The Last of Us Part II: Finding Our Humanity
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- Опубликовано: 18 окт 2020
- This video contains spoilers for both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II.
Over the past decade, we have seen video games evolve to be a new outlet for cinematic storytelling. The Last of Us series takes us on a journey through the many facets of the human condition, all while offering engaging gameplay and an experience that is hard to forget. After playing Part II, I was left with many conflicting thoughts. However, I ultimately realized just how special this game is. My empathy has never been challenged more in any art form, and I commend the team at Naughty Dog for creating such a bold, engaging, and downright brutal experience. This video is only a small glimpse into what the game is about, but I hope you can take something away from it.
"Five years after the events of The Last of Us, Ellie embarks on another journey through a post-apocalyptic America on a mission of vengeance against a mysterious militia."
None of the footage or music used in this video belongs to me. 
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![Joel Miller • "I guess you can't escape your past." [TLoU]](/img/1.gif)
Honestly, I am so glad that I wasn't the only one who found the ending oddly hopeful for Abby and Ellie both. Yes, they are both hurt and damaged in ways that likely won't ever heal properly, but now that they've stopped trying to kill the shit out of each other, they finally have the opportunity to try.
I remember how everybody was hating this game when it came out. But once people relaxed and tried to process it correctly, everybody can now see the beauty of this game
There's actually still a lot of people who just can't stop talking about how much they hate this game, and I just don't understand it. It's my second favorite of all time, right behind Part I.
I think this game is a masterpiece.
@@noicoiner6151 I understand if someone dislikes it, but there are quite a few people who go out their way to display such intense hate to the game. There were literally people sending death threats to Laura Bailey. Which is so fucked up, and those people are massive losers, and I hope Karma catches up to them.
@@noicoiner6151 Surely these people must be insecure about something, and hating this game so intensely is a way of compensating for them, it’s usually the case for people like that
EXCEPTIONAL video. The editing and narration synced up so harmoniously... just really genius stuff. You've earned a subscriber.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Damn, you're here too? Man...I gotta stop spiraling down the rabbit hole that is the last of us and do something productive
just watched your video on tlou2 it was great, keep up the good work :)
@Victor Ahmad wtf
Sorry to be offtopic but does someone know a way to log back into an Instagram account?
I stupidly forgot my login password. I appreciate any tips you can offer me!
holy crap this video is so good, ashley's quote about trying to justify our own side was so powerful and you can see how that is reflected on people who hate abby
@@multifandomstories5148 that is why its a bad writing game,
@@iscosyah6676 Nope
@@iscosyah6676 That’s why what? You’re telling me the game doing something that happens regularly in the real world is an example of bad writing?
@@iscosyah6676 “its a bad writing game” you cant call something bad writing when you can barely write a simple sentence.
@@OoXLR8oO A buff girl kills an old man in a zombie apocalypse regularly in the real world? Interesting...
10/10 editing.
Conveying emotions like this is a rare talent.
This game is a masterpiece. Like the coins Abby collects on her journey. At first, shiny and new, then they become dirty and left alone. Both tossed in the air, tumbling, uncertain, landing heads then tails. It’s only when each come to realize/accept they are two sides of the same coin that each lets the other go. Can’t wait for the show!
"We always try to justify when it's our side of the story... We feel like it's the right thing to do when we've been wronged"
Never a truer statement regarding the hate for this game by a large portion of the fanbase. Unable to look past their own desires, unable to see the other side of the spectrum.
Wow that is so true. I remember justifying what Joel did after the ending of part 1, but part 2 made me realize that he was wrong, because by chance he killed someone with a daughter and a lot of close people. Also I realized how much he wasn’t that good of a man, even though I knew how bad he was in part 1. But more importantly he killed the doctor, the only guy not firing a gun at him. All the other fireflies he killed were to get to Ellie, and he literally could have just pushed over Jerry, but because he killed him out of anger and just I don’t know why, he got what he deserved, which is Abby killing him. But also got tortured, because of the whole cure business. Haters just don’t know how important a cure could be.
