Dog are ever supposed to top that. That must be depressing.

[EEVILMURRAY]

 

I did however have 2 problems with the game:

 

1. I thought the AI was horrific, particularly early on in the game. Having early run past enemies when I was trying to be stealthy completely ruined my immersion in the game. Enemy AI was weird too.

 

2. 'Silent kills' are actually ridicuously loud but no one, including the clickers, picks up on it. It's a small problem but I wish the sound guys just turned it down a bit..again, it completely ruins the tension and immersion.

 

3. The Sniper section was fantastic but after finding an area near the Sniper's window, I was annoyed to find out there wasn't actually a sniper/enemy there and despite the static animation for the rifle, it would magically fire at you in any direction. I thought this was slightly lazy and it ruined the section somewhat.

Isn't that 3 problems?

 

Anyways, have to agree with some of yo' points. One thing that I always remembered annoyed me was when you're Ellie and you're in a house and Clickers come through the window, they charge for you every time. I climbed onto a box stealth style before they even got in the room and they came straight for me.

[Julius]

Buuuuuuump. 

After seeing credits roll on not one but two games on Saturday, I took a little break yesterday before diving into TLOU for the first time yesterday evening. For anyone wondering where I'm at, I'd just met up with Bill. 

Bit of necessary backstory I suppose: I don't play "horror" games.

I'm totally indifferent to most horror films (I just really find it hard to suspend my belief with them for some reason), and maybe for that reason I've found it impossible to build up a tolerance for horror games. I seem to have a better time with crime/thriller horror than anything else. The immersion and the suspension of belief which takes place when playing a game totally puts me in a situation where I'm like "Well, I wouldn't go up those stairs, so this character isn't".

Perfect example for me of this was Resident Evil 2 Remake: booted up the demo, walked around for a few minutes, and hopped right on out of there. Leon should run. That's all of my advice for him. 

So my history with anything "horror"-like is seeing some Resident Evil 4 at a friend's house growing up, and playing Dino Crisis when I was in pre-school. Yeah, no wonder I stay away from horror in my games and had a bad first time with Jurassic Park...

But, with Part II coming out next month, I figured that it was time that I put my differences aside and gave The Last of Us a shot because, at the very least, I'm a sucker for a good story, and of course I've heard this one's great. If I love this game, then hey, I'll look to pre-order Part II; if not, hey, at least I gave it a shot, right?

Well, yeah...there's something about this game which has just grabbed me.

The prologue is brilliant. You immediately understand Joel and how brutal this world is going to be from that opening alone.

The world itself as we find it some time later is a disgusting mess, it feels like it's barely scraping by, and the atmosphere of this game is so intense but weirdly calm (and the music!), and it just works.

I played through the first three Uncharted games a couple of years ago but, to be honest, they never grabbed me at all. This world I just find infinitely more interesting, and then there's the survival mechanics such as the time it takes to heal, crafting, how upgrades work. Having played the first three MGS games recently has really helped prepare for me for stealth in games moving forwards, and apart from the odd jump scare (whoever decided that I couldn't see that one Runner when using my scan only for him to jump on me out of nowhere...NO), I'm quickly coming to terms with what this game demands of me. It all has just so far kind of mixed together into this near perfect cocktail. 

I say near because, of course, there's the "ludonarrative dissonance" which I've seen brought up about this game a number of times, and hey, I totally get it. I totally agree that it is immersion-breaking to be stealthily making your way through an area only for Ellie or Tess to start walking into a Clicker, or have Ellie start trying to learn to whistle. It's a failing from a development perspective, absolutely, but everything else in this game that I've experienced so far more than makes up for it. The character models also look a little dated at times (honestly, this isn't something that I've ever really cared about unless the game is way behind modern standards, or standards of the time it was released, but I think it's worth mentioning, because it can be a little rough at times) and there are some weird instances of clipping and characters getting caught on objects as I make my way through the world.

But man does this world look gorgeous. The colour palette of interiors being so drab and dark for the most part - those greys and browns and murky greens - seriously amplifies how stunning the outside looks. The sky, the grass, wildlife, it all looks so much livelier for all of the darkness in this game. Excellently handled. 

So yeah, that's the first few hours done. Planning on making my way through much more of the game today, but happy to say that I'm having a great time with it so far. 

[Julius]

Screw that hotel basement. 

Edited May 19, 2020 by Julius

[Julius]

Calling it a day after finishing up in the snowy town of Silver Lake.

