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[bananafactory]

Not sure i can relate to this. Isn't it like saying "The Godfather has ruined all movies for me"?

I can imagine this being an issue for technical aspects of games, like visual fidelity, load times, fps etc, but not creative aspects. May be I just look at games differently *shrugs*

Movies are different because I can name at least 100 films with writing and acting as good as The Godfather.

The best way I can think to describe is is this:

The voice performances in The Last of Us would not be out of place in a film or television show, and are in fact better than many properties in those mediums. The problem is that many other games are still stuck with "video game acting and writing".

Gameplay is different because you have tons and tons of games with different but equally enjoyable gameplay. There isn't the same problem of a select amount of titles making up the "1%".

Since I tend to highly value story and characters in the majority (not all), of the games I play, dealing with substandard writing or acting really removes me from the experience. TLOU spoiled me in that regard and those flaws stick out much more now in anything else I have played since.

That said, I am NOT trying to convince anyone that TLOU is the undisputed champion or anything. Everything I'm talking about is simply in relation to how I feel. You certainly don't have to agree.

 

[Nameless]

Reading a lot of posts selling the gameplay short. It makes me wonder how many people played on easy or normal and approached it like a Gears shooter. Encounters are extremely open ended and tactical. 10 different people might handle a given scenario 10 different ways. Imagination and ingenuity are vital on harder difficulties , and the game gives you tons of freedom in that regard. My first playthrough took forever because I'd constantly restart fights, experimenting with various methods and strategies. On top of everything else that's what truly made TLOU shine for me, and what will make it replayable indefinitely.

 

[Doctor Ninja]

Yes it was, I am sorry my opinion wasn't up to your standards. How about we have discussion instead of posting a gif and leaving ?

 

[Spinosaurus]

Felt this way after Mother 3

But only in terms of narrative focused games, and I still enjoy them anyway. It's just that Mother 3's narrative is uncontested for me.

 

[AlphaDump]

Who ever played Tess needs more work. Incredible performance.

 

[Sadist]

Honestly, single games don't ruin anything for me.

I completed the Last of Us for the first time about two weeks ago and while I'm really impressed by it, I still prefer others over it. But in terms of presentation the Last of Us did set a new bar for the so called cinematic experiences.

I've been playing Persona 3 alongside it and I enjoy it inmensely.

 

[jblank83]

On the subject of story I just finished Brothers A Tale of Two Sons this week and I found it much more compelling than Last of Us. The narrative is related completely and effectively without spoken words, just body language. It's a more original, less derivative story as well. Last of Us does have a fairly creative ending though (as does Brothers).

More than that, though, Brothers tells its story with minimal interruption to gameplay or of player control. It's mostly seamless, and more commendable because of it. On the subject of gameplay, it plays well and it actually has thoughtful puzzles with decent variety to its puzzle/level design.

I avoided Brothers for years because it looked like another "walk around and listen to story but never really play the game" types of games. I was wrong and it's not. It's a great little game.

 

[Opiate]

For the record, my thread title is a tad (intentionally) hyperbolic. I can still play and enjoy other games. It's just that I do hold their presentation to the same standard as my favourite game and they thus fair have all failed to meet that bar.

It's not really a problem. It sounds like this sort of game is exactly the sort of thing you like, and no game has surpassed it.

It's not that different from someone who falls in love with Counter Strike and is jaded by inferior multiplayer FPSes. Some people have been depressed at the state of multiplayer FPS for over a decade at this point.

 

[Kandinsky]

Sure, I can believe it ruins the games in that genre, but gaming as a whole?, damn I feel sorry for you OP.

D:

 

[Jawbreaker]

Not sure i can relate to this. Isn't it like saying "The Godfather has ruined all movies for me"?

I can imagine this being an issue for technical aspects of games, like visual fidelity, load times, fps etc, but not creative aspects. May be I just look at games differently *shrugs*

I think it's similar to the way I view music. There are certain artists that I REALLY enjoy. In fact, I enjoy them so much that it makes enjoying other bands that play a similar style/sound boring or ultimately irrelevant to me. The general feeling is, why would I listen to this band when this other bands does it better? I mean, I still go out of my way to find new artists in certain genres or styles, but I get very picky since I've experienced what I consider to be the pinnacle. Does that make any sense? Total stream of consciousness here.

