The COMPLETE Last of Us Series Story Retrospective

[Music] The Last of Us is one of the most iconic exclusives in the PlayStation catalog it's genuinely hard to ignore this game given how much discussion has spawned from it even as someone like myself who's played Xbox games throughout most of their life even I couldn't escape it I've heard for many years how good the series was and with the show just recently coming to a close I figured now Was a better time than ever to see what it's all about and similar to what I said in my God of War video playing it was

one of the greatest decisions I've ever made these games made me feel things I hadn't felt before when I was fully invested in the story its world and its characters and today I want to talk about why as usual the plan for the video is to not only explain the story of The Last of Us you have a better understanding of what's going on but I'll also be critiquing it along the way be discussing things such as whether or not the story had any plot holes whether or not the scene had invoked the emotions and

intended and of course at its most basic level was the story even any good so without further Ado let's get started as games get older more and more opinions start to form over the years I've heard many great things about part one some have said it's gameplay is Engaging and its story is captivating others have said it's a fantastic PlayStation exclusive and so good that you should buy a PlayStation just to play this game I've even heard people go as far as to say that part one is the greatest game ever made I want to

start off this section by saying that all of this is 100% true while I wouldn't personally rank it as the greatest game ever made I could see the argument for it and would not be surprised if this Showed up on someone else's top 10 list part one was such a breath of fresh air as it's been some time since I've played a game that is made of such high quality I think what continues to blow my mind about this whole ordeal is that it was just one game that caused all of this these feelings that

people have about the series came immediately after it was released this wasn't something that started off slow but eventually grew on people as more entries came in this was A hit from the very beginning and I'm amazed at how incredible the story of this game is when all it's really about is a man and his surrogate daughter but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself we have to start from the very beginning when it was just a man and his actual daughter The Last of Us at the moment takes place in 2013 and right away

we're introduced to two characters our main protagonist Joel Miller and his daughter Sarah already though we can start to see Some of that impeccable quality part one really excels at conveying the tone of a scene without using words it can also tell us how characters feel and interact without being blatantly obvious in this scene Sarah is woken up by Joel who realizes that she only has a few minutes to give Joel his present since it's his birthday Joel is pleased to receive the gift but the two joke around a bit by having Joel trick Sarah

into thinking that the watch is broken which is Then Followed up by Sarah's comment about having to sell hardcore drugs in order to afford the watch you can tell from this short conversation that the two have a deep love for each other as any father and daughter would Sarah then falls asleep only to be woken up again but this time by her uncle Tommy Tommy says that he needs to talk to Joel immediately so we have to go find him while searching the house for Joel I started to develop a deep appreciation For this game's

attention to detail as throughout the house are items we can pick up that let us get a glimpse of the world of The Last of Us it felt like things in this world were put in here with care and consideration pictures of Joel and Sarah at a soccer game are set next to soccer balls and posters all these items give us an idea as to who Sarah is without the game actually telling us furthermore there are a couple of newspapers and a TV broadcast That give us a tease of the events to come at the

moment there's an infection going around that seems to be spreading far enough for it to be considered a pandemic people aren't required to quarantine yet but there are some growing concerns regarding what the future of the world could look like there is a very obvious loow hanging fruit of a joke here I'm not going to take it in all seriousness this break seems to be spreading faster than we Think as there are not only cops and explosions going off around the area but once we find Joel we watch as see defend Sarah from their neighbor

who he thinks is very sick the incredibly astute observation aside Joel and Zarah decide to leave the house just in time for Tommy to come by and pick them up continuing the theme of portraying a character's emotions and feelings without being blunt about it the trio finds a family on the side of the road Tommy wants to pull over and help them but Joel tells them to keep driving Tommy wanted to help the family since they have a kid with them but Joel is only focused on his family just after this Tommy is stuck on

the road as people are pouring out of buildings and running for their lives Tommy doesn't want to drive anywhere though since he's worried that he'll run someone over Joel couldn't care less it's not that Joel is a heartless person it's just that he's Pragmatic he only cares about his family and if he has to leave someone behind that he doesn't know or drive through some people then so be it the town has turned into a doggy dog kind of world then trust me you do not want to be eaten they then end up getting into

a car accident and have to run on fo foot Joel and Sarah will eventually have to leave Tommy behind and end up meeting with a soldier but yes sir listen bu we've just been Through hell okay we just need [ __ ] please don't oh no Sarah move your hands baby I know baby I know listen to me I know this hurts you're going to be okay baby stay with me I want to pick you up I know baby I know it hurts come on baby please I know baby I [Music] know Sarah [Music] baby

I'm sorry for those who have seen this already and I had to put you through that again but I needed to play it for those who haven't seen it before that scene is rough the whimpering from Sarah as she bleeds to death is painful to sit through I remember just sitting in silence for a few minutes because I was so shocked at what I just heard now I've heard a lot about this series over the last 9 years so I knew this scene Was coming but this is the first time I've actually heard the scene

in full and it was still a gut-wrenching experience what really sold the scene was Sarah as her voice acting was incredible Naughty Dog the team behind the game really wants you to feel Joel's pain in this moment he just lost his daughter and anyone with an ounce of empathy could understand the pain he's going through I personally am not a parent and don't plan on being one for a While so I don't have any kids of my own but I felt that pain that Joel was feeling at that moment cuz it's not just some guy

losing his daughter it's someone losing the person he loves most and that is definitely something everyone can relate to in terms of the prologue as a whole I can't think of a better way to start the game the slow buildup to the first infection to the eventual chaos that ensues is very stereotypical but it's handled perfectly Here making the player run through these streets also heightens the player's agency you're not watching the world crumble in front of you you are in that crumbling world and are forced to run through it Sarah dying is also extremely

important as the reason the events of the story unfold the way they do could technically be attributed to this moment right here overall it's just a great first impression and succeeds in hooking the player in immediately that being Said this is a game after all so the player also needs to be hooked by the gameplay of the game which why the following section focuses a bit more on that but they do need to set the scene a little bit as we do skip 20 years ahead as with most zombie apocalypses the infection got worse over

time rather than better which is why the world is in shambles Joel's also noticeably older and has managed to partner up with someone called Tess during these 20 Years both she and Joel have been doing smuggling runs for various people these things they smuggling involve Goods Contraband ammo ration cards or whatever they need at the moment in terms of their relationship I never got the sense that they were anything more than friends they have no known each other for quite a while and Tess on occasion harmlessly flirts with Joel but both of them seem to

have that survival of the fittest mentality so while it's possible That they may have feelings for each other it's ultimately not important as survival is all they care about however that doesn't mean that they don't care about each other at all because Joel clearly cares about Tess's whereabouts and was worried that she was hurt during her recent deal this deal was something that the two of them were supposed to handle together but Tess went alone thankfully everything went okay but after the deal was made Tess got jumped By some thugs apparently these goons were sent

by a guy named Robert someone the two are very familiar with given the state of the world it's not like the two have a 9 to5 to go to so you know no time like the present this then leads into a 40 to 50 minute chapter that is pretty much a tutorial but a lot of story can be learned from this lengthy Mission from this we can see the sad world that is the last of us as each area within this quarantine zone is Split up into places called areas some like the one Joel and

Tess live in are incent condition given the circumstances but the next area over where Robert is located is filled with trash dirt and all manner of questionable individuals people don't want to talk to others unless they have business and some guy is selling dogs nearby likely for protection but I can also Imagine people buying them to make food Joel and Tess's area isn't without problems either as Rations are running low someone was just executed in the street because they were infected and a bombing just occurred moments after the people that started this bombing are called

the fireflies the fireflies are a militia faction that opposes the rule of the military these bombings seem to be quite common as we heard about another Firefly bombing in the intro credits so there seem to be some kind of of terrorist organization that is fed up with the military's rule On the people at this moment in the game though I kind of found the fireflies to be quite boring as they don't really have a clear motivation this will change once we get to the Final Chapter but still even after beating the game I found it

quite hard to care about them as they never really got much screen time besides the major events at the end they seem to be a faction that is trying to be the good guys but in a world like The Last of Us anyone can consider Themselves the good guys especially when the opening crawl literally states that the government is gone and that the military is taken over so no factionist is really considered good they just believe that they're good cuz their viewpoints are opposites of that of their enemies given the point of this game story

which as we'll see is about Joel and a girl named Ellie I can understand why naughty dog wanted to tell a more personal story but I do Think some more info on the fireflies and the military would have been nice as well that being said while we don't learn too much about them we do get to see some of their operations firsthand as after Joel and Tess find Robert Tess puts a bullet in him for doing them dirty before meeting with marleene the current leader of the fireflies this is some incredible timing as Robert had

taken some of Tess and Joel's guns then sold them to the fireflies the duo wants Them back but since Marlene already paid for them they have to strike a deal Marlene wants them to smuggle something out of the zone to one of their camps that it can be taken to their lab that being Ellie a 14-year-old girl as creepy and concerning as that sounds we'll eventually learn that the reason they want her at their lab is because Ellie is immune to the infection which is a perfect on to talk about what this infection actually is

so the infection Of the last of us is called Corps however unlike some media where it starts with a virus Corps is actually a fungal infection it functions like a typical zombie virus would and that bites will turn someone into an infected but there were two distinct details related to this that I found extremely fascinating that being that it's based on a real world fungus and that the infection is based on time the corps of The Last of Us is based on the real life Fungus opio Corps unilus this is a fungus that usually infects

ants however other variations of Corps prey on other insects as well in this case an infected ant can be easily identified as it sprouts a small Branch with what looks like a fruit attached to it once infected the fungus compels the ant to basically find a branch and hook onto it forever it lock jaws its mandibles to Hold On Tight cuz that Branch will eventually Sprout from its head once it Sprouts spores released from the top and spread across the ground in air infecting other ants there's actually a clip of this process in BBC's planet

Earth series that I'll leave in the description I was going to show it but I know some of you may not want to look at some Dead Infected insects Neil dman the creative director for the series took a liking to the fungus as it was based around numbers meaning the more ants there were the deadlier it becomes Because one becomes four then four becomes 16 and so on until they're all wiped out but while Nea like the disease for its zombie like qualities I'm more fascinated with how he managed to change it in the game

using time the corps fungus has multiple stages and these stages depend on how long someone has been infected the first stage is the runner stage these are your typical zombie infected blood red eyes thirst for flesh all that good stuff this Usually occurs within a day or two of being being infected after a week or so the fungus starts to grow and they hit stage two called stalkers the only visual difference is the small amount of fungus growing out from their body once we hit a year though we start getting into some dangerous territory as

they start to become clickers clickers are blind but have incredible hearing they're also extremely tough is they're the first form of the infection so far That can on-shot the player if not careful if a clicker gets too close even at full health you die immediately the only way to save yourself is a skill in the game that allows you to stab a clicker with a shiv before they bite you after a few years of the corps infection these clickers will eventually become bloaters the final stage of the infection at least within the bounds of the

first game bloaters can also onshot the player with the added bonus of being Able to throw the fungus from afar and are incredibly strong or possibly immune to damage if they aren't hit in their fungal weak spots since the clickers and bloaters need some time in order to be created it's no wonder why we find them in areas with either hundreds of other infected or in these small Spore fied rooms these spores are toxic to the human body which is why survivors need gas masks in order to Traverse them it's unclear what happens when you

inhale These but it's safe to assume you still contract the infection given it works the same way as the real Corps I absolutely love the way Naughty Dog handled this from a gameplay point of view is it makes the stronger enemies actually strong given they can One-Shot the player but from a story point of view it's a unique version of environmental storytelling since the infection is based on time we can deduce what happened in certain areas depending On that factor for example much later in the game we end up entering a university and in here

are a few clickers and one bloater this means that these people were likely students of the university and that they were infected over a year ago furthermore the absence of newly formed Runners also implies that either no one has entered this building since then or that they did but managed to escape this idea can then be used to determine resarch Rich environments if An area is infested with a ton of clickers that means a lot of people died here but that also means no one's been here in over a year meaning no one has scavenged

it for its resources now given that the infection was 20 years ago it's not a foolproof plan but still I like the implications that can be derived from this concept just from that summary alone it's pretty clear that an infected on its own is incredibly strong and that's not even considering the times That they're all grouped together but how's that old saying go kill it with fire well that Rings true here in the last of us as fire is your best friend in any situation if you don't have any fire though a stealth kill will

work on just about everything minus a bloater this connects to the gameplay of The Last of Us which is just downright fantastic basically it's a mix of survival and stealth being quiet is the way way to go as while going loud Doesn't guarantee death you will die much faster you're also forced to scavenge for items and ammo as you can craft things like shivs and health packs prolonging your life the game play is in perfect sync with the story as Joel is running through unfamiliar territory most of the time so Scavenging and making sure you

have the proper equipment at all times is critical plus it's a post-apocalypse So Random scrapping gear is laid out all over the Place this is unlike other games like left for dead where guns and ammo are everywhere and crafting items are non-existent now obviously Left 4 Dead and the last of us are trying to be two totally different games so admittedly it's not a great comparison but you get my point what you think people would be doing in a postapocalypse is exactly what you'll be doing in the last of us it's incredibly realistic and makes

for some engaging combat since ammo is not Plentiful sometimes you'll have 10 to 20 rounds and be on the top of the world sometimes though all you'll have is a wooden 2x4 since all your ammo is gone it's a fantastic Survival game and maybe even a survival horror game since this game can really scare the [ __ ] out of you sometimes Jokes Aside the gaml was engaging enough to keep me on my toes from beginning to end and it's in perfect sync with the story which is always a plus getting back on track we

