The Last of Us 2 - Completed.

The fragility of a games enjoyability partly relies on the games story line not being unwillingly or forcibly revealed. The reason? Spoilers are enough to crush the spirits of gamers forcing them to wonder why they are playing the game at all.
I happened across a spoiler for The Last of Us 2 through the google search engine and it happened organically (algorithmically) without me even trying to look for it. Once revealed the spoiler planted a seed of doubt in my mind which made me question why I was playing the game in the first place. This pesky question was raised every time I would find another clip of ammo or another health kit. What’s the the point, I would ask myself. The spoiler that was revealed to me was simply that bad! Luckily for me, it turned out the spoiler wasn’t even true. So it’s a good thing I played through to the end. This game is quite simply a work of art which immediately enticed me to play through again. It’s that good.
I originally planned to write my thoughts on The Last of Us 2 in segments. This, like most things I do quickly changed. Now there will be only two parts to my thoughts on The Last of Us 2. And here, after my spoiler rant is the second instalment.
With parallels to current global circumstances, already having been discussed in Part 1 of this discussion I thought it would be a good time to talk about the game mechanics and the actual playability of the game itself.
The controller schematics have been fine tuned to perfection. If you’re familiar with the original The Last of Us gameplay than you will be immediately familiar with 2’s button configuration. If you’re a master at the multiplayer version of The Last of Us, you will have this down pat! Good for you, your game just got a heck of a lot easier.
Patience is key with this game. It also helps to remember that it is just that, a game. When you’re about to flip out due to being continually eaten by a steel stalker it helps to remember, it’s just a game. This thought will ground you, allowing you to get your shit together and work out a new strategy of attack. It can be said that strategy in this game counts for a lot. If you learn to attack things from a different angle you will get through it. Remember, it’s not impossible, it’s just hard.
The story of the game is superbly composed. The games greatest asset is it’s ability to tap into the players emotions. It presents characters to you, builds them up until you yourself develop a relationship with the character and than forces you to do something sometimes truly painful with them or in some cases to them! It forces the player to question the big things such as what is right and what is wrong. It reveals to the player that there is indeed two sides to every story and both sides can appear as though they are the bad guys. Better yet, perhaps there is no such thing as bad guys in the first place?
So, with emotional strings being pulled like the strings of an emotional Pinocchio this game gradually puts you through hell before coming to a heart pounding crescendo!
The gradual acquisition of refined skills eventually allows the player to really tear up the screen with guns blazing! It also allows the player to have a complete blast doing it. Playing these “skilled” chapters of the story with such a skill level allows you to feel powerful, finally you get a good chance to mess with the NPC’s giving them hell in the process!
Some parts of the game are excruciating almost torturous to play. You really have to peck away at it in parts. This balances out the ‘skilled’ chapters with perfection and forces the player to really set out a strategy before making a move. If you go out with guns blazing in these “unskilled” chapters you will more than likely be put down.
In parts The Last of Us 2 is truly terrifying. Let it be said that your adrenaline levels will absolutely spike while playing this game. Naughty Dog has fined tuned the experience to make it really nerve racking. The sound effects play a massive role in helping to immerse you into this experience. Time has indeed been taken to perfect this games ability to draw a player in. The evidence of this is in the atmospheric experience we have been given to play with.
Finally The Last of Us 2 is very thought provoking. It reveals the darkness that could possibly follow after the collapse of a civilisation and it reveals the different factions that may come about due to a lack of governance or better yet a lack of good leadership. It especially reveals the importance of quality leadership.
The game even manages to shed light on serious issues that exist in the real world such as sexism as well as gender appropriation and religion. In the real world there was considerable kick back in regards to more than one of these topics, especially on Twitter. Neil Druckmann was taking some serious heat there for while. It also demonstrates how these small fractures can lead to wider divides and how they might be teased apart by the members of different factions of a new world order. Evidently, some problems may never be solved.
Overall The Last of Us 2 is a brilliant game, one of the best I’ve ever had the privilege to play, it was indeed a rare experience that deserves to be replayed immediately.