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The Last of Us: Remastered |OT| Game of the Years
- Thread starter VisceralBowl
- Start date
SolidChamp
Banned
Any so-called "definitive" list is arguable. For Empire magazine and their writing staff/editing team, this just happened to be their list. Keep in mind that Empire is, first and foremost, a film magazine. Therefore it's safe to consider the probability that they'd be more partial to games that provide a profound, cinematic story with well-drawn, fully realized characters.
In that regard, yes, The Last of Us is quite possibly the absolute best ever. For me, the story provided a profound turning point in my hobby as a passionate gamer. The game play is also something I was able to relish and get fully absorbed and immersed in. Something about the the visceral weight of the combat, the tactile interactivity of the game world when scavenging for supplies, and the satisfying depth of approaching a given scenario with different strategies...it all just clicks and is one of the most robust and complete gaming experiences I've ever had.
Having said that, the gamers who are of the more "elitist" mindset would argue that the truly great classic masterpieces are ones that have stood the test of time and have earned their place on a so-called "definitive best of" list. This is a fair assessment, but it's also purely subjective. I think one classic gaming experience builds you up for the next (potential) masterpiece.
Storytelling in games, for me, became a realization when I first played FFIV and Chrono Trigger on the SNES. Those are unforgettable landmarks in gaming that showed me that the medium was capable of more than just pushing buttons.
Game play, for me, became truly mind blowing and interactive with games like GTA III and MGS 1&2.
A perfect marrying of both? MGS3, which had me convinced I wouldn't play anything better on the PS3, and held that distinction until TLOU came along.
The pioneering classics can't be denied their rightful place on the GOAT list...but they can certainly help foster your experiences along to something greater. That always elusive "pinnacle" of the medium. The Last of Us just happens to be "it" for me, at the moment.
I just finished The Last of Us (again, but on PS4 this time) last night. And man, this game, this game still gives me chills from time to time, not chills of fear, but chills of greatness. Because the characters are so well done and well played. Every time I finished the game (that was the 3rd time, but the first on PS4), I had lots of feelings...
Man, this game!
Man, this game!
Not at all IMO. Its just a good game for me. Worth playing though.
ambientric
Banned
Through the middle of the winter chapter now, and while enjoying the experience and particularly the quality of characterisation/ story... The quality of the actual gameplay just feel so... Safe.
The number of times I have pushed the same garbage skip over to climb an obstacle, swam up to a conveniently placed raft for Ellie to cross over, hook up another generator to open another gate, pressed triangle to hold open another roller door... The repetition of game design that is tedious and frankly lazy, makes me scratch my head at the game of the generation quotations.
Gunplay is satisfying but nothing special, and there have so far been only a handful of memorable setups of enemy and level design.
Are gamers so eager to be taken seriously that having a truly decent story and characterisation within a video game is such a rarity to be valued above everything else...?
The number of times I have pushed the same garbage skip over to climb an obstacle, swam up to a conveniently placed raft for Ellie to cross over, hook up another generator to open another gate, pressed triangle to hold open another roller door... The repetition of game design that is tedious and frankly lazy, makes me scratch my head at the game of the generation quotations.
Gunplay is satisfying but nothing special, and there have so far been only a handful of memorable setups of enemy and level design.
Are gamers so eager to be taken seriously that having a truly decent story and characterisation within a video game is such a rarity to be valued above everything else...?
What would you consider "not-safe"? The genius of this game is that the story and gameplay are executed with little to no dissonance.
Also, I don't remember any of the rafts being "conveniently" placed (Maybe the first one?). And I don't get the complaint about mechanisms for opening doors. What would you have them do instead?
Many games have had great stories and characterization. Very few have been as good as TLoU in that regard AND had interesting, fun gameplay to go along with it.
TLoU is the best game I've ever played and it's not really close (FF7 and FFX previously were tied for my #1)
mickcenary
Member
There's one graphical glitch/oversight that I just can't get over, even after 4 or 5 play-throughs.
Sprinting backwards down stairs. Seriously. The animation is sped up to Benny Hill levels of ridiculous. Very jarring.
Sprinting backwards down stairs. Seriously. The animation is sped up to Benny Hill levels of ridiculous. Very jarring.
ambientric
Banned
Safe gameplay equals, presenting the same repeated scenario with the same repeated required action throughout.