“Oh they couldn’t be able to give it to everyone” “there could not even be a cure” like it’s a cure. A. Cure. These people have suffered for 20 years and just a small chance that there’s a solution to this insolvable problem is so, so important to them.
Sorry this is a lot of talk I just need to let some stuff out
THANK YOU 🙏
Girlfriend Reviews has a really good take on this as well and in particular, the player having to walk a mile in Abby's shoes. Nothing says ego death more than having to play as the person that killed the hero you've known and loved and then coming to realise your hero was the villain of their story too.
It's a bold way to give the player a chance to identify themselves as the "other" and understand that the world of TLOU plays no favourites, everyone is a victim of circumstance and the biggest issue with living in a world like that is how much of your humanity do you sacrifice to survive.
@@LukasD89 No problem mate, you did a fantastic job putting this together
@@IanLEAU this isn’t mine, i was just thanking for your nice words
The last of us really is the story of how far can humans go for their choices in a world where only pain and destruction thrive.. In the end, Ellie saved the girl she swore to kill.
That final choice there of choosing to spare Abby. That’s so goddamn important. I realize that all she did this for, her journey was once to create a vaccine so that the world could have a chance of returning to one without people like the Hunters or David who kill people for their own selfish desires without any provocation. A more fair world in which stupid shit doesn’t happen to people she would have loved, her mother dying in childbirth, all her friends from bites and suicide and yeah, her father in a vengeful murder. The quest, the purpose that was taken from her, that she was so emotionally attached to, of making a better world, if she had murdered Abby there, leaving Lev to die alone or to continue the cycle, she would be betraying everything that new world would have stood for. She’d be betraying herself in indulging the worst parts of her humanity, against all the parts she thinks are worth fighting for, like many giving up love, giving up family to kill, kill, kill in hopes of staying alive or even just staying sane. In killing Abby, she would surely lose herself entirely. There is no more Ellie if she squeezes the life out of this person. Every time before has been questionable, but this time it’s just what Joel suffered; pure, unbridled torture and murder. She’d become everything she hates and walk away from everything she would have given her life for. Everything that makes her who she is, that 14 year old kid we fell in love with just as Joel did, gone in a moment of depraved hopelessness. Her final choice is to cling to her own identity by her fingernails, to dodge the traps of rage and grief-fueled hypocrisy that would erode any values left inside to betray. Her desperate search for purpose and identity lead her to a place where she could have destroyed both, but she didn’t. Wether that was through sheer force of will or simply being unable to carry it through, Ellie shows she is not the monster she once hunted. She doesn’t lose herself.
It's a stunning analysis. You described many things that I was going over in my mind for the last few months. I played this game right at the launch and there hasn't been a week without thinking about it. Few books or movies impacted me so much, this is the first time for a video game. For this very reason, it will be forever one of the most important media experiences for me. Ellie's journey is so unique and under all of this pain and suffering and gore - a message of hope.
Wow. I'm one of the critics who still feels hurt as to how little we've seen of Joel in the second game, but comments like yours do go a long way in trying to understand this game. It's the message that matters for this game. I just hoped the game would've given more of what made us fall in love with the first: Ellie AND Joel. To me, Abby's storyline would've made for a great DLC. They could at that point flesh her story out more. End of the day I still couldnt sympathize with her. She was so obviously made to be like a man, it's such a sociopolitical statement in your face that you HAVE to accept, that leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
@@marinko6450 Regarding your statements about politics, are you sure you’re approaching this the right way?
First of all, the first game was quite political as well, lots of things you can read into. Tess and Joel’s professional relationship for example where he’s described as the muscle and Tess is described as the brains, which you could see as a stereotype.
Joel’s attitude throughout the first game being very akin to ”toxic masculinity” where he represses his emotions, pushes people away and acts like a big asshole all portrayed as a sign of weakness where he essentially learns to take on a parental role for Ellie that is in practice paternal but is in attitude very maternal, being overprotective, constantly worrying for her and ultimately not allowing her true independence even when she grows more mature and ultimately this change from a more masculine to feminine attitude is portrayed as positive emotional growth?