 

[phanphare]

I understand your thoughts but I never really felt that way when playing. I went into this game thinking like it was a survival game, and when I heard some enemies, I crouched around, rarely used my bullets. I think if you wanted to just shoot enemies you might have hated the combat.

yeah I played it 100% to experience the story. it got a ton of praise for that and that's what I was most looking forward to. the gameplay sections just really didn't mesh with the overall experience, I felt.

Also those parts where you find ladders or whatever are barely in the game and actually are integrated with the story.

isn't everything technically integrated with the story? and those parts happened with enough frequency that they stuck out like a sore thumb when they happened during the game and they stuck with me enough after finishing it to remember them in a negative light. probably had to find 7-10 ladders, 5 planks, 5 boards for ellie to ride on, and 7-10 engine-revving mini games. that's a lot of instances where I got taken out of a game where immersion is paramount. not to mention all the times where you could feel the creators' influence during the game in a negative way, like entering a hallway with a bunch of waist-high things scattered throughout.

Reading a lot of posts selling the gameplay short. It makes me wonder how many people played on easy or normal and approached it like a Gears shooter. Encounters are extremely open ended and tactical. 10 different people might handle a given scenario 10 different ways. Imagination and ingenuity are vital on harder difficulties , and the game gives you tons of freedom in that regard. My first playthrough took forever because I'd constantly restart fights, experimenting with various methods and strategies. On top of everything else that's what truly made TLOU shine for me, and what will make it replayable indefinitely.

see here's the thing for me, it's not about any of that. it's that most of the gameplay in this game should straight up just not be there. it did a disservice to the experience for me.

 

[bananafactory]

It's not really a problem. It sounds like this sort of game is exactly the sort of thing you like, and no game has surpassed it.

It's not that different from someone who falls in love with Counter Strike and is jaded by inferior multiplayer FPSes. Some people have been depressed at the state of multiplayer FPS for over a decade at this point.

Heh.

Counter-Strike is the only competitive FPS I play =)

 

[MaximusPayne]

Yes it was, I am sorry my opinion wasn't up to your standards. How about we have discussion instead of posting a gif and leaving ?

Ok, I haven't left. You sound disgusted, so explain. The sniper level, like the game was not perfect, but it fit with the narrative. What about it was bad design?

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I wish I didn't read stuff like this before I played it. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more.

It was an average game with a good-great setting and Story and some crazy attention to detail.

To me the best part to the game was the first 20 minutes.

Weren't you telling us it flew a bit over your head in the previous thread though?

 

[TheKastorian]

For me The Last Of Us is perfect with respect that it marries its gameplay mechanics to the game world and environment like no other. Simply unmatched.

 

[eXistor]

The Last of Us doesn't even register as a classic for me personally, but even games that are indeed worthy of such praise such as Super Metroid don't hold back my enjoyment for other games.

I do look back to those (very rare) perfect games and hope they'll someday be surpassed, but for me that's becoming less and less probable considering my age; my gaming taste has long since been fully developed and the games I played growing up made an obviously much bigger impact on me than modern games could ever hope to do.

I realise it's not exactly fair to modern games, but that's how it goes. Demon's Souls and Dark Souls came close though, I do consider both of them all-time greats.

 

[Loakum]

I will say, The Last of Us is a once in a generation kind of game. That game really captured the human spirit, perfectly. Troy and Ashley really gave life to Joel and Ellie. It was really lightning in a bottle kind of performance. I remember being soooooo deeply moved during the "Giraffe scene." The music, the setting, the image transcended the game into something else....at least for me.

 

[Doctor Ninja]

Please, explain...

When reaching the level your first instinct is to kill the sniper. there is even a way to get up to the same level as the window of the sniper. But here is the thing, there is no model there, and the gun doesn't even move when to is shooting at you. So you have to kill all of the goons and go and inside the house and THEN go and take out the sniper. This is all because there is a cutscene that involves him when you get there. The next part could have easily been triggered by simply walking into the room.

They could have easily let us take out the sniper and it's not like it wasn't possible with game mechanics.

 

[xplicitone]

It was a fantastic game, but definitely hasn't ruined gaming. I played FF6 for the first time afterwards and thought that was fantastic as well.

 

[spared]

There are so many people I know and also seen so many people calling it best game of all time that I just knew it wouldn't have that effect on me... and of course, it didn't. I did not like it one bit. I don't understand where the fun is in this game. Sorry man.

