Anyone claiming they "can't tell the difference" or that "the difference is slight" please pause the video, in HD mode, at 03:28 and make it full screen.
Now, tell me with a straight face that the PS3 version (on the right) is not a blurry mess that makes it look like you've smeared Vaseline all over your monitor on that side, by comparison.
This is a significant visual upgrade. Pay special attention to Joel because in that frame you're seeing him on both sides. Look at his FACE compared to his ear. Look at his shirt sleeve and compare one side to the other.
@toffifee Well, you don't think it will eventually cost less?
They start at $50 for the people who didn't have a PS3, have heard how good this game is, and want a chance to play it. It's not a very old game yet, it's considered a masterpiece, and this edition not only has a substantial graphical improvement (yes, it is substantial) but all the DLC, etc. It is absolutely worth $50 to people who didn't have a PS3 or didn't buy TLOU on their PS3.
For people like you who played it recently (as I did), last year, it will be available for $30 or $20 down the road for you to grab, and you would want that time before you did another play through anyway.
@Guest1001 It does NOT look exactly the same. Get your eyes checked. If you told a serious PC gamer (and I suppose I am one, well... certainly not as serious as who I'm referring to though) that going from 720p to 1080p, doubling your framerate, and getting the boost to sharpness and anti-aliasing that is happening for TLOU remaster, was "looking exactly the same" ??? They'd laugh you off the planet. It's a huge difference.
People need to understand what this is... please read my lengthy posts above to understand why this is being released!
@agentldr You don't seem to understand that TLOU's cutscenes are in-engine, so they get all the same benefits any graphical improvement to the gameplay receives.
They are also the one part of the game where you can do a comparison and have exactly the same camera movements between the PS3 and PS4 versions.
@fyrecide @parkurtommo fyrecide I'd appreciate if you would read my posts above this one where I detail some of the very good reasons for this release, and let me know if you agree with those points at all.
Regarding people noticing these differences, you can notice something without knowing you're noticing it. The end result of these changes is a better looking game. And to many of us, anti-aliasing, double framerate, and going from 720p to 1080p is a pretty huge difference. To those whom it seems a pathetically small difference, the option to not purchase is entirely available and entirely valid.
@Nengo_Flow @udubdawgz1 The "cut scenes" in this comparison video are in-engine cutscenes and for this reason they are important information. It's not as though these are pre-rendered and they've just rendered them again or something... they're in engine. The same models you play the characters in, are the models they are using for these cutscenes.
For that reason, these cutscenes are illustrative of the graphical improvement.
Here's the most important thing: for a direct comparison, cutscenes are the only reliable way to get the exact same camera movements so you can really see the two versions side by side. You can't expect someone playing the game to be able to exactly mimic the movements on two consoles with two controllers.
@smokeless_0225 It's for people who missed out on the PS3 version for whatever reason (usually because they didn't have a PS3) and for graphical fidelity enthusiasts. This is the sort of graphical upgrade us PC gamers routinely shell out a lot of money to achieve (double the frame rate + significantly sharper textures and anti-aliasing) - this is a big deal in the PC gamer world. To others who may not have the sharpest eye for such details, may sit several feet away from their screen... and may just not care that much? Sure, it seems underwhelming.
But this release serves a very important set of purposes. It gives access to the game to those who didn't have access to it before because they weren't with Sony last generation. It provides a complete edition with all the DLC. It allows this game's life span and number of people who will eventually try it to be much larger, because now instead of a great game that came out at the end of a generation, it's a great game that is coming out at the beginning of one and which many more people will now experience thanks to that. Pretend it's 2018 and the PS4 is getting a bit long in the tooth. You're some very casual gamer who never has played TLOU, but over the last 5 years you've been hearing people talk about it and from what you've gathered... it's apparently a really awesome game. Now which scenario is more likely?
1.) You pick up a copy for PS3 AND buy a PS3, which takes up an HDMI slot on your TV... and which you may not have any other games you intend to play on... just so you can finally see what the fuss is about TLOU.
or,
2.) You pick up a copy of the Remaster, maybe pre-owned for $20 or even less, or maybe new for $30 or even less at that point. For a system you already own anyway, the PS4.
