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Posted

I'm looking forward to this. I'm ready. It all hinges on the writing and performances of the two leading actors. It's also a little difficult when you've already got god-tier source material, and I'd hate for this to be constantly compared to the that. It should be its own thing.

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Posted
  On 10/2/2022 at 3:44 PM, Fierce_LiNk said:

I'm looking forward to this. I'm ready. It all hinges on the writing and performances of the two leading actors. It's also a little difficult when you've already got god-tier source material, and I'd hate for this to be constantly compared to the that. It should be its own thing.

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I think this will happen whether we like it or not. The game is already a movie/Tv show anyway. It's gonna be hard not to compare them both.

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Posted

Yeah I do hope this turns out well. I really liked what I saw of the story in the game but I hated the gameplay so much I never got to see it all so this should be exactly what I needed.

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Posted

Okay that trailer actually got me interested. The first is one of the few games I've actually finished although I can't remember much about it other than the giraffes (and I think one mission where I had to kill a deer and I dislike those) but the visuals of the trailer were impressive. 

And the song choice was unexpected. 

Although now I want to watch that Covid Community table read thing if for no other reason that to hear Pedro Pascal giggling about semen. 

Posted
  On 12/4/2022 at 8:44 AM, Ashley said:

The first is one of the few games I've actually finished although I can't remember much about it other than the giraffes (and I think one mission where I had to kill a deer and I dislike those) but the visuals of the trailer were impressive. 

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You dislike those missions or deer? :p

  On 12/4/2022 at 8:44 AM, Ashley said:

 

And the song choice was unexpected. 

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It features in The Last of Us Part II. It's one of my favourite scenes in the game.

 

Posted

Any missions forcing you to kill an animal. One of the SE Tomb Raiders did the same. 

I never got round to playing part 2 so the song was unexpected to me at least 😋

Posted

I'm intrigued and will very likely watch. I don't know much about the video games other than the very main things of it. And of course the outrage with the latest game.

If I'm remembering correctly, the first game (post-flashback?) opens up in Pittsburgh. I wonder if they'll start the series off here.

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Posted (edited)

Just finished Episode 1: When You're Lost In The Darkness.

I have some scattered thoughts to share, and always knew this would be an interesting show for me to watch at this time just given how many times I played through TLOU last year alone (four times, by the way), so it's hard to not draw very direct and specific comparisons with the game burned into my mind. Yes, I will be comparing this with the game, but no, I won't be jumping ahead and spoiling the game/story, I'll be focusing on the show.

Anyways, scattered thoughts:

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Overall, for a first episode lasting nearly 80 minutes, if this is a sign of things to come, then this is very easily going to be one of the best adaptations of a video game to live-action to date. It's a bit shy of perfect, but honestly, I'm surprised they got it as close to perfect as they did. I'll gladly take it. 

That being said, there are already some creative decisions made in this first episode which have me scratching my head a little bit when I think of how much the game absolutely nailed every story beat we've seen so far, and it falls short of reaching that bar a few times. 

With all that in mind, I'm going to give this first episode a 9/10 – I can't wait to see how they go about adapting the rest, and certainly hope they can stick to this high bar they've now set themselves, but am a little nervous about how other major scenes might be tweaked in this adaptation. 

  On 12/9/2022 at 8:49 PM, FalcoLombardi said:

If I'm remembering correctly, the first game (post-flashback?) opens up in Pittsburgh.

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It opens up in Boston, Pittsburgh comes down the road (heh) :p

Edited by Julius
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Posted
  On 1/18/2023 at 1:30 PM, BowserBasher said:

As someone who has never played the games and doesn’t know anything about this, is it worth a watch?

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My opinion? Absolutely. 

Again, only one episode in, so it's tough to tell how it'll flow overall, meaning I'm not sure if it'll be better to wait and binge it all or just keep up with it weekly, but - if they can keep up the pace they've set with the first episode - a 9/10 adaptation of a 10/10 video game story is still excellent and well worth checking out. It's really clear that they've taken the time and care the source material deserves with this adaptation with what we've seen so far. 

Would love to read your thoughts if you do check it out, especially as someone who isn't familiar with the source material, because I feel like that would be a very valuable perspective to hear! :peace:

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Posted

Sounds like the adaptation has turned out well.  Good to hear.

I mean, TLOU was basically a HBO show in video game form anyway; so it should've always have been ripe for this kind of adaptation, but it could easily have gone wrong if they started messing around with the source material.

By all accounts though, it sounds like it's very faithful to the original game.  Hopefully it sparks a trend for other "movie games" to get similarily faithful adaptations :)

Posted
  On 1/18/2023 at 4:01 PM, Dcubed said:

I mean, TLOU was basically a HBO show in video game form anyway; so it should've always have been ripe for this kind of adaptation, but it could easily have gone wrong if they started messing around with the source material.

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Yep, totally agree. I mean we've still got eight episodes to go, so it could still go that way...but I'm pretty confident it won't. Well, I really hope it won't... :p

I think the interesting thing about the games you mention which are already heavily reliant on narrative that could be adapted is that it speaks more than anything else to strong writing, whether it be in terms of dialogue, pacing, or structure, in ways many other games just aren't (and in fairness, may not even be attempting to). I think it just speaks to a very strong understanding of good storytelling based on the foundations of the last 50 years of film and learning lessons from that and then finding ways to make that fun to experience interactively. 

