The Last of Us Franchise - Because it's apparently a franchise now. This thread has been double-DMCA’d by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

[verissimus]

Here's the jump: what if humans with said symbiosis can start influencing or controlling the zombies? Yeah, I'm lifting a bit from Starcraft here; but here's where things get fun and creepy:

At the very least that would add a new and different gameplay mechanic. I almost think it would have been worth it just for that.

 

[ElAbominacion]

You're overthinking it, and I say that as the fucker who wrote a pages-long article about the ins and outs of the Autism Holy War.

There's no real difference between the SJWs and their moral crusader counterparts in the right from the 1980s and 90s. They're just as idiotic, just as prone to hyperbole, and just as offended by sexuality of any kind. The difference is that while the Religious Right tried to use a moral standpoint for their argument, the SocJus speds use a greater good argument that's equally easy to punch gaping holes in.

So where does the hate of feminization from the SJWs' ilk come from? For the Religious Right, it was the belief that a character that was sexy was being morally defective somehow by being sexy, even if the char had perfectly valid reasons for being so. For the SocJus clowns, it's because they feel that anything that someone could feel conventional attraction to is a mortal sin and must forevermore be shunned. In both cases, they ignore authorial intent, history, and character motivations for an absolutist interpretation that only the most microwaved individual could adopt.

The good news is that they're destined to fail. Things will get worse in the short term, but as a wise man once said, Smut always wins in the end, and since the works designed to appeal to these morons tends to sell like coagulated testicular cancer, In time, a return on the investment will be expected, and works will pander to the coveted weeb demographic, or the weebs will carve out their own and rebuild it from scratch (they certainly have the money to).

You say that but I don’t remember Religious Rightism tearing down statues of George Washington.

 

[TruthSeekingDaimon]

Asians hate it more than Americans

Not a single character in the game is likeable. Asia likes more cheerfull and bright games anyway.
Combine that with their specific taste for cute girls. And the absolute lack thereof in the game. You have a recipe for disaster.

 

[Tsusaba109]

So when game critics say the game takes "risks" it takes risks like a TV show or a movie sequel would, The storytelling has nothing that takes advantage of the actual medium of video games beyond dialogue in "walk and talk" mode. This game doesn't do anything to advance video game storytelling at all.
The dumbest take I've read was saying something in the lines of "This game is a masterpiece because after the Abby is developed as a character you don't want to kill her, so apparently Ellie not killing her is some sort of big payoff to the game". So this idiot was screaming at the screen for Ellie to stop killing Abby, forgetting video games are an an interactive medium where gameplay should be interwoven into the story and this would be the perfect time to take advantage of the medium and give the players a choice.

 

[Allanon]

Just dropping in to say that if ND really wanted to play with the hollow revenge/it was all for nothing because Revenge Bad or whatever plot, they could have kept the game the same right up until Ellie finds Abby crucified. Instead of her still being alive, just find her already dead. It would deprive both Ellie and the player of the satisfaction of seeing her die or killing her themselves, thus avoiding the glorification of revenge or whatever, and also drive home how hollow her quest for revenge was - Abby is dead now, but nothing's changed. Joel isn't coming back and Ellie doesn't feel any better. She killed a whole lot of people, gave up a comfortable life, lost friends and family and a lover, and in the end Abby died completely on her own, due to something totally unrelated to the revenge and possibly unjust. You could do a whole thing about it being an ironic hollow victory that proves Revenge Bad without having the absolute travesty of an ending that they actually went with. But I guess that would prevent TLOU3 from being about the adventures of Abby and Lev, the thing that no person other than Druckmann would ever want to play.

 

[verissimus]

So when game critics say the game takes "risks" it takes risks like a TV show or a movie sequel would, The storytelling has nothing that takes advantage of the actual medium of video games beyond dialogue in "walk and talk" mode. This game doesn't do anything to advance video game storytelling at all.
The dumbest take I've read was saying something in the lines of "This game is a masterpiece because after the Abby is developed as a character you don't want to kill her, so apparently Ellie not killing her is some sort of big payoff to the game". So this idiot was screaming at the screen for Ellie to stop killing Abby, forgetting video games are an an interactive medium where gameplay should be interwoven into the story and this would be the perfect time to take advantage of the medium and give the players a choice.