Or it's 2016 and a sequel to Last of Us is coming out, and you want to play it but you aren't going to unless you can catch up to the series and play the original... if you're someone in that position, aren't you glad it's available on the current platform?
This is a masterpiece game which deserves to be made available to as many people, for as long a time, as possible.
It also permits those of us who traded in our PS3 and all the games for it (such as myself) to have a way to play TLOU again, which I desire to do.
I have to disagree with those who are criticizing this release. As a lifelong graphics enthusiast and primarily a PC gamer, the difference here is quite substantial to my eye. Admittedly, my eye is honed to notice these sorts of things but honestly... a lot of people are going to disagree with you because the difference just simply IS significant and noticeable. Is it earth-shaking? No. This is a recent, late generation PS3 game that didn't get any new models. It's the same game, but higher resolution and frame rate. It's not something like the new Oddworld game where a significantly older game is truly reworked from the ground up with all new models/textures.
Last of Us was a gorgeous game by PS3 standards, and it represented the culmination of mastery over that system's architecture which had been achieved by a first party studio at the end of the primary life cycle of the platform.
I would compare the difference here to that between DVD and blu-ray. Many, many people are completely satisfied with the visual fidelity of DVD and see no reason to upgrade to blu-ray. Others of us absolutely can tell the difference and value that superior picture quality enough to invest in it.
Honestly, I cannot understand why ANYONE would gripe about this Remaster being put out. Consider the following factors:
1.) "Game of the Year" editions of things like Skyrim, Borderlands, Morrowind, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Bioshock 1 & 2 and Infinite, etc. etc. etc. are quite common. They are put out later as a way for those who didn't get in on the game earlier to pick up the entire, finished product (main game plus DLC plus all patches up to that point) and often at a lower cost. It's a "late bird's special" if you will. These sorts of "definitive edition including everything" releases are well-established and serve an important purpose. TLOU Remastered is no different, it is exactly like those, it just happens to have been coming out right at the time when one generation is giving way to the next, and it made a lot of sense for it to appear on PS4 rather than PS3.
2.) They're charging less than full price for this game right out of the gate, which is their way of acknowledging the fact that it is what it is.
3.) They've been entirely up front and above board about what this is.
4.) Many people who did not have a PS3 now have a PS4, and this game (which got an absurd amount of critical attention and praise) now being available, in complete form with DLC and looking a bit better, on the PS4 platform is a very significant reward for those who came over from XBox or Nintendo to get a PS4 this generation, so they don't miss out on this fantastic game... and it is an incentive for more who are still on the fence to do so. Don't doubt for a moment that there are a lot of people out there who wanted to play TLOU on PS3 but couldn't justify getting a PS3 just for that one game in their mind, especially when it was right around the time the new consoles were coming out. This gives them access to the game.
For those reasons, this move made all the sense in the world. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy this, it's an OPTION made available to those whom it applies and appeals to. Simple as that.
Joel is likable. He is a man who cared deeply about his daughter and was deeply affected by the loss of not only her, but simultaneously the loss of his entire world and former life as civilization collapsed around him.
At the time the game takes place, he is hardened by living in that world and he has gotten where he needs to get emotionally and behaviorally to survive in it.
He still goes to great lengths to help others during the game's events, and as for his choice at the end of the game?
What did it matter? Say they could make a vaccine... so what? The clickers are ripping peoples' throats out when they get ahold of them, not coughing on them. Having your throat ripped out kills you. Period.
What I'm saying is, even with a vaccine the remnants of humanity still face the same basic problem: they have to destroy the infected to reclaim the planet. Being immune assists with this a little? Maybe? But not much. And how are you going to distribute a vaccine like that to a bunch of scattered, hostile pockets of humanity? It's silly.
And is it even worth taking a vaccine which may actually be infecting you with the fungus, but just a more benign version of it? One which doesn't exempt you from attacks by infected? They still attacked Ellie.
How do they know it doesn't get malignant years later?
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