The Last of Us: Part II is one of the most remarkable games ever made. I mean this in the purest sense of the word: it is worthy of remarking upon. And truly, this game draws many remarks from its patrons, both positive and negative. Love it or hate it, this game has edged its way into our hearts and minds and in this video Luke Stephens will break the whole thing down.
Time Stamps:
0:00 – Intro
1:11 – Prologue
51:45 – The Elephant In The Room Dead On The Floor
1:04:04 – Ellie’s Time In Seattle
2:21:27 – HER Time In Seattle
4:14:14 – A Happy Ending? No.
4:47:12 – Closing Thoughts
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36 Comments
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The scenes with Abbey with her dad in the hospital should have been in TLOU 1 so players would have some idea why she killed Joel, even Joel never know what he had done to her. As the TLOU 2 is it takes until half the game to find out why Abbey did what she did. Most of the cinematic scenes with Abbey I just skipped, zero interest in her story.
I swear I watch this video at least once a month
4:50:53 I think that the “self destructive mission” that we see Ellie on is meant to portray her more as who Joel was before he met her and she softened his personality. This is also why I think Joel was so trusting of Abby in the prologue, old Joel would have never made that mistake, and now Ellie has become hardened into that kind of person.
Aside from graphics and gameplay narrative wise this game was an abomination
I can't speak for the nonbinary community as a whole, obviously, but as a trans person, I didn't have a problem with the way Lev's story played out. I thought it was handled with extreme care and respect, especially since Abby didn't behave as if it was anything "weird". When Lev asked if she was going to ask about why the other Seraphites had called him Lily, she replies with "Do you want me to ask you about it?" Letting him decide the boundary line, and respects it when Lev says "No." She doesn't push or ask invasive questions, and understands why he doesn't want to talk about. There's an inherent fear with conversations like that; the fear that the person who you come out to is going to see you differently or start calling you by the wrong name.
I can completely understand why Yara would have lost her temper with Lev without excusing it. She was scared for her younger sibling, someone she may have had to stand up for a protect on multiple occasions while they were growing up, and her fear that she wouldn't be able to protect him from something like this came out as aggression. Again, I'm not excusing it, but I understand. I can also say that from my own experience that Lev going back to the island to try to convince his mom to accept him makes sense, again, to me. I've gotten myself hurt on multiple occasions trying to get my own family and loved ones to accept me when they had shown again and again that they wouldn't. I'm curious if Naughty Dog had different people in the LGBTQIA+ community on the team to give input and insight with their own stories and experiences. Either that, or Naughty Dog has some of the most empathetic people on the planet on their team who did their due diligence by doing a ton of research. Both options are equally likely given the way they show the same care of almost every other aspect of this game.
It's funny thinking about it cuz I know everyone has deep thoughts on these games, but playing as Abby in Jackson in the snow when you punch the infected I was like yea she ain't gonna do much damage like that, then when I saw her all tank topped up I was like oh snap. I wouldn't wanna fight her at all 😂😂😂
I think it's worth mentioning that Abby's and Ellie both went on long, vengeful journeys to achieve their revenge and when they got it. It was particularly unsatisfying.
After 4 years of chasing this guy down trying to figure out who he is and training to kill him. Abby finds Joel and.. he's just handed to her on a silver platter? Jackson looked like a fortress but she got lucky and walked straight into him. When it was all done she visibly looked and felt frustrated that she felt no better after getting her revenge.
Similarly, after Ellie's long and painful journey, Abby was tied up, starving and weak, just handed to her. Neither could be a less satisfying way to get your revenge in the end. She knows this and forces Abby to fight.
I think this kinda plays into the lack of catharsis or a real feeling of closure. Both these characters had hyped themselves up ready for anything and then right at the end it felt unfairly given to them.
You have to understand Abby doesn’t want to kill Ellie because she knows she is immune. And as far as we know, Ellie is the only one who can produce a cure. Abby understands the importance of this from her time with the fireflies and more importantly from the surgery that her father was going to perform. It’s hard to believe that there is no other doctor with experience to perform such surgery, so it’s reasonable that Abby never wanted to kill Ellie because of the possibility of a future cure. Especially now that she believes the fireflies could actually be regrouping in Santa Barbara.
So this is way old and doesn’t matter at this point, but I didn’t see any comments that talk about the Seraphite prophet. She was killed relatively recently before Abby’s Seattle days. I’m a little hazy on specifics, but she was captured by the WLF then publicly executed by Isaac at that gate with all of the flowers and notes (called “Martyr’s Gate”). Lev even stands by the prophet when he’s talking to Abby on the way to the sky bridge and mentions that the Prophet was against the ritualistic murders and things like that but that her words are being bastardized by her followers following her semi-recent death
Rewashing in 2024 and at the end he talking about how he hopes cyberpunk is the game of the year. Haha doesnt know what he is in for haha
Only finished the game two days ago. Never got spoiled about it. People want to know everything about a game before it releases and then will complain about the spoils.
