Last Of Us 2 - Out NOW

[Agent23]

7 hours ago, JBENT87 said:

 "Immersive" is 100% the word to describe this experience. General review on gameplay thus far, not really spoilerish but just to be safe:

  Hide contents

A little too scavenger hunt-y  throughout so far, and not enough interacting with enemies/gun fights, but that makes the times that you do find yourself in those situations that much more stressful and engaging. 'Quality over quantity' feels like is a thing with this game. In regards to those battles that pop up over time, you don't experience them a whole lot but when you do they are masterful. But then to look it at the other way, there are way too many crafting items and ammo through the first part, and I'm constantly having to continue on and leave it behind, bc my gun chambers are full due to playing more steathily/not using as many molotovs, not using my crafted mele weapons. My scissors craft spot for example is almost always full. Just a minor annoyance. Next play through I will empty the chamber a lot more than I have.

what I will say

The outskirts of Seattle I think are meant to be pretty abandoned and low-encounters save for infected. Felt to me like the population centers of the people living in Seattle were much more "inward" if you will.

Also... I too was getting supplies overload for crafting and back half of the game I felt like my ammo and supplies were always on E lol

[JBENT87]

Just got to the Aquarium. Well I'm standing out in the rain and lightning and waves looking up at it. Anxious for crap to go down here 😨

[Agent23]

1 hour ago, JBENT87 said:

Just got to the Aquarium. Well I'm standing out in the rain and lightning and waves looking up at it. Anxious for crap to go down here 😨

two thoughts.

1. all these posts make me realize how quick (as in number of days played) I burned through this game

2. my car shopping (eating up countless hours every evening and night between online browsing, car building, inventory searching, test driving, etc) has taken up all my space time (along with camping 4th weekend), so I should have platinum'd this game well over a week ago yet I am only at downtown seattle (exploring, not progressing the story narrative) on my 2nd run through. 

[JBENT87]

1 hour ago, Agent23 said:

two thoughts.

1. all these posts make me realize how quick (as in number of days played) I burned through this game

2. my car shopping (eating up countless hours every evening and night between online browsing, car building, inventory searching, test driving, etc) has taken up all my space time (along with camping 4th weekend), so I should have platinum'd this game well over a week ago yet I am only at downtown seattle (exploring, not progressing the story narrative) on my 2nd run through. 

I said earlier, I gotta be the slowest person to go through this. I am def searching as much as possible, but I want to be able to go on the internet and not have to bob and weeve my way through avoiding spoilers too. 

IDK what my second play through would be like, after how long this is taking me. Think I'm just gonna be going in guns blazing looking for the action.

[Agent23]

2 minutes ago, JBENT87 said:

I said earlier, I gotta be the slowest person to go through this. I am def searching as much as possible, but I want to be able to go on the internet and not have to bob and weeve my way through avoiding spoilers too. 

IDK what my second play through would be like, after how long this is taking me. Think I'm just gonna be going in guns blazing looking for the action.

I didn't use any internet first time through and only lightly used it on my NG+ to learn how to make discoverables show up easier via accessibility settings, and after the game ends (using your original save file) there is a chapter select that tells you how many of each thing you found (notes, superhero cards, etc). So in sections i learned i missed stuff i've used a walkthrough use to fast track my navigation. upgrading weapons and supplements for platinum should be easy just following the main story on rails given how long the game is, so I'm more worried about getting the actual items needed to earn trophies than grabbing every rag and scissors lol

but I haven't played sine monday or tuesday night coming off of release weekend... so it's been a minute now

[JBENT87]

39 minutes ago, Agent23 said:

I didn't use any internet first time through and only lightly used it on my NG+ to learn how to make discoverables show up easier via accessibility settings, and after the game ends (using your original save file) there is a chapter select that tells you how many of each thing you found (notes, superhero cards, etc). So in sections i learned i missed stuff i've used a walkthrough use to fast track my navigation. upgrading weapons and supplements for platinum should be easy just following the main story on rails given how long the game is, so I'm more worried about getting the actual items needed to earn trophies than grabbing every rag and scissors lol

but I haven't played sine monday or tuesday night coming off of release weekend... so it's been a minute now

I was referring to going on social media, EMB, reddit etc lol, normal daily things. Without seeing a Neil Druckmann tweet, or LoU post somewhere and risking being spoiled. Can unfollow a lot of things/not come on here, etc, but not gonna do that as I'm only able to play 2.5 hours a day on average thus far and I got the game a week or so after being released. 