What about Neil expressing that one of the high-level goals of The Last Of Us was to create a new, relatable female action heroine in Ellie?
Having a bunch of strong, independent women?
Portraying the remnants of the US government as totalitarian fascists?
My point is that TLOU is rife with politics, both parts. What of the entire story of Part 2 being inspired by Neil Druckmann’s experience growing up in Israel, a country with massive social division and ethnic hostility?
Isn’t singling out TLOU2 for being overly political kind of a flawed mentality?
And on a related note: Abby did get her cheeks clapped on screen by a big strong man, just saying. And to take this argument further, she doesn’t start off masculine, she attains masculinity as she builds muscle and this is clearly shown as a byproduct of a toxic, hate-driven mentality and at the end of her arc as a character, where she will only resort to violence as a last resort against Ellie, she has lost all her muscle and acts motherly towards Lev.
You can interpret the game’s politics in a number of ways. Could it not just be that the developers thought a muscular woman would feel empowering for female players? And even so, why does it bother you? What about the inclusion of Lev, a transgender character whose struggles are based on non-conformity to gender roles not being tolerated by his religious social circle, a political statement as clear as day? Does that bother you?
It feels to me as though this has more to do with your own political beliefs clashing with the game, because I can’t see a liberal being upset with this game for politics.
@@The_Story_Of_Us Thanks for the clarification. But again, my point was never that the game having political themes is problematic. My point was not that I don't like any sort of political theme nor do I have a problem with strong female, transgender or gay characters.
What I do have a severe problem with, is these themes being shoved down our faces in the second game at the expense of Joel. So it's not that my political vieuws clash, it's that I don't like being obviously schooled to certain themes. There is for example no subtleness to the incorporation of Abby's extraordinary physical appearance, making it seem like a very obvious counter/replacement to Joel's male masculinity.
She is furthermore set as such an antagonistic character against Joel, with her whole crew supporting that vibe, that you as a player have little room to sympathize. Yes the story permits them to be like that, and wants you to feel that way at the outset, but this simply left a sour taste in my mouth since I freaking loved Joel. There's a lot of elements coming together in this game that try to downplay/scapegoat Joel, of which, excuse me for that, most don't come to my mind right now.
But it's exaxtly that: the downplaying of Joel, through both supposed "daring" storytelling, obvioys story/pacing flaws and way too obvious sociopolitical statements that leave a sour taste in my mouth. It at times felt like a schooling session, instead of a relatable story.
They tried so hard to push you not only as a player, but as a human being, into a direction, that of empathy and forgiveness, that it left no room for actual genuine moral or emotional attachment to any of the characters. Only person I gave a shit about was Dina, and eventually it started to grow for Abby. But to make her the person ND wants to be, they should not have forced her personality unto us.
It should been a more gradual and to depth process, without the counter-masculinity aspects Abby has. Perfect to be fleshed out more in a DLC, instead of a base game where everyone expected to see more of Ellie and Joel. Instead Joel was dumbed down, shoved away and deleted from memory.
I just feel like they did the legacy of TLOU1 and it's fans dirty by how he was portrayed, or rather not portrayed, in the second game.
I realize this feels like a ramble with not too coherent arguments, but that's because I'm passionate about this series and world. I recognize the same passion in you (duhh your name elicits that). Most of my arguments are a mix between personal ponderings and critical video essays. If you want I can link them?
@@marinko6450 I'll respond paragraph by paragraph.
1.
Glad to hear that at least.
2.
I don't see how Joel comes at the expense of these ideas, given that he isn't a massive part of this story directly. The game doesn't rob him of his complexity as a character, frankly he had a full game with a complete, comprehensive arc of development. It isn't really his story anymore and that wasn't ever the intention. And I don't really understand why Abby's muscularity being obvious means they are "replacing male masculinity", they're just making a different story. They have a whole franchise over at Naughty Dog about a masculine male action hero. And if this argument is a matter of instance rather than generality, then isn't Ellie (who despite not being masculine) still replacing the masculine male hero by filling the shoes where such a role might also fit a male character (she's even gay, taking the female romantic interest character (Dina) away from a potential male? I don't really get this argument.
