The Last Of Us II

[Your Mom]

End of Day 1 

Spoiler

That museum trip flashback!  "IT IS A FUCKING DINOSAUR!"  I cried during that because she was just so excited and I felt so good for Joel because when you're a parent and you just nail it like that it's the best feeling  

 

[probablyoliver]

32 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

End of Day 1 

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That museum trip flashback!  "IT IS A FUCKING DINOSAUR!"  I cried during that because she was just so excited and I felt so good for Joel because when you're a parent and you just nail it like that it's the best feeling  

 

Spoiler

It was the space shuttle bit with the tape recorder that got me. Holy shit, I wasn't ready to be hanging out with Joel again.

 

[Arjen Robben]

1 hour ago, Your Mom said:

End of Day 1 

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That museum trip flashback!  "IT IS A FUCKING DINOSAUR!"  I cried during that because she was just so excited and I felt so good for Joel because when you're a parent and you just nail it like that it's the best feeling  

 

Spoiler

 

I was absolutely in love with this whole sequence. That, for me, is what they get so right in these games. The action or trying to manoeuvre around infected is so tense and nerve wracking and they get that right in making you feel terrified. But these quiet, really sweet or heartfelt moments I think are just wonderful. The performances by Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker really just take it to another level, they couldn't be more perfect. Getting to just wander around in that kind of environment and enjoy their interactions, I could even play a game of just that. Give me DLC where it's all just happy Joel and Ellie, or Ellie and Tommy, or Tommy and Joel, any of them really, and I'll buy it ten times over.

Also, the transition from that happy, joyful sequence right in to the other half of the museum where you suddenly see these really unnerving messages written on the wall is done so well. Going from that happy experience to seeing those genuinely fucking frightening messages scrawled on the wall and just feeling more and more dread with each one you read.

 

 

[Hellraiser]

11 hours ago, Ollie said:

Hey @Hellraiser, give some context for what your spoilers are.

Done.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Hellraiser

[Hellraiser]

Major spoilers for the 2nd half of he game:
 

Spoiler

So we're getting to experience the 3 days from Abby's point of view. I thought we were going to see how everything that Ellie has been up too has impacted Abby. But I'm on day 2 and and Abby still doesn't know that Ellie is coming for her. Instead I'm getting the surgical supplies needed to amputate the arm of a young renegade Scar that Abby ran into and saved during day 1. It is a bit frustrating. 

Edit: Finally on day 3. Why the hell am I taking someone who had their arm amputated less then 24 hours ago into enemy territory? Why can't she just wrote down for Abby how to get to the damn cult island? This is stupid. 

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by Hellraiser

[Arjen Robben]

3 hours ago, Hellraiser said:

Major spoilers for the 2nd half of he game:
 

  Hide contents

So we're getting to experience the 3 days from Abby's point of view. I thought we were going to see how everything that Ellie has been up too has impacted Abby. But I'm on day 2 and and Abby still doesn't know that Ellie is coming for her. Instead I'm getting the surgical supplies needed to amputate the arm of a young renegade Scar that Abby ran into and saved during day 1. It is a bit frustrating. 

Edit: Finally on day 3. Why the hell am I taking someone who had their arm amputated less then 24 hours ago into enemy territory? Why can't she just wrote down for Abby how to get to the damn cult island? This is stupid. 

 

Spoiler

Because the game has established the bond between Yara and Lev is stronger than Yara just going “yeah, I’ll just wait here, no bother”. And she’s even less likely to agree to staying behind when their mother is involved on top of it. There’s only so much she could write down for Abby before it would just be confusing and muddled. Knowing how to “get to the island” is actually the part Yara is least needed for, it’s once they’re on the island. 

 

[Hellraiser]

2 hours ago, Arjen Robben said:

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Because the game has established the bond between Yara and Lev is stronger than Yara just going “yeah, I’ll just wait here, no bother”. And she’s even less likely to agree to staying behind when their mother is involved on top of it. There’s only so much she could write down for Abby before it would just be confusing and muddled. Knowing how to “get to the island” is actually the part Yara is least needed for, it’s once they’re on the island. 

 

Spoiler

If I was Abby I'd still take the chance of getting lost over the chance of taking someone who just had major surgery done on an island of people who all want her dead. It was a stupid idea. 

