• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Last of Us |OT| It Can’t Be For Nothing (Spoilers)

DatDude

Banned
Oooh were top 5 games of this generation? Well no particular order.

1. Bioshock
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Tell Tales Walking Dead
4. Uncharted 3
5. Bioshock Infinite
 
Top 5 Best (not to be confused with my top 5 favorite, which is a pretty different list):

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
3. Torchlight 2
4. Xenoblade
5. Mega Man 9

These are the five games that are closest to perfection that I've played in the last 5 years. None of them are perfect, but they come pretty damn close to it.
 

antitrop

Member
Top 5 Best (not to be confused with my top 5 favorite, which is a pretty different list):

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
3. Torchlight 2
4. Xenoblade
5. Mega Man 9

These are the five games that are closest to perfection that I've played in the last 5 years. None of them are perfect, but they come pretty damn close to it.

Due to your number 3 allow me to recommend The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing with my highest regards. It's better than Diablo III and Torchlight 2. It's the best isometric loot ARPG I've played since Diablo II.
 

Vire

Member
In no order:

A. Super Mario Galaxy
B. Uncharted 2/3 (Can't decide, sue me)
C. Batman Arkham Asylum
D. Mass Effect 2
E. Journey

Honorable Mentions: Red Dead Redemption, Bioshock, Geometry Wars 2, Super Meat Boy.

I know, my taste is impeccable.
 

Superflat

Member
Just wanted to say, totally #teambrick. Glass shatters after one good hit. If you break a brick on someone's face, that is something.
 
Due to your number 3 allow me to recommend The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing with my highest regards. It's better than Diablo III and Torchlight 2. It's the best isometric loot ARPG I've played since Diablo II.

Its buggy as hell id wait til they fix it. I love the game but my brothers save is ballsed up and we dont fancy starting again.
 
Top 5 games of this gen, eh...?

1. Demon's Souls
2. Uncharted 2
3. Smash Bros. Brawl (I know it gets a lot of hate, but I still like it)
4. NieR
5. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

My runner-ups would probably be inFamous 2 and MGS4. Played a lot of games this gen, but my favorites tend to be the ones that strike me at an emotional level or have so much content it's hard to put them down.
 

nib95

Banned
Hopefully LoU slots in somewhere.

1. Uncharted 2
2. The Whitcher 2
3. Bioshock
4. Red Dead Redemption
5. Killzone 2

Other honourable mentions, Uncharted 3, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Super Mario Galaxy, Bioshock Infinite, God of War 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4.
 

antitrop

Member
Its buggy as hell id wait til they fix it. I love the game but my brothers save is ballsed up and we dont fancy starting again.
It's absolutely buggy and a technical nightmare, but they've released like 30 patches since release. Seriously.

Steam downloads a new Van Helsing patch every day, which means:

A) They shipped the game about a month before it was ready.
B) They are dedicated to supporting the game and achieving their vision for it.

At the end of the day it's $15, worth buying regardless of the bugs/performance issues. I bought it day 1 and enjoyed it immensely, and they keep patching it.
 
It's absolutely buggy and a technical nightmare, but they've released like 30 patches since release. Seriously.

Steam downloads a new Van Helsing patch every day, which means:

A) They shipped the game about a month before it was ready.
B) They are dedicated to supporting the game and achieving their vision for it.

At the end of the day it's $15, worth buying regardless of the bugs/performance issues. I bought it day 1 and enjoyed it immensely, and they keep patching it.

I dont mind bugs but corrupt gamesaves are gamebreaking and to be honest I feel scammed in that regard.
 

-tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
The Darkness does not get enough appreciation!

I don't know if I would even put it in my Top 10 for the entire gen, but I definitely think it's one of the better FPSs and one of the most overlooked games of the gen.

Except for the World War 1 part. Damn does that part really drag the game down.

Starbreeze knocked the storytelling out of the damn park with that game. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
 
Does anyone have a good music playlist on Spotify they can point me too? TLOU ost isn't in the U.S. on spotify. I was streaming State of Decay yesterday listening to Silent Hill OST's essentially. I'd love to hear more music from TLOU while I stream. Youtube has a 25 min "preview" of the soundtrack but it's all the songs significantly cut.
 
