About 5 hours in. There's an abundance of supplies and I feel like I'm armed to the hilt. I'm not really feeling any tension whatsoever which is weird. Thinking about switching to hard with no prompts/listen mode for the rest of the game. Anyone who's playing on hard with no prompts, etc. how's your experience? I'm looking for tense, but not cheap.
When choking someone out will a single button press do the trick or do you have to mash the button? I always end up mashing.
Sounds like how I'm playing except I take my time looking for items so my nerves get a rest.
When I enter a new area with.enemies it could take.me up to 10 mins before I make my first kill because I spend time evaluating the area and plan my first kill. As long as I don't die I will accept the outcome even if I end up with practically zero health.
Playing on Hard with Listen Mode disabled in the options.
About 5 hours in. There's an abundance of supplies and I feel like I'm armed to the hilt. I'm not really feeling any tension whatsoever which is weird. Thinking about switching to hard with no prompts/listen mode for the rest of the game. Anyone who's playing on hard with no prompts, etc. how's your experience? I'm looking for tense, but not cheap.
When choking someone out will a single button press do the trick or do you have to mash the button? I always end up mashing.
About 5 hours in. There's an abundance of supplies and I feel like I'm armed to the hilt. I'm not really feeling any tension whatsoever which is weird. Thinking about switching to hard with no prompts/listen mode for the rest of the game. Anyone who's playing on hard with no prompts, etc. how's your experience? I'm looking for tense, but not cheap.
About 5 hours in. There's an abundance of supplies and I feel like I'm armed to the hilt. I'm not really feeling any tension whatsoever which is weird. Thinking about switching to hard with no prompts/listen mode for the rest of the game. Anyone who's playing on hard with no prompts, etc. how's your experience? I'm looking for tense, but not cheap.
When choking someone out will a single button press do the trick or do you have to mash the button? I always end up mashing.
About 5 hours in. There's an abundance of supplies and I feel like I'm armed to the hilt. I'm not really feeling any tension whatsoever which is weird. Thinking about switching to hard with no prompts/listen mode for the rest of the game. Anyone who's playing on hard with no prompts, etc. how's your experience? I'm looking for tense, but not cheap.
When choking someone out will a single button press do the trick or do you have to mash the button? I always end up mashing.
About 5 hours in. There's an abundance of supplies and I feel like I'm armed to the hilt. I'm not really feeling any tension whatsoever which is weird. Thinking about switching to hard with no prompts/listen mode for the rest of the game. Anyone who's playing on hard with no prompts, etc. how's your experience? I'm looking for tense, but not cheap.
When choking someone out will a single button press do the trick or do you have to mash the button? I always end up mashing.
felt cheap until I stopped trying to stealth kill runners and learned the ancient martial art of Brick Fu. I wouldn't play any other way now.
I've never used listen mode but I can think of a few later encounters it would absolutely ruin. Drop it imo. Just toss bricks or something if you want to locate enemies.
Most of the folks are taking some time off. So if there's any rock and roll excess, it's not in the studio. Then, there are those of us who are here...
I think we're all pretty stoked at the apparent awesome sales we are reading about, and coming off the high of good reviews. It's been great to work on a great game like this - and I think many, if not everyone, shares that sentiment.
I got by in that area by not using my bullets. I had crafted many, many molitovs and I used them all. Bombs are better too, and since you don't have to kill them all just survive until the door opens, just lay them out at the openings and have them twitch and burn and nlock the others.
I think I appreciate this game more since I was able to sleep the night on it.
Here's my pro's and con's list.
Con's:
-Some areas are a bit unpolished, some occasional minor glitches
-Some frame rate issues, though never bothered me to much
-Graphics at times can be worse than U3, or UC2 (at times, key word here)
-Some of the AI ranges from great, to awful
-Some of the minor things like strangling a guy whose screaming to death and not notifying other people around them is a bit hokey.