That being said and since you ask about our feeling : I was quite surprised when I got to play Abby but thought it would end once she killed Joel. I dislike that I got to experience her side of the story (eventhough I see the point) and clearly hated the part you have to mash buttons to hit Elie. I let myself died a couple of time just in case this was another option. However, I also dislike the fact the game seems not able to end itself. I wished a happy ending for Elie after all the suffering and her decision to go back after Abby who get caught right after she receives some good news is complete bullshit. The girl and Lev survived without trouble for years and suddenly got captured? Please. Many times I was just forced out of the story because of bad narrative decisions. Exemple : if you try to fight Tommy while he is on the bridge and time your attempt between his shots, he will suddenly be in possession of a super ultimate sniper rifle that can fire as quick as a smg so you are never able to shoot him. Very bad design.
The story should have stopped when Elie and Dinah got their house. Abby gets to be the bigger person and Elie gets to live a happy life.
2024 and this video is still hard. Thank you for such amazing video.
I guess they in the basement, but they not in the ground zero area of the basement where Abby had to go
I don’t believe that Ellie would give her life for a cure, when she said “there’s no halfway with this” it was under the assumption that they would go to Jackson after. The rest of it is survivor guilt when she mentions that she’s “waiting for her turn”…. Now I think if the surgery would have been one where she would have lived yeah..100% would have done it
I also wasn’t spoiled on the game and had to pause it for 30mins when Abby killed Joel cause I was sobbing so hard (I’m a huge cryer ) and playing as Abby threw me for a loop but her half of the game is lowkey fun, I love this game!
7:17 I'm here in this video and I'm already angry. Let's say you foster a child who's parents are no longer living. Fostering implies you're being compensated financially for her care and needs. You're charged with caring for this child in every way. You two bond in a meaningful way over a year and you adopt her. A short time later, she has an accident at school and is rushed to the nearest hospital, unconscious. The doctors tell you she will be ok, but after some routine blood work they have discovered that she is immune to a common disease, something you found out through your time spent with her but you've told no one. They believe they can attempt to synthesize a cure for this disease with her help, but the process alone will end her life and a cure isn't a sure thing. Even if she was awake and alert, she is too young to consent to this procedure so they need your approval as her guardian. What would you do? I know what I would do. And I wouldn't consider it selfish or evil, especially since I would be labeled a villain no matter what I chose to do.
What do you think the people of Jackson would have thought of Joel if they found out that he spent a year traveling with an orphaned child and turned her over to a very ill-trusted group like the fireflies just for her to be murdered and experimented with? If the vaccine worked, maybe they'd be grateful but they would remain suspicious of him, because what kind of person could do that to a child? If the vaccine was a failure, he'd be labeled a monster and likely outcast. It's a lose/lose situation for Joel. And he chose the one in which he felt he would lose less.
Not to mention they start the game slow, getting you settled in… as JOEL. Then they pull the rug out from under you and rip your heart out. They make you feel angry for the entire game, and force you to play as Abby (I let Ellie end my run several times when the player is forced to confront her as Abby, hoping it would just end the game.) And at the end, there is no satisfaction. There is only more anger. I have never hated a game, truly hated ANY game, until I played this one.
Edit* In addition, I actively avoided spoilers for this game. I wanted to be surprised. I wish I would've pursued the leaks bc I could've saved myself $60. If I would've known that this is the story I was paying for, I never would've paid for it. I finished this game, earned my platinum trophy halfway through a NG+ run, turned off the game and sold it back to GameStop. This game is what pushed me to always look for trusted reviews, not IGN, before ever purchasing a game and it was the catalyst for my own personal "vote with your wallet" movement. I guess I can be thankful that it so incensed me since it has saved me from purchasing sequels to several of my previously favorite franchises that have been completely ruined with sequels that (in my opinion) disrespect the legacy characters or the source material.
I go to sleep with this video 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾
I feel like the term coincidence is used unjustly sometimes. Ellie looks for clues to find abby and her friends, and she finds them. Its not a coincidence that she ran into the people she was actively looking for in the city they live in, or that there were indications on how to find the others on the people she had already found. They were tight knit friends, and they communicated. I think the only problematic coincidence is that joel happens to be on patrol when abby arrives. But still, they are capable men who according to the logs and what we know of them probably engage in that activity alot. The fact that she went looking for a person and went to the place he lives and found him isnt that much of a stretch.
The “space for dummies” magazine on table isn’t cool because Joel likes space, it’s because Ellie does🥹
I love listening to your reviews while sleeping, very relaxing
I don’t think Joel is a villain. I would say he is just human. As a father I would doom humanity for my daughters without a thought, I think most of us would even if we like to think we would do the righteous thing instead.