Top 5 in no order:
Mass Effect (loved 2 as well but I can't even count how many times I replayed this one)
Uncharted 2
CoD 4
Mirror's Edge
Walking Dead

Haven't played a lot of the big SP titles this gen because I'm a wuss.
 
Aww snap, lists?

1. Bayonetta
2. Red Dead Redemption
-----------------------------------------
3. Super Mario Galaxy 2
4. Vanquish
5a. Metal Gear Rising
5b. Uncharted 2

I still have some strong contenders left to play, and a few yet come out (The Last of Us, GTAV, Puppeteer, Rayman Legends), but I feel good about this list for now. Bayonetta and Red Dead are locked. TLoU sneaking its way into even the 5th spot would make me an EXTREMELY happy videogame player.
 

MercuryLS

Banned
My fav of this gen:

- mark of the ninja
- journey
- hotline miami
- super meat boy
- uncharted 2

Indie > Retail. That's one of the big reasons I'm so excited by Sony's renewed Indie focus for next-gen. Modern games feel so safe and samey for the most part, Indies tend to be more inspired, have tighter mechanics and reasonable playtimes (not overly padded like retail games, which need to justify 60 bones).
 
Top five for me:

1 Witcher 2
2 Uncharted 2
3 Red Dead Redemption
4 New Vegas
5 Hotline Miami

Uncharted 1, Bioshock, Binding of Issac are also very high up on my list.
 

sappyday

Member
Jesus it's hard thinking of my top 5 :/

Well here I go...

1. Fallout 3
2. Demon's Souls
3. BioShock Infinite
4. Dark Souls
5. Uncharted 2/Red Dead Redemption
 

sunnz

Member
I REALLY REALLY enjoyed Last light and is this years best game for me, will be hard but I am sure it will top it.


Cant wait.
 

sdornan

Member
Top 5:
Fallout 3
Bioshock
Red Dead Redemption
Grand Theft Auto IV
Mass Effect 2

Honorable Mentions: Bioshock Infinite, Uncharted 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Skyrim
 

Raxus

Member
Oooh were top 5 games of this generation? Well no particular order.

1. Bioshock
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Tell Tales Walking Dead
4. Uncharted 3
5. Bioshock Infinite

Not a bad list but I am surprised you put uncharted 3 over 2.

Mine:
1. Dark/Demon's Souls
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2/1
3. The Last Of Us :D
4. Bioshock
5. Metal Gear Rising

Red Dead barely missed my list.

When it comes to sequels, if push came to shove I listed the one I enjoyed most first.
 
My fav of this gen:

- mark of the ninja
- journey
- hotline miami
- super meat boy
- uncharted 2

Indie > Retail. That's one of the big reasons I'm so excited by Sony's renewed Indie focus for next-gen. Modern games feel so safe and samey for the most part, Indies tend to be more inspired, have tighter mechanics and reasonable playtimes (not overly padded like retail games, which need to justify 60 bones).

Best Indie game this gen for me is Limbo.
 

Pachimari

Member
What is The Last of Us? It surely have taken the world with storm by now, so it can't be for nothing, right?

I have grown up with Naughty Dog games. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped were my favorite platformer on PSone, Crash Team Racing is to this day still my favorite kart racer. Then came Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, which is just #3 on my all-time best games list. I completed the whole trilogy (I missed Crash 1, 2 and Jak X) and since then I went on to the Uncharted franchise. Drake's Fortune is probably still my personal favorite, while Uncharted 3 took me months to complete, only because it didn't catch my attention, it couldn't make me stay in front of the tv.

Now came The Last of Us, something I weren't hyped about, a game I hadn't seen or read much about up until I got my review copy. I went in as fresh as I could and BOOM I were surprised right at the first second I got control of my character. The opening will probably be the most memorable I have ever been through in my more than 10 years of gaming. The attention to detail, not just in graphics, animations, response or scripting but also in narrative, story progress, character development, the use of sound effects, the subtle soundtrack and voice acting.