3.
I don't see how characters being antagonistic towards Joel diminishes his character. He wasn't very well liked in the first game either and the game never portrays these characters as being in the right, that's only their perspective. In the same vein, Ellie hates a lot of the characters in this game, this game is about hatred. Is a character diminished because others don't like them, even though they have understandable reasons to hate each other? I also pointed this out in another video's comment section, but Joel is generally portrayed as a very sympathetic character in this game, almost more so than in the first and his death isn't just grazed over, it's the impetus of the entire story and is made to be as distressing as possible, the game actively COUNTS on the player being emotionally invested in Joel, so I fail to see how he is diminished.
4.
This paragraph made some statements that without clarification are unaddressable or that I have already spoken about as much as I could. But on the point of it feeling like "schooling", I don't understand this point. The game is very intense and emotionally heavy, the emotions of the characters are front and center, it has the most developed performance capture ever put in a video game, rendering the characters as realistic and animated as possible. So I can only infer that your reference to "schooling" is yet another indictment of the political nature of the game. And again, I don't see the problem with this. There is a myriad of visual media that are political to the core and are not at all subtle about it, including ones in fictional settings that have been critically acclaimed. Bong Joon-ho's entire filmography for example, who is hailed as one of the most brilliant directors of the 21st century.
Politics exist throughout media to a great extent. So I have to get to the bottom of this, why is it a problem? Is it because politics and story are mutually exclusive? Of course not. Is it because the politics of Part 2 come at the expense of the storytelling? I don't see this. If the game can have politics clearly woven through its story but still have characters that are nuanced and relatable, then taking issue with the politics can only be a factor of one's own political views clashing. So maybe you just didn't really engage with the characters because you found the politics distracting? Because the characters in this game are actually very complex. "Story flaws" are such a broad statement that it requires some real deep diving the likes of which aren't possible at this current stage.
5.
I don't think they're trying to "push" you into anything. This point I find (and I'm sorry) ridiculous. Genuine attachment to a character comes from empathy and sympathy. Films and games are not real, so they are inherently artificial. By this point I can only assume that you mean that attempts to make you care about a character are in conflict with traits about a character you find too unlikable, creating dissonance, such as you still being angry at Abby for killing Joel and then showing her backstory in a sympathetic light, with your negative emotions getting in the way of sympathy or empathy. That feels inherently subjective to me. If that isn't the case, the only other alternative is that you feel as though the game is telling you to feel sympathy for a character rather than showing you things that actually develop sympathy. And frankly, this proposition is prepostrous concerning this game, since it does very little character exposition outside of for example Yara. Like I said, I have to assume the former to be the case. This game absolutely follows the "show, don't tell" rule, so much so that there are NINE flashbacks. I can only assume that this argument is born from you being unable to reconcile traits you do not like about a character with sympathetic depictions of them in-game. And that's a matter to specific to get into without elaboration.
6.
I don't think you can accuse this game of not having gradual storytelling. That's just wrong, I'm sorry. I've already addressed your point about Abby being jacked and frankly audience expectations do not concern me here. You're with Ellie in this game for longer than you're with Joel in the first game, because this game is over twice as long as the first one and Joel was not only as I pointed out already fully developed as a character, but was notably absent from marketing (I mean the plot summary on the playstation store when you buy the game makes no mention of Joel at all and he isn't even on any poster for the game either). And to me that's a giant problem, if people are so attached to the idea of what they expect that they are incapable of accepting what they get. Arguably, expecting Joel makes his appearances extra impactful and missing him literally helps you relate to Ellie. She didn't expect him to die either.
Again I have to point out that Joel cannot simultaneously be dumbed down and not be in the game. Furthermore, he isn't dumbed down. He is still a complex character and displays deep complexity in his appearances, so I must interpret this as simple dismay that he isn't in the game much. And he absolutely isn't deleted from memory, the game literally won't let you forget about him since the entire plot revolves around the idea of avenging his death or directly redeeming his murderer. He isn't "deleted from memory" that's preposterous.
