So much of this could have been mitigated by just focusing on framing things correctly. Keep all the faggotry and troon shit in all you want, sequencing it properly and giving people proper sendoffs would have mitigated a lot of the blowback. Joel dies in this game? You can pull that off, but it has to be done well. One of the things I hate about these "games as films/high art" is how gameplay is ripped away. Want to kill Joel, have the player control him in an unbeatable fight, doing something meaningful (saving Ellie one last time for example). If I had to change things, here is what I would do.
- Abby gameplay for first 1/3rd game, establish character/backstory, get players to like her, hint at Joel revenge plot.
- Meet Joel, he saves her and her group, have them interact a bit in a somewhat friendly manner, maybe a short gameplay sequence with them (how cool, the old protagonist and the new one are teaming up).
- She comes to the realisation that it's him, maybe have her realise because Ellie comes in calls him Joel tipping Abby off, letting her put 2 and 2 together, she loses it and gets her crew to turn on them.
- Start the golfclub sequence, cut - gameplay as Ellie/Joel before they meet up with Abby's crew
- Father/Daughter interactions and building on relations, throw the fucking faggotry in here if I have to, build up so people know what happened in between this game and the first one. Have one or two gameplay sections with them as a callback to the first game (maybe reverse it you Ellie is under player control and Joel is the AI, he's also getting older, so needs your help for certain things, nice parallel to the first game).
- Action scene with these two saving Abby's group, from their perspective. Cut back to golf club scene.
- Play it out the same way BUT have Ellie beg Abby using a line akin to "he's like my father, don't do it". We now have the cliche' Star Wars style "dark side test", which Abby clearly fails.
- Either have her kill Joel in spite of Ellie's begs in the same manner in the cutscene- gone to villain OR have Abby do a "SHUT UP!!!" on Ellie, shift to beating her up in her rage - Joel, in spite of being half dead, pulls himself up for one final save of his "daughter", make that shit QTE or playable - Ellie escapes, and Joel dies via golf club - He's dead, but he died like a hero and the player got to play as Joel one last time.
- Revenge plot is a go. Only Ellie from that point on. Ends with either Abby dead from a cathartic fight/encounter, or if pulling the "revenge is not worth it" have Abby dead from the crucifixion or so weak that she's almost gone by the time Ellie reaches her - It's not satisfying and Ellie burnt everything back home.
- Alternatively, if she is to escape for a sequel hook, she escapes not because Ellie decides to "end the cycle of revenge" and stop short of killing her, but because...she properly escapes by her own will. Maybe the "boss" of the guys crucifying her comes and attacks Ellie, allowing her to slip away to a scene of her rowing away just as Ellie gets to the shore. This now allows continuation into a 3rd game, a potential redemption arc with a now non-jacked Abby, and a proper fall of Ellie over the course of two games.
These are not major changes in terms of "remove this character entirely", and maybe it's a bit cliche', but I think it would be far, far more well received by gamers because a) we are not being told "like Abby, isn't she sympathetic". If we do like her, it will be before the heel turn and be a genuine like, if we don't...doesn't matter, you were not meant to like her anyway after the heel turn, b) Joel get's a proper sendoff with buildup. He either goes out with one last gameplay sequence of him saving his daughter, or showing off how far this character has fallen, as opposed to "yeah, she killed him, now like her", c) we get the part that everyone loved from the first game - Joel and Ellie interacting, possibly gameplay callbacks and d) the ending removes that stupid "break the cycle" shit and is either rewarding for the player, shows clearly that "revenge isn't worth it", or sets up for part 3 with potential for a face turn for Abby and a fall for Ellie.
Honestly don't know what the fuck Druckmann was smoking when he did this, this seems to be both spite driven and like he looked at Rian Johnson and went "this is how you do a film". This guy must have been in his own bubble, and boy is he feeling the pain of people outside it (not trolls or incels, genuine gamers and normal people) fucking hate his work.