Rarely do I find gaming universes breathtaking or that interesting and The Last of Us also went downhill right after the opening, nothing were really interesting, it were kind of bland, grey and it was a place I didn't want to be in. But that also describes the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us, were most hope seems lost, and you do feel it's a hard every day people are living, a day of fear. Fear of infection, fear of the infected.

The infected are scary. Be it runners or Clickers or whatever. It's the clicking sounds, it's the grumbling from upstairs, the sudden sound effect when you are sneaking your way or entering a door - it's the creepy animation - it's the AI. They come running directly for you at the lowest of sounds, they scream, they want to get you. What are your options? Shoot it before it comes near you or run away? Most often you will find yourself run away and even more often you'll find yourself outplayed. They'll flank you, they'll come straight from behind and before you know it, one will have jumped on your neck biting you, leaving goosebumps on your arms. The Last of Us is about survival yes, and it's horrific.

When the AI works, it's brilliant, dare I say the best I've ever seen in a videogame. Humans co-operate and try to get you from different angles. You feel pressured when you are out-numbered. Of course you can gun down enemies and to my surprise it often worked. Ammunition would soon come to you, or you could craft shivs and crack open locked doors to rooms full of everything. You can even craft stuff you can use against enemies and you'll often have a lot of those in your backpack. That's the one problem of the Normal difficulty, so I highly recommend you, that you start on Hard to unlock Survival. You will surely feel it's about survival but it can also so easily be forgotten, that it indeed is about survival on this difficulty. The further you progress, the easier it gets, as you'll be more armed and having upgraded Joels steadiness and skills against the infected. Yes, for Clickers it takes one attack and you'll dead, until you upgrade and get a last chance. I love the upgrading system and it's totally up to you how you want to shape your character.

I also recommend turning off Listen Mode. I tried using it a few times to see what I would feel and it takes all the tension out of the game. It makes you more comfortable, it gives you an upper hand. You can see all the enemies, where they are going, you can see their flaws, running back and forth between the same positions. The infected will hide, run from one room to another in the dark like in a horror movie, yet keep doing the same run for no reason. AI is hilarious when it doesn't work but more often than not it's brilliant.

Besides the amount of ammunition on Normal, the one thing that's bothering me is, that it kind of reminded me of Uncharted numerous times throughout. Yes, you're looting, exploring and the in-game banter is beyond phenomenal, but there's also design choices which have been repeated. The constant need of a ladder, of getting Ellie up to higher ground always reminded me of Nathan Drake and Elena, Chloe or any of his partners. And no it's not a bad thing, just something which sticks out. The thing I had hoped for were, to have a feeling of the humans being like me, just trying to survive, but it never felt like it. It always felt like I were up against goons or enemies, and not just a survivor up against a survivor. It's always these sandboxes with you up against a group of people, and most often in my case it ended up with shooting galleries. I got a bit exhausted by this design but never to the same degree as in Uncharted 3. Here, you got choice, here you got an interesting AI and melee fights which you can really feel. You got stealth which at times could remind of the original Splinter Cell trilogy and shooting which is hard in the start as Polygon points out but is quickly sorted out by improving your aim by upgrading that particular skill.

There's no real bad points about The Last of Us. I'm trying hard to find any. The story is not something grand or extra-ordinary but it's the way the narrative is told, performed and progressed that makes it so emotional and catching. Even though you got three so different mechanics in stealth, shooting and melee, they feel cohesive and integrated and like they are seamlessly blended. The AI has flaws but it more often is brilliant. There's technical glitches like the entire background disappearing, there being pop in, bodies falling through walls etc. but the attention to detail is unreal in a console game.

