Hispanic! At the Disco
Member
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Last Summer I played through TLOU. My wife watched me play most of it as the characters and story were both griping and full of life. The game's story, characters, pacing, setting, world, detail, music, graphics, art, writing; it was all fantastic. I really felt like I was Joel and I really felt that I needed to help Ellie on our big goal to find a cure. I felt as if my relationship with Ellie grew as Joel's did. I felt like the motivation to push onward were one in the same. I very rarely feel "immersed" in games or feel as if I am the character, but that's exactly what happened.
Then came the end of the Fall chapter. Escaping the university. Bloody, injured, barely surviving. I felt adrenaline pumping through me trying all I could to get us out. That brutal impaling scene with the iron rod. I was almost shouting at the tv rooting for Joel to get up and keep pressing on. The game really felt like I was going through all of this.
Winter. Now I'm Ellie. I loved playing in Ellie's shoes this chapter. It really felt as if her whole life was leading up to finding this cure and she would stop at nothing to reach the end. She's shown how much she had grown and came into being her own woman and I feel like giving control of Ellie to the player really helped express how strong she was and how far she had come. Very well done.
Spring. Back to Joel. Finally reached the end goal. Everything was so touching and it really felt like this was the end for the pair, at least for me it did. I felt as if Joel and Ellie were both ready to say goodbye. At least I was ready. I thought well Joel will realize it is for the greater good. Joel will come to his senses sooner or later. Joel will think about what Ellie would want, respect her desires, respect how much blood, sweat, and tears Ellie had put to make this happen. Joel of all people will decide that this is Ellie's choice and he can't take that away from her.
It was about 1am. My wife was in bed after asking me to let her know how it ended. I wandered around the room for a bit looking for another solution. I waited what felt like an eternity. I got put the controller down and started texting my friends asking if this was really how it ended. I paced around my house for a few minutes, contemplating just turning off the game. I hated the idea of it ending like this. The entire game was falling apart before my eyes. This journey meant nothing to me now. Eventually I pulled the trigger, both figuratively and literally. I pushed through to the end not out of the same zeal of before but out of obligation. I got this far and me turning off the console wouldnt change the ending, may as well watch the credits roll.
I went to bed and my wife woke up as I walked in. "How was it??" "Terrible. You would've hated it. Go back to sleep." Next day of course I told her and she hated it. To this day she cannot be convinced it was not one of the most disappointing endings of anything she's seen before. The ending stewed within me for weeks and months. I argued with friends and looked online for similar opinions and felt like I was going crazy. No way could people enjoy this ending! It ruins Ellie as a character! It shows a total lack of disrespect for Ellie as a person from Joel! There's no pay off! There's no real meaning other than oh yeah, Joel's a jerk haha oh well! The world will continue to burn because of his selfishness and always doing everything for himself, not even for those he grew to love. This journey meant nothing to him other than to replace what he had lost. I hated it. So much.
Not sure why or when but one day I complained about how during the impaling scene. In that scene I felt like I was Joel. Every action in from start of the game to the end of the Fall chapter really felt like I was Joel and all of my motives and actions were in sync with Joel. I felt as if I was the one on this journey with Ellie. I was just controlling some video game character through this world and story. I thought about how it contrasted to the ending where I no longer had control. I no longer was in sync. My motives no longer matched. I had no control over the actions of this character.
As much as I believed it, Joel was not me and I was not Joel. The outcome of the Fall chapter was not due to anything I accomplished. I merely pressed the buttons required to watch the scene play out. Ellie's fate was never in my hands, nor was Joel's. I could not make decisions for Joel. I could not change Joel's views nor his thoughts. I was not controlling Joel's outcomes and actions through my Dual Shock but instead Naughty Dog was controlling my actions and outcomes through their writing and directing.
Naughty Dog presented me their story in a way only this medium can provide. I was the player character being pushed to move forward and complete objectives, not Joel. Joel was merely a vessel in which they used to tell their own story to be presented to me in their own way. Me disagreeing and hating the outcome and Joel's choices is and was part of that experience. The fact that I can come to NeoGAF and tell people the ways this ending made me feel, to have you all soon now tell me that it made them feel completely opposite; that's what makes this ending so good. It's deep with a definitive ending that is also up for interpretation. It sends ripples back in time throughout the entire path we have all walked through in The Last of Us that we make reflect on all that has happened and what it all means, while setting our eyes to the future. Most importantly it touches us deeply on our own views and morals and helps us express ourselves to each other.
I hate the ending to The Last of Us and that is a great thing.
obviously.