Wow wow wow. I am absolutely blown away by how elegantly paced the story is in Silver Lake, the way that it all starts out as a decent change of pace from what we had to to that point in the game, a refreshing feeling of powerlessness and being overwhelmed after perhaps starting to come to terms with the game leading up to it. 

I didn't quite catch it with the first three Uncharted games (apart from maybe certain parts, mostly in 2), but yeah, I'm really starting to understand the love for Naughty Dog. Better late than never I guess. 

I'm loving this game, but Silver Lake is by far and away my favourite part yet. No idea how long is left, and don't want to rush through, but it feels like I might be able to finish the game tomorrow after work. We'll see. 

[Julius]

And I've just seen the credits roll on The Last of Us for the first time. Wow wow wow.

For the second time this month I'm saying this after completing a game: this is now one of my favourite games. 

The character development in this game and their writing is ridiculously good. It doesn't force itself into your mind, but always gives you some time to ponder things after hinting at certain things, and doesn't shy away from being direct when it needs to. 

This goes hand in hand with some excellent level and gameplay design. Areas are never too large to fully explore, and so exploring every single area's nooks and crannies doesn't feel like I'm going out of the way and losing track of the main objective. Not only that, but because this is a survival horror game, by design it knows that you're going to be checking everything out, and so finding notes, recorders, etc., feels like a totally natural way to explore the world's history. It really reminds me of items and Mini Medals in Dragon Quest in this way: practically everything you find feels useful. I read and listened to everything I found, which I very rarely do outside of JRPGs that I'm adoring, and although I didn't find everything - there's one particular door which comes to mind which I didn't have the materials to make a shiv to break into back near Bill's place, and I remember early on feeling the game was pushing back hard enough to discourage this somewhat at the very beginning - I still felt completely satisfied with my discoveries. Piecing together the history of some of these places is heartbreaking. 

By the way, holy cow, some of the moments in this game are INTENSE. That hotel basement will haunt me to the grave. The environmental design deserves special praise, because I was always in a constant state of "man, wouldn't it suck to have to face a bunch of Clickers here?". I chose to focus on upgrading Weapon Sway, Shiv Master, and Maximum Health, and definitely feel like these made a lot of those more intense encounters much more manageable towards the end of the game. 

And then there's that change of pace in Silver Lake that comes along and turns everything on its head in the best way possible, and it doesn't feel so manageable once again. Seriously, that's one of my favourite "levels" in a video game. That was enough to convince me to pre-order Part II without even finishing the game. 

How did I find it as my first survival horror game? Super intense at times, almost overwhelming while exploring that damned hotel basement, but wow, I absolutely adored it. Weirdly, I'm so glad that I've been letting this sit on my shelf, because the wait until Part II being so short makes the experience that much sweeter.

But yeah, I'm a fan - a very big fan - of what Naughty Dog accomplished with this game. I am so incredibly fortunate that despite spending a lot of time reading about, listening to, and of course experiencing what's going on in the gaming industry from a player's perspective, that I somehow managed to steer clear of having this game spoiled for me this whole time. The modern era games of Naughty Dog's that I'd played prior to this were the first three Uncharted games, and though there are certainly standout moments in those games (particularly in 2, I found), I never found myself as immersed, as invested, or with my jaw agape like I did with this game. It half makes me want to dive into Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy just so I have the full modern history of Naughty Dog games under my belt, but I definitely don't want to rush through them for the sake of it. 

Quick shout out to Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker for absolutely carrying this game with their amazing voice performances, and Gustavo Santaolalla's incredible score. It's so restrained and refined, and so naturally tuned to the world and the moments in this game, just...again, wow. 

Definitely going to let it ruminate, but I planning on playing through Left Behind tomorrow night, if not this weekend (hear that's only a couple of hours long, which seems just right for me for DLC and to tempt me to immediately dive back into this world), and of course talking about this in much more detail in my next Gaming Diary post. 

[Julius]

Started and finished Left Behind this evening.

Feels like a great piece of DLC: not too long, doesn't tarnish the main game's ending at all, and I'm glad that it wasn't included in the original game, because it really would have hit the pacing hard and made the following section play out completely differently. It was great to see more of Ellie and get to know her a little better. Hotel Basement 2.0 and the origins of her puns are the biggest takeaways here. 

Now time to get hyped for Part II! 

[Fierce_LiNk]

Glad to hear that you loved the game, @Julius. I did my second run through of TLoU a year or so ago and I loved it more the second time around. It's a phenomenal game and a fantastic way to tell a story. I'm so excited about Part II but I'm also trying my best not to get too caught up in the hype. But still, it's almoooooost heeeeere!