Potential spoilers regarding the pacing of the 2nd half of the game

Spoiler

Whoever wrote that the game has pacing issues was right. This feels like Django Unchained all over again. 

Edited June 23, 2020 by Hellraiser

[Your Mom]

1 hour ago, Hellraiser said:

  Reveal hidden contents

If I was Abby I'd still take the chance of getting lost over the chance of taking someone who just had major surgery done on an island of people who all want her dead. It was a stupid idea. 

Whoever wrote that the game has pacing issues was right. This feels like Django Unchained all over again. 

I have no idea what that means but I am not on the 2nd half of the game yet so don't tell me  

[Hellraiser]

40 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

I have no idea what that means but I am not on the 2nd half of the game yet so don't tell me  

The comparison has nothing to do with the content of the story. That is why I didn't bother to put it in spoiler tags. It was simply in regards to the pacing of the game in the 2nd half. But I'll put it in spoiler tags just to be save.

Spoilers regarding the ending:

Spoiler

That was one hell of a ride. As stated above, I have to agree with the critic that said the pacing was off. The story really drags toward the end. I think they could have cut the majority of Abby's 3 days (and by that I mean the Lev & Yara subplot) as well as the fight with the rattlers and the game would not have been any worse for it. The parts of the game in which you play Ellie were perfect though. 

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by Hellraiser

[Arjen Robben]

8 minutes ago, Hellraiser said:

The comparison has nothing to do with the content of the story. That is why I didn't bother to put it in spoiler tags. It was simply in regards to the pacing of the game in the 2nd half. But I'll put it in spoiler tags to be save.

Spoilers regarding the ending:

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That was one hell of a ride. As stated above, I have to agree with the critic that said the pacing was off. The story really drags toward the end. I think they could have cut the majority of Abby's 3 days (and by that I mean the Lev & Yara subplot) as well as the fight with the rattlers and the game would not have been any worse for it. The parts of the game in which you play Ellie were perfect though. 

 

 

Spoiler

I thought the stuff with Yara and Lev were the best parts of Abby's section tbh. I really liked their characters.

 

[Bobfoc]

I just finished the game. That was quite something. It wasn't my favourite game ever, but it engrossed me enough for me to finish it as quickly as I did.

Spoiler

I liked the way the game was structured. I was perfectly happy to play through Abby's story and liked Lev and Yara too. I think I would have liked to see the rattlers developed a bit more, though. Their whole thing seemed to be that they were just slave driver bastards, but we never saw why they were doing it. A bit more focus on them would have helped them feel less shoehorned in for the sake of giving Ellie and Abby a mutual enemy.

 

[9 to 5]

Start of Seattle Day 3. Oh damn!

[Hellraiser]

Spoilers regarding the 2nd act of the game

Spoiler

Isn't it a bit weird that outside of one flashback with Abby and her dad Marlene isn't brought up at all in this game? She was Ellie's surrogate mother after her biological mother passed away. I know that they didn't have the best relationship, but I think it is weird that Ellie doesn't bring her up at all or asks about her when Joel finally confesses to her what really happened at the hospital. 

 

[Your Mom]

I think this game might be too good at emotionally manipulating me. Like I get so angry and almost bloodthirsty I don't even want to play it. Like I'm curious what is going to happen but outside of the scene I mentioned earlier I find myself in a bad mood after about an hour. It's not a good feeling to be honest

[Arjen Robben]

4 hours ago, Hellraiser said:

Spoilers regarding the 2nd act of the game

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Isn't it a bit weird that outside of one flashback with Abby and her dad Marlene isn't brought up at all in this game? She was Ellie's surrogate mother after her biological mother passed away. I know that they didn't have the best relationship, but I think it is weird that Ellie doesn't bring her up at all or asks about her when Joel finally confesses to her what really happened at the hospital. 

 

 

Spoiler

I'm not sure there's anything to indicate that Ellie even knows Marlene was there? As I recall she's unconscious after nearly drowning when the Fireflies find her and Joel at the end of the first game, and then she's immediately prepped for surgery, she says in this game that "she had so many questions for them" which implies she was never awake at any point, so she could just think think Marlene is either still in Boston, or is dead because the last time she saw her before Marlene gave her to Joel and Tess she'd been shot.