If I really have to point out something, it's that all the blood pools of dead bodies look the same. But more seriously, when enemies don't notice your companion, it's striking and takes you out of the moment. It's a design choice and a clever one, as it would be more frustrating being caught because of your partner. It sucks when you stealth and your partner decides to go beserk, and I won't ever forget the moment I were in a very tight room with a Clicker. I throw a brick out the door, the Clicker instantly try to get out but there's one problem, Ellie is trying to get in through the same door. The result? Both of them keep walking into each other without noticing. And I want that Clicker out of my room, as far away as possible. It's nothing generally bad, just funny, something to remember.

Good points
+ Voices acting and performances.
+ Narrative and the way it progress.
+ Character development between Joel and Ellie.
+ Stealth, melee, shooting.
+ Companions won't be seen until you are detected, thus no frustrations.
+ Attention to detail.
+ Subtle soundtrack, use of sound effects.
+ Great placement of checkpoints.
+ You will want to explore the world, not just because of loot but because of the details, how each household tells a story.
+ Too many to list.

"Bad" points
- Companions can't be seen until you are detected.
- More forced shootouts than what I expected personally.
- Too many ressources on Normal.
- A little bit repetitive but mostly in the start, as it picks up.

The star of the game is Ellie though. Whole heartedly Ellie. You grow a relationship with her yourself, never really in the way that you want to protect her, but more in the way that she's someone you would like to have on your side through an adventure. She live a life of her own, she's there doing stuff while you look around for loot in-game. She's there to tell you a joke. To show awe of the world of today, of what she have never seen before.

And have I ever seen THIS before? Something like The Last of Us? No. Is it the best game ever? Nope. Best of the generation? I'm not yet sure. But it's something you should look forward to on a gameplay level as well as on a narrative level. Is it a masterpiece? Yes.

---

This is text above is not some kind of review or anything, I just felt like writing down my impressions as they came hehe. Any questions and I'll answer.
 

DatDude

Banned
"Bad" points
- Companions can't be seen until you are detected.
- More forced shootouts than what I expected personally.
- Too many ressources on Normal.
- A little bit repetitive but mostly in the start, as it picks up.


Are these truly cons if they can be alleviated by hard/survivor mode?
 

Verendus

Banned
Wow. Just wow.

I just stayed up all night yesterday, and spent most of today and finally finished this game. I have now officially been awake since 4am Saturday. I started playing this around 10pm on Saturday. It's now 12:10 am on Monday. I have to work today. I have to be on the road at 6am. I have a very important day ahead. But I can't sleep right now. My first weekend off in what is months, and whilst I was planning on finishing this by tomorrow, I ended up doing overtime. This is the first time in a long, long time that I've done a session like this. It's been years. I needed to say something, somewhere. This game was an experience, and I'm not disappointed at all. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have conflicted emotions right now.

I love Uncharted 2. My personal game of the generation. I sank over 140 hours into its multiplayer, and think it's campaign is one of the best things I've ever played, but I don't know what I felt had a stronger impact on me right now. It's been years now since I played UC2, but TLOU had a strong impact on me. Just like UC2 did when I first played it. I think I need to give it a few weeks to let everything settle down before making a strong judgment because I'm probably still on a high of having completed this game.

However, one thing I can confidently say is that this game is going to rank up as either number one or number two for me. I'm not the nitpicky type, and I need a game to grab my attention, entertain me, and be memorable. This did that. It's different than UC2 but I was just ready for it. I've been in that survival horror mood, and this game just scratched that itch. For someone who does not have all the time in the world, when a game like this comes along, it's worth it.

What a game.

Edit:

Naughty Dog, amazing job. I'm now even more excited for what you'll be doing with the PS4.
 

antitrop

Member
The thing I had hoped for were, to have a feeling of the humans being like me, just trying to survive, but it never felt like it. It always felt like I were up against goons or enemies, and not just a survivor up against a survivor.
Great write-up, but this issue in particular is definitely something that I was afraid of.
 

Pachimari

Member
Are these truly cons if they can be alleviated by hard/survivor mode?

Well, the forced shootouts can't be alleviated but ressources sure can. :)
It shouldn't be too much of a problem for people around here.

Shootings are fun, because of the AI and the tactics you need to use in the sandboxes.
 

Verendus

Banned
What is The Last of Us? It surely have taken the world with storm by now, so it can't be for nothing, right?