-Wish you could actually see a visual change to your weapons as you upgrade them (ala Bioshock 1)
-The game environments range from really beautiful, to really meh.
-The atmosphere in this game could've been better I think (though undoubtedly reaches a high point in the fall and winter chapters)
-Wish this game had an arrow compass that pointed you in the right direction (ala fable 2, or bioshock). Something you could enable or disable. To many times, especially in pittsburgh, I felt lost
-Sometimes the level feel samey. Make it even more confusing where to go
-Didn't really dig tess voice actor all that much for whatever reason
-Plot could be predictable at times
-Wish a few set pieces (similar to the one in the spring chapter, and the
Bus
could've been added
-Fuck the swimming with the gas mask in the dark tunnel level early on. Definition of frustrating.
-Sometimes to much padding I think
-Clickers instant death feels cheap at times.
-Wish we could've seen a bit more enemy variation
Pro's
-One of the best gaming intro's to date in this medium. I was playing this in the living room, and my parents were just minding there own business, as they usually do when I playing video games. But this time they were just entranced as I was.
-Extravagant voice acting. Some of the best this medium has to offer, and not just from a few of the voice actors but from the whole cast.
-Not just voice acting, but the actors performance was also incredibly well done.
-First great portrayal of a gay character in a video game.
-Loved finding the little notes about the peoples life stories and events that occurred to them
-Some of the most tense combat I've ever experienced in a game to date. An it's not about the checkpoints, and how death is trivialized. It's more about wanting to survive, and having that little inkling of health left, and just feeling triumphant, and victorious and you blow these hoarding blitzing clickers with the few ammo of buckshot you have left. Just feels so empowering.
-Some nice scary moments (the basement in pittsburgh, the school in lincoln)
-All the characters themselves were fan-fucking-tastic. Joel was someone you could easily feel and relate for. Ellie was never annoying, and honestly felt like a daughter you wish you could have for yourself. She was dependent and strong, and a great female character. Bill was great as well. Loved the plight of sam and henry, and that conclusion, well, it was encapturing. Just lots of great characters all the way around. Full of depth and personality
-Great, and I meant FUCKING GREAT writing. Felt natural, organic, and just very real. Felt very much like the script of a film, or a hbo tv show
-Some of the levels like Lincoln, parts of Pittsburgh, and most of the 2nd half were great.
-First game that gets better and better as you progress. Very rare for a video game, since it's usually the other way around
-The 2nd half, especially The Winter Chapter, is what DEFINED this game. Without this 2nd half, this game would've been a straight up dissapointment.
-The Winter Chapter in general. So many great moments, and so many "The Road" vibes. Especially with the hanging
people on the meathooks. Gave me those vibes from the road
-Playing
as ellie was so much fun
-I liked how
david mentioned how many people joel and ellie killed, especially in the university. Really drove home the fact, that they are brutal murders in a sense, but only trying to survive for another day
-I really liked the in game inventory management.
-Really enjoyed the crafting, the upgrades as well.
-I really loved the
Giraffe segment. Made me smile to see how happy and excited Ellie was
-Cutscenes look beautiful. Just beautiful
-The shadows are incredible, there are really some standout beautiful moments in this game
-Fall and Winter had some of the best atmosphere in this game
-As frequent as death is, love that the checkpoints never punish you
-Similar to tell tales walking dead, you can see a bond be created by these 2 characters. I honestly felt that The Last of US blew away what tell tale did in this area.
-Love how there relationship just grows and grows. What you experience when you first me her, will be a much different relationship when all is said and done. It really is great, especially how joel turns around in the
spring chater
-Just a great overall fiction and world that naughty dog built.
-A great OST as well. Never pounding upon your head. Subtle in ways, but always feel haunting, and emotional. Really, Really well done by Mr. Gustavo Santaolalla!
-Felt like a genuine journey. So many moments that will forever be remembered.