Safe...Can't climb fence, find garbage skip, drag over, climb on garbage skip, climb over fence...repeat multiple times throughout. Can't cross gap, find conveniently placed plank, place over gap, repeat multiple times...each time I disengage and proceed by rote, disappointed.
Non-safe gameplay, provide emergent gameplay to player to actively discover and determine route past an obstacle through player agency, with multiple methods for success.
The last of us story and world is built with such exquisite craft that it deserves more, or would be better off without.
Safe...Can't climb fence, find garbage skip, drag over, climb on garbage skip, climb over fence...repeat multiple times throughout. Can't cross gap, find conveniently placed plank, place over gap, repeat multiple times...each time I disengage and proceed by rote, disappointed.
Non-safe gameplay, provide emergent gameplay to player to actively discover and determine route past an obstacle through player agency, with multiple methods for success.
The last of us story and world is built with such exquisite craft that it deserves more, or would be better off without.
lmao
Just got the last Single Player Trophy and I really would like to get a Platinum Trophy in this game, but I am usually really bad in the Multiplayer part of Shooter games (No I don´t mean that The Last of Us is a shooter, but you shoot, so you get my point I hope ;-)).
How hard is it to get the Trophys?
Is it doable for a below average player?
How hard is it to get the Trophys?
Is it doable for a below average player?
I gave up on the mp once I saw you had to complete missions to advance (like heal X people in a few games) . If you fail, the journey for that current faction is over. I hear it takes a really long time to complete them both as well. Too bad they included these, no way I'll get the plat.
ElzarTheBam
Member
Very easy, to platinum TLOU all you need to do is basically play (I think 80 + games per faction), you can scrape along with one survivor up until the 100 percent population wipe challenges come up, when they do, just pick an easy challenge to complete it. Easiest would be the heal, mark, gift, downs challenges.
That's one of the reasons TLoU is so great tho. The writing transcends authors' intentions and has people discussing it to this day. Personally, I choose to believe it was
Ellie knowing he's lying and accepting it.
ambar_hitman
Member
Me too. Though 2D to 3D conversion (simulated 3D) looks pretty good on my TV.
In fact, most PS4 games look great because they dont have jaggies. Last gen games didn't look that good when I tried simulated 3D.
Rabid-Coot
Member
There's enough easy missions to get you through the 5 100% population risk events just make sure you save them for the right time.
milkham
Member
I feel like you'll probably call this bullshit but give this a watch and see what you think
http://youtu.be/MBTGwFE-a6g?t=12s
Reading the comments here convince me of giving TLOU a second chance. I borrowed a ps3 from a friend for this game, because I felt I was missing out on something truly great.
On his HDD was also Demon Souls, which I missed out on as well.
I think I've played around an hour and a half of TLOU before I couldn't resist the temptation of Demon Souls.
I can see TLOU is exquisitely crafted and I am a sucker for post apocalyptic worlds. But I feel I'm just going through the motions the developers have made for me. Each scene you start here, and you have to go there, and in between there are enemies you have to avoid stealthily, because there ain't no Ramboing even though the 'option' is there.
I will give it another try, maybe the story has to unfold more and the characters need to click some more, but right now the invisible hand that is leading me through set pieces is a bit of a turn off after the Souls games.
On his HDD was also Demon Souls, which I missed out on as well.
I think I've played around an hour and a half of TLOU before I couldn't resist the temptation of Demon Souls.
I can see TLOU is exquisitely crafted and I am a sucker for post apocalyptic worlds. But I feel I'm just going through the motions the developers have made for me. Each scene you start here, and you have to go there, and in between there are enemies you have to avoid stealthily, because there ain't no Ramboing even though the 'option' is there.
I will give it another try, maybe the story has to unfold more and the characters need to click some more, but right now the invisible hand that is leading me through set pieces is a bit of a turn off after the Souls games.
Summer Haze
Banned
If the option is there, then there is Ramboing. You definitely can play it Rambo-style, especially on the lower difficulties, as you get tons of ammo/supplies. You don't have to play it stealthily.
Uhh I think I have a glitch where I'm getting trophies and tags before I'm supposed to. I just got the Scavenger trophy but I haven't collected everything, in fact I don't have any of the training manual, artifact, pendant, or comic book trophies yet. I also got the shiv door trophy after only doing 12/13 doors.
figadapaura
Member
Same thing happened to me on the PS3 version and again on the PS4 version. Obviously they didn't care to fix that bug. Not that it really matters.