Last Summer I played through TLOU. My wife watched me play most of it as the characters and story were both griping and full of life. The game's story, characters, pacing, setting, world, detail, music, graphics, art, writing; it was all fantastic. I really felt like I was Joel and I really felt that I needed to help Ellie on our big goal to find a cure. I felt as if my relationship with Ellie grew as Joel's did. I felt like the motivation to push onward were one in the same. I very rarely feel "immersed" in games or feel as if I am the character, but that's exactly what happened.
Then came the end of the Fall chapter. Escaping the university. Bloody, injured, barely surviving. I felt adrenaline pumping through me trying all I could to get us out. That brutal impaling scene with the iron rod. I was almost shouting at the tv rooting for Joel to get up and keep pressing on. The game really felt like I was going through all of this.
Winter. Now I'm Ellie. I loved playing in Ellie's shoes this chapter. It really felt as if her whole life was leading up to finding this cure and she would stop at nothing to reach the end. She's shown how much she had grown and came into being her own woman and I feel like giving control of Ellie to the player really helped express how strong she was and how far she had come. Very well done.
Spring. Back to Joel. Finally reached the end goal. Everything was so touching and it really felt like this was the end for the pair, at least for me it did. I felt as if Joel and Ellie were both ready to say goodbye. At least I was ready. I thought well Joel will realize it is for the greater good. Joel will come to his senses sooner or later. Joel will think about what Ellie would want, respect her desires, respect how much blood, sweat, and tears Ellie had put to make this happen. Joel of all people will decide that this is Ellie's choice and he can't take that away from her.
It was about 1am. My wife was in bed after asking me to let her know how it ended. I wandered around the room for a bit looking for another solution. I waited what felt like an eternity. I got put the controller down and started texting my friends asking if this was really how it ended. I paced around my house for a few minutes, contemplating just turning off the game. I hated the idea of it ending like this. The entire game was falling apart before my eyes. This journey meant nothing to me now. Eventually I pulled the trigger, both figuratively and literally. I pushed through to the end not out of the same zeal of before but out of obligation. I got this far and me turning off the console wouldnt change the ending, may as well watch the credits roll.
I went to bed and my wife woke up as I walked in. "How was it??" "Terrible. You would've hated it. Go back to sleep." Next day of course I told her and she hated it. To this day she cannot be convinced it was not one of the most disappointing endings of anything she's seen before. The ending stewed within me for weeks and months. I argued with friends and looked online for similar opinions and felt like I was going crazy. No way could people enjoy this ending! It ruins Ellie as a character! It shows a total lack of disrespect for Ellie as a person from Joel! There's no pay off! There's no real meaning other than oh yeah, Joel's a jerk haha oh well! The world will continue to burn because of his selfishness and always doing everything for himself, not even for those he grew to love. This journey meant nothing to him other than to replace what he had lost. I hated it. So much.
Not sure why or when but one day I complained about how during the impaling scene. In that scene I felt like I was Joel. Every action in from start of the game to the end of the Fall chapter really felt like I was Joel and all of my motives and actions were in sync with Joel. I felt as if I was the one on this journey with Ellie. I was just controlling some video game character through this world and story. I thought about how it contrasted to the ending where I no longer had control. I no longer was in sync. My motives no longer matched. I had no control over the actions of this character.
As much as I believed it, Joel was not me and I was not Joel. The outcome of the Fall chapter was not due to anything I accomplished. I merely pressed the buttons required to watch the scene play out. Ellie's fate was never in my hands, nor was Joel's. I could not make decisions for Joel. I could not change Joel's views nor his thoughts. I was not controlling Joel's outcomes and actions through my Dual Shock but instead Naughty Dog was controlling my actions and outcomes through their writing and directing.
Naughty Dog presented me their story in a way only this medium can provide. I was the player character being pushed to move forward and complete objectives, not Joel. Joel was merely a vessel in which they used to tell their own story to be presented to me in their own way. Me disagreeing and hating the outcome and Joel's choices is and was part of that experience. The fact that I can come to NeoGAF and tell people the ways this ending made me feel, to have you all soon now tell me that it made them feel completely opposite; that's what makes this ending so good. It's deep with a definitive ending that is also up for interpretation. It sends ripples back in time throughout the entire path we have all walked through in The Last of Us that we make reflect on all that has happened and what it all means, while setting our eyes to the future. Most importantly it touches us deeply on our own views and morals and helps us express ourselves to each other.
I hate the ending to The Last of Us and that is a great thing.