[CrowingJoe79]

What's your favourite side game in Left Behind? 

Is it throwing bricks at the cars, trying to defeat Blackfang in your imagination, or soaking Riley with a water gun?  

I love this game. Anybody who calls it a "movie game" and all that jazz, should get on back to 4chan. It's an insult, really, to everything Naughty Dog and Sony have worked on. 

[Julius]

I've been feeling the urge to go back to The Last of Us lately, but knowing that I've also got the urge to return to half a dozen other games, on top of new games coming out and plenty still sitting on my shelf, I've been putting it off. This evening I knew my gaming time would have to be set aside as I waited around for my apartment's gas to be checked and oven to be fixed, so I went hunting for a way to satiate that urge, and that fix came in the form of the Naughty Dog 30th Anniversary documentary, and Grounded: Making The Last of Us. 

Both fascinating watches.

As someone who had brief run-ins with Crash growing up around friends' houses, completely missed out on Jak & Daxter, only got to the first three Uncharted games a couple of years ago, and played through The Last of Us (and Part II) and Uncharted 4 last year, the anniversary documentary did a great job of fleshing out the history of Naughty Dog for me, either shining a light on things that I was only vaguely aware of before about the studio, or bringing things to my attention I was completely unaware of before. 

As for The Last of Us documentary, what can be said? I already loved the game, and peeling back the curtain made me love it that much more. Something that really struck me is that it's nearly been a year since I played that game, and I only played it through once, yet every single scene from the game shown in the documentary I instantly found myself returned to that moment in the game. If that isn't a testament to just how well designed that game's world is, I'm not sure what could be. 

Really glad I checked them out, and it's a shame that Part II doesn't seem to be getting a similar treatment; I know that there are shorter videos covering certain aspects of the game, but it just doesn't flow as well or reveal as much as a dedicated documentary does in my opinion. 

I'm saving my next watch of Raising Kratos for after I replay God of War at some point before Ragnarok releases, but I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has enjoyed those documentaries, or if you have any other behind-the-scenes documentaries on games I might be interested in.

The part which sucks the most is knowing that there really isn't anything like this out there for Japanese developers of some of my favourite games  I want to hear what Asobi have to say about Astro, darn it!

[Julius]

Going to give this thread one final bump before Part I probably buries it for all eternity in September, as I've just finished returning to the game for the first time with my Normal+ run.

I've been thinking about going back to The Last of Us for a while now, but with Part I on the horizon, I got given the push I needed to go back to Remastered to enjoy it in this form again, as I doubt I'll go back after Part I releases. I'm normally a bit nervous about returning to things I loved the first time through, because it's rare that I enjoy something as much the first time around as I enjoyed The Last of Us on my first playthrough, and returning to things normally has me glancing over things with more of a critical eye. 

Yeah, to cut to the chase, my thoughts haven't really changed.

This game is a freaking masterpiece. 

I've read through a bit of what I wrote here during my first playthrough and read back through my in-depth thoughts over in the 2020 Gaming Diary thread when I first played it two years ago (did someone throw a clock or something?), and honestly, I just feel like doubling down and then some on pretty much all of my previous thoughts. 

Opening: perfect. Pacing: perfect. Music: perfect. Survival horror mechanics: perfect. Art design and direction: perfect. Colour palette: perfect. Length: perfect. Infected designs: perfect. Characters: perfect. Writing: perfect. Ending: perfect. 

Returning to it this evening, I think Silver Lake might be in my top three levels in a video game, maybe even number one. People throw around that Naughty Dog just develop "movies and make them games" and that they are "too linear", and you know what, I can kind of understand feeling that way about Uncharted. But The Last of Us? Not even for a second. I think it's truly in a league of its own compared to the rest of Naughty Dog's offerings, which is saying something considering the quality and ambition of some of their other games. There were also some super subtle lines throughout which experiencing again after Part II felt like either a punch in the gut or a hint of what was to come, and intentional or not, it strengthened the connection between the games for me. 

Playing through this again knowing that Part I is coming up in September, it was hard to not have the question at the back of my mind of whether or not I really a remake is needed. And you know, I still firmly stand by my previous thoughts and the thoughts of many others on this: it doesn't need it. I mean, just look at some of the images above, Naughty Dog art directed the ever living crap out of this game, and it still shows nearly a decade on!

There is the most subtle hint of stylisation to characters which means that, unlike some of its contemporaries, it still remains visually very striking and crisp, and though I'm playing the PS4 remaster of a PS3 game, the other thing striking about it is how little, if any, of the muddyness of most PS3 games translated over to The Last of Us. 