7.
This is a statement I really never understand when people say "the legacy of TLOU1", what legacy? What are you talking about?... Again it just sounds like you're unhappy that he isn't a bigger part of the game, so what? Ellie is literally the deuteragonist of the first game. What's so inherently wrong with having a different main character? I'm sorry but this is just another way of saying that your expectations of having Joel in the game soured your experience. The only way you could seriously interpret this argument is that Ellie and Joel are not treated with respect, and that's ludicrous. As I said, Joel is portrayed very sympathetically and is integral to the story, and Ellie's emotional journey as a result of his death is the main focus of the game, so much so that the deuteragonist Abby exist in service to Ellie's character ultimately. The main characters are not disrespected just because their proportionate screen-time is less than before. This is clearly just a matter of "I want Joel and Ellie to be the main characters again and I'm disappointed that they aren't." There's nothing wrong with just saying that, please just don't dance around it with gish galloping terms like "legacy" and silly memes like "you did them dirty"
8.
I've seen plenty of criticisms of this game, so no thanks, you don't need to link anything to me.
If any of that came across as harsh, do not take any offence, because none was meant, you were respectful towards me and I wish to return the gesture. We can all believe irrational things and I see a fair bit of it in what you're saying. I mean honestly, if I were any sort of self-respectful film-fanatic I wouldn't have Godzilla vs Kong as one of my new favourite guilty pleasure movies, but I do. Anyway, I just hope your perspective on this game will shift, from my personal experience of playing it like half a dozens times, there's so much to love about it.
Damn, this is the most amazing game I’ve ever played!
What about the first game?
@@kronobis1239 the first game is the best game ever that goes with out saying
@@kronobis1239 Both are masterpieces, but there are moments I remember way clearer in the second. That's probably cause I watched a lot of videos of part 2, not as much of part 1. Both are incredible.
Considering that they were originally going to sacrifice her in the first game make a cure. And now she is trying to find her meaning. I got a feeling that in a third game and also if you take into consideration that the fireflies are back. Ellie may find her meaning in life by possibly sacrificing herself to create a cure.
By the narrative though, there isn't anyone capable of engineering that cure anymore. Nobody.
@@darktail67 not necessarily true. It's still a bunch of other states that they haven't put in the games yet. I'm sure there's a doctor in another state that could do the same thing.
@your face reminds me when I stepped on a burrito 3 well the fireflys are back that much we do know. So at that point anything is possible
Joel saved ellie because her life meant more than the cure, ellie realises that at the end of part 2, if she sacrifices herself for the cure in part 3, it wouldn't really make sense
@@MM-hi that's why I said so at that point Anything is Possible.
Phenomenal job tbh. Loved every second of this essay.
This was incredibly well done good job! I feel so much for this game and it's amazing video essays like these that help me articulate all of it lol
The ending felt hopeful because Ellie and Abby can finally move past their pain and suffering and become happier people. This game is one of the greatest games I’ve ever played.
god damn bro, i never realized ellie went full berserk because she never got closure with joel.
Oh aRThUr
Whatchu doing here black lung?
Hope your videos get more support man. I really enjoy them.
As someone who lost a loved one because of someone else’s actions...I can’t tell you enough how important this game was in my healing process. Every emotion depicted, the hate, the pain, the memories followed by the PTSD. It’s played out so realistically. Thank you naughty dog...I’ll live my life in pain still because the pain never leaves, but this game helped me forgive.
Seriously! The way you edited this together is really good! Great editing is where the magic happens. Thank you!
Such a great video!! Congrats for the hard work!!
This is so great! Great job putting together the podcast series with the game. Its now visually telling with their explanations.
“We always try to justify when it’s our side of the story. I mean, we all do it. We feel like its the right thing to do when we’ve been wronged and justice needs to be served”
Wow that is so true. I remember justifying what Joel did after the ending of part 1, but part 2 made me realize that he was wrong, because by chance he killed someone with a daughter and a lot of close people. Also I realized how much he wasn’t that good of a man, even though I knew how bad he was in part 1. But more importantly he killed the doctor, the only guy not firing a gun at him. All the other fireflies he killed were to get to Ellie, and he literally could have just pushed over Jerry, but because he killed him out of anger and just I don’t know why, he got what he deserved, which is Abby killing him. But also got tortured, because of the whole cure business. Haters just don’t know how important a cure could be.