I have grown up with Naughty Dog games. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped were my favorite platformer on PSone, Crash Team Racing is to this day still my favorite kart racer. Then came Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, which is just #3 on my all-time best games list. I completed the whole trilogy (I missed Crash 1, 2 and Jak X) and since then I went on to the Uncharted franchise. Drake's Fortune is probably still my personal favorite, while Uncharted 3 took me months to complete, only because it didn't catch my attention, it couldn't make me stay in front of the tv.

Now came The Last of Us, something I weren't hyped about, a game I hadn't seen or read much about up until I got my review copy. I went in as fresh as I could and BOOM I were surprised right at the first second I got control of my character. The opening will probably be the most memorable I have ever been through in my more than 10 years of gaming. The attention to detail, not just in graphics, animations, response or scripting but also in narrative, story progress, character development, the use of sound effects, the subtle soundtrack and voice acting.

Rarely do I find gaming universes breathtaking or that interesting and The Last of Us also went downhill right after the opening, nothing were really interesting, it were kind of bland, grey and it was a place I didn't want to be in. But that also describes the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us, were most hope seems lost, and you do feel it's a hard every day people are living, a day of fear. Fear of infection, fear of the infected.

The infected are scary. Be it runners or Clickers or whatever. It's the clicking sounds, it's the grumbling from upstairs, the sudden sound effect when you are sneaking your way or entering a door - it's the creepy animation - it's the AI. They come running directly for you at the lowest of sounds, they scream, they want to get you. What are your options? Shoot it before it comes near you or run away? Most often you will find yourself run away and even more often you'll find yourself outplayed. They'll flank you, they'll come straight from behind and before you know it, one will have jumped on your neck biting you, leaving goosebumps on your arms. The Last of Us is about survival yes, and it's horrific.

When the AI works, it's brilliant, dare I say the best I've ever seen in a videogame. Humans co-operate and try to get you from different angles. You feel pressured when you are out-numbered. Of course you can gun down enemies and to my surprise it often worked. Ammunition would soon come to you, or you could craft shivs and crack open locked doors to rooms full of everything. You can even craft stuff you can use against enemies and you'll often have a lot of those in your backpack. That's the one problem of the Normal difficulty, so I highly recommend you, that you start on Hard to unlock Survival. You will surely feel it's about survival but it can also so easily be forgotten, that it indeed is about survival on this difficulty. The further you progress, the easier it gets, as you'll be more armed and having upgraded Joels steadiness and skills against the infected. Yes, for Clickers it takes one attack and you'll dead, until you upgrade and get a last chance. I love the upgrading system and it's totally up to you how you want to shape your character.

I also recommend turning off Listen Mode. I tried using it a few times to see what I would feel and it takes all the tension out of the game. It makes you more comfortable, it gives you an upper hand. You can see all the enemies, where they are going, you can see their flaws, running back and forth between the same positions. The infected will hide, run from one room to another in the dark like in a horror movie, yet keep doing the same run for no reason. AI is hilarious when it doesn't work but more often than not it's brilliant.

Besides the amount of ammunition on Normal, the one thing that's bothering me is, that it kind of reminded me of Uncharted numerous times throughout. Yes, you're looting, exploring and the in-game banter is beyond phenomenal, but there's also design choices which have been repeated. The constant need of a ladder, of getting Ellie up to higher ground always reminded me of Nathan Drake and Elena, Chloe or any of his partners. And no it's not a bad thing, just something which sticks out. The thing I had hoped for were, to have a feeling of the humans being like me, just trying to survive, but it never felt like it. It always felt like I were up against goons or enemies, and not just a survivor up against a survivor. It's always these sandboxes with you up against a group of people, and most often in my case it ended up with shooting galleries. I got a bit exhausted by this design but never to the same degree as in Uncharted 3. Here, you got choice, here you got an interesting AI and melee fights which you can really feel. You got stealth which at times could remind of the original Splinter Cell trilogy and shooting which is hard in the start as Polygon points out but is quickly sorted out by improving your aim by upgrading that particular skill.