[JBENT87]

10 hours ago, JBENT87 said:

Just got to the Aquarium. Well I'm standing out in the rain and lightning and waves looking up at it. Anxious for crap to go down here 😨

Okay so past the Aquarium

 

and officially arrived at the "restart" / Act 2 / whatever we're calling this with Abby. Damn, Century Link Field looks awesome. That said, I can see why some people who have already played have mentioned comments along the lines of "when I got to a certain point I just had to put it down for a little bit" or other comments about how this game wears you out. I love that ND took this direction and had the balls to approach the game this way, but I really dont need all new tutorials on how to play, just because I'm switching characters. Throwing the ball to the dogs, target practice before leaving the WLF base, instructions on how to craft pipe bombs, I get it. Going right back into "this is how to play" + scavenger hunt mode with a new character is tough. But holy crap, does this game give you a lot of bang for your buck. Replay value of this has to be great, now that you have first hand experience with all of these characters. Whether I like the eventual ending or not, this game deserves all of the credit its getting. 

[opengeo]

Just reached the transgender wokeness part. Its a great game. Shame about the virtue signaling but whatever. It’s everywhere.

[JBENT87]

On 7/10/2020 at 7:15 PM, opengeo said:

Just reached the transgender wokeness part. Its a great game. Shame about the virtue signaling but whatever. It’s everywhere.

think I’m at basically the same part. Cringed a little bit when I’m pretty sure the character said "how does that make you feel?” to the trans character (in response to trans character talkin about getting ridiculed/bullied). 
 

but again, besides that, really enjoying the crap out of this and the story. 
 

 

my hate for Abby goes down every time I pick the game back up again.

 

[opengeo]

28.5 hours and just about done. Just a crazy crazy experience. 

[Agent23]

I still am like 2 or 3 weeks removed from my last session. 

I forget which Monday was the weekend the game came out 

[JBENT87]

34 minutes ago, opengeo said:

28.5 hours and just about done. Just a crazy crazy experience. 

lol this freaking game. I'm at 31 hours and assuming the same place you are. Will dial back a little in the first spoiler just to confirm that:

but I got through The Battle of Seraphite Island (some serious GoT crap going on there with the burning huts and general bloodbath everywhere - really adored bringing this story to its near close with Abby and Lev (?) teaming up here, with Levs people yelling "its her, she betrayed us get her" vs. the Wolves "it's Abby, she's working with the Scars, take her out" dialogue throughout this. Both sides destroying the other, and the two defects are just navigating through taking out whoever they need to since those allegiances are now history. A lot of fun. So got through that, then Abby returning to the Aquarium to discover Owen and Mel (?) , then the showdown of Abby v Ellie.

 

it's after that where I'm assuming you are but if not feel free to ignore for now:

but in knowing that you played the Uncharted's from those threads, how about this freaking game and ND giving us the send off happy ending home with the happy family... and then seriously still not ending the damn story. Incredible. Just went through the farm life stuff with Ellie, Dina and Tommy and now switched back to Abby and Lev. I am f'ing flabbergasted that this game is still rolling and we're not done yet. But I gotta get back to work for now. Incredible, Naughty Dog.

 

[opengeo]

 

Yeah I'm at the part where we flip back to Abby and Lev presumably in California. I am assuming Ellie will pop out shortly and choose to spare Abby's life this time around. The post-ending ending is really Return of the King like. Just.will.not.end. lol.

[JBENT87]

3 minutes ago, opengeo said:

  Hide contents

Yeah I'm at the part where we flip back to Abby and Lev presumably in California. I am assuming Ellie will pop out shortly and choose to spare Abby's life this time around. The post-ending ending is really Return of the King like. Just.will.not.end. lol.

same. I really just want to be done so I can freely click spoiler tags and find some podcasts to listen to re: this. Totally grateful as a consumer for the experience but I'm ready. Enough! (again, in a good way)  

[opengeo]

1 minute ago, JBENT87 said:

same. I really just want to be done so I can freely click spoiler tags and find some podcasts to listen to re: this. Totally grateful as a consumer for the experience but I'm ready. Enough! (again, in a good way)  

Feel the same. A loooooong game. Maybe even a tick too long. I'm trying to finish so I can move onto God of War. 🙂 

[Agent23]

Ahhh you guys and your noncompletionism...  

[opengeo]

Game never ends lol.

Still fighting my way towards Abby in Santa Barbara.

[Agent23]

1 hour ago, opengeo said:

Game never ends lol.

 

  Hide contents

Still fighting my way towards Abby in Santa Barbara.

 

whoever made the return of the king analogy was so right

[JBENT87]

Fin. 33.5 hours or so. Screwed my self out of the last battle encounter by hopping a balcony and running through a door that triggered a cut scene so that annoyed me. May go back and replay that. Or just wait until my second play through (whenever that is). Guess it’s time to catch up on some of these spoiler tags and will have more to say there. 

