The Controversy About The Last Of Us Part II

The Last Of Us Part II was the winner of the Game Of The Year Award (GOTY) 2020 but it is still a topic of controversy among many players who have played it recently or people who can't get over its plot. Many players remark that it should not even deserve the GOTY award for its bad storyline and its unstable pacing in cutscenes. It is certainly one of the best storyline games I have ever played and seen on the whole internet. It was so much hyped up at the time of its release by the players and when it was finally released, it shattered the expectations of many players and they started hate speech about the game and the theme it carried. It certainly did become a topic of controversy and this is my point of view on the good points and the controversial topics about the game. 

Firstly, let's talk about the good points and the points good about it from the previous game.

Positive Points 

Joel teaches Ellie How to play Guitar -

Joel promised Ellie that once they were out of all this, he would teach her how to play Guitar, the fans liked the attention to the dialogue from the previous game and they appraised the game to bring it into action in the next game where Joel teaches Ellie to play Guitar. He sang the song 'Future Days' and it was a really heartwarming moment for the fans.

Stunning Graphics and Visuals -

Many streamers and gamers praised the stunning visuals and graphics and expressed that it was the most visually stunning game they had played until now. The lighting was perfect and the graphics and lightning especially the details made the game a true masterpiece in their eyes. The game was visually appealing to the eyes.

New Combat and Stealth System -

The new combat system was one of the best improvements the game had made to be called a successor video game. The combat system was more fluid and dynamic instead of the choppy combat system in The Last Of Us Part I. The game also provided much variety of weapon customization to us players and the stealth mechanics were the most impressive to me.

Negative Points (Remarked by Others)

I have seen many streamers and gamers go controversial about many of the things the game did. Some of the reasons are really dumb and some of the things are arguable. The negative points remarked by the players were -

Joel's Death -

I think Joel's death is the biggest reason people are going into controversy about the game and how suddenly the plot of the game got changed from them in the starting hours of the game. They had to witness Joel's Death, Ellie had to witness Joel's death in front of her own eyes. Although many people saw it coming as the plot of the second part of the game, they didn't expect some random group to show up out of nowhere and beat Joel to death. This thing was witnessed as unique by many players as often we do not get to see such unique plots but some players saw this as bad writing by the game developers and blamed them for this storyline.

The Relationship between Ellie and Dina -

Some players had strong emotional connections with Ellie from the first game and may have had their own expectations about her character arc. Discovering her sexual orientation and her relationship with Dina may have conflicted with these expectations, leading to discomfort or resistance to the narrative choices made by the game's developers. But I don't think this should be a real reason for starting a controversy on it as it is 2023 now and the world has really changed its views so I don't see any point in such an argument.

Playing as Abby -

Many Players grew frustrated when they noticed that the game developers were going to make them players play as the same girl who murdered Joel in cold blood. They hated the character even after knowing her whole story and I think this is reasonable for many players, but many players did see Abby as just another survivor in a world full of infected. Things grew worse when Joel saved her and she couldn't even give Joel a quick and painless death as an act of humanity. It made the players hate the character of Abby even more.

 

The Debate

Many people saw the game as a perfect story-based game and they believed that Joel's death was necessary to make a successful plot in the second game.

They saw the storytelling of the game as unique and commented that No game had ever tried such a way of portraying a story. The other side saw the story as not making any sense and commented that the story was ill-written which I totally disagree with. The haters of the game grew and they started to target all the negative points about the game and find a way to start a non-sensible controversy. Although many people do really bring out some points that are still debatable in the community. I think the answers are yet to be revealed sooner or later in The Last Of Us Part III.

In my opinion, the game did just fine and there should be no such controversies because I think Joel also saw it coming that he would have to face such a situation sooner or later that's why he tells Abby to get this over with because he also saw it coming. But he will be remembered as one of the best video game characters ever made. I really respect the unique turn in the story Neil displayed in front of us.