-Really like the ending. Wasn't what I expected, and the spoilers were wrong to! Made me think, which I always enjoy in a game
-Probably one of the better gaming narratives to date. Yes it's predictable at times, yes it's treaded ground that's been beaten upon it's head time after time in books and films. It's tropes we've seen before. But for whatever reason, in this young medium, it feels so refreshing and new. The chemistry between these 2 characters. These are the stars of the show, and the game. How they evolve as characters, and most importantly as people is worthy of applaud to Naughty Dog
I'd probably give it a 9.5/10
As many as flaws as there is, there's just something so empowering in this game. It's really indescribable.
Holy HNNNG I am shitting my pants from the tension
in the basement of the hotel after you turn the generator on
Game can be creepier than most so called survival horror games this generation. Also because my PS3 sounds like a ghostship, but she's a trooper so far.
Btw, not having played the demo, what was the section they used for it?
HOLY SHIT at Ellie going berserk on David. I actually started feeling bad for killing all those dudes until I saw the meat inventory and the bodies hanging off meat hooks. I've been killing FUCKING CANNIBALS?! The entire Winter chapter was amazing, got a Hunger Games vibe in the beginning with the deer
I got by in that area by not using my bullets. I had crafted many, many molitovs and I used them all. Bombs are better too, and since you don't have to kill them all just survive until the door opens, just lay them out at the openings and have them twitch and burn and nlock the others.
Oh I did the same, just wasn't enough lol (playing on hard). Used all 3 molotovs and 1 bomb, then bullets, then broke a pipe and still had to punch a few.
About 5 hours in. There's an abundance of supplies and I feel like I'm armed to the hilt. I'm not really feeling any tension whatsoever which is weird. Thinking about switching to hard with no prompts/listen mode for the rest of the game. Anyone who's playing on hard with no prompts, etc. how's your experience? I'm looking for tense, but not cheap.
When choking someone out will a single button press do the trick or do you have to mash the button? I always end up mashing.
okay am I screwed? I'm at a part where I have to pull a cord to get a generator running
I'm downstairs after falling down the elevator shaft in the Hotel. After pulling the generator, a bunch of enemies swarm me, including one of those big fat guys
Well, I'm noticing, that after I do that, if I die to the enemies and restart the encounter, it restarts me AFTER whatever items I used/health I lost. Its screwing with my resources and I'm losing them fast, is there anything I can do to avoid this?
okay am I screwed? I'm at a part where I have to pull a cord to get a generator running
I'm downstairs after falling down the elevator shaft in the Hotel. After pulling the generator, a bunch of enemies swarm me, including one of those big fat guys
Well, I'm noticing, that after I do that, if I die to the enemies and restart the encounter, it restarts me AFTER whatever items I used/health I lost. Its screwing with my resources and I'm losing them fast, is there anything I can do to avoid this?
I will tag my response even though it doesn't directly spoil anything, some people still might take my opinions as spoilerish, giving them an idea of how it ends.
To me the ending felt extremely underwhelming and left more to be desired. It ended in a way that you immediately assume a sequel and DLC is coming which is fine if they are going to do both but from a stand alone experience it just feels kind of flat at the end. Like this is this? Went through all of this shit and this is it? This is the reward players get? It didn't feel like a proper ending to me it felt like a end of a chapter or a season finale of a show. It would be a goddamn shame if they don't do more with this game.
in your next post you call it lazy. In no way was the ending lazy, it was a tough decision. It's not about a reward, but the ending of the story. Joels development throughout the game with the start where he was willing to just leave Ellie behind and go back to living his own life, not being too attached to anything, and just pretending nothing had happened in the past. He wouldn't even so much as mention the name Sarah. He finally allows himself to open up a bit at Tommy's farm and fully commits to Ellie as his own. He does anything and everything to make sure Ellie is ok, and you can tell from his methods and the way he just mercilessly murders tons of people. The ending when he's carrying Ellie out of the hospital plays back to the beginning where he wouldn't let the same mistake happen as the first time. He has to lie in the end to Ellie. There's also a great moment when Marlene says "you know this is what she would want". The look on his face says it all, he knows that's true, but he's willing to take down anything that tries to let that truth be known. I don't really think it setup for a sequel at all, but if it did, it would deal with the conflict of covering up the lie, and ultimately facing it head on. It was not Joels decision to make, but he did it anyway
Having finished the game, I'm not sure what I think about it.
