My hype for TLOU Part II was insurmountable in the couple months leading up to it's release. The original TLOU is my favorite story told in a video game. Period. If I could only play one video game for the rest of my life TLOU Part I is that game. Which made me very excited, yet skeptical, of a sequel. The way TLOU Part I ended was very open-ended and I really could see that being the end, but I was glad to see that a sequel was going to be made.
The first thing I noticed about TLOU Part II is that it is a gorgeous game. I do not own a 4k TV, but even on my basic TV settings, I can tell this is one of the better games visually on the market.
The combat is....good. It is very brutal. Which I am okay with, I just feel like the magic of the first game isn't quite there. Maybe that's because the story is a revenge tour and is more brutal in general, but I thought the addition of some equipment wasn't that necessary and sometimes there were too many options to choose from. I felt that the first game had a very tight and fitting array of weapons and equipment to choose from that made it perfect. The combat and gameplay isn't bad, I just feel like Naughty Dog added items just to add items. I never used everything, just the things I liked to use.
Now onto the story. oof. TLOU Part II is not at all what I expected. Which if you told me that in the months before the game's release, I would be completely on board. Even what they did in the first 2 hours by ***SPOILERS**** killing off Joel was a compelling story line. I felt all sorts of emotions during his death scene. Joel is my favorite video game protagonist of all-time. I am not even kidding. So I was enraged to see him die, but I was okay with it IF the story becomes BETTER. I give Naughty Dog credit for having the guts to kill off one of their best video game characters. I knew at that point this game was either going to surpass the success of TLOU Part I or fall significantly flat.
It fell flat. The story is just too messy and all over the place. I was on board for about 1/3 of the storyline. And then you play as Abby for WAY TOO LONG. I don't mind playing as Abby, but to play as her for half the game. No. No thanks. It killed the momentum. When Ellie and Abby meet the first time in the theater there was so much tension, so much momentum. Then they make you play as Abby for 6-8 hours JUST to get back to that moment. It reminded me of The Walking Dead when the group meets Negan. So much momentum and tension, just to end on that cliffhanger and have to wait to see what happens next. I liked seeing things from Abby's view and I totally understand where she is coming from and what her motivations were, but it just doesn't work. The flashbacks with Joel and Ellie are the best part of the game, but they would have been better to play as a build-up before Joel's death. The tension was just not there for me when you work your way back to that moment. You sit there for hours thinking about that moment and it is tedious to be in Seattle for the whole game. TLOU Part I was incredible because you saw different settings and it felt refreshing. Seattle was cool the first time around when you play as Ellie, but I was over it once I started playing as Abby.
Once you finally get to that big confrontation between Ellie and Abby it is a good moment, but the game doesn't end there. Ellie has a normal(ish) life now. That is until Tommy comes back to get her to go for revenge. Another thing I don't like about TLOU Part II is that they show Tommy literally get shot in the back of the head by Abby and then he shows up to Ellie and acts like nothing happen. No explanation as to how he survived that at all. Did not make sense to me. Then Ellie makes another wrong choice (shocker) and goes after Abby again. The game introduces a new group that captures Abby and Lev. This group seemed super interesting and I wanted to learn more about them, but the game doesn't care to explain that either. Ellie confronts a much weaker version of Abby who by the way, is not interested in anymore conflict (you and me both), but Ellie forces her to fight and has the chance to kill her, but doesn't. Since the game went this far with the whole revenge motive, I would have maybe felt a little more satisfied if Ellie killed Abby (as awful as that is to say). Only satisfied enough to feel like there was closure. I hated the way this game ended. It was very bland. Not satisfying in the slightest. Abby rides off in a boat to what I assume the Firefly compound she talked on the radio with and Ellie (now with 2 missing fingers) went home to find that Dina left her. The End.
I know my review of this game sounds harsh, but I am disappointed to walk away from this game not feeling anywhere close to the way I felt after TLOU Part I. I replayed TLOU Part I 3 times over within the first couple months of it's release. I will not be playing TLOU Part II again anytime soon. It is a long, exhausting, messy, and complex story. It is still a solid story and it is good writing on Naughty Dog's part, but I do feel like TLOU Part II would have sat better with me if it was an actual movie, rather than a 25 hour long video game.
Pros: beautiful graphics and visuals, good combat, story takes big risks
Cons: story is all over the place, very different game from the original
Score: 7/10