There's no real bad points about The Last of Us. I'm trying hard to find any. The story is not something grand or extra-ordinary but it's the way the narrative is told, performed and progressed that makes it so emotional and catching. Even though you got three so different mechanics in stealth, shooting and melee, they feel cohesive and integrated and like they are seamlessly blended. The AI has flaws but it more often is brilliant. There's technical glitches like the entire background disappearing, there being pop in, bodies falling through walls etc. but the attention to detail is unreal in a console game.

If I really have to point out something, it's that all the blood pools of dead bodies look the same. But more seriously, when enemies don't notice your companion, it's striking and takes you out of the moment. It's a design choice and a clever one, as it would be more frustrating being caught because of your partner. It sucks when you stealth and your partner decides to go beserk, and I won't ever forget the moment I were in a very tight room with a Clicker. I throw a brick out the door, the Clicker instantly try to get out but there's one problem, Ellie is trying to get in through the same door. The result? Both of them keep walking into each other without noticing. And I want that Clicker out of my room, as far away as possible. It's nothing generally bad, just funny, something to remember.

Good points
+ Voices acting and performances.
+ Narrative and the way it progress.
+ Character development between Joel and Ellie.
+ Stealth, melee, shooting.
+ Companions won't be seen until you are detected, thus no frustrations.
+ Attention to detail.
+ Subtle soundtrack, use of sound effects.
+ Great placement of checkpoints.
+ You will want to explore the world, not just because of loot but because of the details, how each household tells a story.
+ Too many to list.

"Bad" points
- Companions can't be seen until you are detected.
- More forced shootouts than what I expected personally.
- Too many ressources on Normal.
- A little bit repetitive but mostly in the start, as it picks up.

The star of the game is Ellie though. Whole heartedly Ellie. You grow a relationship with her yourself, never really in the way that you want to protect her, but more in the way that she's someone you would like to have on your side through an adventure. She live a life of her own, she's there doing stuff while you look around for loot in-game. She's there to tell you a joke. To show awe of the world of today, of what she have never seen before.

And have I ever seen THIS before? Something like The Last of Us? No. Is it the best game ever? Nope. Best of the generation? I'm not yet sure. But it's something you should look forward to on a gameplay level as well as on a narrative level. Is it a masterpiece? Yes.

---

This is text above is not some kind of review or anything, I just felt like writing down my impressions as they came hehe. Any questions and I'll answer.
Nice write-up.

I don't think I'm cabale of being this articulate right now.
 

DatDude

Banned
Wow. Just wow.

I just stayed up all night yesterday, and spent most of today and finally finished this game. I have now officially been awake since 4am Saturday. I started playing this around 10pm on Saturday. It's now 12:10 am on Monday. I have to work today. I have to be on the road at 6am. I have a very important day ahead. But I can't sleep right now. My first weekend off in what is months, and whilst I was planning on finishing this by tomorrow, I ended up doing overtime. This is the first time in a long, long time that I've done a session like this. It's been years. I needed to say something, somewhere. This game was an experience, and I'm not disappointed at all. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have conflicted emotions right now.

I love Uncharted 2. My personal game of the generation. I sank over 140 hours into its multiplayer, and think it's campaign is one of the best things I've ever played, but I don't know what I felt had a stronger impact on me right now. It's been years now since I played UC2, but TLOU had a strong impact on me. Just like UC2 did when I first played it. I think I need to give it a few weeks to let everything settle down before making a strong judgment because I'm probably still on a high of having completed this game.

However, one thing I can confidently say is that this game is going to rank up as either number one or number two for me. I'm not the nitpicky type, and I need a game to grab my attention, entertain me, and be memorable. This did that. It's different than UC2 but I was just ready for it. I've been in that survival horror mood, and this game just scratched that itch. For someone who does not have all the time in the world, when a game like this comes along, it's worth it.

What a game.

Edit:

Naughty Dog, amazing job. I'm now even more excited for what you'll be doing with the PS4.

Did you like the ending?
 
Top Bottom