Just finished it. Overall the story is cliche as fuck.
Still I really liked the game. Some parts were pretty hard but not impossible, haven't played on any harder difficulty than Hard.
Now onto that DLC.
Girl is not infected but immune (seen that plenty of times too), guy needs to escort her to locatioin X, it so happens girl has to die in order to save lots of people (seen that a shitton of times), guy doesn't let it get that far and escapes with said girl.
Still I really liked the game. Some parts were pretty hard but not impossible, haven't played on any harder difficulty than Hard.
Ellie is a great character and I dig Joel too, he isn't the most moral character but he does what he does to survive.
Now onto that DLC.
Melchiah
Member
I think it has something to do with the goofy save system they have, selecting chapters creates new saves but it's trying to keep a tally of things regardless of what save you're on and desyncs things.
I also keep getting $250 and the Master of Unlocking reward every time I open any shiv door now, so that's pretty cool, haha.
Spoilers goddamit.
Jimmyfenix
Member
TheOctodad
Member
There is almost no story that can be told that isn't "cliché." Star Wars? Cliche. Guardians of the Galaxy? Cliche. The Road? Cliche. Lord of the Rings? Cliche. Give me a story, I'll tell you why it's cliche.
A story isn't about the seeing something before, it's about telling it in a way that makes you feel deeply and connect. It's about moving you and telling the truth about humanity.
I still have never heard anyone that throws out the accusation of cliche or tropey point to a story that isn't somewhat cliche.
I fought through that in my playthrough on the PS3, but snuck past it on my 2nd. Will probably try to do the same on grounded.
You aren't the first to tread your path in the game though, others will have left planks and garbage skips handy to get over obstacles that the infected can't.
If I remember they even talk about this early in the game.
The game seems broken when it comes to stealth as Ellie on Grounded. I pretty much couldnt stealth melee kill anyone no matter the situation because it nearly always triggered the alert for no reason whatsoever.
Had it happen with Joel a few times, but it was near systematic with Ellie.
Beat the game on Grounded, but i really wish i didnt jump straight in so that i could have done the trick and started on Grounded Plus. I have no desire to replay Grounded.
Had it happen with Joel a few times, but it was near systematic with Ellie.
Beat the game on Grounded, but i really wish i didnt jump straight in so that i could have done the trick and started on Grounded Plus. I have no desire to replay Grounded.
"...this everything you were hoping for?" hahahaha
Summer Haze
Banned
I'm so glad you mentioned that. I've heard the "lol lazy game design, conveniently placed planks and skips" comment so many times, and it makes no sense to criticize that given the context of the game.
Waylon Drums
Member
My husband surprised me with a PS4 today and this is downloading right now...I'm dying!
P.S. Holy pewp at the file size. I expect it'll finish by Halloween.
P.S. Holy pewp at the file size. I expect it'll finish by Halloween.
drotahorror
Member
The traversal is pretty linear yeah. But the combat scenarios are just what you described for non-safe gameplay. Maybe they could have opted to have multiple ways of getting from point A to point B (when not in combat), but they didn't. Perhaps in the next one. But like I said, nearly all the combat scenarios have multiple ways of completing them. I felt the combat was incredibly satisfying and tense as well.
You can play it after it downloads 11gb or so. It will affect your loading speed in game though.
About the conclusion.
So in the end, if Ellie were to have had sacrificed herself for what she felt was right, was it 100% positive that the doctors would have been able to find a cure using whatever they extracted from Ellie? I was reading somewhere that the doctors weren't sure. Did I miss a document/collectable explaining this? Because to me, as bad as somethings Joel did, this would somewhat justify his final decision of saving Ellie in my opinion.
They were pretty sure, but in their mind it was worth the try. Even if finding a vaccine doesn't mean they'll succeed while trying to make enough vaccines and send them to people who would accept to take them. It's a little hope for mankind, but the only hope that we know about. For Joel, it just doesn't worth the risk, Ellie is more important and he cares about her like she's his daughter. (pretty obvious stuff yeah)
Summer Haze
Banned
Damn, nice catch. Lol.