“Oh they couldn’t be able to give it to everyone” “there could not even be a cure” like it’s a cure. A. Cure. These people have suffered for 20 years and just a small chance that there’s a solution to this insolvable problem is so, so important to them.
Sorry this is a lot of talk I just need to let some stuff out
He couldn't have pushed the doctor to the side... i get your point but if he had left anyone alive, they would've come after him much much earlier, because they desperately want ellie. And, had the doctor still been alive, they wouldn't just have killed him for revenge, they would've also taken her for the cure
@@joana8615 Joel’s reason behind killing most of the fireflies was not that someone would come after him, it was just to save Ellie. He killed Dr. Abbys dad out of rage. You can see him in the opening of the game. The other doctors he didn’t kill (well,not in the canon playthrough I think) the reason Abby came after Joel is that he’s maybe the only guy who Joel didn’t need to kill. When he killed Marlene, that was tying up a looose end, as it came to his mind. He didn’t even kill her to protect himself, it was to protect Ellie. I love Joel and In the first game tried to defend his actions, but after seeing Abbys story I realized that he did something wrong, and that he didn’t even defend his own actions. He knew what he did, and accepted his death.
I think the point of part two is that neither Joel nor Abby’s father are wrong. It’s just a bad people and people die for no reason. Let’s not be dumb and say Joel is wrong just because he killed people.
@@Pitman856 👏100% correct
He didnt kill abbys dad out of rage where tf did you even get that idea
THIS is why I love video essays. Phenomenal job!
10/10 editing, incredible job
I’ve been binge watching your videos - they’re incredible. So well done. I had to subscribe. :)
Thanks so much, it means a lot!
Great video dude! You’ve got an eye for cutting relevant scenes together eloquently.
This is an amazing video man. Really good explanation of the best part of the last of us II, the characters.
Amazing video and perfect analysis. You put so perfectly into words why I love this game
Thanks!
Beautifully put together.
Fantastic editing!
Holy. This is remarkably well done.
This is pretty damn good! Thank you
I love this game ,thank you.
Really good writing, keep up the great work
What an amazing job you did here! Great video!!! 👏👏👏
Thanks Eric!
amazing video, love your narration!
This game is a masterpiece. The haters are dickheads!
This is amazing great job man ! ✨👏🔥 , tlou2 is a masterpiece 👌❤️😭😍
This video is amazing
To try and create a game that has to fullfill all those expectations of the millions and millions of players worldwide is a near impossible task. Some would say... To think of a story line and pack it into a game thats a masterpiece near perfection is something else. This video just shows how much the community was moved after playing this game. The work they put in the game is beyond imaginable. Hat's of to the Studio. And please dont make a sequel. The story is perfect the way it is and explaind through out this video.
Beautiful! Loved it!
Genius idea using the creators own voices to narrate the essay 🙏 good job!
Happy 3 years anniversary,
To my favorite story, with love
Damn this is actually really good
aw man, this game hit me like a truck. it was so emotional and i cried my eyes out in the last scene with joel. thank you naughty dog
love thisssss
I loved this game.
This game is truly a work of art
This is perfect. Only thing wrong is that i needed it to be longer 😅
It's definitely sad because Ellie clearly suffered enough. It was obvious she still loved Joel she was just hurt in the moment sad outcome of it all though.
Hope there’s a third game to experience both of their journeys
Fantastic video!! I want to ask everyone here about the last line said by Ashley. "...at the end of the day, we're gonna choose humanity and try to do the right thing". I'm still struggling with the fact that I couldn't choose humanity earlier as Ellie(either at Nora, Mel/Owen, Farmhouse, Last fight with Abby or even during the gameplay sections). Ellie made the right choice at the end, but what does a player do if they decide earlier than that? I'm asking this because Neil said that "We wanted you to feel hatred and then we could see if we can bring you back". I wonder if anyone brought themselves back before Abby's playthrough. On top of that, none of Ellie's friends offered to help Ellie(and by extension, the player) cope with Joel's loss. I wonder how many people would have chosen to abandon the warpath if given the choice.