I think the really exciting thing with narratives in games like TLOU is that we are still incredibly early in terms of really seeing where great storytelling in games can go, and I do think the possibilities are pretty much endless. Not to say there weren't great narratives in games before TLOU and the like, but being able to convey emotions through voice and motion capture in HD allows for easy interpretation of the source material.

I think of something like MGS which is heavily reliant on its medium at some of its most interesting story beats, and it's clear there's just so much in a game of that time that would be difficult to translate without losing something – the experience of it being a game for and depending on the medium for great moments for one, but then also the limitations of the hardware really help your imagination to fill in the gaps.

Bit of a ramble but oh well, that's what I'm here for  :p

  On 1/18/2023 at 4:01 PM, Dcubed said:

By all accounts though, it sounds like it's very faithful to the original game.  Hopefully it sparks a trend for other "movie games" to get similarily faithful adaptations :)

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Looks over at Uncharted...

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Posted

It's a bunch of UK-only stats, and shouldn't be much of a surprise, but the show has resulted in a huge jump in sales for both Remastered and Part I. 

Seems like it would be really smart to announce something around the time the show ends, huh? :p

Posted
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@Julius

Right, decided to give the first episode a go as I thought if I didn't like it then I haven't wasted time by waiting for them all.

 

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Posted (edited)

Already been renewed for a second season after just two episodes have aired:

Find this super interesting, and I don't feel like it's a foregone conclusion that they jump straight to adapting Part II.

For one, II takes place roughly five years after I, so they might want Bella Ramsey to age up a bit (was shocked to learn she's already 19!). I could see them maybe trying to do that through having her lose weight (I think her round face and cheeks are definitely what helps her portray an early teen), and considering where Part II takes Ellie it would make sense, but personally I'm never a fan of that being forced on someone for a role. 

On the other hand, though, I don't think you'd call an adaptation of Part II, well, The Last of Us Season 2? At least not with Druckmann around, considering how clear an homage it is to The Godfather and Part II, which he loves. A second season could absolutely get rebranded to Part II down the line and this could just be an early marketing thing, but I also feel like waiting a few years and then coming back to adapt Part II is the obvious way to secure platform growth (more people will watch the show in the years that pass once it's finished ending, streaming will become more widespread, etc.). 

Selfishly, I also do just think they could do a prequel series here with Tom and Joel earlier on in their adventures, which is a new and unique story they could tell designed from the ground-up for this medium. Druckmann seems like the type (kind of like Kojima) where he loves the idea of tackling actual film/TV just as much as he does games, so I feel like not needing to adapt an already beloved story could give him free reign again. I also just think it'd be smart to potentially tie into their new live service Factions game. And it bides them time to prep for adapting Part II, which will likely be at least twice as long as adapting Part I, and is much, much, much heavier. 

Anyways, as for why this is happening after only two episodes, well the numbers and growth they've seen week-on-week over at HBO are all kinds of nuts: 

Lastly, I didn't write up my thoughts on Episode 2, and I don't think I'll flesh it out as much as I did for Episode 1: it's still a great adaptation (still solid 9/10 for me), but much more than in Episode 1, there's a lot of creative liberty taken. Some additions, like the intro, I loved, whereas elsewhere they've grabbed distinct lines from later on in the game than when the show is currently up to and kind of forced it in earlier, which was...honestly, really disorienting. And the way the episode ends, well, that's a very interesting change (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen the episode). There's also a change to how the Infected work here compared to the games which makes me wonder if it's a hint at some mechanics for next-gen TLOU, such as Part III or Factions II? 

But yeah, still 9/10 for me. Can't wait for Monday! 

Edited by Julius
Posted (edited)

Finished catching up on this week's episode, Episode 3: Long Long Time

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We're three episodes in of nine now, and while the first two episodes certainly felt like a near 1:1 adaptation with some reshuffling (for pacing and to throw off players a little bit, and definitely more changes in Episode 2 than in Episode 1, which was virtually 1:1 with some stuff added in) and stuff thrown in to give context to new viewers, this is the first episode to feel like it was taking the source material of the game, fleshing it out, and taking it to greater heights. Again, still some weird stuff when it comes to reshuffling the deck on lines, like getting the final line from the Boston QZ at the end of this location instead, but it still kind of works, it's just a little distracting. 

To sum up my thoughts, this wasn't just a great episode of The Last of Us, this is a damn great episode of television, and a beautiful one at that. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best episode yet, and honestly, I think it's going to be a hard one to top. That I'm saying that about this part in the story, though, when my favourite parts are yet to come? 

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This episode is a 10/10 for me, the first (and hopefully not last) episode I'm going to give that score to. Adapted excellently where necessary, built out the world naturally, and expertly handled fleshing out two characters we simply didn't get enough of in the game and were excavated wonderfully in a medium suited more to doing so than a game. 

BRA-f'ing-VO :bowdown:

If you aren't watching this show already, I've got to ask – where the hell have you been, what on earth are you doing, and why are you still waiting for me to finish this sentence before bringing up Episode 1 on your TV?!

Edited by Julius
Posted

This is a damn fine TV. Not sure how that happened. This and Andor were definitely two that I had low expectations for, and couldn't have been more wrong.

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