Just got it. What difficulty settings do people use. I feel like hard with resources in light and allies in moderate might be a good balance. I don't like resource management.
Well yesterday i watched the cutscenes with the moment of truth between joel and ellie and i have to admit, the digital acting make other games based on digital acting like death stranding or detroit looks like amateur hour...
That lips\eye movements is what sell the entire scene, ellie is the most expressive character in a videogame ever, and it is not even close.
It's incredble how they are able to convey emotions through character expressions.
From what I understand most of the facial expressions have been motion captured directly from the voice actors,
It's just that it's so well refined here that it rivals actors in flesh and blood. It was the first time that I've felt that the acting in a game rivals that of actual movies.
I can't wait to see that quality further evolve with their first ps5 title. It will be insane.
It's incredble how they are able to convey emotions through character expressions.
From what I understand most of the facial expressions have been motion captured directly from the voice actors,
It's just that it's so well refined here that it rivals actors in flesh and blood. It was the first time that I've felt that the acting in a game rivals that of actual movies.
I can't wait to see that quality further evolve with their first ps5 title. It will be insane.
I finished the game today. Currently on New Game+ to finish up the trophies.
I think it is a very good game but the rating is nowhere near 10. Maybe if I'm generous I'll give it a 9.
The rating is should be between 8-9 anyway. Coming off fresh from remastered the Last of Us a couple of weeks ago I'd to say the story a bit disappointing.
In fact, I think the second half of the story could be a single title game if they intend to. A lot of ideas ND could exploit the aftermath at the end for a future sequel/spin-off.
The level design, immersion, and capability to push graphic deserves credit. Bonus for the accessibility feature.
Just finished the game. Took me approximately 28 hours and I really enjoyed it from start to finish. I thought the game was excellent and felt it was better than it’s predecessor in many ways. I don’t care for SJW-stuff, but I definitely see and felt the passion, development time, immersion, money and effort put into this game. FF7: Remake is one of my GOTY contenders. For me, this game is right up there with it and the best of the generation. I feel that I understand what the creator was trying to accomplish.
Imho, most of the haters are just jumping on the proverbial bandwagon of the Youtubers and select reviewers who passionately hate this game. The game is obviously divisive and it’s ok that you don’t like it for the story, writing, Abby, weak males, heavy female presence, the music, etc, but a 0/10? Really? Did you even play it? That essentially means the game don’t boot up to even show you a title screen. That’s why I like try to stuff myself so I can formulate an opinion myself, especially when it comes to gaming.
I like everything about the gameplay of this game. The story is a shit fucking show. Trash. Garbage. Joel, who was a badass character in the first game, is put aside as if he never existed - oh but I forgot, The fucking flashbacks, Or I should say, Flashbacks: The Game.
Man, I really feel bad for all the pissed fans
Oh, and Naughty Dog manipulated all the trailers to make you think the game is about a Journey again, with Joel. Damn, where is to check wtf ND is doing
Druckman kept Joel a badass, even in his final minute, Joel doesn't turn into some coward who begs. Joel was kept in line with who he is. Joel says "OK, hurry up and get it done." That was fucking badass. People have to remember, Joel was never meant to be a hero. He did many evil things. He knew his time would come one day. And it finally caught up to him. The way it was handled to drive home the plot and journey was brilliant. Especially
I like everything about the gameplay of this game. The story is a shit fucking show. Trash. Garbage. Joel, who was a badass character in the first game, is put aside as if he never existed - oh but I forgot, The fucking flashbacks, Or I should say, Flashbacks: The Game.
Man, I really feel bad for all the pissed fans
Oh, and Naughty Dog manipulated all the trailers to make you think the game is about a Journey again, with Joel. Damn, where is Sony to check wtf ND is doing
Fuck, my phone's touch screen sucks and is so jumpy. I posted my response prematurely lol. Here is the rest of it
And Joel's life finally caught up to him. The way it was handled to drive home the plot and journey was brilliant. The shocking nature of it. Then to play from the other perspective. Holy shit. Game feels like some all time epic HBO series. And the flashbacks really made the emotions and beats hit so much harder. Memories are things people hold onto forever. Ellie's memories were heart breaking knowing how Joel would go on to die and that that was the last of Joel we would ever see. The player starts having the same whirlwind of emotions as Ellie. The game is a brilliant unheard of achievement in gaming from all aspects and from every nook and cranny. I cant wait to finish it, but I'm trying to make it last as long as I can, because I don't want it to end...because there is no game out there that even comes close to this. Naughty Dog has seriously put every devloper to shame with this game. I legit find it hard to play other games after playing Last of Us 2 and it being made all the more clear how far ahead TLOU 2 is ahead of anything else out there. Fuckihg masterpiece through and through!