Wow love it
"We wanna get you all they way there and see how much we can bring you back"
Me literally outloud: 0%, you literally brought me back 0%!!
Hearing the voice of Elle, but it not being Elle......took some getting used to.
I can’t walk on the side of the right because I’m wrong this definitely fits eillie and abby because there is no hero at the end of the story it’s only two people out for revenge😢😢😔
Ellie's story is not over.
I could listen to ashely talk all day
Wow people are truly amazing.
Personaly i believe we dont need a tlou3. Ellies redemption at the end is her way of finding her purpose like the video said. The ending of her walking away is a representation of players road to finding themselves, this chapter of their lives, this game series, is over. You then take what youve learned for this experience and go out into the world, and if you walked away from the game happy with how it ended, and are at peace with it, you will take the message of the game and try to make the world better. Be the generation of change. And THAT, to me at least, is much better than any specific ending, like returing to jackson, or sequal that ND could give us.
Outstanding video, only 2k subs??
Could you provide the sources of the voice-actor commentary so I can listen? Love the video
It’s from the official last of us podcast
What fascinates me about this game structurally is that it seems to put forward two basic propositions about revenge. First, of course, is that revenge comes at dreadful cost and can set terrible cycles of violence in motion.
On the other, the second proposition? It sort of... works.
When do we see Abby begin to grow past her trauma, develop new attachments and the ability, even the need, to live for something and someone outside the vendetta that dominated her life? After the vendetta (so she thinks) is over. Her recurring dream of the hallway at St. Mary's gradually changes after Jackson and as she bonds with Lev and Yara, eventually ending up with a peaceful vision of her father as he was in life.
Ellie is denied her revenge. Oh, she and/or Tommy get most of the perpetrators, but not the primary murderer, in their attempt at Seattle. And Ellie is clearly non-functional after this. She's having debilitating PTSD flashbacks, suffering from insomnia and lack of appetite... the video notes that Tommy is clearly in a bad place when he visits the farmhouse, but Ellie is barely better off. She goes after Abby needing some kind of closure.
And... she gets it. She comes within an ace of killing Abby, and unlike Abby in Jackson she still has enough of her humanity left to pull back, but the fact of coming close enough to her revenge to see and feel what it would be like is also what reconnects her to memories of Joel other than his violent end. It looks a lot like a kind of... catharsis.
So, revenge kinda just... works in the TLOU-verse, at least for providing emotional catharsis (which revenge in the real world does not do for very long beyond the brief immediate moment of exacting it). TLOU2 doesn't leave out the part where it also leads to destructive cycles of retribution, but half of its take on revenge seems to be working by movie logic.
This games narrative is stupid good. I kinda feel bad for people that didn’t get it, but fuck the people that didn’t even try to.
I remembered that in the walking dead comic Rick end up dying by some kid in his own bed......didnt like it but it shows how anyone can be vulnerable. I like this game though.
Added this onto my reddit topic compiling all of the great analysis and discussion on this game. I love how you give those who created the game a voice, and what it means to them, instead of just throwing your own opinions into the mix. Very selfless. Bravo. www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/comments/j2jntp/sources_of_diverse_analysis_and_praise_for_part_2/
Awesome video really well-done thanks for making it, and in keeping with what you guys said at 4:37 when I finished the game I hated Joel, I was disgusted by Ellie and sympathized with Abby. But I believe Abby and Ellie will both find redemption in part 3.
Honestly I truly believe the ending would have been better, without that last fight. Just skip to Ellie at the Farm after she finds Abby. Then you could have a cut scene where a boat drifts on to an island. after Ellie plays the guitar. The ending to the first game, where is was so ambiguous about what happened between Ellie and Joel was what made the second game happen. That being said I would like to see a 3rd game where maybe Ellie and Abby end up having to work together.