But glad you had that experience, because when you can truly find an amazing game that truly suits your taste buds, it will stick with you forever. Mine is Metroid (and I would say the franchise overall). I was left in shock after I played through Metroid Fusion. I could not believe all that Samus had gone through. It was just too much to take.. and still today!

 

[SmokedMeat]

I haven't finished it yet, but I'm in awe of the detail in the game. Like the water filtration system some survivors designed, and the little notes left behind.

Just brings the world to life.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Nah, I'm mostly speaking in terms of narrative driven games. I still love Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong on my WiiU to death.

But it can also apply to a game like Shadow of Mordor, where it has a ton of gameplay but also tries to present a "serious" story but the dialogue and script is so bad that it just totally ruins that part of it.

oh ok. Shadows of Mordor's story was easily wasted although it wasn't enough to ruin the game for me. My love for Metal Gear and it's world is similar to your love for The Last of Us. I even bought the comic adaptation of MGS 1 and 2. It's why I'm starting to love Swery games. He is reaching Kojima levels when it comes to the story in his games. But I wouldn't say it has made other game's stories not enjoyable.

 

[John Bender]

Before I get accused of fanboyism, I'm not saying The Last of Us is perfect. I'm not saying it's without flaws, or that it's objectively the greatest game of all time.

That said, it is a game that has immensely affected me over the year and a half since I first played it. I've played through it twice on PS3, and am on my 2nd playthrough on PS4. When I first completed it, I knew I had played something special, but I was so overwhelmed that it took a while for my thoughts on it to become clear.

Over the last year, upon each subsequent playthrough, each time I saw a screenshot or hear some music or think about Joel and Ellie, it slowly crept up the ranks of my favourite games of all time. First it surpassed Half-Life, then Final Fantasy VII, and on and on it went until games that I had held among my most special experiences for 15 or 20 years were knocked down in favour of this absolute gem. Not a week goes by that I don't think about it, browse through my art book, or throw on the soundtrack.

So why has it ruined games? I'm not a big multiplayer guy, aside from sports games and a couple of shooters. I play games for the story, to get immersed and lost in a unique and exciting world. I play games to fall in love with characters and become invested in who they are and where they go. There's many games I've played where I would have been fine without any combat simply because I just want to experience the story (spare me your "just watch a movie" campaign. It's not the same thing).

Anyways, The Last of Us is simply my favourite game of all time, and has set the bar so high for me in terms of story, characters, and performances that everything I have played since feels hollow. I finish a new game and sometimes I know that it's great, but in the end I always find myself wanting to take another stroll with Henry and Sam through the Suburbs, or ride a horse back into the University.

I'm wondering if anyone else here has a game that stands so tall above everything else that it sometimes makes it difficult to enjoy games you normally would have, if that game didn't exist?

Totally, totally agree. I feel the same. Since TLOU, every other game feels average to me.
It's thd best game of all time for me.
(gaming for over 25 years already)
FF7 got dethroned.

 

[wolfhowwl]

It's true.

I haven't even played it but just knowing that TLoU exists has rendered me incapable of enjoying other games.

 

[MaximusPayne]

When reaching the level your first instinct is to kill the sniper. there is even a way to get up to the same level as the window of the sniper. But here is the thing, there is no model there, and the gun doesn't even move when to is shooting at you. So you have to kill all of the goons and go and inside the house and THEN go and take out the sniper. This is all because there is a cutscene that involves him when you get there. The next part could have easily been triggered by simply walking into the room.

They could have easily let us take out the sniper and it's not like it wasn't possible with game mechanics.

That is far from being ass, if you are doing things like that in TLOU, you are looking for imperfections.

 

[Gorillaz]

Please, explain...

Because you start off already pushed to either the left or the right side and have to go wave after wave of enemies spawning from outside the houses with the sniper being able to either 1 or 2 shoot you. It just felt tedious. It made it worse that you can't deal with the sniper until you make it all the way down the hill


It might have fit the "narrative" but I wasn't feeling it.

 

[wmlk]

For a game that puts an emphasis on realism, it was all lost within the first 30 minutes of the game with the invisible AI.

It could never reach the top after that. It was too not-gamey for its own good.

 

[gbpackers25]

I have the same exact feeling for BioShock. Ever since I played it almost 8 years ago I've been looking for something to be as impactful for me. The Last of Us was probably the closest game to do that.