Pretty good point. I would only add too that this is also exposes another problem with these types of games. Longevity/re-playability something that most games (well made games anyway) had. These types of games are one and done. I don't even understand why people even bother purchasing such games at full price, never mind pre-ordering them (and let's not even talk about other crap like deluxe editions, DLC, 2300 dollar guitars, etc.) There is simply no point.

Just dropping in to say that if ND really wanted to play with the hollow revenge/it was all for nothing because Revenge Bad or whatever plot, they could have kept the game the same right up until Ellie finds Abby crucified. Instead of her still being alive, just find her already dead. It would deprive both Ellie and the player of the satisfaction of seeing her die or killing her themselves, thus avoiding the glorification of revenge or whatever, and also drive home how hollow her quest for revenge was - Abby is dead now, but nothing's changed. Joel isn't coming back and Ellie doesn't feel any better. She killed a whole lot of people, gave up a comfortable life, lost friends and family and a lover, and in the end Abby died completely on her own, due to something totally unrelated to the revenge and possibly unjust. You could do a whole thing about it being an ironic hollow victory that proves Revenge Bad without having the absolute travesty of an ending that they actually went with. But I guess that would prevent TLOU3 from being about the adventures of Abby and Lev, the thing that no person other than Druckmann would ever want to play.

QED.

 

[Clem Fandango]

The blank look on his face really sells it.

"Why did you make me do this? I just wanted to shoot zombies with Joel and Ellie"

 

[Rei is shit]

So lots of people are speculating that it went through a major rewrite, and there is something I caught that might be in line with that. In the flashback where ellie is learning to use the sniper rifle the guy she is with tells her that huge swarms of infected will migrate south for the winter. To me that seems like a set up and not some throw away line. From everything I've seen there isn't a part in the game where your stuck inside/on top of a roof/whatever when hundreds of infected are passing through. Maybe its an idea they had but there engine couldn't handle

Spoiler

because most of their programmers got poached by epic

 

[Balr0g]

Calling it now: in TLOU3 Ellie and Abby will be a couple after a harrowing experience being on the hunted list for being immune

 

[Marissa Moira]

So lots of people are speculating that it went through a major rewrite, and there is something I caught that might be in line with that. In the flashback where ellie is learning to use the sniper rifle the guy she is with tells her that huge swarms of infected will migrate south for the winter. To me that seems like a set up and not some throw away line. From everything I've seen there isn't a part in the game where your stuck inside/on top of a roof/whatever when hundreds of infected are passing through. Maybe its an idea they had but there engine couldn't handle

Spoiler

because most of their programmers got poached by epic

I don't think so, because Hordes are easy to fake if you can't do them as is.

 

[blablabla]

" Of the millions who will play this game, most know that killing is wrong. Drawing attention to this fact in the killing game you made isn’t profound or interesting"

Wired tore this game a new assholehttps://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-last-of-us-part-two

 

[Exbein]

Someone mentioned coming up with a better plot. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

How about this one? We've already established Ellie's immunity is symbiotic, not just 'fuckoffspores'.

Here's the jump: what if humans with said symbiosis can start influencing or controlling the zombies? Yeah, I'm lifting a bit from Starcraft here; but here's where things get fun and creepy:

Ellie's not the only 'symbiote' out there. There's one (let's call him Karl) who's gone a BIT further along the tech tree for 'take control of zombies'. Why aren't there as many zombies around? Because Karl's snatching them up, 'programming' them, and putting them to work. He's not out to rule the world, but he's trying to rebuild his corner of it, and it's dawned on him that he's going to need help. Not just extra hands, but the symbiotic genes need to be passed down.

And lo and behold, there's young, reasonably nubile Ellie.

What follows is probably one of the most deranged three-way chase scenes in a video game. You still have Abby (who is either a guy or a girl, PICK ONE FUCKER) trying to track down who killed her dad for revenge. You have Joel and Ellie just trying to get the fuck away. And you have Karl who is trying to bring Ellie in so he can sire more symbiote-humans with her. He'll happily cut a deal with Ellie -- heck, Karl could use a guy like Joel on his side -- but he's absolutely convinced that humanity can't just shoot and burn its way out of this mess, and that they need to 'spawn more overlords'.

Yeah, I know, sounds like fetish fuel, but probably still better than what Dumbfuckermann puked onto the disc.

Jesus, that sounds more like a Final Fantasy plot than anything.