👍📺👀
I feel like Joel watching his Sarah die in front of him is payment enough for any past present and future sins he committed
Then by that logic Abby losing her father is payment enough for her future sins too. But if we use that logic then everyone’s bad actions can be excused.
@@CaptainPikeachu As much as i dont like Abby i understand why she killed Joel. But i think the reason why everyone made the choices they made because of the outbreak. In the first game people were viscious the way they were was to survive in order to live. Except for David of course. In the second people were killing each other out of selfish reasons. You would think living in an apocolyptic world people would banned together fight the real enemies which is the zombies but i guess that in that universe the old world was just as bad. I mean look our real life world pandamic and need i say more on that.
wow what a stellar video.
like one of the best on the game
and I don't even like it that much. i feel the story is ambitious but the story fails to deliver the intentions of the creators through the gameplay, pacing, structure, unutilized ideas and setups, themes over characters, poor characterization of some key characters, and the executions of certain story beats as well as the limitations of having an ultra-linear game. they never ask the player to forgive in a genuine fashion.
the fact that people don’t like this game just shows they didn’t pay enough attention
it’s a literal masterpiece with so much more meaning than some people think.
Easily the best game in a decade
GTA 5 came out in 2013...
@@shaqyardie8105 i know what i said
I don't like the game's pacing or story, but I'll give the devs credit for trying to do something different.
I literally killed a hundred people as Ellie. They had families, that ending rung hollow for me. I was more sad my favourite character had nothing left in her life worth while.
You killed them not because you hated them but to defend yourself. You’re removing all context out of the Ellie’s actions. If they had left her alone, she only would’ve killed Abby. Killing someone that wants you dead on the spot isn’t the same as hunting someone across the country because they wronged you, even if both situations end with someone dying. Context is key.
Feeling hollow and sad is what they were going for. Perhaps a little hopeful as well but that depends on the player.
Still playing (great game, unbelievable animation and graphics, also the gameplay is better) but the first game is still much better (completely different level in my humble opinion) it's also complete nonsense that Ellie would have been cross at Joel (attachment would have been cemmented well and truly) Joel ultimately had no choice but to save Ellie
He took away her believed "sole purpose of life." I don't think anyone would take that lightly. Also regarding the fact that Joel lied to her for years. I think she's got a right to be mad.
The purpose of any life is to live. No matter how difficult. Still enjoying the game though but story could be and should have been better.
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There's just one thing that will always make every attempt to say anything good about the game's mesages:
With what the game tried to teach the player, can it be applied to Robert Cogburn, Naughty Dog's former in-house sexual predator that Neil Druckmann (the writer) personally fought to protect?
Or does it seem, oddly, more like a message for Cogburn's victims that Druckmann fired?
I like this game but Ellie didnt really end the cycle though. She murdered hundreds along the way. Whats to stop any of those folks friends from going after Ellie (not likely) but still...
Jon M. Lutes they don’t know who she is, everyone who knew Ellie died and to be fair they thought she was eitheir a wolf or random intruder
@@aaronm4841 not to mention it was mainly self defence when she killed them
...and with that you imply that there's no rendemption... Ever, if you killed people before.
Using that logic, if you think that Ellie should've killed Abby in the end, Abby is justified for killing Joel.
@@CapitiStudios exactly. also yes, nothing is stopping someone from wanting revenge for the large number of people ellie has killed and that’s kinda the point. ellie just has to move forward and come to terms with all the suffering she caused. she did end the cycle though, under the limits of her own willpower. someone could randomly surge wanting revenge in theory and that’s something she’s gotta live with, but they probably won’t cuz they don’t know the last thing about her and therefore cannot find her. she’s just “tresspasser girl” to the wlf.
@@elishawilson1429 it’s interesting tho cuz there’s a fair argument to be made that the ppl she killed were the ones acting in self defense, not her. Like, is it self defense if she decide to leave safety to go hunt someone in their home who isn’t a threat? Similar Q I ask when ppl say Joel was acting in self defense in the hospital scene, I just love how perspective plays a key role in how we view those plot points