This threads been largely pretty positive for the 4-5 pages I've been here. Most people seem to really like it, or if they didn't like the story or whatever, then they can at least acknowledge how good everything else is. Are all the crazies only occupying the other threads or something? Because I stuck my head in a few of those and.... phew lad...
Anyway, I think I'm done with the game for now. I'll revist if/when dlc, or maybe even replay it on ps5 during the inevitable early life cycle game drought. Either way, was a fun ride, with the surrounding shitstorm being nearly as entertaining.
Now, onto Death Stranding to see what all the hubbubs about surrounding that
This threads been largely pretty positive for the 4-5 pages I've been here. Most people seem to really like it, or if they didn't like the story or whatever, then they can at least acknowledge how good everything else is. Are all the crazies only occupying the other threads or something? Because I stuck my head in a few of those and.... phew lad...
Anyway, I think I'm done with the game for now. I'll revist if/when dlc, or maybe even replay it on ps5 during the inevitable early life cycle game drought. Either way, was a fun ride, with the surrounding shitstorm being nearly as entertaining.
Now, onto Death Stranding to see what all the hubbubs about surrounding that
Probably because they hate it for reasons that would be spoilers to discuss in this thread, so they stick to the other threads where spoilers can be discussed openly. Though, honestly, if you stick around in those threads you'll start noticing it's always the same few people making a fuss about the game. They're trying to get more people to hate the game, but apparently it's not working so well for them.
Just finished it. 40 Hours on Survival. I Took my fucking time. Saw every inch of the world. I waited 7 years for it this. With impossibly high expectations over those years. It exceeded them. I don't know how this game was made. It's a work of art, and the best game ever made. Naughty Dog is on a completely different planet. 10/10.
That's my review, if you're a gamer and you don't play this game, you lost.
This is proof AAAA games do exist. Theres levels to this shit
Just finished it. 40 Hours on Survival. I Took my fucking time. Saw every inch of the world. I was waited 7 years for it this. With impossibly high expectations over those years. It exceeded them. I don't know how this game was made. It's a work of art, and the best game ever made. Naughty Dog is on a completely different planet. 10/10.
That's my review, if you're a gamer and you don't play this game, you lost.
This is proof AAAA games do exist. Theres levels to this shit
Well mother fuck. I just encountered a potentially game breaking bug
Im at the part where you get the...
Flamethrower in 'The Descent'
and I fell off of the steel beam trying to get back out of the room and the game just constantly auto loaded me to the sound of falling and dying. I couldnt pause the game to select "restart encounter" or anything. Tried shutting down the game and reloading, tried reloading the back up auto save; they all had the same result of loading me instantly into sounds of falling and dying.
If I didnt manually save every time I shut off the game, I would be totally fucked right now and have to start from the beginning. My last manual save was probably 2 hours of gameplay ago....fuck
Must vent a little...
Oh my gosh all is so clunky!
Coming from Days Gone, this is so fucking robotic,slow, uselessly loaded with weight, GTA, RDR are butterflies or at the very least, their mechanics are very well integrated with the animations system, but here!
Here I feel a deep disconnection between the animations and the shooting, crafting, switching weapons, etc...
I hope to get used to this, cause right now it's souring my game enjoyment.
And the companion...bah, I'm just at the first city area, already wish it dead, I hope it will die indeed, triggered two encounters just because I wasn't able to jump in a room because it was under the window.
I wrestled with that as well. I have never played a game where I felt the gameplay stands in my way of getting to story bits, and before every sequence I had that moment of "there's more?!". However, the 2nd hald of the game has some of the best sequences ever, and with each one it became clear to me that the meat here is getting to that part where "oh shit it's the part when this and that happened".
The tension is high af, and in hindsight, those parts of the game were superb in more ways than gameplay. Imma risk it here, but it made me change the way I see certain characters. Its a superb way tobuild tension and character exposition, but a double edged sword if you dislike the story.
So, while I understand some of the criticism, for me to change the way I view the game as time passed - I find that truely remarkable.
Just finished the game. I'll take a little break to think what I really feel about it (the story, that is - the gameplay is solid, so much more than in the first game).
But before that, I noticed something in the end credits. One of the people who worked on this game is Effy Wang. I just wanted to put it out there. (not literally)
Finally got my copy today (was a birthday present but living in the ass of the world things take a whole to arrive).
Anyone knows how important the day 1 patch is? Want to start it today but my internet at home is ass and it's probably going to take hours to download 4gb.
Must vent a little...
Oh my gosh all is so clunky!
Coming from Days Gone, this is so fucking robotic,slow, uselessly loaded with weight, GTA, RDR are butterflies or at the very least, their mechanics are very well integrated with the animations system, but here!
Here I feel a deep disconnection between the animations and the shooting, crafting, switching weapons, etc...
I hope to get used to this, cause right now it's souring my game enjoyment.
