I played on PS2 and PS3 as a kid, but at some point I switched to PC gaming for several reasons. I believe TLOU is the last game I've ever bought on my PS3. I liked the gameplay but story seemed like a generic road movie. Maybe it was because I was younger than target audience. Now I've returned to this game to see if my opinion changes in any way.
Story is obvsiouly the highlight of the whole experience. >!Joel and Ellie go to a trip across country to cure mankind, and grow from mere acquaintances to a found family. On the way to the finish line there was a lot of death, some more hurtful than others. Poor Sam... As a kid, I thought Joel was being selfish in the end, and honestly, I still do. I understand why he did it, his actions perfectly align with his character arc. As a violent monster once said, "He did what every father should, protect his child". Still, I probably would have stopped Joel if given the chance. While this aspect is intentionally controversial, the feasibility of the cure also being contentious is weird to me. The story and characters never doubt that cure would work, even Joel never tries to use it as an excuse. I think people claiming that vaccines against fungus are scientifically impossible suffer from selective suspension of disbelief. By this logic, it also shouldn't be possible for an ant parasite to suddenly jump onto humans without some transitional stages. Finally, cure being impossible cheapens the emotional impact of Joel's final decision and makes the ending less interesting overall.!<
Gameplay here is pretty fun, although I stuck to kbm for easier aiming despite having a controller. I tried Hard but it was too easy, so I restarted the game on Survivor. I think at this difficulty there is a good balance between being tough and not annoying.
Stealth is basic but it helps thin out the enemy numbers or sometimes avoid combat entirely. I liked that against humans you can retreat and get back the benefits of sneaking, and against clickers you can often avod them by being quiet. I never used shiv takedows becuase shivs are better for locked doors. The lack of detective vision forces you to use third person camera around corners and listen for enemy sounds. Bricks are the best weapon in this game, letting you setup molotov throws, micro stun humans from range and melee kill clickers for a low price. Bow is only useful in stealth because it's also silent.
Combat against infected and humans is very different. 'Zombies' run at you and force you to run around them. The optimal strat is trying to separate basic runners and melee combo them while killing clickers with weapons. Bloaters are large damage sponges, but thankfully they are rare. Humans were much more dangerous: they have guns and some semblance of strategy. I died against them often trying to come up with a strat on the fly. I wish the game had some sections where I had humans and infected enemies at the same time, it would probably lead to the most fun brain plays. Upgrades for Joel are meh, I only really needed more health, and gun upgrades range from OP (damage) to outlcassed (reload speed).
I noticed that gore in this game is pretty unsettling. It's not comical like in Mortal Kombat, but rather believable. The way people drop with holes, lose limbs after an explosion, or get charred from molotov make me glad I'm not them. I think brutality here sets the tone just right.
The game sometimes lose frames for no reason even though this PC should be able to handle it, and it froze for a few seconds several times, one of which killed me. Yikes.
I think the game is as good as they say, so now I'll try the sequel to see if it makes me mad.
Great story or not, it was brilliantly told. It's fiction mate, you think too much lol
Saying someone think too much about fiction works is such an anti intellectual sentiment.
So, just curious, what are you thinking about when you experience a work of fiction? Just enjoying the spectacle? Some of the most thought provoking works of literature are fiction.
The PC port of TLOU1 was rather notoriously panned, I’m afraid. PC gamers (rightly, I believe) expect more from a console port than just a graphics bump and, if memory serves, they didn’t even get that much (more like a downgrade). I’m glad you managed to find some joy from it.
I think your view as a teen was correct. Generic derivative story, and gameplay lifted from other titles. I played it through twice to try and understand what peeps were praising. I suspect it’s just people that haven’t read a lot of books, or played a lot of decent games. I remain perplexed by its popularity to this day.
I don’t really get that take honestly if you’re a gamer who’s played like any other story-centric game - there are no games that come close to matching TLOU 1 + 2’s level of narrative storytelling. Of course there are other excellent stories in the gaming landscape but most of them feel more like traditional game stories and don’t use literary devices to the level you see in TLOU. I mean sure, compare it to the best books and movies and maybe it’s not the greatest thing ever, but it’s not a book or movie. It was a masterclass in storytelling back in 2013 when the “gamers only want multiplayer games” line was still going around, and it kinda showed everyone the potential that games had for great storytelling
Really? You can't figure out why people would enjoy an interactive version of The Road?