Have to talk about Ellie as I stated earlier Ellie is immune this is shown To Us by her if she got bit a few weeks ago and yet feels completely fine the fireflies want to take her to their lab so they can possibly manufacture a cure as Ellie seems to be one of a kind Joel and Tess are intrigued by the idea of a cure but as we know they aren't the type of people to place it above their actual goal of survival so while they will accept the job the reason is likely Because they

want their gear back once they make it outside though both Joel and Tess get into an argument Tess is starting to believe the claim Ellie made about being immune but Joel could care less he thinks the outside is dangerous and that they shouldn't even be here if there was one major criticism I had with this game it said it's the supposed plot twists aren't exactly subtle while I did just say it's a major complaint it's only major cuz I don't have much to Criticize about this game since in reality it's just a small part of

the game that only happens twice to explain what I mean after Joel Tess and Ellie get through a large wave of infected Tess starts to look ticked off for some reason it's then revealed a few minutes later that she was bit and is going to turn I feel like this was supposed to be made out as quite the twist as our teammate is going to die yet it wasn't exactly hard to tell given her Sudden Change of attitude just to reiterate this only happens twice throughout the game and is by far my biggest complaint of

part one which just goes to show how good this game is if something this small is my biggest issue that's why I called the game a breath of fresh air earlier since it's nice to be able to just sit back and gush about a game without having to talk about something that bothered me cuz honestly not much else really did for example Ellie Herself is fantastic and is now one of my favorite Side characters in gaming period Ellie's going to be with us for the rest of the game and getting tests out of the picture

was likely intended so let the player could get more one-on-one time with Ellie we'll meet a few Side characters like Tess throughout the game but a good 90% of the experience is just Joel and Ellie this is critical because that's the whole point of this game it's not about the Zombie outbreak it's about these two right here where some games use the outbreak as the main motivator the last of us use it as a backdrop as it influences the rest of the story in the background if the Last of Us was like other games then

the plot of the story would be to escort Ellie to the fireflies in order to get the Cure that is of course what we do but I wouldn't say that's the plot it's just an objective that is used to move the story Forward the plot is the relationship between Ellie and Joel it might be a bit hard to understand but the best example I can give is God of War 2018 in that game the objective that drives the story forward is delivering the ashes of kratos's wife Fay what's more important though is the interactions Kratos

and atraeus have throughout the game and how they go from a broken relationship to a repaired one The Last of Us is similar in that respect as we're embarking on a Journey with Ellie and the interactions the two have are the most important part of the game that's why just like with a trus naughty dog needed to make sure you care about Ellie in the first place and they absolutely succeeded in doing so Ellie is brimming with life and is full of personality and she's the complete opposite of Joel which compliments him quite well Joel

is an adult born pre outbreak who's always pragmatic and very serious Ellie is a child born after the Outbreak who's very naive and more light-hearted the two could to be further apart if they tried which is what makes the relationship so intriguing Joel teaches Ellie how to survive in the harsh world of the last of us but thanks to Ellie's personality rubbing off on him he starts to be more open with her being more like a father and less like a stranger Joel will end up telling Ellie about the world before the outbreak since Ellie

has never known A world without the corps he'll teach her about the rules of football and explain to her what an ice cream truck was these are completely forign Concepts to her due to the outbreak changing the world furthermore the game has what is called optional conversations these are small talks Joel and Ellie will have about certain topics such as this one time when Ellie asks why the girl on the poster is so skinny to which Joel replies that some people just didn't eat So that they could look that way to Ellie this is strange

since food is a delicacy in the world post outbreak but sometimes they're not just talks but full-on interactions like later in the game when we meet two people called Henry and Sam if you enter this one house and stay long enough Ellie and Sam will play darts for a bit before leaving the two of them will also reenact a penalty shot a bit later when they find a ball in a net in one of the hideouts There are so many of these interactions that just add so much depth and personality to that we could be

here all day if I wanted to I'll spare you most of the details but still hearing all of these interactions really makes you appreciate their inclusion are you all right I'm trying to learn how to whistle you don't know how to whistle well does it sound like I know how to whistle I'm Whistling oh good something else you can drop me crazy with that's [Music] awesome to you huh yeah sure Joel go ahead take my card take all my food too while you're at it by the looks of it you could lose some of that

food you listen to me you little [ __ ] [ __ ] you you handcuff I need you to shut up all right okay you guys are killing me with your Downer talk it's joke pooke time what is that just bear with [Music] me you want to hear a joke about pizza never mind it was too cheesy I don't get it yeah me neither what did the green grape say to the purple grape breathe you idiot that's so stupid but Ellie isn't just great from a story point of view but also from a gameplay one

as well the problem with making a supporting character that follows the player around is that you Don't want to give them too much control or the player will feel like the side character unless that's intentional of course but on the opposite end to little control or power makes them feel useless by far the best example of a supporting character that I can think of is Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite she will help the player by opening up tears in the map allowing you to summon cover or weapons but will also give you ammo and vigor if

you're low she doesn't do Any actual killing but her assistance is incredibly helpful as for Ellie in the beginning she's actually quite useless but that's because Joel doesn't trust her eventually though he starts to feel more comfortable which is around the time the game gives her the ability to knife some enemies and even give her a pistol once those come into play though she starts to be a valuable asset to the team one part I vividly remember is when I was stupidly sneaking up on this Twan Group in hindsight I should have just let them

pass but I choked the one out anyway the guy next to him saw me but before he could shoot Ellie was already taking care of him and saved my life now ignoring the fact that the guy had a shotgun and for some odd reason decided to get farther away from me before shooting this is just one example of a Time Ellie had helped me throughout the game just like how many RPGs such as mass effect and Dragon Age Subconsciously make you care about your companions by having them help you in combat and by also giving

you enough downtime to talk to them you start to feel more connected to Ellie through those exact methods which is extremely important as once again the entire story hinges on the fact that you even remotely care about her and I think na dog did an incredible job at doing so once it's revealed that Tess is bit she tells Joel and Ellie to leave while she Distracts the military guards that are coming to kill them from escaping The Zone Tess attempts to fend them off but is eventually put down Joel and Ellie then Escape into the

subway station and we can see that not only can Ellie not turn when bitten but she can also breathe in the spores without any issue once they escape Joel says that they'll be traveling north a bit as there's a town there with someone who may have a car this is also the first time the game Has started adding more color to a lot of its environment as we've gone from a collapse citycape to a town with a lush Forest on the topic of Graphics the game looks great and it's probably pretty obvious by now but

I'm playing on the remastered version if I'm being honest the only reason I chose this option was because it was cheaper the last of us has an original remaster and remake version the Remake version definitely looks the best but it received a bit of Flack on release remaster usually means a technical upgrade things like 60 FPS accessibility features and other graphical additions are added in these versions a remake typically means a definitive change from the or original whether that be its gameplay or story I haven't played the Remake personally but it just seems to be

a remaster of a remaster however most of these complaints are likely from current fans of the series which is totally valid but As a new player this doesn't really apply to me if you're hopping into the series for the first time both the remaster and remake versions are great options if the question was what version should I play then I would say that all the options are worth it but if the question was should I pay $70 for a game that has another version that is a third of the price and is readily accessible from

the digital PlayStation store well I think the version I'm playing will Give you my answer once the two make it inside the town Joel ends up getting caught in a trap before being rescued by Bill Bill is the man Joel was looking for and he's kind of a nutcase at times he talks to himself quite a bit and has various traps laid out throughout the town so that no one can enter he's very particular about his work traps and Equipment this is likely due to his long-term isolation there is no one in the town but

Bill by the time we arrive It's unclear if there were people here but all of them died except for bill or he just took residence in an already destroyed town but has been living here for quite some time one thing we do know though is that there used to be another Resident here called Frank who Bill considered a dear friend and partner when we find Frank we see that he has hung himself in one of the houses here in the town according to our conversations with Bill it seems like he And Frank were lovers at

one point but it seems like Frank grew increasingly tired of Bill's methods of survival and decided to leave town it's unclear if Frank left but then immediately got bit or just went to another part of town and stayed there for a while but we do know that he stole some of Bill's equipment and even a car battery so it seems like he had planned on leaving the town at some point but ended up getting bitten before that happened this section of the Game also highlights another great part about the last of us even though these

characters were only with us for a couple of hours it hurts to see them go it's nice to be able to interact and talk with other characters from time to time but when they leave the void that was left behind is ever present even though bill was less than pleased with my arrival it was nice to be able to speak with him and see how he managed to survive in this harsh world but now that We have the car we're not going to be seeing him again after getting the car Joel and Ellie with the

help of Bill managed to get it running and the duo drives to Pittsburgh the welcoming party though is anything but welcoming as the first people we meet are two Hunters it seems like a large group of Bandits have taken over the Pittsburgh Highway which means getting out of here and back on the road is going to be difficult as the two Traverse through broken buildings Filled with stores hotels and other shops Joel ends up getting attacked by one of the bandits I shot the hell out of that guy huh yeah you sure did I feel

sick and you just hang back like I told you to well you're glad I didn't right I'm glad I didn't get my head blown off by godamn kid you know what no how about hey Ellie I I know it Wasn't easy but it was either him or me thanks for saving my ass you got anything like that for me Joel it's a bit hard to tell since the gameplay can be quite divorced from the story at times plus Ellie usually does a lot of things offc screen so it's unclear if this is her first kill

but if we just base it off the story in cut scenes alone this is the first time she's killed someone that isn't an infected as you would expect this takes a toll on Her which is why she says that she feels sick I really like the attention to detail here as taking a human life can be a very traumatic experience no matter the context however this is kind of soured by the fact that Ellie is given a rifle about 15 minutes later and then proceeds to mow down quite a few Bandits with no issue but

other than that it's a really great scene although I did like how before the shooting began Joel was teaching her the basics of shooting like How to reload and where to put the rifle stock so that the recall doesn't knock the gun out of her hand it shows that Joel is starting to open up more and Trust Ellie eventually after narrowly escaping and another group of Bandits riding around in a truck the two then meet Henry and Sam just like Bill these two are a pair of survivors that have been trying to make do you

can tell that their relationship was created this way on purpose as Henry and Sam are similar To Joel and Ellie except instead of a father and daughter it's two brothers it's not the exact same situation but Henry and Joel are both adults who want to make sure their younger partner is safe and Ellie and Sam are both kids so they have another person to talk to about kids stuff instead of having to listen to the adults all the time Henry will also at one point tell Sam that he can't take the toy he found with

him because the backpack is only for Essentials his attitude and personality are very similar to that of Joel's in the sense that all that matters is survival the group then makes it back to Henry and Sam's Hideout and discuss how to get out of here as the banded patrols are going to keep coming and sooner or later they'll be found Henry has been trying to leave to join the fireflies but due to them being outnumbered it's hard to find the right time to go this works out for Joel since he needs to Find the fireflies

anyway since they'll be taking Ellie to their lab just as he was told this current chapter and the following one are around this Middle Point in the game where you really don't know what Joel is thinking in regard to Ellie in the beginning he was very much against doing this J job and he didn't even want to leave the Zone even if she could be used to make a cure now that jelas had some more alone time with Ellie he started to care about her more But it's still hard to tell if it's genuine or

simply because it's just a job what's definitely more apparent though is that he has started to take a liking to Ellie as he's much different than he was for chapters ago but this does not seem to be a one-sided Affair as while the group is escaping from the truck we saw earlier they climb a ladder only for it to snap once Joel climbs up this in the following scene really solidified for me that while Joel may be On the fence in regards to his feelings about Ellie she most definitely trusts him instead of going with

Henry and Sam She willingly goes back down to help Joel later she'll also jump off a bridge into the water once the two are cornered prior to this the game tells us that Ellie can swim it also forces us to find ways around that problem which is why multiple puzzles involve dragging her across the water Ellie will literally drown if she jumps in here but she Trusts Joel enough to grab her once they land there was no doubt in my mind at this point that Ellie had taken a liking to Joel and started seeing him

as more than just a brutish tough guy that he was portrayed as in the previous chapters jumping off the bridge though did seem like certain death but the two managed to survive thanks to Henry and Sam finding them washed up on the shore Joel is rightfully pissed at the two for leaving them behind but Henry's Statement of would you have done the same is a fair point while they are a group they have only been acquaintances for some time ultimately Henry only cares about Sam and Joel only cares about Ellie they may save each other

if one is being attacked but if they had to choose they know who they're picking the four of them will group up and push through the town so they could get closer to their destination until they're spooked by some Infected that Were hiding nearby I don't think think I need to spell it out for you but yeah one of them got bit and seeing as Sam's attitude starts to change shortly after this you'd be correct in assuming that it's him while the reveal isn't exactly subtle I did like how this was handled Sam decides to

hide his bite mark from everyone for some reason but this came with the side effect of the corps turning him into a modern-day Socrates as he starts talking to Ellie about Death and whether or not the people who are infected are still conscious it's some thought-provoking stuff sure but it's very clear that he's only thinking about this as he's trying to reflect on his life and come to terms with what's about to happen another detail that is quite important and we'll be referenced later is that while the two are talking Sam asks what Ellie fears

the most to which she says being alone everyone then goes to bed and well what a start to the Morning this is going to be Ellie checks on Sam and sees that he's bit which wakes up the others Henry almost shoots Joel over this because Joel was going to kill him first Henry knows what he has to do though and puts down his younger brother but the initial shock faded as fast as it came is now Henry realizes that he just shot Sam which prompts him to take his own life I'm a bit torn on

whether or not the scene should have ended this fast as it immediately cuts The black and fast forwards to the next chapter but after mulling it over a bit I think it works both ways having it skip right to the next chapter without any warning forces the player to sit with it during the black screen rather than let the scene play out plus it could even show that not only is death common place in this world but that they have to keep going despite the circumstances had the scene played out for a few extra seconds

and maybe shown The shocked phases of both Ellie and Joel I think the intended emotion would have come out anyway I do personally like how fast this skipped over it though since it really does show how unimportant a single person in this game is especially if they aren't Joel and Ellie since their relationship is the main focus of the story as for where the journey takes us next well we find ourselves near Jackson Wyoming because according to Joel his brother Tommy the One we saw in the intro is located here upon arriving we find out

that not only is this true but that Tommy has found some love in this war torn world in the form of Maria and that Joel and Tommy aren't exactly on good terms Joel and Tommy after the incident with Sarah likely worked together to survive but apparently the two had a falling out due to disagreements Tommy eventually ended up joining the fireflies which is why Joel is trying to find him but it seems Like he's left that group and is on his own Joel then wants Tommy to take Ellie with him to the fireflies laboratory so

the job can be finished this statement upsets both Tom and Ellie Tommy has people to protect and in all fairness it is a bit rude to just throw into a settlement and immediately demand they do something for you but Ellie is bothered by this because that means she'll have to leave Joel behind and we already know how she feels about that What are you so afraid of that I'm going to end up like Sam I can't can't get infected I can take care of myself how many close calls have we had well we seem to

be doing all right so far and now you'll be doing even better with Tommy I'm not her you know what Maria told me about Sarah [Music] Ellie you are treading on some mighty thin eyes here I'm sorry about your daughter Joel But I have lost people too you have no no idea what loss is everyone I have cared for has either died or left me everyone [ __ ] except for you so don't tell me that I would be safer with someone else because the truth is I would just be more scared this conversation might

honestly be my favorite scene in the game as it's where the story finally takes a turn at Le shown Joel that she cares about him And won't do this without him this in turn forces Joel to also consider his feelings for her and just about all of us Knew by this point that he does care about Ellie and that he's starting to see her more as his daughter rather than just some kid which is why he decides to take Ellie to the fireflies himself instead of having Tommy do it for him he doesn't want to

leave Ellie alone and Ellie doesn't want to leave without Joel It's Not only adorable seeing the two Interact with one another but this was all showcased incredibly well seeing their relationship then versus now was almost night and day Joel started out being annoyed that he has to take a kid with him on a job and his inability to trust her made combat more difficult over time though he does start to trust her more and more by giving her a weapon to defend herself Ellie came around much faster but still in the beginning she wasn't interested

in talking with Joel And Tess but as things progress she started taking a liking to Joel and realized that not only can she not do this without him she doesn't want to do this without him this breakthrough in their relationship breaks down that barrier that they had allowing the two to be more casual with each other Joel talks to Ellie about football and the two share what their dream occupations used to be and all just just further confirms that they really are a perfect Fatherdaughter Duo even if they're not related by blood as they approach

the university they start to realize that no fir flies are here Tommy said that this is where they were stationed but no one's here not even infected unfortunately we don't have too much time to ponder why that's the case or where the fireflies went is while Joel's listening to a recording a group of men attempt to shoot at him he manages to fend them off but one of them gets the Jump on him instead of Ellie taking time to shoot him she just watches as Joel Falls over the railing and onto a piece of sharp

debris Ellie then has to help Joel Escape before he bleeds out this was admittedly a short encounter but I enjoyed this quite a bit the stakes were high here and it felt like I needed to be precise with my timing and accuracy or I was going to fail like right in the beginning when Ellie goes to distract the guy approaching me but I needed to Make sure to shoot him once he turns or he'll kill Ellie this scene also shows how much Ellie has improved over the course of the game she's basically running the show

at this point where for the past seven chapters we've been protecting her but the game plans to push this to its limit as Joel ends up collapsing once they start leaving the school now Ellie has to do this on her own before Joel was taking the lead and even just now Joel was capable of Holding his own but at the moment it's all her she can't ask Joel for directions or for help she's the star of the show now as we could see though she's managed to handle everything quite well as the next scene after