 

[Leon Breitling]

I think the best part of the tweet calling TLOU2 Schindler's List and everything else is that John Wick, like TLOU2, is also a revenge story. However, as a series it does everything this game wanted to do in terms of storytelling, but better:

Spoiler: Very mild JW spoilers

• John is established to be by no means a good person, but is likable and sympathetic.
• His target is a character established to be unlikable, and is even shown in universe as unliked and unsympathetic.
• The reason he wants revenge is established up front, not made up from literally nothing.
• He is told in no uncertain terms that going down this path may not produce the results he hopes for.
• John leaves people alive, even though in several cases they're clearly opposed to him. He also avoids harming those completely unrelated to his task.
• John actually gets to kill his fucking target at the end of the first film, and the audience feels that catharsis.
• While revenge has been achieved, it is not the end all solution, as there are very long reaching repercussions to John's actions, and includes those around him, leading to the sequel films.

TLOU2, however:

• Abby is never once found sympathetic by the audience, and as such don't follow her desire for revenge. Had the character been fleshed out more, or had her character's goal achieved within hours of introduction, more could have been done.
• Abby's desire for revenge could be seen as a repercussion from the first game, but we already understood many of the consequences of Joel's actions anyway. This ends up feeling forced. It also assumes the player is too dumb to understand that killing people is a bad thing.
• Ellie has Abby all but dead, and decides against killing her for... some reason. This is not even player choice, which could have possibly been an impactful scene if the rest of the story wasn't shit. The audience is also robbed of the catharsis of revenge because they liked Joel, however fleeting the feeling may have been.

 

[Ponderous Pillock]

Meme three has arrived:

 

[Kurtis Trent]

listen, this resetera thread is an absolute goldmine.

They still choose to believe the game is getting review-bombed only because Ellie is gay. I'm now convinced they don't want to play the game because knowing how bad it is will ruin their narrative.
Look at how they're dogpiling on a person actually trying to start a conversation besides "ONLY STRAIGHT WHITE GAMERGATORS HATE IT"
This is the definition of an echo chamber.

 

[Bunny Tracks]

Maybe it's just because I've been playing too much RDR2, but the horse movements in this game look really off. The legs look too flimsy, and sometimes when they turn they jut out to the side really unnaturally.

 

[Secret Asshole]

The dumbest take I've read was saying something in the lines of "This game is a masterpiece because after the Abby is developed as a character you don't want to kill her, so apparently Ellie not killing her is some sort of big payoff to the game". So this idiot was screaming at the screen for Ellie to stop killing Abby, forgetting video games are an an interactive medium where gameplay should be interwoven into the story and this would be the perfect time to take advantage of the medium and give the players a choice.

They wouldn't give players that choice because 100% of players would just put a bullet in Abby on the cross and move on. They literally had to force this ending out. There's nothing stunning and brave about this ending. It just removes what the player wants and feels. There's also no way Ellie lets Abby live. She just point blank shoots Abby on the cross and leaves. That's the end of the game. There's no other ending that makes any narrative sense.

 

[Ponderous Pillock]

listen, this resetera thread is an absolute goldmine.

They still choose to believe the game is getting review-bombed only because Ellie is gay. I'm now convinced they don't want to play the game because knowing how bad it is will ruin their narrative.
Look at how they're dogpiling on a person actually trying to start a conversation besides "ONLY STRAIGHT WHITE GAMERGATORS HATE IT"
This is the definition of an echo chamber.
View attachment 1392048

The thing they don't get is that if your opening is shit, then nobody will play or watch your horseshit.

Right?

It's very simple, if the opening is crap the vast majority of consumers won't stick about to "see the writing shine". What we have in the first 3 hours is every shitty bludgeoned and bad storypoint made. Bigot sandwiches, LGBT representation in a world that shouldn't give a fuck or would resort to nativism in order to boost birth rates, and supremely supremely unlikeable characters written by two people I wouldn't trust with a pencil in the future, let alone a typewriter or word processor.

 

[Dumpster dived waifu]

Calling it now: in LTOU3 Ellie and Abby will be a couple after a harrowing experience being on the hunted list for being immune

Somebody is optimistic that Sony will fund another dumpster fire.