Joel did not intend to kill the people at the hospital until they became antagonistic to him. They told him that if he chose to try to take Ellie that they would murder him. He was aggressed and threatened for doing these people the biggest favor anybody could have done for them. And even as he made it to the room with Abby's father, he still was going to let him live until he pulled the scalpel and refused to let him take her. He could have let him take her and wait for Ellie to agree when she grew up and became an adult in a few years at most. They would have known where Joel was taking her. They had every opportunity to make this work and chose the easiest fastest route and that's why I believe they were not competent enough to make it work Joel was right to do what he did.
Abby then spent years plotting revenge and had so many options to walk away. She continually makes bad decisions and ruins the lives of almost everybody around her. If Abby had not done what she had done to Joel, Ellie never goes on this revenge quest herself. The fireflies cause all these problems and her being a Firefly makes her one of the most at fault for the events of this game. Ellie also should have learned that revenge is not justice. She is not free of blame.
55:48 As someone who, despite being deeply submerged in gaming news, managed to avoid all of the leaks, I still can’t quite adequately explain just how much of a shock it was to experience that first hour of the game going in completely blind. I knew that there were leaks of course, but I managed to remain oblivious to what the leaks were about of course.
I had enough media/story-telling literacy to know that a main character might die, Joel might die at the end etc.
To those who already knew what to expect based on the leaks, I cannot express how visceral it was to feel my heart being ripped from my chest a mere hour into the game. I imagine that even knowing Joel’s fate, it would still be an emotional scene, but experiencing the raw horror of that scene for the first time transcended the video game medium and left me physically shaken.
I felt the very real feeling of a friend being murdered in front of me.
I remain critical on the story/narrative choices for Part 2, but I will never fault the death scene of Joel itself. The acting, camerawork, sound effects, music, even dialogue are just incredible. Depressing, but incredible in execution (heh cause Joel got execu-…)
I also still believe that the real-life emotional clouds which were looming over us at the peak of COVID-19 added more weight behind the emotional golfclub that ND smacked us with.
A depressing game about a pandemic was certainly more depressing to play during a literal real-world pandemic.
Also, I think it’s kinda hilarious how the game released on my birthday, and I was so excited to play the sequel to one of my favourite games of all time…little did I know
I love this comment section. All layered analysis and comments rather than ‘woke garbage’
3:55:25 thought this was funny. Luke missed 2 shots from shotgun from 2 inches away.. loved the critique but thought this moment was funny..
I think the ending was beautiful and perfect. I think all Ellie felt was hate for herself and her survivors guilt, hate for Joel saving her life, and hate for Abby for taking Joel away from her as soon as she tried to forgive him. But as she put all that anger onto Abby, thinking that as soon as she killed him would be fixed, she had hit rock bottom with the fight with Abby, realizing that all the blood wasn’t worth it. And killing her wouldn’t change anything, so I think when she let Abby go she forgave Abby, and when she left Joel’s guitar she forgave him, and when she walked away from anything to go who knows where, she finally forgave herself.
I hope that someday, people will finally see and understand what a masterpiece this game really was.
Just 5 hours?
I stayed off the internet for months to avoid spoilers. I went into the game blind. I had just finished the first game for a 2nd time when this was delivered to my door. I knew nothing going into part 2. I could write an entire essay about how it made me feel. But that would need a longer discussion. Would love to talk about it if anyone is still interested this long after.
This is a great video. I am aware I am coming across this WAY after the fact but man I loved this video. As I prepare to revisit these games this video has helped prep me as I have not replayed the game since it came out. I played the game originally completely unspoiled by leaks
All this has done has validated my feeling that those who truly hate the game lack maturity and the ability to process their emotions in healthy ways.
The game is not above critique, as Luke has some very valid ones presented here, but the game is not the trash that so many scream it is.
I’m totally fine with people not liking it for their own reasons, but as soon as they start claiming the game itself is actually bad, they lose me.
Especially since so many lied about their experiences and also never finished it. If someone doesn’t have the full experience, they lose the right to have a full opinion.
the game literally isn't about whether the fireflies could've made a cure or not. it literally doesn't matter why joel killed those people. the only thing that matters for the main storyline is that he killed anderson. that's it.
the cure conversation only matters for the joel and ellie relationship.
It's odd how this is a good video but with. so. many. awful. takes.
I didn't have the game spoiled for me. Played at launch and what you are saying about the feeling of impending doom from the beginning. It is the feeling I got from the start of the game. This game is one of my favorite games of all time. I have replayed it multiple times and each time I notice something different. The game is art and imo truly something special. Not for everyone but definitely for me. I cannot wait for Part 3. Game on gamers be good to each other out there.
Amazing video. Watched the entire thing.
i like the idea about why people did or didnt like the game, but i don't think thats it.. i think the people who rated it well were mostly people who had already decided to like the game, which is a typically american gut reaction thing.. and the people who quit early saw it was just depressing an dbad