this is her haunting a rabbit it's also winter now meaning it's been quite some time since Joel was injured Ellie's been surviving for the both of them for at least a couple weeks to a month and seems to be doing all right all things considered But apparently the game isn't done torturing her just yet as she ends up running into a man named David he tells her that that he needs that deer she just shot because the people he's with are very hungry the two end up trading food for medicine since Joel is sick but

this bode's ill for Ellie as David here has actually been looking for them for quite some time as those men at the University were his Ellie manages to make it back to Joel but is then Ambushed and taken the following morning by David and his men David to put it bluntly is a creep and likely a pedophile David says that he has something special in store for Ellie and one of them calls her David's new pet he and his group are also cannibals as we can see someone cutting off someone's limbs thankfully Ellie doesn't give

into any of David's advances and even takes the opportunity to break one of his fingers in the process the question Arises though what do we do now Ellie's locked in a cell and Joel's injured or is he thanks to Ellie giving Joel some of the medicine before being taken Joel manages to muster up enough strength to stand up and search for Ellie from this point on the game will have a switch between Joel and Ellie at different points before the two finally come together at the end of the chapter this was a major contributor as

to why I like the chapter so much it was great being Able to see both characters move on their own especially when we go through places as Joel that we just visited as Ellie knowing that we're getting closer but we're also still far behind and we need to get to her before something happens basically Joel's sections are about getting to Ellie and Ellie's are about escaping David and his men the reason Ellie was even able to escape is that right before they were about to cut her up Ellie told them that she was Infected and

even though we know that's not true no one knows she's immune plus she still has the bite mark from when it happened while the two stand around confused Ellie stabs James and runs away before David can shoot her this then leads into that back and forth we talked about where we play as both characters before we reach the climactic fight between David and Ellie both of them only have melee weapons so we have to get in close to stab David but if he Catches you then you die there's also glass scattered all over the floor

which will alert David and after hitting him once he starts to take cover which admittedly had me panicking for a bit cuz I couldn't find him for like a solid minute eventually the tube will fall to the ground and Ellie has to crawl to the nearby weapon but David gets to it first I initially thought this is where Joel would arrive and Save the day but I was quite Wrong stop stop [ __ ] tck me okay it's me it's me it's me look look it's me he tried to oh baby girl it's it's okay

it's okay just like before the line delivery invoice acting are incredible and it really conveys the emotions these characters are feeling at this moment Ellie just went through one of the most traumatic experiences of her life and she had to do it all alone Ellie never Knows that Joel is awake until he arrives so this whole time Ellie felt like it was her against the world and when she needed him most Joel wasn't there obviously this wasn't Joel's fault but still being forced to go through all of this on her own was traumatizing enough which

is why she lashed out that being said Ellie was able to hold her own quite well despite how terrified she may have been Ellie has already surpassed many of my favorite Side Characters and other games but seeing her take Center Stage for a bit not only confirms just how great of a side character she really is but it also gave us a very well-developed character Arc for her the world of The Last of Us is used to push the characters into unfavorable scenarios and this whole chapter was where Ellie was pushed to her limit she

had to do everything on her own and almost lost Joel in the process she managed to succeed but stuff Like this won't come without consequences as right after this we cut the spring and we can see that the thought of the day is still on our mind thanks to the symbolism of the deer on the wall but while the world may be cruel it can also be very beautiful as her mood immediately changes upon seeing a giraffe nearby since Ellie was born post outbreak animals like this are like dinosaurs for us so being able to

see one in person is like a miracle plus It's a giraffe they're adorable the game like its pacing handles these mood swings quite well Ellie just went from butchering a man to death to petting a giraffe in about 5 minutes but it never felt jarring or out of place Ellie is a kid so it's not uncommon for her to act like one and jump at the next thing she sees right away the game also wants you to enjoy this moment too by letting you sit and look at the giraffes with her you're allowed to leave

whenever you Want but if you want to stay then the game will let you stay it's a very peaceful moment and after the hours of stress you've likely had at this point a peaceful moment is very much needed this moment also prompts Joel to bring up their journey to Ellie he asks her if this is something she really wants to do he's totally fine with turning back and going to Jackson if that's what she wants Joel is really only here for Ellie and doesn't care what happens he just Wants to make sure that this this

is something she wants to do because technically this was Marlene's idea and she might have felt inclined to go because of her once you've seen enough of the animals you can leave the building which prompts Ellie to give Joel a picture of Sarah and him together this was the same photo we saw back at Joel's house in the intro and it also reappears during the chapter with Tommy as he says that he went back to their Home in Texas and took the photo Joel initially told Tommy to keep it which he did before Ellie stole

it from them minus the short introduction we haven't really talked about Sarah much and that's for good reason the game really pushes her aside is that's what Joel is trying to do he wants to forget about his past as much as he can Joel lost his daughter and his old life in one day and seeing a picture of Sarah likely reminded him of that day you would think That at the very least he should have something to remind him of Sarah and not taking the photo would be very out of character for him but not

only does he still have the watch that she gave him 20 years ago but if a picture causes more pain than pleasure maybe it's best not to keep it even if it is the last remaining thing you have of a loved one to get to the hospital the two will have to take a detour into a tunnel which just happens to be flooded one of the Bosses they used as a bridge ends up getting caught in the waves and throws the two Downstream Joel saves Ellie but she needs CPR if she's going to make it

but that's when two guards come by and ask him to put his hands up I love the small detail of Joel not only not listening to them but not even acknowledging them as his full attention is on Ellie doing this though means Joel doesn't see the gun coming straight for his head which knocks him out thankfully These individuals were not Bandits but rather fireflies as he wakes up next to marleene the guards just had no idea who they were and that they were coming which is why they attacked him to add more good news to

the pot not only is Ellie okay but they're getting her ready for the procedure until we discover that it's a surgery a brain surgery according to Marlene the reason Ellie is immune is that the corps attached to her brain has mutated if they can extract it then they Can reverse engineer it and make a vaccine but since it's attached to her brain that means they're also removing a chunk of her brain in order to get it meaning there is a 100% guarantee Ellie will not survive the procedure Joel refuses to accept this decision and demands

that he gets to see her Marlene refuses as she knows that Joel will try to take her so he has her guards escort him out Joel manages to overpower the guard and get info on her location now We then have to battle through dozens of armed men using anything we can so that we can save Ellie before they do the procedure even though there isn't a timer during this Mission it felt as if there was I was playing more aggressively than normal and would rush into encounters that I could get to Ellie faster Joel then

meets with the doctors and it's all on the player to advance forward no cut scenes or QuickTime events you pull the trigger When you want did I go a bit overboard with the shotgun probably but it got the job done which is all that matters Joel then takes Ellie out of the hospital kills Marlene and heads off to Jackson Joel is incredibly smart and he knows that Marlene would just come for him later which is why he's tying up as many loose ends as he can Ellie will then wake up in the car and ask

what happened see from her point of view she fell off the BS in the tunnel and then awoke in a Car but she knows something happens and she's in a hospital gown jel then has to lie to her and says that there were other immune people that they found but none of their tests worked so making a cure would be impossible honestly from the moment I killed the doctor to the credits I was just speechless so much happened in just a few minutes that I don't even know what to say and it also didn't help

that numerous things I thought would happen never came true Never in my wildest dreams that I think Joel was going to murder Marlene and then just straight up lied to Ellie about the whole thing but I quickly started realizing why lying to her was the right choice because as the two walk back to Jackson Ellie talks about the day she got bit and says that it was with her friend Riley when it happened the two planned on waiting it out but as we know Ellie's immune so her day never came Ellie has been really suffering

With some severe survivors guilt since before the event of the game and it's only gotten worse as it went on she had her friend who will learn about in just a moment but then there was also Tess and Sam all these people became infected and died yet she can't just like anyone that suffers from this you start to question why you were chosen why me why was I the one to deserve life these questions can be so strong that some never crawl out from under their weight And just wish that they died alongside those that

did the reason she's bringing this up to Joel is because she wants to know if what Joel said about the fireflies was true Ellie has been waiting for her turn to die technically she should have died a long time ago but she was chosen not to and she's still trying to figure out why the fireflies gave her the opportunity of a lifetime she realized that she was destined to live because she'd be the Cure that Prevents more people from dying but as we know Joel took that choice and opportunity away from her now to be

fair Ellie had no idea she was going to die from her point of view she fell off the bus and then awoke in the car she had no idea that we visited the fireflies stopped the surgery or even knew that it was a surgery to begin with so her knowing that info may have persuaded her to not go through with it but this is something we'll have to revisit when we Talk about part two so there's no point discussing it now circling back to Joel I think most of us can agree that what Joel did

was selfish but if we were in his position we would have done the same once I heard Ellie was going to die I immediately tried figuring out what we could have done to stop that from happening the one thought that did cross my mind during this was how viable a vaccine would have even been but it seems like I wasn't the only one as many People for years have been discussing the possibility of this happening people have also gone a step further and consider what would have happened if they did succeed as some claim that

the fireflies would have just sold it to people instead of just giving it away so they could profit and others have said that a war would have started once news hit that a vaccine was being made while I'm all for Theory and speculation I think the weight of the ending is lost If the vaccine couldn't have been made having the fireflies fail would make Joel's Choice pointless the game portrays this Choice as a selfish and incorrect one in an RPG this would have been the bad ending and having the vaccine not be successful means he

would have prevented Ellie from dying for no reason thus being the good guy but Joel is not and never has been the good guy he's ruthless pragmatic and cares little about anyone but himself and those he Trusts he's not supposed to be seen as a good person which is why I think the ending would make more sense if the surgery was guaranteed to succeed regardless Ellie and Joel arriving in Jackson means we've come to the end of the game and already the series is off to a great start first impressions are incredibly important especially when

it comes to games and you couldn't have asked for a better start I absolutely loved this game and my feelings on it Still remain positive to this day however we do have to talk about the DLC I don't think Left Behind is a bad DLC it's just sort of there I guess the DLC covers the two most important parts of Ellie's life the time she was bit and discovered that she was immune and then during the winter when Joel was injured the premise so far is quite good and I was interested to see where the

DLC would go but I finished it feeling like I got played as it felt like a Cliffhanger type ending which is ironic given that this is supposed to add context to the scenes that were never showcased similar to that winter chapter we'll be going back and forth between past impr present Ellie throughout the DLC to make it more digestible we'll just talk about each section separately in the past we get a chance to see how Ellie and her friend Riley got bit and it starts with the two meeting in Ellie's room this is quite problematic

As Riley is a firefly and Ellie sleeping at a boarding school hosted by the military with the intention of creating soldiers to fight the fireflies ignoring the fact that Marlene is totally comfortable with employing child Soldiers the rest of the adventure showcases how well established their relationship is the two end up going to an abandoned mall and just do kid stuff they goof around in an arcade take pictures in a photo booth and just Overall have a good time however the infected have taken notice of their Antics and want to join in on the festivities

sadly Corps isn't allowed at this party so the two got a bounce the two girls are capable of handling themselves but there is quite a few infected chasing them and it's only after taking down a few stragglers that the two realize they've been bit their lifespan has now been permanently shortened and the two are debating on What to do they decide to just wait it out and be together in their final moments but then the DLC just ends this is what I meant about a feeling like a cliff hanger the DLC is supposed to show

us how Ellie got bit but we never see the most important part how she discovered that she was immune there's no scene showing Riley turn and having Ellie kill her assuming she even did and there's no follow-up showing Ellie realize that it's been long enough and Nothing's happened it's just strange that we spent so much time on this relationship and never saw it to the end having said that the relationship between these two is great didn't shown perfectly Riley was Ellie's best friend and being able to see their relationship was great but I do wish

we got to see the rest the present day plot isn't any better in fact it's probably worse since nothing of note actually happens Ellie literally puts Joel in an abandoned Store finds a medkit stitches him up and that's all this is the one part of the campaign where Ellie has to do things alone yet all she does is grab a medkit they could have shown her hunting like we saw at the beginning of that chapter or even how she managed to find the cabin and care for Joel just like the other section it felt like

the DLC stopped right when it was getting good the point was to show how Ellie got bit but I think they took that too literally As it only shows how she got bit and then ends despite the fact that what happens after the bite is more important the part withw was honestly just unnecessary and didn't need to be shown at all what's worse is that this was sold for $15 thankfully the remaster version came with this for free as if it didn't I would have easily recommend that you don't buy it like I said at

the top it's not terrible it's not great either but It's not the worst thing in the world the combat was fun and seeing the relationship between Ellie and Riley was great but it also doesn't show more of the important parts of these moments so it just becomes extra content it's not a bad nor is it a good DLC just exists and I don't think that's what it should be rated as it needed to be good not just for that price but because it showed us that it would explore these deeply personal moments in Ellie's life

but They didn't deliver on it regardless of my thoughts on the DLC as a whole package The Last of Us Part One is an exceptional game it has stunning visuals balanc and engaging gameplay a consistent Pace from beginning to end and a gripping narrative that tells the story of a man and his daughter quality like this does not come by often and You' be doing yourself a disservice by not playing it I truly without any hyperbole love this game and thankfully I'm not the only one who thinks that the game is considered a must playay

on Metacritic with a 95 rating and was ranked the second most popular PS3 game of its year just behind GTA 5 at a time when people were questioning the validity of gaming as an art form The Last of Us arrived on scene and proved those doubters wrong seeing Ellie and Joel's relationship change over the course of the game made me care for these characters in a way I haven't felt Before being able to walk talk and interact with both Ellie and Joel gave me the opportunity to see how this unlikely pair became Partners in the

beginning but by the end would do anything for each other even if it meant dooming the world it's a game that I and many others enjoyed and will remember for the years to come and due to its popularity and critical reception a sequel was inevitable and 7 years later the people Got their sequel in the form of The Last of Us Part Two but its reception was less than ideal there are those that say it's the worst game ever made and that naughty dog should be embarrassed about the product they created others say it's amazing

and just as good as part one regardless of your opinion on the game you can see how drastically things have changed changed just about everyone that played part one was in agreeance this is an incredible game for part two though You'll get a different opinion every time that's how divided the community is on this game and as for me I think the game is pretty damn good I don't consider it to be better than part one but I also don't think it's nearly as bad as people are making it out to be I understand how

bold it is to say but genuinely I do think part two is a great game that tells a very compelling narrative about grief the reason I came to that conclusion was because of the Game's second half which is ironic given that many people think the game is bad because because of its second half we'll get to all that in due time but I do hope one thing we can agree on is that the prologue starts off really damn well part two starts 5 years after the events of part one and it shows Joel cleaning his

guitar while explaining to Tommy what happened at the hospital this was mainly for returning players who needed a refresher but I liked how naturally it Was placed into the story Tommy is of course hearing all this for the first time and while he's shocked to hear what his brother had done he understands why and says that he would have done the same while the remake of part one is the graphically Superior version there is one benefit that the master has over the Remake and that's being able to see the leap in graphical Hardware in real

time one of my favorite Parts about playing through a series for a video especially One that's been going on for a long time is seeing it evolve over the years as technology gets better seeing Kratos go from his original appearance to his newest look 17 years later in Ragnarok is amazing to look back on and I feel the same way here it's only been 7 years since the first game but Joel has undergone some drastic visual changes and by playing the Remake you would be robbing yourself of this moment well this scene as mentioned before

serves as A recap for the player more than anything the game really emphasizes this moth on the GU Tower by having it be the first thing the player sees Neil dman talks about the moth in an interview and says that the moth symbolizes Joel but also compulsion this guitar Joel uses will eventually be used by Ellie and this moth is also a design she had tattooed on her so she could cover up the bite mark it's basically a constant reminder that Joel is always with her Which will be very important going forward furthermore mths are