And the companion...bah, I'm just at the first city area, already wish it dead, I hope it will die indeed, triggered two encounters just because I wasn't able to jump in a room because it was under the window.
I think you are getting those games mixed up. GTA, RDR and Days Gone feel robotic compared to TLoU2.
GTA and RDR have animtion priority way over player input and Days Gone it's supper stiff compared to any of the other 3 games you mentioned.
It is so fucking crazy good dude. Without spoiling anything, there is a scene towards the end that is even better IMO, it is just unreal in its Voice acting, facial expressions etc. I dont know how much money and effort they threw at this tech but holy fuck balls.
Shout out to all the VO people too. Just sublime work.
Just normal. The game is more front loaded. The second half is more setpeices and linear level design. So the last 1/3 wont take you as long as the first 1/3 did.
Edit I actually liked the second half of the game WAAAAY more than the first half. Its more tightly focused, level design works better and two setpeices are up there with the best of UC.
I ruined my first playthrough of this game...
I could have stayed away but got spoiled.
When the time came I was anxious and nervous and I couldn't even breath and enjoy the game properly, missed a lot of areas and story nuances...
Only when I finished and reflected and came back to it for Survivor+ was that I realized how good the game is.
Incredible graphics, gameplay, animations, levels, gore, sound...
9/10, it would be a 10/10 if I could reduce this atrocious film grain. It really drove me crazy for a while.
I don't get the hate for the game or a certain character... Easily the best game of the year (sorry ff7R and ORI) and prolly in my top 3 this gen (Bloodborne,TLOU 2,PUBG)
They should go full human extinction with the next one. I could see a story around a much older Ellie struggling with being the only immune survivor as those around her succumb (all due to Joel's decision) being pretty compelling, and it would be a more unique story than the revenge plot in 2 (which I still enjoyed, because I love nihilistic/oppressive feels in my horror games). IDK how they'd do it. Maybe those weird growths/spores in all the hives all had a pretty screwed growth rate? Maybe humans just wiped eachother out enough for the rest to be cleaned up by infection? No idea.
I was finishing up FFXV, so finally got around to this today.
I'm at the part early in the game where you can freely explore a bit for the first time. Is Dina supposed to be such a fucking moron and just stand by herself in a corner while I ride around on the horse by myself? I can't get her to follow me, like ever.
yeah on grounded they need to fix the ia during stealth:
-they still come in a room full of corpse just to freeze, talk and getting stabbed by me, they have zero sense of preservation or awareness
-sometimes they talk like they have companion around them even if they are alone (because i already killed everyone)
-they still have the reaction of a slug when i charge them with melee weapons, from when they see me to when they start shooting there is always that 2-3 sec pause, you can see the survivor walkthorught of cohhcarnage that exploit this shit to death
-less fucking chat, more action, sometimes they are happy to call someone's death with name, last name, bank account number while i'm literally butchering them
-a lot of names are repeated and very few dogs have names, i only heard one dog name in like 25h, it was that difficult to have unique names for every enemy? i mean they are not infinite hordes, they are always a finite number so having 4 amir and 10 lauren is a bit of a strange choice and easily fixable (is this a limited memory thing? like they have zero memory to spare for original names?)
-made them shoot more frequently.
(and this is on survivor)
these are not difficult fix to make imo, it's not like re-writing the entire IA, just make them more active and less chatting and let them avoid room with 5 allies cadavers please.
in general wlf are more retarded and chatty than scars, but reaction time are basically the same.
it still remains a good ia, especially during gunfights where time reactions are faster.
Finally finished it yesterday. It's good, but it ain't great. Here's my long-winded, rambling two cents.
Let's get the good stuff out of the way - the visuals are unbelievable, the animations are smooth, the voice acting and motion capture are some of the best in games. The sound design is excellent, and a big improvement on the first. The little details that ND puts in their games are all here and they're really impressive, mostly in the way characters react to their environments and each other. The stuff you're doing is, on the surface, fun - you're essentially playing MGS5 or Hitman.
The first issue, though, is that it's not those games. It's very deliberately clunky and sluggish, because that's obviously what they're going for with the turbo-realism slant. I played and loved Uncharted 4, and even though it was too long, I didn't feel it, because it actually played well and had a captivating story. And let's be honest, this game is way too long. Somewhere around 7 hours too long. By about two thirds of the way through I just wanted it to be over, because you spent the vast majority of the game either watching cutscenes or running around environments hitting the triangle button. The amount of actual time I spent in danger was very low, and when I was in danger, I felt like I was controlling someone stuck in a puddle of mud.
And yet, my GOTY last year was RDR2. A game far, far, far longer, with about the same ratio of gameplay to non-gameplay, and a game heavily criticised for playing like shit. Why? Because the story and the characters in RDR2 were fantastic. So good that I could overlook some pretty glaring issues. My main problem is that that doesn't exist in TLOU2. Let me make this very clear - I don't give a shit about Ellie being a lesbian, Abby having bricklayer arms, that thing that happens near the beginning, or that character that shows up. You can have a great story with all of the above.