 

[Hellraiser]

15 minutes ago, Arjen Robben said:

 

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I'm not sure there's anything to indicate that Ellie even knows Marlene was there? As I recall she's unconscious after nearly drowning when the Fireflies find her and Joel at the end of the first game, and then she's immediately prepped for surgery, she says in this game that "she had so many questions for them" which implies she was never awake at any point, so she could just think think Marlene is either still in Boston, or is dead because the last time she saw her before Marlene gave her to Joel and Tess she'd been shot.

 

Spoiler

I assumed that she must have found out about Marlene being at the hospital when she was investigating the place. But even if she didn't, don't you think that finding out Joel lied to her about what happened in the hospital would prompt her to ask more questions about other things he might have lied about? Like Marlene? I just find it hard to believe that Marlene was that unimportant to Ellie. And I always assumed that her learning about the circumstances of Marlene's death would be a big plot point in the sequel.

 

[probablyoliver]

50 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

I think this game might be too good at emotionally manipulating me. Like I get so angry and almost bloodthirsty I don't even want to play it. Like I'm curious what is going to happen but outside of the scene I mentioned earlier I find myself in a bad mood after about an hour. It's not a good feeling to be honest

I get you. I feel exactly the same most nights after I complete a section. It's exhausting.

[Arjen Robben]

Spoiler

I just don't know what there is that's there to prompt her to ask about Marlene though? What would she think he'd lied about in regards to Marlene? The last time she saw Marlene was in Boston, so I'm not sure what there is to make her suddenly start questioning him about her. I don't think there's anything in her mind that he could have possibly lied about in regards to her, they were both there the last time they saw Marlene as far as she's aware. And Marlene had just been shot.

@Hellraiser btw.

[Hellraiser]

48 minutes ago, Arjen Robben said:

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I just don't know what there is that's there to prompt her to ask about Marlene though? What would she think he'd lied about in regards to Marlene? The last time she saw Marlene was in Boston, so I'm not sure what there is to make her suddenly start questioning him about her. I don't think there's anything in her mind that he could have possibly lied about in regards to her, they were both there the last time they saw Marlene as far as she's aware. And Marlene had just been shot.

@Hellraiser btw.

Spoiler

I just find it hard to believe that she never asked Joel anything about Marlene the entire time they spent together. And if she asked him he probably told her that she died in Boston. So when she learns that he lied to her about what happened at the hospital, wouldn't she also suspect that he might have lied about her surrogate mother as well? If I was Ellie in that situation I'd question everything Joel ever told me. 

And I also find it really hard to believe that there wouldn't be any proof left of Marlene's presence at the hospital. The fireflies left all of Abby's dads belongings behind. Why wouldn't they leave at least some of Marlene's stuff behind as well? 

I don't know. To me it was always a no-brainer that Marlene's fate would come up in the sequel eventually. Maybe I've attached too much importance to Ellie's and Marlene's relationship. 

 

Edited June 25, 2020 by Hellraiser

[Arjen Robben]

 

2 hours ago, Hellraiser said:

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I just find it hard to believe that she never asked Joel anything about Marlene the entire time they spent together. And if she asked him he probably told her that she died in Boston. So when she learns that he lied to her about what happened at the hospital, wouldn't she also suspect that he might have lied about her surrogate mother as well? If I was Ellie in that situation I'd question everything Joel ever told me. 

And I also find it really hard to believe that there wouldn't be any proof left of Marlene's presence at the hospital. The fireflies left all of Abby's dads belongings behind. Why wouldn't they leave at least some of Marlene's stuff behind as well? 

I don't know. To me it was always a no-brainer that Marlene's fate would come up in the sequel eventually. Maybe I've attached too much importance to Ellie's and Marlene's relationship. 

 

Spoiler

 

But I mean, why would Joel tell her she died in Boston? As far as she knows the last time he saw her was the last time Ellie saw her so there's no reason for her to ask him what happened to her because there's no reason to think he'd know any more than she would, she could speculate like "I wonder what happened to Marlene..." but there's no reason for her to ask Joel what happened to her, or for Joel to randomly tell her she died in Boston. 

I don't think you're attached too much important to their relationship because the audio recordings in the first game kind of imply that Ellie's mother kind of entrusted her to Marlene as almost a surrogate mother, but I guess my view of it is that we just don't really need to see every single conversation about every thing touched upon previously, and can just assume they've probably talked about it at some point and it's not come up in relation to what Joel did at the hospital.