also attracted to light by Nature almost as if it's some kind of compulsion like they need to find the light this is core of the game story as it's centered around revenge and what Revenge does to a person its inclusion in the game is subtle but I liked how heavy the themes and ideas are that surround the image once Joel and Tommy finish talking the two then head back to Jackson the same Town from part one get your play time in with Joel while you can as this will be the only time we actually play

as him in the game that's because our actual main protagonist is Ellie this was a very obvious decision as The Last of Us is really about Ellie's story Joel does play a massive role in shaping the world as we know it and that event will eventually come back around and influen the entire plot of this game but it felt like his story was finished in part one Joel ended up getting what he wanted he was able to keep Ellie safe and give her a new life here in Jackson there isn't anything he could have done

for the story that would make sense without feeling like he was overstaying his welcome which is why giving Ellie the protagonist role was the most logical Choice the game then switches over to a scene of Joel and Ellie together it's unclear how long it's been since part one at this point but it doesn't seem Very long since Ellie is still rather young the two talk for a bit and the vibe is awkward it seems like the talk that they had at the end of part one is still on each other's minds Joel attempts to break

the ice by playing a song for her this like many things in part two are call backs to the previous game when entering the university Joel tells Ellie that he wanted to be a singer at one point Ellie then begs him to sing but he declines what seems like She got her wish after all as Joel does just that to add to the callbacks not only did he mention that he was going to teach her how to play which is something he said in part one but Sam's toy the one Ellie gave back to him

is in her room on a shelf which just goes to show how much those two impacted her in both a good way as they were nice people but also in a bad way as it's still a constant reminder that they died and she hasn't we then fast forward four years Later and we get to see the real present day Ellie throughout the next couple of minutes we'll learn that Jesse here and his girlfriend Dena broke up but then Dena went and kissed Ellie the night before we also learned that this kiss caused one of the

residents to call Ellie a slur this is one of the few things that bothered me about part two some of the game has this tell don't show method of Storytelling which is pretty ass backwards even worse the game Does actually show show us this incident but not until 20 hours later and by then I don't really care I do like what the flashback shows because it will become very important later but I still think naughty dog probably could have just shown us the contents now and then reference it later rather than telling us now and

then showing us later back to the present though the plan for the day is to go out on patrol Jesse will take Tommy and Joel's post and Ellie and Dina Will do their route this will allow us to get some one-onone time with Dina to see what she's really about before that can happen though we're taken to a cabin filled with people the main two that we see are a guy and a girl named Abby and Owen there are a ton more people with them but for now these are the main two Abby and Owen

are also on patrol but for a very different reason they find a hillside that gives them a good look at the town we just came from apparently This group is looking for someone in that town and they don't seem to be nice people as Abby suggests that they find one of the outgoing patrols and interrogate them meaning this group ain't here for some chat and trade even with their group though they aren't strong enough to take on Jackson so Abby suggests the previous plan of taking one of the patrols oh and disagrees saying that it's

too risky and goes back to the cabin from here we'll be switching back And forth between these two until they meet so let me just summarize all of them one at a time as Ellie we end up traveling to some of the outposts and also end up taking a break with Dena so we can wait out the storm this causes Dena and Ellie to talk about their kiss last night but Ellie is hesitant to give her thoughts on the matter one of the game's Collectibles are journal entries these unlike the other Collectibles allow us to

learn more about Ellie and See what kind of mindset she's in at the moment Ellie has a paragraph in her journal that says don't end the friendship she clearly likes Dena but she doesn't want it to affect their relationship thankfully Dena feels the same way about her and the two share a kiss and even more during their break the scene overall is quite adorable as the two definitely seem to care about one another on a very deep level this is also the first time we get to see one of Ellie's relationships in game and it

gets you interested enough to see where it goes from here there was Riley back in the DLC who Ellie cared deeply for and then apparently another girl named cat who was the one that gave Ellie the tattoo there wasn't enough if any time to see those relationships in action that's why establishing this at the beginning allows the rest of the story to use it to its Advantage eventually they'll be interrupted by Jesse who says That Joel and Tommy didn't show up and it's been over an hour the reason they didn't is because they're currently lost

in the snowstorm Abby also happens to be lost too but thankfully Tommy and Joel happen to show up and save her the three then get to a safe spot and discuss where to go next Abby says she has a cabin of friends not far from here they all agree to go there once they have the opportunity to and they introduce themselves while I've always preferred a Consistent art style over realistic graphics one thing it has an advantage in is subtle movements just from the facial capture alone you can tell hearing Joel's name did set something

off within her brain and it's not hard to assume that Joel is the person she's looking for now one common complaint levied at this scene is that it's out of character for Tommy to give out names like this and I definitely agree while I could forgive Tommy for the slip up Because he doesn't have the survivalist mentality that Joel Has Not only was Tommy a former Firefly for many years but he just heard the story that Joel told him it's safe to assume that people would want Joel dead for doing this and giving away his

name was idiotic the counterargument to this though is that the two brothers have been spending a lot of time in Jackson living a normal life so they may have just let their guard down and learn to be more Trustworthy than before whatever the reason may be though revealing their names was the worst mistake Tommy could have ever made look like you heard of us or son cuz they have the other [Music] all clear he's out put him against the wall [Music] momy get her down get off me get her Hand get the [ __ ]

off me B you got her look you got herur [Music] okay you're going to [ __ ] die juel get up Joel [ __ ] get up please stop please don't sh Joel please get up [Applause] Joel is officially dead this isn't one of those things where he's barely alive And is able to be taken to a hospital or somehow gets a second win through the power of friendship Joel is well and truly dead and it's only been 2 hours since we started playing now at the moment we don't know who these people are and

why they did this we could assume that they're fireflies which is what I assume too and I was half right but we'll talk about the real motivation behind this later still though what a shocking scene it's a very realistic Portrayal of death not every everyone gets to go out in the blaze of a glory sometimes they die like a coward beaten to death with a golf club while they're too weak to move it's brutal and not only shows how much hatred Abby had for Joel but likely how much the player now has for Abby she

didn't even give the man a chance to defend himself Joel does not deserve to go out like that after everything he's been through but death and fate are a cruel mistress similar to Sarah's death this too was spoiled for me but honestly it was quite hard to avoid since everyone was talking about this even before the game launched I specifically remember gameplay was leaked prior to its release and everyone took to Twitter and other platforms to inform those of what happened I was sadly one of those people that had the scene ruined for them but

at the time it didn't bother me since I had no intentions of playing the series kind of Kicking myself for that now but just like Sarah scene I hadn't heard the scene in full before and it's still just as gut-wrenching as it's supposed to be Joel was an incredibly likable character he was the protagonist of the last game so we built a deep connection with him same as Ellie but now both of us have to say goodbye to him this event though is what kicks off the real start of the story and the plan is

simple kill Abby honestly I don't think anyone Playing this game needed any kind of convincing once Ellie said she wanted to find her I was in Ellie like myself cares about Joel and there's no way we're letting some girl in her gang get away with Killing Them In Cold Blood like that but we don't even know where to begin thankfully Tommy noticed that they had the words Washington Liberation Front on their jackets which means that they're likely from Seattle with all that laid out Ellie along with Dena is Then all set to go to Seattle

and take the fight to Abby and Tommy while originally saying he wants to talk to Maria first ends up actually leaving before Ellie does so all of them make the track across the state as an opening though it's pretty well done apologies if the last few minutes were filled with more summarization than you're used to but you could see why it was necessary to speed through the story a bit there also isn't a whole lot to critique here In this section since not much has really happened we've only just been introduced to the new cast

and anything that's happened in the past few minutes was done so it could influence the rest of the story nonetheless it was still a great start some may be disappointed that they killed off Joel this early and yeah it doesn't feel great but it does at least get attention now all the game has to do though is to take this setup and run with it Abby being out of the Picture allows the game to focus more on Ellie which is where the game really starts to open up in regards to its gameplay part two's gameplay

is very similar to that of part one if you like the previous game for its survival style gameplay then you'll likely have no complaints when playing part two there are small additions of course but they're minor enough that they don't change the flow of gameplay if anything they enhance it one of which is where Enemies talk to each other during combat and have actual names it didn't attempt to characterize these people you're killing and really Hammer home how much destruction you're doing the original game had stuff like this too like when enemies would announce that

you have no ammo if you try to shoot an empty magazine but part two takes us to another level as for the complaints I really only have one and that's that Ellie likes to announce when all the Enemies are dead she'll say something like okay I think that's all of them or something along those lines at the end of every encounter I get why they did this but I feel like it removes the feeling of suspense that part one kept throughout its runtime for example a little bit later El were run into a group of

stalkers but this time time they actually stalk the player they'll hide behind these walls and jump you if you don't see them it's a terrifying Encounter but once they're dead Ellie says that the coast is clear knowing that the area is clear of hostiles I sprinted throughout the area picking up any loose items I didn't find since I was so focused on killing had that not been included I would have just left as I was already at the exit but since Ellie said that they were all dead I ran around without a care in the

world it just kills the suspense of not knowing whether or not every enemy in the area Is truly dead other than that though the gaml was just as great as the original and if you play The Last of Us for the gameplay alone you won't be disappointed the next few minutes are a mix of gameplay and puzzle solving just like the previous games but there are a few moments where the game focuses on our two love birds I must say though I think part two really drops the ball on the side characters Jesse and Dena

are likable enough but they're never really Given an opportunity to express themselves in any way one note would be a perfect way to describe them because in this game it's not about what makes them interesting but what their role is to the story there isn't enough info given to usaba to make her interesting but her role is Ellie's girlfriend her role is important but everything about her isn't which is a real shame I know the focus of this game at least for now was on Ellie but I do wish more time was Spent with the

others I want to see what Ellie sees in Dena and why she's so special to her as for that particular moment I mentioned earlier Ellie found a guitar and decides to play a tune for Dena the scene just like the one earlier in the weed Den are adorable and I wish I got to see more of it throughout the game once again I know the focal point of the story is Ellie but focusing so much on her comes at the cost of the other characters that surround her once Ellie is done singing she and Dina

will eventually make it to one of the wlf outposts and find some of Tommy's handiwork this is very similar to Joel's style of interrogation which was that scene during the winter seems like Tommy made the guy write down some coordinates in his own blood which is pretty gruesome the two will then follow the trail before being blown up by a landmine Ellie is then knocked out before waking up next to Jordan Jordan Is the guy from earlier who was slashed in the face instead of killing her he wants to keep Ellie alive though that he

can get some more information on who else she's traveling with but the guy next to him Mike argues with Jordan saying that Isa leader of the wlf has a new mandate kill all trespassers their argument gives Dena enough time to come by and kill Mike before Jordan shoots the glass causing her to fall Jordan then for some odd reason decides to Choke Dena out which gives Ellie enough time to escape and kill Jordan overall the scene is as intense as it's intended to be but I'm still puzzled as to why Jordan didn't just kill Dena

it's hard to know what Jordan wanted with Dena specifically as he could have just wanted her as another Hostage to interrogate for information but it's also possible that he just wanted to kill her assuming he really did just want want to kill her it's definitely Very odd he didn't just finish her off with the gun he was already using on her things like this can be very tricky in stories as you want to add tension and suspense to engage the viewer but sometimes the action that causes set suspense like choking someone instead of shooting them

doesn't make any sense in the context of the situation Jordan dying though allows Ellie to find their next Target Leah Jordan's girlfriend the reason we know where Leah is located is Because on Jordan's corpse was a letter from her that says that she'll be stationed at the TV station for a bit longer than usual since there are scars in the area scars are what the wlf call the seraphites another group within the world of The Last of Us speaking of the groups in this game I think part two handled them quite well I was a

bit disappointed in the fireflies from the last game and I guess I wasn't the only one who thought about this as both Factions now play much larger roles in this game we'll be meeting people from each group quite a bit and majority of the enemies Quest through the levels that aren't infected are wlf or seraphite members which was a smart decision as it not only shows how much territory these groups have but it's a nice attempt at fleshing out the World by adding more factions the Firefly in the first game were a fairly interesting group

but since the game focused heavily On Ellie and Joel not much screen time was given to them outside of a few key moments in this game though each faction is much more important to the story and you won't be forgetting about them anytime soon such as right now is once the two make it to the TV station they find Leah but they were too late as the seraphites got to her first we get a few teases of the seraphites throughout the previous gameplay sections that lead us to the station and we can see they're a

Very ruthless group of people they hang their victims right before they disembowel them they also mark their territories with these vitim as well as paint their logo in blood we still have yet to see an actual seraphite but we have seen their handiwork and it is quite the sight Leah being dead though means that our leads have dried up but Leah had a lot of stuff in her duffel bag that could be helpful to their investigation but it's also getting late So do need to focus on finding a safe place to rest first before they

do that though Dena and Ellie have a interesting conversation well she's dead how do you feel I'm pissed we couldn't talk to her yeah but she didn't hurt Joel it would have been pretty [ __ ] up to make her talk she traveled hundreds of miles to torture him I don't care whether she held the club or not I get it around This time Ellie ends up falling and breaking her gas mask Dena is naturally worried for Ellie's safety until she tells her that she's immune obviously this comes as quite the shock to her but

the game strangely pushes this aside by revealing something even Wilder and it's that Dena might be pregnant and that Jesse is the father well it is rather strange that the game completely ignores how pivotal this moment is as she hasn't revealed this to anyone outside of Tommy And Joel I do like the contents of the reveal Dena being pregnant will be important as Mel one of aby's friends is also pregnant and the game is going to use both of these girls and their friends as parallels in order to convey the point it's trying to make

it's also during this time that we get introduced to one of the two new infected in part two the shambler they are similar in design to a bloater with the main difference being that they release Corrosive gas from their body which melts the skin of anyone nearby from what I can gather it seems like once's an infected becomes a bloater it has a chance to mutate into a shambler Instead This may be due to Seattle's weather as it is very rainy Andel dman is quoted in saying that he wanted the environment and weather to have

a role in the infection process the two then make it to an abandoned theater they deem suitable to live in which gives them Enough time to discuss the elephant in the room Dina being pregnant is a problem as Ellie doesn't want to put another being in danger but she also wants to kill Abby this causes a rift in their relationship as Ellie calls her a burden now that she's done this Ellie decides to let things cool off between them though by letting in her rest while she Scopes out the theater while doing so she ends

up finding a guitar and relaxes by playing some music she ends Up playing the song Future Days by Pearl Jam which while cool enough on its own is the same song Joel sang for her in the prologue I find the lyrics of the song rather interesting in hindsight as the first two lines read if I were to ever lose you I would surely lose myself this line seems to relate to both Ellie and Joel if Joel were to lose Ellie he would surely have lost himself which is why he saves Ellie at the end of

part one and if Ellie loses Joel then she Would lose herself too and while it's not a parent now I can assure you she will start to lose that old side of herself throughout the course of the game the scene then cuts to Black before going to another flashback this time 3 years ago as we see Ellie and Joel on a walk together this is the first time we've been able to see Joel since his death and these flashbacks do provide a heartwarming feeling if you have made it this far in the game or even

finished Part one I find it hard to believe that you don't like Joel so seeing him happy and Alive with Ellie is a great feeling the reason the two are here is because Joel has a surprise for Ellie and that's that they're going to be exploring an abandoned Museum not only are dinosaurs to explore but on the top floor there was a space exhibit which if you remember from part one Ellie said one of her dreams was to be an astronaut Joel also remembers this as he managed to Find an old tape of an official