Yeah. This ending leaves me so conflicted. On the one end I can't blame Joel. He already has to live with the death of his daughter, so knowing he let Ellie die would have probably been too much for him. Yet, at the same time you can see how badly Ellie wanted this to be her purpose in life. She wanted to change/save the world so that everyone she lost would not have died in vain. Whether death was a possibility or not she would have done it. For its what she felt was right. Regardless of how torn I feel, I just want to say bravo and thank you Naughty Dog. Unforgettable experience.
I intended to write a post on the story of The Last of Us and how the ending should be seen in the context of the world it takes places in, but I kind of lost track and haven't gotten around to finishing it. I feel like this piece of what I had already written might be somewhat relevant to your spoiler [ Not originally written as reply to your post, so don't feel offended by the tone in some of the parts. ];
[ THE LAST OF US STORY / ENDING SPOILERS ]
People claiming that Joel should have saved humanity by abandoning Ellie are also disregarding all context. Killing Ellie will not magically produce a cure for mankind. We do not know what experience the doctors had or whether they were qualified at all. The environment they were going to perform surgery in was totally not suited for it. Even if they would have been able to procure something useful from her brain, how would they even begin reverse-engineering that into a cure? They dont have even the basic level equipment for that. How would reverse engineering it even lead to a cure? Even if it leads to a magic wonder-cure, how would they produce it? And then, how would they mass-produce it? How would they spread this cure when there is virtually no infrastructure anymore? How do we know if they dont plan on using the cure simply as a tool in their power struggle? How would a cure solve humanitys actual problems of a completely broken down and fragmented society? How would a cure remove the threat of the infected that already exist in the world? There are so many ifs connected to a possible cure, so many fundamental problems it wouldnt solve. The Fireflies are willing to kill a little girl solely for the unfathomably small chance of it leading to a cure that would solve absolutely nothing even in the best case scenario. The Fireflies are part of the problem. A cure isnt the answer to humanitys problems, communities like Tommys are; self-sustaining communities that re-instate values from the old society ( jobs, marriage, human decency, planting / harvesting crops ). These groups will outlive the infected, and thus eventually the infection all-together. The cure is an extension of the Firefly power struggle, and thus the cure is part of the problem.
If you are arguing that the cure was the only option here, youre just as blind as Marlene.
Because it is about Marlene, and it is about Ellie. And about Joel. This is about humanity. There is another choice, and Joel made that choice. Whats the point in killing a kid for the tiny chance of it leading to a cure that would solve nothing? There is no point in creating a cure for humanity ( that, again, wouldnt actually solve anything ) if you lose your humanity in the process of doing so. Marlene is blind in chasing her own idealistic machinations.
Did Joel save Ellie for selfish reasons? Yes. Did Joel forsake humanity in doing so? No. Were the Fireflies right in wanting to kill a little girl for the tiny chance of creating a cure that would solve nothing even in the best case scenario? Hell no, they werent.
If you are arguing that the cure was the only option here, youre just as blind as Marlene.
Because this isnt about me. Or even her. There is no other choice here.
Because it is about Marlene, and it is about Ellie. And about Joel. This is about humanity. There is another choice, and Joel made that choice. Whats the point in killing a kid for the tiny chance of it leading to a cure that would solve nothing? There is no point in creating a cure for humanity ( that, again, wouldnt actually solve anything ) if you lose your humanity in the process of doing so. Marlene is blind in chasing her own idealistic machinations.
Did Joel save Ellie for selfish reasons? Yes. Did Joel forsake humanity in doing so? No. Were the Fireflies right in wanting to kill a little girl for the tiny chance of creating a cure that would solve nothing even in the best case scenario? Hell no, they werent.
tl;dr version;
Even in the absolute best case miracle-scenario, in which the Fireflies could reverse-engineer a fully working 100% cure for the infection and mass-produce it, there would still be a ton of question marks: How do we know they won't just use it as a tool in their power struggle? How are they going to spread the cure when the infrastructure needed to do so does not exist? How would it solve the problem of the existing infected in the world? How would any cure solve humanity's actual problem of complete societal collapse? Etc. Even in the very best case scenario, a cure would solve so very little. None of this is explicitly said in the game, but these are all points that are easily derived from the state the world and humanity are in and the details we were given in the story.
...Scatter...
Banned
If I recall correctly from the recordings I listened to, they have tried dozens of times with other subjects but had not yet found the cure. Basically, it was another shot at it, and nothing guaranteed.
Waylon Drums
Member
He really is. I almost tripped over an iMac once that was a surprise for me.