 

[PaulExcellent]

That's rough, OP. Maybe play some other types of games like Grim Fandango where story is key, or shift to something like Peggle 2 or Titanfall where the focus is gameplay.

To me, TLOU was an average game with a pretty cool story, so I can't quite relate.

 

[entremet]

It's true.

I haven't even played it but just knowing that TLoU exists has rendered me incapable of enjoying other games.

lulz

 

[Orin GA]

Over the last year, upon each subsequent playthrough, each time I saw a screenshot or hear some music or think about Joel and Ellie, it slowly crept up the ranks of my favourite games of all time. First it surpassed Half-Life, then Final Fantasy VII.

 

[twobear]

i bought the remaster for like £20 and i'm struggling to commit the interest to playing through it for a second time

really enjoyed it the first time tho

 

[Doctor Ninja]

That is far from being ass, if you are doing things like that in TLOU, you are looking for imperfections.

TLOU did a great job of of having me organically take out a lot of enemies using my own tactics and pace with the mechanics it taught to me. This level clashes with the that idea and artificially makes me go through very specific sequences in order to complete it.

 

[Nabbis]

My problem with this game, as well as UC, is that the gameplay is boring the point of me thinking if i should watch it on Youtube.(I can't even muster playing it a second time) I was also tired of zombies by the time the game came out. Aside from the characters and cinematic flare, it felt mostly average/bad. It's a good game but i hardly think of it as a masterpiece.

 

[VinFTW]

Totally, totally agree. I feel the same. Since TLOU, every other game feels average to me.
It's thd best game of all time for me.
(gaming for over 25 years already)
FF7 got dethroned.

Every other game feels average?

lol...

 

[AdmiralMikey]

I completely empathize with the OP's statements. The Last of Us wasn't my favorite game ever, but I've experienced the same kind of post-game depression with other recent titles I've loved like Bioshock Infinite and Mass Effect 3. I felt let down by all other games for months after completing those experiences.

Lately, I've had trouble getting excited for current or upcoming games for a similar reason, but from a completely different experience. I recently went to one of the performances of Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy. Let me tell you, that was an emotional roller coaster for me, someone who's been playing Final Fantasy games for almost 25 years. I realized my love for the classic games in that series is ingrained in me so much deeper than anything that's come out recently.

Ever since that concert, I really haven't been enjoying anything new in gaming. I was really liking Dragon Age Inquisition, and was about halfway through it when I went to Distant Worlds. Ever since I got back, I don't even want to look at that game. I have a whole shelf of recent PS4 and Xbox One games, and I don't want to play any of them.

Instead, I've only been playing older, more colorful games on my 3DS and PSP. Experiences that reminded me why I loved those Final Fantasy games and all video games in general. All it takes is one special experience to turn everything else into a letdown.

I hope I'm not coming off as some kind of elitist,, or even a critic of these recent games. It's just once you've found what makes you the happiest, it's difficult for anything else to live up to your personal preferences.

 

[Nameless]

For me The Last Of Us is perfect with respect that it marries its gameplay mechanics to the game world and environment like no other. Simply unmatched.

Exactly. Finding that half bottle of alcohol that enables you to craft that single Molotov, could very well be the thing that completely shifts the tide in an encounter.

On my second playthrough there were times where I was better or ill-equipped for certain scenarios, which changed the entire dynamic.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

It was pretty eye opening going through the remaster and realizing that it's TPS mechanics are still just as well executed as the first time I played it.

 

[NinjamicWZ]

Wow. Way to take things out of context. I was relating a similar experience that I had with the game, because he was asking if other people had experienced similar things (and not specifically with TLOU).

But people are just...talking about TLOU. That's NOT what this thread is about. It would be like someone talking about how eating ice cream makes them happy. Then they turn to you and ask what foods make you happy. I don't think "Eating ice cream makes me happy too" is an unreasonable response. But is "Naw, ice cream isn't that good" a reasonable response?

If someone said "i can only eat ice cream, everything else is terrible now... do you feel like that about anything?" - "Naw, ice cream isn't that good... slow your roll. I don't feel like that about anything" is a pretty suitable response.

I like how you made your version of the ice cream question seem really delicate, as well as your version of the answer... but gave the answers that don't care that much about ice cream the brash air of "Naw" to make them sound extra ignorant. Nice choice of using ice cream for this food analogy too, 'cause who doesn't love ice cream?