launch for Ellie to listen to while she sits in one of the pods it's incredibly adorable and I must say that it's extremely impressive that Naughty Dog managed to keep the emotions of the player and the player character consistent no matter which part of the duo we end up playing as in part one we played his Joel and we grew to love Ellie alongside him we were both happy when we found her at the end of the winter chapter and we were both Willing to lay our lives down if it meant getting Ellie out of

that hospital but in part two we play as Ellie and not only felt that pain and anger she felt when Joel died but also this current feeling of Happiness as we get to spend more time with Joel again also and I know I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here but there's another flashback later that reinforces this idea as the two get into a few combat encounters together and it felt like I was playing part one Again but from Ellie's perspective it felt great to kill infected and bandits alongside Ellie in part one and it

feels nostalgic to do it again here in part two it's genuinely some impressive work a naughty dog really deserves some credit for how well they pulled this off once you're done looking through the exhibit and chatting with Joel you can continue through to another section of the museum the two will have to split up to do so but once they meet up they'll See a firefly logo with the words Liars underneath it judging from Ellie's reaction you can get the sense that she doesn't fully believe what Joel told her at the end of part one

and it's something that will come up again a bit later this scene brings us to the end of the flashback and the end of day one and honestly it's been quite underwhelming there is a major contributor to this that I'll talk about a bit later but not much has happened so far and it's been Roughly 5 hours since we started our campaign there was a few nice moments with Dena like with the guitar and when the two explore a synagogue but outside of that Dena and Ellie don't talk too much unless it has to do

with the mission or something that's in front of them and the game doesn't even give them the opportunity to interact with anything either since it's just back-to-back gameplay thankfully though day two is a bit better Ellie and Dena Haven't talked much since last night but it seems like both of them are okay and not mad at one another Dina also takes it upon herself to listen in on the radio chatter coming in from the WLS since she's pregnant and throwing up all the time she can't be out in the field like Ellie is so she's

trying to help out the best she can and not feel like a burden according to Dena someone on the com said that there was a lone male trespasser that was spotted near site 14 Which she says might be located near a place called Hillcrest the two assume that this trespasser is Tommy until Ellie goes by herself to investigate and learns that it's actually Jesse Jesse had heard that Tommy Dena and Ellie went off to find Abby and obviously he wasn't going to lie down and let them handle it which is why he made the solo

trk here given that it's only been a couple days since we arrived in Seattle we can assume that Jesse likely left the same Day as we did and has been trying to find us ever since Jesse then has the bright idea to steal one of the wlfs cars and drive away but the two end up getting caught and have to now outrun more wlf soldiers and dozens of infected it's a pretty standard chase scene but encounters like this always get the blood pumping no matter the context it also characterizes Jesse a bit as we can

deduce from this scene that he tends to not think things through all the time Taking one of their cars was risky enough especially since we almost bid it just trying to get the car started and the explosions we saw When approaching the area were likely him too so Jesse's kind of a reckless person that being said though he is still serious when he needs to be which we'll see a bit more of in day three but for now Jesse and Ellie go back to the theater and regroup with Dena Ellie doesn't plan to stay long

as Dena got a tip that Nora one of Aby's friends is stationed at the nearby hospital the journey to the hospital is pretty bog standard in terms of gameplay until Ellie runs into the sarap fites I absolutely love the introduction of the seraphites it starts with Ellie entering a large forested area but once she gets near the grass you hear someone whistle this will immediately put you on high alert which is why I took the long way around and crawled through the grass before I got shot with an arrow the Group also communicates through whistling

which I found to be incredibly fascinating basically certain whistles mean certain things like searching attacking Etc each of the commands are consistent though so you could in theory learn the whistles if you wanted to by far one of their most annoying ones is their call and response whistle where one person calls and the others whistle in response the thing is though is that if no one responds then they know Something happened and then their patrol routes change making it harder to kill them but this is just one of the things that sets the seraphites apart

from other groups they're a very typical religious cult that uses older technology like bows and arrows as opposed to guns as they deem it you sinful although some members mainly soldiers are exempt from this rule given that they're still at war with the wlf we also know what they do to the people They kill as we saw their creations at the TV station it's unclear if they always take hostage or only the ones that they can spare but it does seem like this hanging and torturing is a part of their killing process the group deems

this necessary as they believe that they are cleansing the world of sin likely by releasing it from their guts as they hang which is why they dismal their victims the group also lives on a remote island off the coast called haven Where they all live in Wood huts and long houses the concept of a religious cult may not be anything original compared to other media but within the last of us it most certainly is while the wlf are a cool faction they don't have enough unique things about them that set them apart from other groups

like the fireflies they're just your standard everyday militia the seraphites though are incredibly unique and were easily my favorite faction in the game Due to how different they are from everyone in regards to both gameplay and story once Ellie makes it to the hospital she ends up interrogating one of the guards for information the girl fights back though and Ellie has to kill her she ends up saying that she was dumb when she stabs her likely referring to herself since she let the girl get a chance to strike her shame the girl had to die

though because if you look at what she was doing she was in the middle Of playing Hotline Miami on her PS Vita Ellie then makes it to the upper floors of the hospital and ends up finding Nora Nora though isn't willing to give up any info on Abby plus she also taunts Ellie by bringing up Joel you still hear a screams what I hear them every night yeah yeah that little [ __ ] got what he deserved you [ __ ] help trespasser her last line is pretty ironic given she's About to get what's coming

to her too as Ellie chases her throughout the hospital but ends up getting cornered by some wlf as the hole behind her goes into a Spore infested room however since Ellie's immune none of this bothers her so she'll get to have some one-on-one time with Nora and take as long as she wants Ellie ends up using a light pipe to utterly beat Norah to death it's definitely one of the most gruesome acts of violence we've seen so far from her Since her fight with David now obviously Ellie wasn't here to kill her she just needed

info on Abby sadly nor won't sell out her friend but she does mention how Ellie can breath the spores Norah then puts two and two together and realizes that Ellie was that girl from the hospital which means that Norah used to be a firefly it's also safe to assume that Norah Abby and her crew all work together meaning they're all former fireflies I say former because Norah Says that the fireflies are all gone they've disbanded and aren't a group anymore at least within Seattle and Utah it's unclear if all the fireflies are fully gone since

they are a large group and we did see some back in Boston during the first game's prologue that being said though we now know why Abby and the crew hunted down Joel they were former firefli and wanted Joel dead for what he did back at the hospital in part one but as I said that's only half the Story Ellie then comes back from the hospital and she's a mess you could see it on her face that she's not all there mentally and she's shaking before she enters the theater she did look quite pissed right before

the screen cut to black but not nearly as bad as this that's because offscreen she continued to beat Norah into submission which is how she managed to make her talk it comes as quite the shock that she was willing to go that far but I do think Showing that scene would have gone a long way as to me the framing of this scene implied that this was the last strike that killed Nora not just wounding her but maybe that's just me regardless we do get to see a bit more of Ellie's body later and she

looks pretty rough and the camera does an excellent job of showing the player how much this journey has taken a toll on her both physically and mentally Dena of course being the amazing girlfriend she Is Comforts Ellie in this moment and lets her know that everything is going to be okay Ellie's mind is all over the place here she's conflicted on what to do is unsure whether or not this journey is even worth it and also what Dena thinks among many other things it's really just becoming too much for her this is also what I

meant when I said earlier about the roles of the characters being important not the characters themselves as Dena is sort of Like Ellie's Rock notice how in day one things were quite tame when it came to killing but now that Ellie is alone and no longer has Dina to keep her in check she gets Reckless and bashes Norah's skull in with a pipe we can of course relate this back to our older discussion about Dena and Ellie talking about Leah and if making her talk would have been Justified Ellie sees nothing wrong with torturing her

she did travel all the way just to kill Joel but Dena sees her as Innocent since she had nothing to do with this Dena is Ellie's voice of reason and by not having her by her side it means Ellie gets incredibly angry and takes things too far in all fairness though you might find this strange and likely agree with Ellie's actions here they kill Joel they deserve it like I said I want to revisit this later but think about that are you on Dina side or Ellie's as I said earlier day two was a bit

better than before we started seeing More things take effect throughout the story like Ellie's obsession with killing Abby and how this rage has driven her to kill others in vicious ways and we also get introduced to Jesse which means we get more opport Unity to see what his deal is things so far have been set up quite well so let's see how they finish it with day three but before we can continue the game gives us yet another flashback in fact we actually got two on this day one now and one Earlier when we came

back with Jesse but I figured I would cover them both now at the same time as they focus on the same thing the first one is another one of those heartwarming moments where we get to interact with Joel before he died but as a bonus we get a chance to hunt some Infected down with Tommy Tommy always felt like he was put on the back burner when it came to the series so being able to see him do more than just defend Jackson was great he sadly doesn't show Up much in Ellie's campaign but he

does have a great Cameo later that I really liked once Ellie and Tommy finish hunting infected the two go back to the cabin where Joel is located you'll notice when playing this section that something feels off Ellie is not as talkative and it seems like something is bothering her that's why Tommy wanted both her and Joel to go do some patrols together so the two can have some time to talk this is where that Nostalgia Came in as like I said I felt like I was playing part one again but from Ellie's perspective the two

didn't do quite a few firefights with a lot of infe Ed and once the two survive the assault they decide to pack it up and go home before leaving though Ellie finds two skeletons on the floor Joel mentions a bit earlier in this Mission how a couple ran away from Jackson at one point and it seems like these two bodies are that couple the two of them left a note that talks About them wanting to leave Jackson so they could help the people outside the walls of the city sadly this didn't last long as the

two got bit about an hour after leaving to make things worse the two were teenagers so they had their whole lives ahead of them only for it to be snuffed out instantly thanks to the ceps this once again brings us back to Ellie Sur suror guilt as they died from the infection yet she's still alive thanks to this discovery though the Topic of discussion is once again brought up it's now really the time for this we traveled across the entire country to bring me to the fireflies I had so many questions for them why did

you pull me out of there while I was still unconscious because I let them run their tests and when I saw that they were useless I got us out of them how do you know they Were useless maybe if you you just would have given them more time they could have figured something out there was no cure Ellie is clearly pissed off and even though she drops the conversation you can tell she's not satisfied which takes us to our next flashback where we see Ellie visit the same hospital where it all went down so she

can find some answers for herself Ellie ends up finding a recording that talks about how They escaped and that their chances of a vaccine are gone but not because the two left but because Joel killed the only doctor that could have made it happen Joel then arrives on Horseback and Ellie brings up the conversation again before the final time making a vaccine would have killed you so I stop them oh my God [Music] don't you [ __ ] touch [Music] me I'll go back but we're done Ellie finally learns the truth about what happened that

night she has been dealing with survivors guilt since she was bit 5 years ago and hearing that she actually had the chance to die and make her life means something only for it to be taken away tears her apart going back to our earlier conversation at the end of part one regarding whether Or not Ellie would have gone through with the surgery if she knew she would have died I think it's safe to assume that she would have or else she would have thanked Joel for saving her furthermore this connects to the first conversation we

have with Jesse Regarding why Ellie was mad at Joel for standing up for her it's not that she was mad at Joel for what he did to Seth but it's just that he was mad at him in general and didn't want him in her life As she finds it incredibly hard to forgive him after what he did I think my only gripe with this scene is its place this happened in Universe 2 years ago meaning This Ellie we've been playing as the whole time knew about what happened my first reaction to this scene wasn't oh

here we go now she knows it was wait a minute so she's known the whole time I've been playing as her I thought for long stretches of time that Joel died with that secret and I was wondering how Ellie was going to learn of this herself if she ever would then come to find out she already knew while I like the contents of the flashbacks themselves their placements are just bizarre in all honesty the whole thing as a concept is bizarre are I know that making all this chronological would slow the pace of the game

down since it officially starts once Joel dies but still its inclusion is very strange to me with that though we have come to day three and Jesse and Ellie have a talk regarding Dena Jesse learns that she's pregnant and says that they need to go back to Jackson that she can get the care she needs Ellie agrees but is of course very reluctant to do so since she came here to get revenge and doesn't want to leave empty-handed especially since we've already killed some of her friends already furthermore Ellie also doesn't want to leave Tommy

behind since he's still doing his thing out out there so the plan is to get Tommy and then find a way back to Jackson to do that though they plan to go to the aquarium and hold out there until they find his location on the way to the aquarium Jesse brings up a few good points he asks Ellie if she's okay with leaving some of aby's crew behind she says that it's okay because Dena needs to be back in Jackson Jesse then asks if she thinks they'll come back to Jackson they might want to get

revenge for what Ellie did but she responds by Saying that she only came here because of what Abby did but Jesse claps back and says that they only came to Jackson cuz of what Joel did it's a bit confusing but Jesse is trying to tell not only Ellie but the player that maybe this trip isn't worth the trouble and that this cycle of Revenge isn't going to go away the trip to the aquarium is quite long but thankfully the two find a boat which will allow them to travel through the flood but right before they

Entered the mall the two heard some chatter about a sniper who they assume is Tommy Jesse wants to go save Tommy before he's killed but Ellie wants to go to the aquarium as Abby could be there you start to see how this Revenge trip is causing Ellie to distance herself away from her friends she called Dena a burden earlier and now refuses to help Tommy and Jesse if it means going after Abby once the two split up because they couldn't find a compromise Ellie then Grabs the boat and makes it to the aquarium but instead

of finding Abby she finds Owen and Mel Abby is not here though and the two refuse to give up her position both of them are worried that she'll kill them anyway even if they did but Ellie says they can survive if they just do what she says just like the brothers Ellie also uses their interrogation tactic by having Mel point to where she is on the map and then having Owen confirm it this doesn't work Though as Owen attempts to disarm Ellie and then gets promptly shot in the stomach which is Then followed by Mel's

own death thanks to Ellie stabbing her in the throat this is where the gore of the game really started to hit me part two can be pretty gruesome at times and these deaths were really where it started to set in as stated before part two was quite divisive amongst fans and a major complaint I saw was that the game was supposed to show you that Violence is bad yet never gives you a chance to stop that violence while I agreed to some extent I also want to offer a counterargument that you might want to consider

the game is trying to show you that the violence and death Ellie is committing are bad but it's only supposed to stop at her this is a problem because games are not only artificial but it's also an interactive medium so our Act are Ellie's actions but we're supposed to be the player and Spectator of this game and that's tough to do when we play through the whole thing ourselves part two is trying to show us that Ellie's actions are terrible and unnecessary even though we are the ones to actually act out these actions we're still

supposed to be mad at Ellie for doing this she is the one putting us in this position in the first place as she's the one that keeps going out to sech for Abby essentially she's holding the gun for us and telling us to Pull the trigger this would connect to the game's message as if we were able to spare these people then the whole story is lost Ellie's journey is fueled by hatred and revenge which is why her violence is becoming more unhinged she doesn't care what happens to aby's friends and these no-name soldiers not

only have orders to shoot trespassers which she is but they're also preventing her from reaching her objective if Ellie was able to spare these people but the Events of the game still played out normally then it'd be too drastic of a change to see her be a pacifist one minute than bludgeon or the next this journey is supposed to be one of violence anger and hatred and we're supposed to be disappointed in Ellie for not only doing this but also putting us in a situation where we have to do it too the following reveal also

reinforces the point that we should be disappointed in her for what she did as it's revealed That Mel was pregnant this causes her to have a panic attack now that she's come to terms of what she just did thankfully Tommy and Jesse show up just in time to save her though oddly enough if you listen closely it kind of sounds like Joel is calling out to her instead of [Applause] Tommy I wonder if it's her mind thinking it's Joel because she wants him to come save her like he did back during the winter really goes