In terms of mechanics, I think stealth sections suck. I can appreciate the design for a horror game, but having to replay sections over and over again just isn't interesting to me, especially if it becomes a problem of memorization and not skill.
That said, I will appreciate that in one particular stealth section, they had the foresight to include checkpoints. Thank god.
Having gone back a bit to Uncharted 3 to clean up difficulty trophies, I will say that The Last of Us at least tries to address, if not solve, the whole mass murderer ludonarrative dissonance thing. Given that games still need to be about killing hundreds of people, it feels much more in place in The Last of Us than it ever did in the Uncharted series. But if the only way to solve the problem is to make your character an anti-hero and create a dystopian world, it's not a solution that can really apply to other games - and not really one I'd want to play through over and over again.
Beyond stealth and third person shooting, I'm not really sure what else they could have thrown into the game to make it still a "game" but not be a QTE fest. Presumably there's a way to make the relationship between Joel and Ellie meaningful without turning it into a pure escort-fest like Ico, but I honestly don't know what it is. As it stands, all the relationship building occurs in optional conversations and cutscenes. At least it's not another game with fucking audio logs.
Also, I still think it's silly that Joel is some veteran killer, but he somehow needs to take pills to improve his accuracy with weapons. That RPG mechanic is so light that I almost wish it wasn't in the game at all.
Given what I read about multiplayer, with how long it takes and how people are choosing to disconnect because of the rather harsh penalties you receive for failure, I don't think I'll give it a shot. I'm sure they'll work on it later on, but another multiplayer where you need to prestige - twice - in order to get trophies? No thanks.
That's the problem, that's what I'm doing and for some reason it keeps saving whatever items I've used the last time I tried, unlike every other time Ive ever used it. I feel like I'm in this weird cycle where I pull the cord to start the generator, it saves I die, then I have to pull the generator again and I've lost whatever Ive used. It's really weird.
Basically, if I just quit to the main menu and chose continue or whatever, does it put you at the exact same spot the restart encounter option does?
That's the problem, that's what I'm doing and for some reason it keeps saving whatever items I've used the last time I tried, unlike every other time Ive ever used it. I feel like I'm in this weird cycle where I pull the cord to start the generator, it saves I die, then I have to pull the generator again and I've lost whatever Ive used. It's really weird.
Basically, if I just quit to the main menu and chose continue or whatever, does it put you at the exact same spot the restart encounter option does?
To me the ending felt extremely underwhelming and left more to be desired. It ended in a way that you immediately assume a sequel and DLC is coming which is fine if they are going to do both but from a stand alone experience it just feels kind of flat at the end. Like this is this? Went through all of this shit and this is it? This is the reward players get? It didn't feel like a proper ending to me it felt like a end of a chapter or a season finale of a show. It would be a goddamn shame if they don't do more with this game.
You're just too conditioned to the prototypical, everything wrapped up type of ending in games. It's really an uncommon trope for works to end with the purpose of leaving the viewer to ask questions and leave things up for the viewer to decide. It's the same with The Giver, or Inception, or Children of Men. If all you want out of an ending is specifically a sense of finality, they gave you those moments several times over towards the end.
Playing on survivor and it really is the only way to play the game, actually feels a bit more of a survival game now and makes the combat situation more tense. Especially since clickers hearing is improved significantly in this mode. They really shouldn't have locked this difficulty behind a completion.
Hopefully we get an Ultimate edition for ps4 with updated graphics, a coop mode, some more MP modes and some sort of challenge mode (clear area using only melee/pistol etc). Would rebuy in an instant.