 

[Elric of Melnibone]

Just dropping in to say that if ND really wanted to play with the hollow revenge/it was all for nothing because Revenge Bad or whatever plot, they could have kept the game the same right up until Ellie finds Abby crucified. Instead of her still being alive, just find her already dead. It would deprive both Ellie and the player of the satisfaction of seeing her die or killing her themselves, thus avoiding the glorification of revenge or whatever, and also drive home how hollow her quest for revenge was - Abby is dead now, but nothing's changed. Joel isn't coming back and Ellie doesn't feel any better. She killed a whole lot of people, gave up a comfortable life, lost friends and family and a lover, and in the end Abby died completely on her own, due to something totally unrelated to the revenge and possibly unjust. You could do a whole thing about it being an ironic hollow victory that proves Revenge Bad without having the absolute travesty of an ending that they actually went with. But I guess that would prevent TLOU3 from being about the adventures of Abby and Lev, the thing that no person other than Druckmann would ever want to play.

The best possible ending would have been to end Ellies story as she is sitting on the tractor looking into the distance, and then to end Abby's story right after she gets off the radio with (Maybe) the firefly. That ending despite being held down by a horribly written plot would have at least given was all narrative endings need; closure. It leaves some ambiguity like did Ellie and Jew Nose live happily ever after on the farm or get raided by canibals a week later? We don't need to know that. Was it really the firefly or just some cult using a radio to find victims? We don't need to know that.

And the reason Cuckmann went this direction is that he stole the ending to Red Dead Redemption part and parcel. He just had to subvert expectations, but the problem is he subverted every aspect of the plot to such an absurd level that the plot has no legs. The whole point of subverting expectations is building those expectations up. There is not a single plot point in this entire train wreck that builds to a mature enough level to be subverted full fucking stop. It starts by setting up the plot point that Joel and Ellie are kinda having some relationship issues in the beginning but instead of exploring that and letting the audience get caught up in the drama of that NOPE JOEL IS DEAD BECAUSE A TROON WE RETCONNED BEATS HIM TO DEATH.

Then you have a brief moment where Ellie is dealing with her grief and trying to organize a posse to chase down the group responsible, and the game literally has dialogue which spells out what should happen with the adults in the room, where Tommy flat out says "hey Ellie is in a bad headspace, lock her up if you have to but don't let her go", and since this is a "stealth-lite" game you could have this play out in the gameplay by having Ellie and Jew nose have to escape their own community, but no, this is Neil Cuckmann's Citizen Kane movie drama, so they are just going to move the plot for you rather than have you participate.

Then for a brief moment after this it almost because a video game, the linear nature of the game loosens its grip a bit, it lets you actually roam around the world a bit and explore at your own discretion with just a vague goal in mind. But this is short lived and soon you are psycopathically murdering dogs and people in droves and it moves into another stolen plot device from RDR among other titles, killing your way up the hierarchy one lackey at a time. All along the way, but especially with Nora, the narrative is absolutely destroying any empathy the audience can have with Ellie, in such a way that is seems absolutely deliberate that her character is being assassinated with every single narrative moresel. Cuckmann needs you to hate her, subverted expectations, you expected to like the character from the first game. But you cant, you must be subverted, so he killed one and destroyed the other.

Jump to the second half of the game, we play as a character that we immediately hate because she literally beats the original main protagonist to death in front of the fan favorite supporting character, and right before you play as it, it kills yet another character that was only just starting to be developed in the plot. Then it tries to go for the "we are all human beings" trope desperately trying to humanize the characters you just beat to death, which over half of were actually innocent bystanders narativly speaking (Mel and Owen are the only reason Ellie and Tommy are left alive) while the other half are just as big of pieces of shit as Abby (spic and white trash tokens), and it just does not work. Maybe if you had saved Joels death for later in the game, and started the game off from Abby's perspective, maybe then this trope would have functioned properly in the narrative, but you cant literally beat the fan favorite protagonist to death in the first hour and then suddenly become a "misunderstood antagonist" 12 hours later.

As a matter of fact that's the only way the plot works, is if you started the game playing as Abby starting where the midgame picks up with her and playing through the days of Seattle from her perspective. It should be left ambiguous what "mission" they just finished, and she should have the nightmare flashbacks and young Abby flashbacks about her dad, with the one that actually shows who he is being left for the point right after she finds Owen and Mel, and right before she enters the theatre. Then after she says her line about "we let you live" it should flash back to her beginning in the original beginning and finish how it did. That way Joel's death is 12 or so hours in and actually has some build to it. You get to know Abby and her friends before you hate them, and before you hunt them down as Ellie. This adds even more weight to Ellies narrative.

And then after this, it ends exactly how I laid it out above, Ellie and Jewna raise their black baby on a sheep farm and Abby goes and maybe rejoins the firefly. Fade to black, cut to credits.