to show how much he Still cares for him even after what he did thanks to Owen though they're out of leads not like that was the plan anyway since they were just here to get Tommy and then go back to Jackson it was only during their argument with Jesse where she decided to go find Abby on her own back at the theater though Jesse Tommy and Ellie talk about how to get back while Dena sleeps the problem though is that Ellie dropped her map and never picked it back up at the aquarium as she Was

still too deep in her panic attack to notice [ __ ] Jesse stand up hands in the air I shoot this one to don't you do it Ellie get out of here stand up now you [ __ ] dare shut the [ __ ] up [ __ ] all right stop stop once again this further confirms that blazes of Glory do not exist in the world of The Last of Us and Jesse was not an exception before we can even come To terms of what just happened we get another flashback but this time from aby's

perspective this takes place 5 years ago and from this flashback we learn why Abby killed Joel yes she is a firefly but she has a personal stake in this quest for Revenge because the doctor Joel killed was her dad Jerry Anderson was his name and Abby was his daughter that's why she came to Jackson so Joel could pay for murdering her dad things are starting to make much more Sense now naturally this is around the time we come back to the present and see how things unfold right we're at the final few minutes of the

game and we're ready to see how it ends wrong we have just reached the halfway point of part two as right after this Abby awakes from a dream and the title card says Seattle day one meaning we have to go through the same 3 days again as Abby this is why a lot of people were disappointed with this game it is a lot to ask a Player to do probably the most I've ever been asked in my life not only did Joel die but now we forced to play as his killer and not for a

short time might I add which brings me to my least favorite part about this game it's pacing part two when it comes to its length and Order of events is just bad the thing is though is that there's no other way to fix this that doesn't require rewriting the whole thing chronological order doesn't work as we've already discussed But flip-flopping between both of them each day won't work either and by flip-flopping I mean that they employ what they did during the winter chapter in part one but for all of part two so we would do

ell's day one then aby's day one and then back and forth until they meet at the theater the problem is that the reason that was so successful in part one was because it was short and narratively it made sense the whole chapter is no longer than an hour or two So going back and forth like that won't disrupt much the gam playay plus Ellie was a side character at least for the purposes of gameplay as she had no upgrade tree like Joel and most enemies dropped ammo that you could keep fighting unlike Joel where enemies

didn't drop anything at all sometimes they did that so that the player didn't have to get bogged down by the gameplay during Ellie section since they already have to manage ammo and supplies as Joel Doing that with Ellie and Abby makes no sense since they have completely different inventories weapons and upgrades it would just disrupt the flow of the gameplay if we switched off at the end of each day more importantly though it narratively doesn't make sense either since we're going to have to wait the same amount of time to reach this climax anyway the

current way is just teasing us first but the attention that chapter provided is not present in this Game Ellie and Joel in that chapter were minutes apart and it felt like we were just on our heels but we needed to go faster if we had any chance of catching her that doesn't work in part two as Abby and Ellie never meet hell Abby has no idea she's even being hunted by Ellie until this moment the closest these two get is the hospital and the aquarium where Abby goes to the hospital to meet Norah and then

hours later Ellie comes by and kills her after the aquarium Ellie comes and kills Mel and Owen and then Abby presumably arrives a few hours later this isn't one of those cliches where a two protagonists are just a block away or Ellie's hiding from a group of wlf members and then come to find out Abby was in that group and they just missed each other they are literally miles apart for 90% of the game so this method wouldn't work it would just make the pacing even worse the only way to fix this is to just

Simply reduce the runtime so far I've written about 13 pages on part two and assuming my math is correct we've been roughly talking about this part for 50 minutes but you don't even know half of it this so far has been 12 hours of gameplay and we have another 10 to go before we can get back to the scene so much of this game is Just back-to-back combat encounters when I do these videos I usually have the recordings on my second monitor so I can go back and Watch it while I write multiple times I

scrubbed through hours of footage just to get to the next part since all of it was gameplay for example in this video we went from Jordan to Leo right away but that was separated by an hour and 30 minutes of gameplay during my playthrough and then I had to wait another hour before we got to the theater I summarized that section in just a few minutes but it took over 2 hours just to play as much as I love the Gameplay in this game I feel like some of these long stretches of combat could have

been cut down a bit for further context part one took about 12 hours for me to beat which was about as long as Elie campaign Alone part two is basically double the length of part one as always though there is a massive caveat to all this as pacing is extremely subjective game length is a weird thing to discuss since there's no definitive number because it's all based On the feelings of the player and and some people have different tolerances for this stuff I found Assassin's Creed Valhalla to be way too damn long but I played

Elder ring for even longer and found its length adequate the numbers and feelings are never going to be consistent which is why it needs to be judged on its own and in my eyes part two felt like it was dragging on far too long but if you disagree I'd love to hear why as for the real elephant in the Room that of course being aby's campaign you'll already know that I didn't mind this at all in fact I feel like without it the game wouldn't be as complete firstly ignoring whose campaign it is I'm just

glad we got something at all because if the game was truly going to end at this theater it would probably be even worse than its reception is now because realistically what have we done so far story-wise all Ellie has done is kill four of aby's friends and that's it Nothing has actually happened our objective hasn't even been complete yet since we haven't even met Abby until now nothing was learned nothing was gained and we didn't even get to hear much about Dena and Jesse it would honestly be a pretty pathetic game if it was just

Ellie's Campa while some may agree with that take they may also think that aby's campaign was not a good substitute for it but I massively disagree furthermore I heard many people say that aby's Campaign was placed here that you could feel sympathy for her and that the main theme of the game is a poor attempt at saying revenge is bad but I also have to disagree with that personally I don't feel sympathy for Abby at all I think if Ellie killed her it would be totally justified the thing is though is that it's not going

to solve anything Abby and Ellie are two sides of the same coin two girls whose fathers died by someone for some unknown reason aby's campaign Is going to show us how she got over the grief of losing her dads that we the player can hope that Ellie does the same if it worked for Abby it has to work for her too because ultimately that's what all of us really want at the end of the day we just want Ellie to feel better and to be that happy kid we remember from part one not the grief

stricken murderer of part two and aby's campaign is going to show how that's possible by giving us a chance to see someone else Go through the same thing aby's first day in Seattle starts at the wlf base with her being awoken by Manny for context Manny was the one who spit on Joel after Abby killed him we'll also end up meeting Jordan Mel and Alice all of whom are familiar with except for Alice who is the group's guard dog she like the others is also dead because right before Ellie met Owen and Mel at the

aquarium she fell through a vent in the ceiling and had to put Alice down it Is definitely a strange feeling seeing all these people happy just knowing that in a couple days they'll all be dead as for the base itself the wlf have settled into a nearby stadium and they seem to be doing well for themselves it's hard to compare Jackson to the wlf base since we don't get an opportunity to walk around the town but it does seem like the wlf have a lot more resources than they do especially since Jackson was mainly meant

to be a town with civilians Where the wlf base has soldiers in it this also isn't their only base as aby's job for the day is to run some patrols and eventually make it to one of their fobs joining her on this Expedition will be Manny Alice and Mel it's definitely strange that Mel is coming along since she is very clearly pregnant but this is supposed to be a routine Patrol so it should be safe for her to come along as they aren't expecting combat which means we're going to be expecting combat the Seraphites Ambush

the truck and we have to fend them off before the chaos ensues the though Abby and Mel talk for a bit and you start to get the sense that they aren't on good terms and this is likely due to Owen we'll cover the flashbacks that show this info later but Abby and Owen used to date before Owen moved on to Mel but as we'll soon see their feelings haven't wavered and this causes some issues for this Trio that's why Mel mentions Owen's name when they talk About picking up more assignments since Mel probably assumes that

aby's picking up more shifts that she could be with Owen during this conversation Mel also asks Abby how she's been sleeping these days despite the fact that she's finally taken down her father's killer she said that her sleeping is as bad as it's been before Abby doesn't seem to be the only one who was affected by that night as some of her friends are either traumatized and or regret doing it in The first place slowly but surely the idea starts to trickle in that none of them were too happy with what happened that day Abby

is the one that was affected the least by this but that's still just as concerning since this act was supposed to heal her and allow her to get closure yet nothing happened after the group clears out the seraphites they'll eventually reach the base before they get some bad news apparently their friend Dany died Recently even more worrying is that Owen was with him and they haven't heard from him since Manny and Abby then go and find Isaac to see what's up but he's currently busy torturing a seraphite they have locked up at the base Isaac

is a ruthless leader and he seems to be taking things a bit too far a points but that's due to his history with the seraphites the wlf have been at war with the seraphites for quite some time the wlf took over fedra the military and Were considered the biggest threat in Seattle until the seraphites came in and started encroaching on their land the seraphites were led by a woman named the prophet and her and the wlf exchange blows on several occasions at one point a truce was made with the hope that they could stop the

fighting but it was eventually broken only a short time after its Inception this led to dozens of skirmishes and battles one of which resulted in the wlf capturing the Prophet herself Isaac personally handed her interrogation and after growing weary about the current state of the war opted to have her executed this drew the cult into a frenzy and resulted in them taking over the land where she was executed which is now known as martyr's gate Isaac had hoped that killing their leader would have stopped the war but it's only made it worse which is why

he's currently planning a strategy for the final battle which involves them Burning down Haven ending the war for good as I said earlier the lore of these factions runs deep and I'm so glad that the factions of the world got more attention this time around as it makes them feel like genuine parts of the world and not just names on a lore document the seraphites are an incredibly unique faction for the way they communicate to even how they were formed and the wlf while not anything groundbreaking is at least expanded upon Which makes the war

between these factions feel important this war that Isaac is planning is also important though as ABY is going to be on the front lines Abby is very well known amongst the w LF she's considered Isaac's best soldier and arguably the best cite killer in the entire faction she's killed hundreds if not thousands of cites on her own and has personally interrogated just as many she's ruthless and efficient and I think a lot of this Is because of what happened to her father in the past 5 years since her father died ab's gained quite a bit

of muscle mass so it's safe to assume that this event hardened her and killing seraphites was sort of a way for her to d-stress sadly Isaac's plan is going to have some holes in it thanks to Abby going awall in the next few minutes this is because Isaac tells her how Dany died which promps Abby to seek out and search for Owen that's because it's learned That Owen was the one who killed Dany it may seem odd for Abby of all people to disobey Isaac but I never got the idea that Abby was actually loyal

to him Abby and her crew who Isaac calls the Salt Lake crew were all former fireflies and Isaac took them in out of the kindness of his heart but the wlf are not their friends they may respect these people but they don't converse with them casually outside of missions while they will help the wlf if the going gets Tough they only look out for each other and right now one of their own might be in trouble Abby is also positive that she knows where Owen is and that's the aquarium multiple flashbacks will confirm this as

Owen seems to be making this place his home while on the way to the aquarium Abby gets caught by some seraphites and is knocked out she then awakes next to a few other seraphites while they drag her to their hanging post ab's about to be one of those Bodies we found at the TV station but it saved thanks to one of their members finding someone called Yara shortly after another person arrives named Lev both Lev and Yara are former seraphites who left the cult for an unknown reason at least for now L then Cuts AB

be down thanks to her helping them which prevents her from dying the three aren't out of the woods yet pun intended as there are stalkers that roam this forest and the trio has to go through waves of Infected before making it to safety I will say though there is something incredibly satisfying about watching this hulking Beast of a woman curb stomp infected into the ground like it's nothing despite the fact that they are seraphites Abby works with them anyway this isn't wildly out of character for her as like I said Abby seems to place her

loyalty in people she trusts and Yara and Lev are not only being hunted by the same people as Abby but they also Helped her full well knowing that she was a wlf Soldier I must say I'm also quite surprised that the game didn't attempt to shoehorn them in just yet as once they make it to a safe spot Abby helps Yara with her arm and then leaves she had no intention of actually staying with them but she figured his payment for saving her she should at least make sure they're safe usually some games would come

up with some unrealistic reason for why they stick together since The developers want them to be together as soon as possible this could be quite common in many RPGs that have multiple companions as each one needs a reason to join and sometimes that reason makes no sense now obviously Naughty Dog isn't that bold enough to just introduce two new characters and then have them never appear again so even though Abby leaves them alone for now she will eventually come back and meet them but I found her reasoning for doing so to not be that Outlandish

that reason in question comes from a nightmare she has at the aquarium when she arrives at set aquarium she'll meet with Owen who is sitting in a boat eie will talk with Owen before asking if what Isaac said is true Owen confirms that he did indeed shoot Dany when not on patrol both him and Danny were fighting some seraphites one of whom was this older man Owen hit him really hard on the head but instead of the man reaching for his gun he just sat there The man was clearly tired of the war and didn't

want to fight anymore Owen says that he's killed a lot of scars in his time but this one really got to him which is why he didn't kill him Danny was going to finish him off for him which is why Owen retaliated by putting a bullet in his chest Abby clearly cares about Owen so she tries to come up with some sort of plan to fix this but Owen doesn't care he's just sick of all the fighting in fact Owen wants to leave Seattle and go to Santa Barbara apparently he heard that the fireflies were

attempting to rebuild there and he wants to go see if it's true Abby scoffs at this not only calling him insane but also saying that he needs to grow up that's when Owen gets on her case about her killing Joel saying how do I grow up Abby do I go find the people that killed my family and make them pay for what they did this leads into a physical altercation before things get even more Physical but in a more passionate way as shocking as this is once again it's not as wild as it seems as

just like Ellie's campaign we also get a couple flashbacks during this day all of which revolve around Owen the flashbacks do a pretty good job of showing the character's actions and emotions before this moment which overall helps the scene make more narrative sense for example you can tell that Owen for years has always been hesitant to place his loyalties in the Factions he's a part of and is also able to recognize that they have all done some bad things I just don't understand how anybody willingly joins the scars why not because they're an insane cult

that's why well the qzs people would refer to the fireflies as terrorists Fanatics we were naive we weren't fanatical we blew up checkpoints and assassinated soldiers it's not the same I'm just saying don't say [ __ ] like that at the Stadium okay okay all right you defended yourself stop I can fix this I'll talk to Isaac I am tired Abby I don't want to fight over land that I don't give a [ __ ] about anymore furthermore the flashbacks also show how deep their love is for each other as in our first flashback which

takes place 3 years ago Owen and Abby are currently exploring the aquarium but for the first time the two end up sharing a kiss at The end before Abby backs away she cares about Owen but this thing with Joel is driving a wedge between them as it's all she can think about the same thing happens in the next flashback which is 4 months ago and roughly right before they all leave to go to Jackson Abby comes over to the aquarium and we can see that Owen has added some decorations and really made the place his

own Mel also seems to have taken residence here which causes some problems for these two at This point in the timeline Abby and Mel are still not on good terms thanks to Abby still showing interest in Owen even after they broke up the problem is that they never officially broke up Abby's quest for vengeance created some distance between the two but it's clear that the feelings are still there both them clearly like each other but it's more awkward now since Owen has moved on and is also going to be a father like I said those

feelings they have still Remain but despite the fact that she just slept with someone she loved for a long time in both definitions of the word as she actually sleeps over at the aquarium she's still having nightmares this one in particular being unique as instead of opening the door into the operating room and seeing her dad again she sees Yara and L hanging this is what causes Abby to find them again and make sure they're okay this has been widely criticized as being Shoehorned in as it makes no sense why she would help these two

even though she just met them but I found this to be quite the opposite ab's been dealing with a lot of guilt since Joel's death I don't think she feels guilty about killing him but those nightmares haven't gone away she only did this to get closure but as we know nothing's changed moreover these two kids haven't wronged her in any way even though they knew she was a wlf soldier they still cut her Down and Abby recognize that helpful deed which is why she cares about them and having them die to the serap foots would