Holy shit that’s the most pretentious thing I’ve read in a long while.
Generic derivative story, and gameplay lifted from other titles.
people that haven’t read a lot of books, or played a lot of decent games
I get where you are coming from, but with that mentality you are missing out. Very rarely is a story completely original; they almost always easily boil down to foundational patterns (hero's journey, rags to riches, rebirth, etc)
The exact same applies to game design. Remixing mechanics is the beating heart of gaming. Palworld essentially lifted Pokemon's monster capturing, but implemented it in a novel way that drew millions in. The iteration is how new genres are born in the first place.
You are right that TLOU isn't completely novel but its triumph is execution. The way the narrative, acting, and gameplay meld together creates an experience far greater than the sum of its parts as others have said, and for a lot of people that adds up to a very fun and emotional piece.
If you spend all your time academically critiquing what a game borrows, you sabotage your own enjoyment. Sometimes you just have to relax and smell the roses.
Despite negative response, story-wise I’m not that remiss to agree. I thought the story fine (and the best part) and after playing many other stealth-related games and then coming to this, I founds its major feature of stealth really frustrating. It’s not *bad*, just nothing to overly praise. Also, personal frustration: if shivs are so efficient then why have anything else?
"\[I delete my account every three months and I also hide my post history to avoid tracking / doxing etc.\]" In your bio.....time's up. 4 month old account. So if you lie in your bio about such useless shit, then how are we supposed to take anything else you say seriously. What a pompous attitude you have, surely a displeasure to be around with an ego that artificially inflated.
Incredible bait
Survivor really is where the gameplay shines. Makes every encounter feel way more tense without being unfair. And yeah, the ending is a lot more interesting if you accept the cure would've worked, that's what makes Joel's choice hit so hard.
TLOU1's main strength was probably how the devs managed to make the game more than the sum of its parts. The story may not have looked like much on paper, but thanks to good direction and top-notch voice acting it came alive. The stealth and combat were nothing to write home about, but coupled with player's investment in the characters/story and good pacing, it worked incredibly well. And all this was wrapped in mind-blowing graphics for the time and elevated by a haunting soundtrack.
I totally disagree on almost every level. The combat is tense and weighty, the writing is excellent, it doesn’t treat the player like a dumb baby, it has lots of stressful moments, it also has moments of levity. There really are some harrowing scenes, there are scenes that can make you cry, others will make you want to yell, others just smile quietly. The final scene in the game is perfect and it’s about as deep or shallow as you want it to be. Plus the multiplayer is cool.
Yeah I think you've nailed it really. The music, setting, tone, story, acting, combat, stealth (though wonky) and enemy design (though limited), all tied into a world that was just interesting to look at and move through really made it quite exceptional.
Somebody else described it as a very simple story done masterfully and I think that’s the best way to describe it. Because at the end of the day, it’s not groundbreaking writing. It’s just crafted really well.
I only played the remaster on PC and I gotta say, the gameplay against people was amazing. The high stakes combat on max difficulty made it super engaging to me and with how rare ammo was, every shot counted. Honestly some of the best song player gameplay to date, and I played a ton of shooters. Problem is that the zombies were super sracdey and gamey to fight and those encounters were not much fun at all. Especially after you realize you can just sneak away pretty easily by throwing some object
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Honest to God the appeal of the last of us one is the incredible visuals and story, and decent enough gameplay. Nowadays I don't really think you can make a game appealing for just visuals and naughty dog gameplay is outdated. The original last of us has aged well but it's a genre that needs to die
The original TLOU was awesome and had the best multiplayer I’ve ever played ever.
Sank so many hours into that multiplayer, it was so sick.
I think you'll really enjoy TLOU 2 Itll make ypu mad and sad but I a good way It answers some of your story concerns while raising a few more. Honestly I don't remember the gameplay (it was good) but the story.