However, what I will say is that I'm honestly excited to see some of these moments play out again with the visuals of The Last of Us Part II. I'm genuinely a little nervous about how some scenes might not play the exact same way; so much of the story in this game's cutscenes are told through the slightest of changes in expression on a character's face, and while Part I will be closer to the original performances, that doesn't necessarily mean it will translate those expressions better. 

I will also say that while the game holds up perfectly well, it does feel a little clunky at times, just in terms of general character movement, some animations being triggered having your character sliding from one spot to another, one or two times where characters awkwardly fly about after getting shot, things like that.

It's absolutely nothing to really complain about - certainly not something worth remaking the entire game over - but seeing as it exists, it's something I'd like to see Part I address. I'm also really excited to see how it will handle it's AI and potentially things like the dodge mechanic (it was a bit funny when once or twice in this playthrough I found myself tapping circle to try to dodge, and Joel ducking normally meant he did end up dodging ), just smaller things which will bring the game into the discussion of what a AAA game should aspire to be in 2022. 

This all being said, I do have one nitpick I didn't really get to ponder during my first playthrough, and I think that where this game is at its weakest is when it feels like it's reminding you that it's a video game: in its "boss fights", which are kind of glorified gameplay setpieces. There were only one or two of these in the entire game, but when they happen, it's honestly just a little jarring to go from a game which feels so distinct from the majority of games to "well, you have to use the stealth mechanic now because we've taken your equipment away and don't step on the plates". It's not a real knock against the overall quality of the game, but it's also something I found to be the case in Part II - though, in fairness, that was far, far, far worse than I think it was here, considering the timing of it, it's place in the game, etc. - so maybe I just don't like Naughty Dog's more traditional "boss fight" moments. Some might point at the QTE's for somewhat similar reasons, but honestly, after the first few QTE's are out of the way, you find yourself jamming Square to force a door open or Triangle to lift a garage door or pull a chain without really thinking about it.

Oh and also, screw that hotel basement. Again. 

Lastly, I just want to talk about the game's ending, because I had a bit of a Eureka moment a while back when it comes to the final scene in the game. I was listening to a film podcast a few months ago now where these three or four people in the film industry were, for a change on their podcast, talking about games, and The Last of Us in particular; heck, one of these guys got to interview Neil Druckmann in the build-up to Part II's release. And what I didn't put together before - and can't unsee now - is that apparently one of Neil's favourite films is one of my favourite films, and it shows in The Last of Us.

I don't really want to spoil the film for those who haven't seen it, so some spoilerception incoming: the name of the film, and then an explanation on how it's connected. 

Spoiler

And that film is The Godfather. 

Spoiler

The ending of The Last of Us is pretty much straight up the ending of The Godfather. 

In The Godfather, the film ends with Kay questioning Michael about his business, and whether he had his brother-in-law murdered. Throughout the whole film Michael has kept Kay at arm's length when it comes to his business, but he swears that, for a change - for this one time - he will give her the chance to ask him about his business, and he will respond truthfully:

And he lies. Kay accepts this on the surface, but the acting of Diane Keaton in the film - and this is spelled out in the book - portrays rather ambiguously that Kay knows the truth, and that Michael is lying. 

And what happens at the end of The Last of Us? Ellie asks Joel to tell her the truth about what happens back at St. Mary's hospital, when the entire game he's done his best to keep her at arm's length. He's let her in on things like Sarah by the end of the game, but under the surface there is still this undeniable quality that Joel hasn't shared everything. 

And he lies. And Ellie, greatly portrayed by Ashley Johnson, conveys that Ellie seems to accept this on the surface, but it is not clear if she truly believes Joel. 

I love it  what makes the connection even greater is that both The Godfather and The Last of Us have their credits start with the erratic strumming of a guitar. 

As if I couldn't love this game any more. 

This game is one of my favourites, and to me it is undeniably one of the best, more traditionally cinematic narratives in video games. 

Edited June 24, 2022 by Julius

[bob]

I've always wondered about trying this game, but I've been put off by the zombies and horror aspect of it.

How scary, creepy would you say it is? Is it easy to ignore that and just enjoy the story?

[drahkon]

13 minutes ago, bob said:

How scary, creepy would you say it is? Is it easy to ignore that and just enjoy the story?

If I may interject:

I'm a wuss when it comes to the horror genre, but I had no problems with both TLoU games. A few shock moments here and there, but they are really not that intense.

It is creepy, though. Some sections get very tense.