really put an effect on her conscience as she had the opportunity to help them but never did it may also be that Owen's words are rubbing off on her she clearly cares about Owen enough to hear him out so it's possible that hearing the story about Owen and the old man caused her to think about Yara and Lev if we want to go even further Although this is admittedly a bit of a stretch we could even say that Yara and L for Abby and the old man for Owen reminded them both of Joel the old

man was struck over the head by Owen similar to Joel and I'm Waring of seeing that old man on the ground in pain reminded him of that day for Abby both Le and Yara despite being on opposing side still help Abby just like how Joel helped her during the snowstorm now the circumstances of that are much different As Joel wasn't at war with them but still it shows that Joel is a caring man and not the monster she likely made him out to be just like how Yara and L are seraphites yet they don't fit

with aby's description of what a seraphite is to her like I said the last one might be a bit of a stretch but the other examples definitely show how much Yara and L impacted her in their short time together that's why once she wakes up the following morning she goes looking For them with the hope that they haven't died yet EBY manages to get there just in time and take y back to the aquariums that Mel can perform surgery on her sadly the bone is shattered and she's contracted compartment syndrome meaning the only solution is

to cut it off furthermore Mel has no medical equipment so she couldn't perform the procedure even if she wanted to but both Abby and L agree to go out and find the supplies together Abby and L's Dynamic throughout This section is sort of like Joel and Ellie's although admittedly not as interesting as them as remember it's the roles of the characters that matter not the personalities now that doesn't mean Lev isn't likable but part one's whole story was about their relationship whereas in part two this is just just a small piece so it's only natural

that part one dominates in that department I do also want to clarify something I'm not defending the game's decision to do This I actually hate it as it makes it harder to connect with these characters I'm only repeating this statement because it's important to understanding the story just because it's important though doesn't mean you have to like it and I personally don't as Yara love Owen and Mel kind of just became Jesse and Dena Owen and Mel do have a bit more going on for them as we've already discussed but Yara and love felt underdeveloped

to me Yara is Just Like Jesse and that she only shows up for a few minutes across the entire campaign and doesn't really have enough going for her for me to consider her interesting Lev has a bit more going on and is likable enough just like Dena but I do wish there was more one-on-one moments between them as just like with Ellie and Dena they are very few and far between one of those moments though is about to come up once the two enter this extremely tall building L and the other Seraphites use these Bridges

to go past the wlf the problem is that these bridges are very high and aby's afraid of heights I really like how this was showcased in game as opposed to just saying it as when you look over a ledge the camera pans back a bit and ab face becomes more frightened whereas with Ellie none of this occurs personally as someone who also has a fear of heights I love how well this was added the smaller details like her trying to grab onto Anything so she can feel stable in combination with her slow movements cuz she

doesn't want to rush through it all and fall are very realistic and very well done now eie is a much better person than me though as I would have scooted across this one part instead of crouching but to be fair if she doesn't do this Yar will die she's willing to Brave through the tight walk across the crane and essentially conquer her fears if it means getting those supplies which Just goes to show you how much she really cares about these two Abby does end up slipping at the end though but luckily falls through the

roof and into a pool she's alive thankfully but this fall has caused a bit of a problem as the bridge was designed to take them to the other side of the building but since they fell they'll have to take a different route a route that just happens to be littered with all kinds of infected from clickers to bloaters the Visual design of this section was topnotch and definitely up there is one of my favorites in part to it's basically a giant building that's crumbling from the inside the floors don't connect ccep spores are everywhere and

the only way to Traverse is to go down it's something that was desperately missing from this game as most of our journey has taken place outside and while those environments did look good I did miss the thrill of going straight Through a nest of infected always wondering what wall they were going to come out of next the building's exit just happens to be right next to the hospital which is very convenient but this Hospital may seem familiar as it's the same one we just went through as Ellie this should be good for Abby since we

know that the wlf are stationer but she's still considered a wall and can't just Walts right in Abby also has to leave Lev behind for the time being as He's still d like a seraphite I really like the decision to make Abby do this solo because it further intensifies the fight that's about to happen as this hospital is Ground Zero for the entire infection some of the earliest cases of Corps at least within the state originated here and that infection started 25 years ago an infection that gets worse with time this is our final infected

and easily the biggest one we've seen all series Called The Rack King strangely enough this is not a new infected but rather multiple infected turned into one large monster The Mechanics for the fight are also connected to this as defeating it doesn't mean just shooting it until it dies as at one point it becomes too weak to hold the infected together causing some to split off and attack you alongside the Rat King it seems like all manner of infected are a part of this thing making this a terrifying Beast to Go up against the fight

is incredibly difficult as well which makes sense given how big it is I must have died at least five times trying to kill this thing it One-Shots you pretty much every time you fight it and eats those Dollar Store ass bullets we have like it's nothing there isn't an in-game reason as to how the Rat King exists to my knowledge but it's safe to assume that the corps That Grew From the various infected down here eventually connected Causing it to take a different form this would not only require a lot of infected but a lot

of time which is why we've only found one of these things so far and it's located here at Ground Zero defeating the rack King though does give Abby the chance to find the medical supplies in peace and once she goes outside rendo with Lev and makes her way back to the aquarium with the supplies in hand we finish day two overall the first two days of aby's campaign were Pretty okay I think day two was much better than day one as the first day focused on getting us familiar with people who are already dead and

then spent the rest of that time forcing us into combat day two is really where the story starts to take off as the focus is centered on love and Abby naughty dog really needed to make sure the first day was great as it's already starting off on the wrong foot by making us play as Abby but nothing of importance happens That day minus the interactions with Yar and L at the end of the chapter 3 hours in it needed to blow people out of the water from the get-go but all it did was make a

small Splash if you are willing to put up with it though the second day will help take some of that distaste and disgust you may have for the story off your shoulders for me I was already invested despite the slow start cuz I wanted to see where naughty dog was going with this campaign cuz they Clearly had something planned this isn't just something you throw together in a couple months aby's campaign was likely a part of the first draft so it's clear that they built the game around this idea so I was willing to play

fetch with them if it meant that I got that treat afterwards as always though my main issue is still the length I think aby's campaign may have gone over a lot better with fans if the length wasn't as long as the previous campaign Ellie is a fine Character to have a lengthy campaign for same with Joel I mean I already played as Joel for 12 hours and that didn't bother me and playing as Ellie wouldn't have bothered me either but it's due to part two not filling in that time with anything outside of repetitive gameplay

encounters that caused me to lose interest aby's campaign doesn't change the mold despite the fact that it needed to and I think forcing the player to play just as long as Ellie with similar Repetition was a slap in the face after this is Seattle day three arguably the most important day for Abby as the growth she shows throughout this day is rather impressive and naughty dog does this once again by using subtlety at the beginning of the day Lev calls Abby wolf as that's a nickname the wlf have but now he starts to call her

Abby it shows that he's starting to slowly trust her plus their journey together allowed the two to work as a team and trust each Other even more Abby also lets L become acquainted with Alice which helps L conquer his fears Lev is terrified of dogs likely because the only dogs the seraphites have ever seen are the bloodthirsty hounds of the wlf so it's only natural that he would be scared of them but as an act of kindness and also because L helped her conquer her fears Abby lets Lev pet Alice that he can overcome his

own you'll also notice by now how much aby's attitude has changed When around Lev she's really taking a liking to him and Yara as they really changed her perspective on life Lev will ask Abby at one point why she's doing this a question many players likely had themselves to which he says that she needed to lighten the load she's mentally exhausted and her mind is filled with guilt rage revenge and other harmful thoughts helping leevan Yar though will remove some of those thoughts allowing it to be filled with More pleasant feelings Mel though like some

players though is probably not buying this active shivalry that aby's been doing actually I'm going with them but not if you come what he may fall for a little act with these kids but I don't there's nothing to fall for Isaac's top scar killer suddenly had a change of heart nothing to do with Owen right I haven't always done the right Thing you're a piece of [ __ ] Abby you always have been Mel is very insecure about her relationship with Owen but it's hard to blame her since him and Abby did just have sex

the day prior she clearly likes Owen I mean she's pregnant with their kid after all but she also knows that Abby and Owen still have feelings for each other that's why all of this is just a charade an attempt to to make her look like a good person in the eyes of Owen so she Can win him over again think about the beginning of the campaign Abby talks about picking up more shifts to keep her mind off things which is what Owen was doing she also goes awall in attempt to find Owen once he goes

awall and now she's trying to help out a few seraphites around the time Owen told her about the man that he couldn't kill if we want to go even further it seems like Owen's been losing feelings for Mel as once Abby and Owen meet again they talk About Santa Barbara but Abby deine saying that she can't go cuz Mel doesn't want her coming along Owen responds to that by saying that all of this is just a M and that they should be allowed to be happy implying that he wants to be happy with Abby that's

why she doesn't believe any of this and thinks Abby will always be the top scar killer and nothing more we know the real truth though and the game confirms this because Abby has another dream but Instead of seeing the same scene over again she for the first time in probably years sees her dad standing there smiling this is the most important scene in the game it's the first Dream she's had that had a happy ending which shows us and her that she's able to overcome this grief and Revenge by putting her time and energy into

something else besides that Revenge Abby helping lean Yara had the byproduct of also helping herself and that is the Point of her entire campaign it's to show us how Abby succeeds in overcoming her issues and how Ellie can do the same Ellie is currently on the same train as Abby but she needs to get off at the next stop or she's going to be just like Abby this is why I said that the second half of the game makes part two so great as without this the game has no message or story playing a Abie

for a long time was starting to become a drag and we still have about four more hours to go Before it's over but I am happy that I went through with it cuz you come out of this campaign with a whole new perspective perspective and it's a shame a lot of people gave up before the Finish Line even if part of it wasn't really their fault given the game's length because aby's story is incredibly important as now it's starting to get interesting once Abby wakes up and gets into an argument with Mel Yara comes by

to talk to her Yara knows that ab's Doing all this because she cares not because she's trying to impress Owen she also wants to go to Santa Barbara with Owen and Mel but Lev refuses this is because the two left their mother back at Haven and Lev wants her to come with them but that might not be possible very early on in the campaign we are told that the two were considered apostates by the seraphites because L cut his hair this is obviously a very strange thing to be mad about so either the seraphites Really

are that crazy or something else is going on here as you would expect it's the latter see Lev is not actually Lev Lev is a boy but he was born a girl named Lily meaning Lev is trans the reason he shaved his head is because by faction rules L was supposed to be a housewife for one of the elders that is more than enough reason to leave as L is like 13 at best but it just so happens that this act of shaving his head also helped with his ongoing issue which was His gender identity

this could also be why Lev is so particular about names when Abby and him go to the hospital alone Abby constantly says the word scars in reference to the seraphites Lev will correct her each time she does this to a point where Abby corrects herself without Lev's assistance scar is a term used to vilify the seraphites whereas sarite is their actual name given that Lev has a different name than the one he was given at Birth it's possible that This is the reason why he's very adamant about using the proper name for things as for

this reveal I liked the way it was handled as it felt natural the game was never inyour face about these details and I felt like it was handled quite well I know quite a few people had an issue with a trans character being in the game but I don't see the problem with it getting back on track once they realize L left for the island Abby and Y are chase after him the plan is to get a Boat from the marina and take it to the island once they make it near the dock though sniper

shots can be heard so Abby continues on alone apparently the sniper is a lot closer than I thought as when Abby walks onto the road she almost gets her head taken off if not for Manny jumping in to save her Manny is here because Isaac and the wlf plan to hit the island tonight which of course was the plan and he told us a few days ago but to do that they need the boats the Same ones we're trying to get Abby doesn't tell Manny why she needs one but he trusts her enough not to

ask but to get there they're going to have to take out the sniper anyway this is very similar to the sniper sequence from the last game but it's much longer in both length and width and there's some new additions like a ton of infected polluting the path meaning we'll have to kill the infected while also keeping our heads down I've always liked when Developers repurpose old encounters like this as they have much more knowledge on how to handle it this time around part two pretty much took what was great about the original and expands on

it you thing they didn't add is the ability to kill the sniper early this bothered me in the last game since you could very easily line up a shot if you were careful and it's even more of an annoyance here in part two as there are numerous times you can kill the sniper Only for the game to basically cheat you out of a kill like in this example where I got one shot when I got too close despite the fact that the bullets don't do nearly as much damage as this now I know why this

stuff exists especially here in part two because the devs clearly have something planned and don't want it to be skipped cuz we took an alternative approach to the encounter but I still think it would have been cool to have now to be fair this would Have only worked in part one because the sniper in part two is Tommy and killing him now would break the continuity of the story so as I said I can understand why we can't kill him now plus killing him early would mean we get to miss the most surprising death of

the game as Tommy domes Manny while the two are pushing a door open Abby has no time to reminisce though and has to push on until she and Tommy exchange blows before Yar comes by and saves her this Hearkens back to one of my earlier comments about Tommy having a much more prominent role in this game which I appreciated as he's really causing trouble for the wlf here and he's doing it all on his own I remember going through this encounter and thinking who is this guy before I got closer and realized wait a minute

that's Tommy now I kind of spoiled it for myself when I went the wrong way and he put a sniper around through my chest but you may have Also caught on to this yourself as in that flashback with Tommy he teaches Ellie to shoot at certain objects since the infected are attracted to noise which is how Tommy lur the infected to us in the parking garage it was an absolutely brilliant call back to that scene it really shows how much attention to detail Naughty Dog puts into their games once Abby throws Tommy off the pier

her and take a boat to the island and we can see that the war is starting To begin minus a few important cut scenes this whole section is just an hour and a half of straight gameplay but it was actually one of the few times I didn't mind it as the she spectacle of this whole area as the fire engulfs the huts and long houses while each side battles each other to finally settle the dispute once and for all was extremely captivating I just couldn't help but feel a struck every time I passed through a

new section of this burn down Island just like that building we traversed earlier I felt like these kinds of things were missing from this game as a lot of our journey has been through ravaged and overgrown streets and buildings buildings part one admittedly suffered from this too but it also switched up locations throughout the game as we do go from Boston to Utah so it felt fresh and part two was inevitably going to struggle with this thanks the game taking place in one Section of Seattle but this couple hours were a treat to playr it

also helps that we get some very important narrative moments here that have to do with Lev and Isaac Abby and Yara will eventually find Lev hiding in the corner with their mother dead on the floor Lev tried to convince his mom to leave the island with him but she like many of the seraphites don't accept Lev's new identity and in their scuffle Lev's mom hit the table which instant killed her Yar knew that their mom wouldn't be able to accept Lev but Lev had hoped that she would eventually come around to it at the end

of the day that is his mom and while they don't get along much he still appreciates her for raising him which is why he's so upset over her death shortly after finding Lev is where Isaac comes in as one of the wlf soldiers attempts to kill Yara before Abby takes him down Isaac is confused why Abby would defend a scar and asks her to back away from Him even though Abby is more loyal to her friends and Isaac you can still see that she respects the wlf as she doesn't kill the guy who shot Yara

and she immediately puts the gun down when Isaac arrives she's willing to talk this out with him and even when Isaac refuses and says that she hasn't told the count of three to move she doesn't do anything she doesn't shoot anyone or even move because she doesn't want to kill any of the wlf but she also doesn't want Isaac To kill Lev Yara takes the opportunity though to shoot Isaac which gives her enough time to run while the wlf pepper her with bullets it's around here where we start to see the wlf and Sarah fites