 

Re: the final encounter / fight tho

consider me turned. I wanted Abby to win. Also thought I read a spoiler that Abby dies so that was kinda nice getting to the pillars (so creepy) and thinking she was dead there, then going through the final fight w Ellie and expecting an execution-like shiv any moment to eventually end up at Ellie showing mercy, which I just didn’t expect bc the spoilers I read were wrong I guess. Even going back to the fight at the theatre, I was expecting Abbys death then and for this to wrap. So considering all of the game left after that, I’m just appreciative as hell of / for this game.  

 

But yeah I need a cigarette or a walk or something now. But to look ahead if they eventually decide to move forward w this, pretty happy that we have Ellie, Dina, Abby and Lev all alive for possible spinoffs/sequels.

 

[Agent23]

1 hour ago, JBENT87 said:

Fin. 33.5 hours or so. Screwed my self out of the last battle encounter by hopping a balcony and running through a door that triggered a cut scene so that annoyed me. May go back and replay that. Or just wait until my second play through (whenever that is). Guess it’s time to catch up on some of these spoiler tags and will have more to say there. 

 

Re: the final encounter / fight tho

  Hide contents

consider me turned. I wanted Abby to win. Also thought I read a spoiler that Abby dies so that was kinda nice getting to the pillars (so creepy) and thinking she was dead there, then going through the final fight w Ellie and expecting an execution-like shiv any moment to eventually end up at Ellie showing mercy, which I just didn’t expect bc the spoilers I read were wrong I guess. Even going back to the fight at the theatre, I was expecting Abbys death then and for this to wrap. So considering all of the game left after that, I’m just appreciative as hell of / for this game.  

 

But yeah I need a cigarette or a walk or something now. But to look ahead if they eventually decide to move forward w this, pretty happy that we have Ellie, Dina, Abby and Lev all alive for possible spinoffs/sequels.

 

and don't forget tommy boy! even if he is a cripple now!

 

[opengeo]

Finally beat it. 30 hours. I need a vacation. 

[Mike030270]

Didn't read since I last posted

Seattle Day 2 

Spoiler

Did you kill the girl that was infected from the spores?

 

[JBENT87]

11 hours ago, Mike030270 said:

Didn't read since I last posted

Seattle Day 2 

  Hide contents

Did you kill the girl that was infected from the spores?

 

Nora? Are you asking us as players or asking about the narrative? That cut scene ends with her alive but Ellie returns to the theater with information and mentions she got it out of her, so she tortured her for it before she died from the spores infection I'm assuming. Unless you're talking about something else.

[Mike030270]

4 minutes ago, JBENT87 said:

 

  Hide contents

Nora? Are you asking us as players or asking about the narrative? That cut scene ends with her alive but Ellie returns to the theater with information and mentions she got it out of her, so she tortured her for it before she died from the spores infection I'm assuming. Unless you're talking about something else.

 

Spoiler

I kept clicking square to hit her and my guess eventually kill her. Was curious if anyone else kept hitting her

 

[JBENT87]

On 6/29/2020 at 11:05 AM, jrsu37 said:

 

  Hide contents

You're 100% right on the dude in the beginning that calls Ellie a dyke or something to that effect when she and Deena kiss. I hadn't seen that cutscene before until you reach it in game. So to append my previous comments, that section was blatantly an anti gay person being offended, and there being an argument over it. No matter your view, that part was a legit confrontation so your point there stands. I concede that point willingly. 

 

Also for those who have fin the game, or are close: 

  Hide contents

How did everyone receive the Abby timeline? I really just didn't like her...I think Owen was the more interesting character of that group. He and Manny. I just wanted Abby dead. I didn't care at all about her, and I think they drug out her whole part of the game. Minor gripe though as it was needed for the story. I did enjoy just letting the clickers eat me when playing as Abby 🙂

 

I enjoyed playing as Abby, after a while. Initially I was totally irritated having to relearn the mechanics that I already knew and just mentally going from the climax (so I thought) of the story back to day 1 was just mentally exhausting. But I eventually convinced myself I was getting two games for one with this new play through and I enjoyed it and Abbys character. I didn't care all that much for Owen, but we were getting the post breakup version of him. There were just a lot of layers to Abby, including the fact that she now had to coexist with her love interest who her deceased father loved, but due to the circumstances of her father dying lead her to totally transform her body into becoming a killing machine, sacrificing her femininity in the process and her relationship with Owen. So he goes for the more petite feminine female in the group, gets her pregnant, and is setting up to relocate and start a family and leave her alone to her dark ways. That can't be easy to witness unfold before your eyes (even him showing off the revamped Aquarium he was living in with Mel was like twisting the knife/salt in the wound for her). There was a lot going on with her, then as shes being hung and about to die she is saved by these two outcasts from the rival group. It gave her new purpose and I was in on that , especially the parallel of her now with Lev in comparison to Joel/Ellie from Pt. 1. I just appreciated that story in this universe, and was paranoid for the last 30% of the game basically, expecting her to die. Was very relieved when she didn't.