You welcome people agreeing that ice cream is amazing, but not anyone saying that ice cream isn't that amazing and shouldn't be all you like. I wonder if it's just because you like ice cream so much that you don't want anyone saying anything bad about it? Also... there's plenty of talk about things other than "ice cream" in here.

edit: ^clearly, putting ice cream in place of any subject is like Jimmy Kimmel having little kids reenact a Kanye West interview

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Great game. I'm on my Survival Plus play through. But it didn't impact me much. Maybe because I'm not a big story person.

I'm more about the gameplay and from that perspective it was pretty good. Not anything spectacular.

 

[LegendofDragoonLives]

It`s easily one of the best games of all time. It`s the best game of last generation for me, by quite a distance. It`s also the only game that had an incredible single player and incredible multplayer. Shame about the bullshit microtransactions when it comes to perks and guns for that game, but that`s for another topic.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

The nearest I've felt like this was after I finished Xenoblade, but I dunno, games are so different that I can't imagine one making the whole medium boring for me.

The Last of Us is a good game, buteveryone hyped it way too much and I don't even think it's as good as Uncharted 2.

 

[Giriath_89]

TLOU does have a well-written story and great characters that come to life through great performances, but what is most impressive to me is how the story and setting exposition as well as character development is not confined solely to cutscenes.

There's the now standard collectible audio logs, texts and other objects that serve to flesh out the setting, but more novel is the way the characters interact with each other and react to the environment. Most impressive of these is those that need no prompting from the player.

Characters will react to your actions. If you pick up one of the aforementioned collectibles a character may comment on it. If you wander off the linear path they may spot something and start a discussion about it. Even such a random thing as shining a flashlight in their face for a prolonged time will trigger a unique reaction.

This all makes the characters and to some extent the world feel alive, and a little more real. The gameplay becomes a part of the story, not a level you have to complete to get to the next cutscene where the characters suddenly come alive again and the story continues.

The only point in the game I felt was missing this seamless integration of story and character development in gameplay was the hospital level, the only (I think) level in the game where Joel is without a companion. You had a clear goal, and the enemies in your way felt to me more like your typical Gook than any other enemy in the game had so far.

 

[foolishoptimist]

Uncharted 2 did this for my wife. It's that consistent quality across all of the games elements.
Very few games have that level across everything. You can always find something that just didn't get the attention it needed. And she would find it harder to enjoy.

But she didn't like TLOU. Too bleak. Doesn't have the light, fun tone of Unchated.

 

[EGM1966]

It didn't ruin other games for me but it's in my top tier for narrative based games that have strong action gameplay.

In that sense it's the gold standard I compare other titles to and test how they compare.

 

[todahawk]

That is far from being ass, if you are doing things like that in TLOU, you are looking for imperfections.

The first time I played that section I made my way to a second story window with a good angle on the sniper and tried shooting him. Nada. It was a tad frustrating. I eventually figured out I needed to get up there.

I almost forgot about that until the guy you quoted mentioned it. I like that level and I like the gameplay of dodging and sneaking my way up to the sniper while engaging the goons but the first time through was a bit clunky. Definitely not shit or ass juice, just an area that could've used a bit of refinement.

 

[Choomp]

I feel this way about Persona 4.

I still love plenty of games, but yeah, Persona 4 is the bar for me. It's a special game.

Actually me too. I found myself not wanting to play the game only cause I'd be getting closer to the end every time. I know that's ridiculous but the point is that's how much I didn't want to leave the world/characters of the game.

So yeah, I think the feeling of "this sucks cause it doesn't feel like anything's ever going to be as good" is fine, I've been there.

 

[eXistor]

For me The Last Of Us is perfect with respect that it marries its gameplay mechanics to the game world and environment like no other. Simply unmatched.

I totally get what you mean and you're of course more than welcome to your opinion, but when I think of gameplay mechanics and environment design fitting together perfectly, I tend to gravitate towards the better Nintendo games. With TLoU, I always get the feeling that I'm not quite in as much control as I should be, whereas with a game like Super Mario 3D World, I always feel like I am 100% in control and I'm free to use this in every part of the game. It's kinda hard to put into words what I mean, but maybe someone understands

 

[marc^o^]

TLOU and Uncharted 2 before it somehow made me feel like you OP. Try other genres until the next big thing.

 

[MSI]

I pretty much feel that way about TLOU, Super Metroid and The Legend of Zelda. Those stand out the most for me.