attack one another and we do have to kill aby's old team but the key thing to remember is that she doesn't want this she doesn't want to harm any of the wlf she's only killing them because they shot first and it's either them or her and she needs to save Lev after this is Where the island burns down and we get to see that spectacle I talked about there are people dying from both sides and it's unclear who the hell we're even shooting at and who's actually winning ultimately the seraphites will suffer the most even

if they win since their home has been destroyed but the wlf did set most of their troops here Isaac said he wants everyone in on this Mission but he could just mean most of the high value soldiers if he truly meant Everyone which I doubt then that would further reinforce that this truly is the battle that will end the war we never see who wins this though because ultimately it doesn't matter not only are the wlf and the seraphites only used as a plot device to influence the world around our characters but we also aren't

going to be in Seattle after this thanks to what happens right after as remember it's day three which means that Owen and Mel are already dead and once Abby Discovers this she throws up in shock the scene I think is supposed to show how bad this act is now that we've had a few hours to talk with these characters but this is where a disconnect comes in in order to see this act as horrific as the game wants you to you have to accept the fact that they are innocent people and from many others including

myself that's not possible all this depends on how you view the interaction with Joel if you believe that only the one who Dealt the killing blow is guilty then everyone is innocent if not then they all deserve what's coming to them remember when I asked if you took Ellie or DEA side I fully agree with Ellie each of them traveled hundreds of miles with the sole intention of killing Joel even if they weren't too keen on doing it and only did it to help Abby and or regretted it afterwards they still went and helped it

doesn't matter who delivered the killing blow because they Each played their part this may sound hypocritical given I spoken at length as to why killing ABY is not the right move for Ellie despite the fact that I don't find her Innocent but if we can love Joel and also recognize that he did some evil things we sure as hell can agree that Ellie killing Abby would be justified but also recognize that it wouldn't solve anything this discussion though will inevitably bring up another topic that we could go back and forth on All day ab's only

doing this because of Joel and Joel did it because he didn't want to lose Ellie what each of them did was wrong Joel killed dozens of people just so that Ellie Wouldn't Die EBY brutally murdered Joel simply because she wanted to get revenge and Ellie murdered hundreds of of wlf and a few of aby's friends not even knowing why they killed Joel in the first place it's all just unnecessary killing but we don't see Joel and Ellie as bad people because We're Hypocrites the characters we hate do all the wrong and the characters we love

can do no wrong and because this is all fiction we could believe that and I feel like that's where the disconnect originates from naughty dog seems to want you to think that these killings are wrong but many people see Joel and Ellie as people who can do no wrong all right I think I've talked to ear off enough about aby's campaign and I sure is hell I'm ready to get back to The president and so let's see how this encounter ends shall we the same scene plays just like before Tommy's taken down by Abby and

Jesse gets shot this is when Abby realizes that Ellie's here before they walk in Lev says what are we going to do once we find him this if we recall her encounter with Tommy earlier means that she believed Tommy was the one behind all of this and had no idea Ellie was here like I said before flip-flopping between each day wouldn't Have made sense for the pace of the game as we would have arrived at this conclusion at the same time anyway and Abby and Ellie never meet again until right now so it failed to

create any kind of tension or suspense that being said that tension does occur right now as Tommy like Yara stops Abby from shooting Ellie giving her time to escape but ends up sacrificing himself in the process Abby then chases Ellie into the theater and now the Hunt is on but we Don't get to play as Ellie this was a very brilliant decision for two reasons one it forces the player to fight and possibly kill their favorite character if we played as Ellie then this wouldn't mean much we just kill Abby like we wanted to do

all game but now we're being forced to do the opposite plus this removes the possibility of running into a common problem that other games may have you ever played a boss fight and kick the boss's ass only to lose in The cut scene well that can happen as we play the Victor in this scenario even though the fight is neck and neck ab's wearing down Ellie blowby blow and will eventually come out of this on top so it only makes sense to keep things narratively consistent as for the fight itself it's basically a copy of

David's encounter from part one the player only has their melee weapon or fist in aby's case and the person we're running from is much stronger and can only be Attacked from behind as Ellie will easily put you down if you run at her I also like how they changed up the weapon she uses in each phase and also not only increased her speed but removed her outline from the listening mode just like David this was honestly a tough fight Ellie caught me multiple times during this and even when it felt like I had the movements

down she would still find ways to outmaneuver me from a pure mechanical perspective it's a really Well done fight the fight ends though with Abby punching Ellie before being interrupted by Dena who slashes at her with a knife Lev backs her up by shooting Dena in the back Abby then takes Dena and almost kills her before Ellie announces that she's pregnant Abby was about to kill her anyway before Lev steps in and tells her or not to many people saw this as proof that Abby should not be sympathized with and that her entire campaign is

moot but it's not As simple as that Lev like Dina is the barrier that protects Abby from going too far Abby sort of like an addict in this moment this is the first time in a long time that she's been able to see the world differently lean Yara changed her perspective on life and this situation with Dina was almost like a test it's more comfortable for her to go back to her ruthless and vicious ways the same ways that led to her being the top scar killer of the wlf but that's Not her anymore and

while she recognizes that now it's hard to just quick cold turkey L being here though is a reminder of what she's gone through and how much she's changed in the past few days it's a very pivotal moment for her as she finally goes against her Instinct of taking Revenge because she's always believed in an eye for an eye and while she did need some help from L to do so so anyone struggling with some kind of addiction it's hard to do this kind of Thing on your own and Abby would have not been able to

change had it not been for lean Yara that's why these two are so important to her she wants to be better not just for herself but for them too once again this is why aby's campaign is so important as it's showing how Abby is able to overcome her problems cuz Ellie's about to go through the same thing and we don't want her to go down that path in fact these feelings of hers are about to be tested right now As once Abby and Lev leave we Flash Forward a few months from now and Ellie and

Dena are living on a farm together with their son JJ the scene being placed here is intentional as we can see how happy Ellie is both of these women were angry and filled with rage but were able to find a way past their grief and urges for Revenge by putting that energy into someone else the issue is that for Abby she's already dealt with her father's killer Ellie hasn't which is why why She's still not satisfied with the outcome of Seattle and even though she tries to forgive and forget she can that she has PTSD

from that day in Jackson her mind is corrupted with thoughts of that day and is even fabricating new memories as Ellie hears Joel call out to her in pain which is not how that originally played out this is why Ellie is so conflicted on what to do she wants to stay here and enjoy the life she has with Dina and JJ but she can't go a few Minutes without seeing Joel's face beaten and bruised on the hardwood floor but Ellie isn't alone in her struggle as Tommy too has suffered quite a bit somehow Tommy lives

but not only did he lose an eye and some movement in his leg but apparently Maria and him are splitting up we don't know why Maria left him but we can assume it has something to do with him leaving to go find Abby because of Joel Abby pushed away lots of her friends many of them Don't talk to her anymore and the one relationship she had fell apart because of her insistence on killing Joel Tommy lost his eye his leg barely works his brother is dead and his wife left him both of them ended up

losing more than they gained in their Petty quest to find closure and Ellie's about to hit this point too Tommy still won't let go of the re but can't do anything about it thanks to his current condition so he gives this info up to Ellie you can tell By the subtle movements in her face that everything she went through in Seattle has come back to her all the anger sadness and fear she experiences come flooding back her mind is going back and forth on what to do stay with Dena go after Abby staying with Dena

and JJ is the smart move but Abby needs to die I don't want to leave JJ and Dena behind but I also don't want to let Abby get away this might be my only chance to find her but does it even matter if I Find her all of it is Thoroughly conveyed through her sharp breathing concerned face and Blank Stare ultimately though it was enough to convince her as despite her conflicted feelings she decides to leave that night anyway to bed we'll talk about it in the morning okay I have to finish it you don't

owe Tommy anything I don't sleep I don't eat I'm I'm not like you Dena what you think this is easy for you and for him I deal with it I love you prove it stay I can't so what I'm just supposed to to sit here and wait for you for God knows how long just thinking you're [ __ ] dead the entire time I don't plan on dying yeah well neither did Jesse or Joel Ellie can't function because of all this and we know from her journal that it's even worse than she's letting on Ellie

goes hunting in order to get food for the family and one day she shot a bear but the way it died reminded her of Joel her journal also says quote happened again got rid of the images pretty quickly but my skin hurt the rest of the morning I gave up trying to go back to sleep Dena stayed up with me when will this stop she believes that Stopping Abby is the way to finish this we know that's not true but she can't see past it and Dena is sick of this too which is why she

gives her an ultimatum if she leaves Dena and JJ are going back to Jackson and she won't see them again Ellie ends up taking the wrong choice and embarks on her journey to Santa Barbara which brings us to the final chapter of the game we first start the chapter with Abby although don't worry it's not as long as you think we play as Her first as she's already in Santa Barbara she came here with L to to see if what Owen had heard about the fireflies was true Lev has grown his hair out a bit

and the two continue to still have a very deep appreciation for each other they work well in combat scenarios and will often playfully tease each other over small things she ends up finding their secret base and radio and ends up getting in contact with some fireflies these aren't actually Fireflies though as once she leaves the house the two are jumped by some Rattlers L and Abby do the best they can but the group is too strong three of them are able to take down Abby and saitama over here knocks love out with one punch the

two are then taken away and we get to play as Ellie like I said it's not as long as you think Ellie is of course here to find Abby but she doesn't know where she is she does manage to find the boat Owen was fixing Up and she uses some of her notes to find her next location but already we can see that she's having some doubts about this and it was only during the trip here one of her journal entries says that she misses Dena and JJ and that she's questioning what she's even doing

here she continues anyway hoping that by the time she'll see her she'll have her answer but sadly her journey will be cut short temporarily as she's also captured by the same people Abby And L were taken by thankfully though she man manages to break free using the clicker nearby saitama is back and is actually helpful this time around as he gives Ellie the location of their Camp the Rattler Camp is probably the most amount of enemies you'll face at one time and some of them also have body armor and helmets making one shots harder to

pull off as we go through the camp we can see that they have infected tied up and also have people kept in Cages the Rattlers are without a doubt a group of slavers that keep the infected as guard dogs and use the people that capture as slaves the conditions these people are kept in are horrible enough that escapes would rather kill themselves than be taken back Ellie would then eventually make her way to the back of the camp where the slaves are and in return for rescuing them they tell her that Abby was taken to

the pillars and even though this section was Very short it might have been one of my favorite parts of the game having a striking and unique appearance is a great way to personify a character The Last of Us doesn't have the benefit though of using fantasy or sci-fi clothing things to its more grounded nature but it's actually that drab look that makes the other features Stand Out Ellie may not be recognizable from the clothing she wears but what about her tattoo that's pretty noticeable the same Goes for Abby with her ponytail being her most noticeable

design choice and naughty dog is banking on the fact that you know this so they can trick you later into thinking that this girl on the post is Abby she's got a ponytail right it has to be wrong we've already passed Abby but you'll be forgiven for missing her given how much she's changed in such a short amount of time she's lost all her muscle mass and her hair has been cut she's practically Unrecognizable her one defining feature is gone so it's a wonder why she faded into the background during our walk along the beach

Ellie after realizing that it's Abby cuts her down who then rescues Lev you can tell that she's still contemplating what to do at this moment and even when the blood of her body reminds her of Joel she doesn't just kill her she goes over to Lev and threatens her if Abby doesn't fight her right here on this beach she'll kill Lev If Ellie truly wanted to kill Abby she wouldn't care about honor or the theatrics she would have just gutted her on that post like the seraphites were going to she's so conflicted that she can't

even create the moment herself she has to force Abby to take the lead personally I feel like if you're this far in and still can't make this decision then it's just not worth it think the prophet Ellie agrees as right before Abby drops her last breath she's Spared by Ellie thanks to her seeing a memory of Joel this memory was the same day that the incident with Seth occurred Ellie came over that night to apologize and talk with Joel and her final line really drives it home you're such an [ __ ] I'm not trying

to I was supposed to die in that hospital my life would have [ __ ] mattered but you took that from me if somehow the lord gave me a second chance at that Moment I would do it all over again yeah I just I don't think I can ever forgive you for that but I would like to try I like that this specific memory being placed here is also intentional because this is the last time the two talked this happened the night before we started playing meaning right when they were starting to heal their relationship

again Abby comes by and kills Joel this Gives us even more context as to why Ellie is mad at Abby not just because she killed Joel but it was right when they started to talk to each other again she's probably frustrated at herself and likely wouldn't have attacked Joel this way if she knew this was going to happen Ellie realizes at this moment though how meaningless all of this has been she knows that killing Abby won't bring him back and it likely won't make her feel any better either if anything doing this Will make things

worse as it just keeps the cycle of Revenge going Ellie has to do what Abby did find something else to put time into so they can heal but since she left for Santa Barbara the road is going to be infinitely more difficult for her to Traverse her family and friends are dead and Dena took JJ back to Jackson she's now entered the place she fears the most um being by myself I'm scared of ending up alone Ellie has lost everything and she's Alone for the first time in years she even attempts to play the guitar

the one thing she has left but she can barely do that thanks to Abby biting her fingers off during the fight although to be fair it could have just been my inability to swipe the touchpad since all the songs sounded like this anyway so who knows Ellie then decides to leave the guitar behind the same one Joel gave her all those years ago and go off into the forest thus bringing us to the end of The Last of Us Part Two it's still a divisive game and probably will be till the end of time but

it's one I genuinely enjoyed it's got its problems sure but it's still a great game nonetheless which made me really happy because that means this whole series is topnotch part one is fantastic and arguably perfect embarking on the journey to Salt Lake alongside Joel and Ellie is an unforgettable experience meeting new people was also a great way to bring a Breath of fresh air into the pacing as it allowed the dynamic duo to interact with more people and those people were also equally as likable as our main cast even if we didn't get to be

with them for a long time thanks to this game Joel and Ellie became some of my favorite characters in gaming and it's definitely one of those games that I wish I played earlier part two continued on from part one and started off pretty strong seeing Joel die was heartbreaking but not only Does that feeling of sadness show how much we cared about him but it felt like it was bound to happen Joel was not going to be able to escape Escape what he did back at the hospital it's just a shame he went out like

that nevertheless the game starts off great and continues to do so throughout most of Ellie's campaign you feel the hatred that Ellie feels in these moments but you can also see that she's becoming engulfed by this vengeful Journey she's becoming someone Else someone much different than the one we remember aby's campaign was also great minus the fact that the game was starting to drag in regards to its runtime our time with Abby shows us that this active Vance did nothing for her she thought and planned for years as to how she would make Joel pay

but in the end it did nothing for her she l lost her relationship with Owen Mel hates her her dad is still dead and now many of her friends have joined him the two of These girls experienced the same thing and basically ended up at the same place but Abby was able to find this piece in Lev and Ellie would have found it in Dena and JJ had she not gone after Abby I know part two wasn't liked by many but it was liked by me and while I don't consider it to be nearly as

good as part one it was definitely a solid Sequel and it's because of that that I can say with absolute certainty that this is a series you should not pass up on I know they Are PlayStation exclusives which does make it harder to come by but both are available on the PlayStation 4 and 5 and part one should be dropping on PC in about a week from now so if you can find a way to play them then do it as I can assure you it's one of the greatest series of all time thanks for

watching if you enjoyed the video then please be sure to leave a like And subscribe if you're new I'm glad to finally have this video done as it took Quite a bit of time to make for now though we're going to take things slow at least in regards to some large videos as the Resident Evil 4 remake is dropping soon and I'll probably make a comparison video on that like we did with the Dead Space video about a month month ago as for what we'll do after well I'll always update you all on the community

post so be sure to keep those notifications on with that though thank you for watching the video today and I Hope you enjoyed thank you to my returning viewers for coming back to another video and take care everyone goodbye