My core problem is that it's just an incredibly poorly written game with absolutely no likeable characters, each of which has completely illogical motivations or character development.
Everything starts fine - long winded set up building to Joel's execution, very well done. If anyone watched the promo material for this game and assumed you'd play as Joel for most of it, that's your fault, it was never going to happen. But already, so early on, we get a chance to play as Abby, and this blows the entire mid-game "reveal" out of the water, because obviously we're going to play as her again. So the plot happens, Ellie swears revenge, and then we play the game for 10 hours. We learn that Ellie already knows what Joel did, so now there's no big dramatic reveal to her that might make her rethink her actions, it's purely revenge. There's some who-slept-with-who drama, a pregnancy, a lot of political commentary which others find understandably offputting. Whatever, I can deal with all that, as long as it goes somewhere.
Ellie hunts down the people she hates one by one and kills them all with basically no issue whatsoever. The game revels in glorious murder, actively encouraging you to find fun and interesting ways to slaughter people, and then pauses every so often to mope about it. If this works on you, fair enough, but it's been done to death and it just isn't effective any more. She finds out one of them is pregnant and later we're supposed to feel bad because this character insisted on being out in the field instead of protecting her unborn child, because she's her own damn woman. Alrighty.
So, we make the switch to Abby, and all the built-up tension is immediately dissolved as the game resets and we play out a story with an ending we already know. We spend a lot more time walking around the world pressing triangle and listening to the plot. She's rescued by some kids, one of their arms is busted, so you spent hours tracking down supplies to fix the arm, only for Lev to immediately run off to see the mother he knows will disown him. Lo and behold, we go after him, the mother's dead, then after everything we did for her, Yara dies and neither Ellie nor Lev barely seem to register it. This happens several times throughout the game - characters that are supposedly friends die and not a single fuck is seemingly given by anyone. If that's "the point", then great, but don't expect your audience to care either. Abby completely abandons the wolves for.... some reason? And is quite happy mowing down dozens of her old friends and allies to help this one kid out. I'm sure not a single wolf ever saved Abby's life.
Finally the story re-converges at the point we knew it was going to many hours ago. Okay, the big fight! Abby spares the pregnant girl when Lev looks at her and makes a sad face, aaaaand for some reason, even though she's killed hundreds and hundreds of people, and Ellie has killed all of her close friends, she lets Ellie go, because they needed to squeeze more game out. We get to what should have been the epilogue at the farm, Ellie has some panic attacks, and leaves her partner and her child to go off on yet another very brief rampage. She witnesses a horrid slave camp and kind of cares, but doesn't, hunts down Abby and lets her go, to the surprise of no-one.
There is absolutely nothing interesting or smart about "ahh, now you play as da bad guy! maybe she not so bad, now maybe you feel bad!". Nor is there anything interesting or smart about these characters finding forgiveness at the very last second while simultaneously destroying everything else around them. The juxtaposition between what Neil considers very dramatic scenes and what the same characters do constantly in-between is headache inducing. It simply doesn't work. The motivations and actions of almost every character in this game are done purely for dramatic effect and hold no weight whatsoever. The narrative is so broken and disjointed that by the time things are supposed to be wrapping up, it's hard to care any more about characters you haven't seen in 8 hours. Honestly, I completely forgot that Jesse was killed, because the game resets immediately afterwards and then Jesse is never mentioned again when you return to Ellie.
Thanks for reading my blog. A huge congratulations to everyone that worked on this game except Druckman. It could have been a masterpiece if the story wasn't a disaster. This thing is Game of Thrones all over again.
Eh, I dunno about that. There are some really weird faces sometimes like when
Ellie is drowning Abby at the end and Ellie scrunches her face up and her teeth are out. It completely took me out of the scene and I laughed out loud because it looked so weird.
It does look great a lot of the time though. It just has that age old videogame problem of expressions involving teeth looking creepy/funny. Also
what the fuck went wrong with the baby's face? It looks crosseyed and strange
That's me finished what I imagine will be my only playthrough of this game. I'll make it quick.
The good - It's every inch a AAA production. Graphics, environment design, gameplay, set-pieces, sound design, character models, mo-cap, etc, etc... All of that stuff is just top of the line. You simply couldn't ask for more.
The bad - Boss encounters in the 2nd half are surprisingly bad. Story is an absolute shambles.
My biggest takeaway from the whole thing - They shouldn't have made a sequel to Joel & Ellie's story. They should've told a new story about the conflict between the Seraphites & WLF, with Abby, Yara & Lev caught in the middle. That was the most engaging part of the game & I would've liked to spend more time getting into it.
