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[BluRayHiDef]

So I finished the game a couple of days back, have been gathering my thoughts how I really feel about it. But the obvious stuff first - yeah, the game is an incredible technical achievement. I only have one minor quibble about the presentation, and surprisingly it's the music. What's on offer here is good, but didn't quite hit me as hard as the first game, also I would have liked more ambient music (not that every scene needs to have a soundtrack, but the soundscape can be quite barren at times). Still, a minor complaint. And the gameplay has improved in pretty much every conceivable aspect.

But then there's the story. I'll spoiler-tag this naturally, but before that - I don't think the first game had a great story. It wasn't bad, but it was never going to win any literary awards. What makes it work are the characters and the relationships between them. Similarly, I don't think the story here is great, nor bad. But the execution is something I have issues with.

Spoiler

I'll start by saying that the decision to not have Joel as a main character was the only right call. I don't have any animosity towards him, but as a character, he was pretty much done. The whole first game is really about Joel getting his daughter back, and in the process, regaining some of his lost humanity. After a fashion, he does both. It can be argued whether what he did was justified, but it really doesn't matter; from his perspective, he did the right thing and would do the same thing again. He has found his peace, such as it were. But where you do go with such a character? I suppose the writers could have killed off Ellie, but then it would be like the first game all over again. So, no issues with Joel getting offed at the very start. You need some motivation into the events that follow.

So far, so good. And I don't mind playing as Abby, it's good to have some gameplay variation, and while the whole "violence begets violence"-thing may be too played out, it's nice to have a different perspective to the events. But the problem is, you never really get to know the characters involved that well. If I kill someone, and later learn that person had a name and perhaps hints of a personality, it really does nothing for me. I'd need to care about that person for me to care about them dying.

I think this is exemplified by what was to me the most shocking death in the game, that of Jesse. Shocking, as in coming so out of the blue and unceremoniously, but not because I really cared. Sure, we get to spend some time with him. But what do we know of him as a person? He... uhh... umm... provably boned Dina at least once, so he's got that going for him I guess...

There's no easy fix for this though. The game already overstays it welcome a bit I think, it would have benefited from tighter editing. So, we can't have like a whole first game's worth of character interaction for both of the main characters to establish relationships with other characters, but perhaps doing a more intimate story with fewer characters could have helped. Also I feel the third faction (whachhacallit, those guys in California) was kinda pointless, you never got anything else out of them besides "they're bad".

The ending though, that I have no issue with - with the final cutscene with Joel. Without that cutscene it would have been totally pointless, but as it is, I'm fine with it.

Oh, one more thing. Was I the only one who thought Abby had like totally killed Tommy in the theatre? When I saw Tommy at the farm my first though was "oh please no, this is a dream sequence". I'm glad that turned out not to be the case, but for a while I was really worried.

Still, I really liked the game. I'll give the tech a 10, gameplay 9 and 8 for the story, so I guess that averages to 9.

How do you feel about...

Spoiler

Ellie losing two fingers? I hate that she is now maimed. She was this perfect, well-intentioned child in the first game but has wound up as a depressed woman who's physically deformed. She deserved better.

 

[nowhat]

How do you feel about...

Spoiler

Ellie losing two fingers? I hate that she is now maimed. She was this perfect, well-intentioned child in the first game but has wound up as a depressed woman who's physically deformed. She deserved better.

Spoiler

I mean, first of all in the game world, do people get what they deserve? And Ellie, going on a murderous rampage with tons of innocent casualties, didn't she deserve it?

But I guess the only issue I have with it is whether it'd be physically possible to bite off fingers. How feasible is that? But otherwise, it's thematically perfectly fitting. The game was never really about revenge, but about forgiveness and letting go. Playing a guitar was a thing Ellie had with Joel. Now she can't, it's time to move on.

(although, she could go Hendrix and learn how to play reversed)

 

[BluRayHiDef]

Spoiler

I mean, first of all in the game world, do people get what they deserve? And Ellie, going on a murderous rampage with tons of innocent casualties, didn't she deserve it?

But I guess the only issue I have with it is whether it'd be physically possible to bite off fingers. How feasible is that? But otherwise, it's thematically perfectly fitting. The game was never really about revenge, but about forgiveness and letting go. Playing a guitar was a thing Ellie had with Joel. Now she can't, it's time to move on.

(although, she could go Hendrix and learn how to play reversed)

Spoiler

Ellie kills people who killed her father figure, who rescued her from being sacrificed without her consent. So, the killings that she commits are morally justified. Furthermore, she commits the killings reluctantly and necessarily in order to determine Abby's whereabouts (e.g. Nora) and because she winds up in imminent life-threatening danger (e.g. Owen and Mel), etc. She never kills people who are innocent and she never kills out of malice.

 

[nowhat]

Spoiler

Ellie kills people who killed her father figure, who rescued her from being sacrificed without her consent. So, the killings that she commits are morally justified. Furthermore, she commits the killings reluctantly and necessarily in order to determine Abby's whereabouts (e.g. Nora) and because she winds up in imminent life-threatening danger (e.g. Owen and Mel), etc. She never kills people who are innocent and she never kills out of malice.

Spoiler

Well, one of the points of the game is that Ellie would have given that consent, and also not all of WLF had anything to do with the killing of Joel, it was just a single group within the faction.

But at any rate, I'm not surprised that people wouldn't get what they deserve in the game world.

 

[nowhat]

So one more thing. Having played this, Factions 2 definitely needs to happen. The improved mechanics/larger areas would be just such a perfect fit. And we know ND has been working on it, they've hired (or at least have had positions for) specifically people with experience in multiplayer games.

I'm calling it (well, this is just a wish, but it would be great) - Factions 2 at the PS5 launch as a cross-gen MP title. PS4 version with reduced graphical fidelity, of course. Make it F2P but without too excessive microtransactions. Here's hoping.

 

[Slothbeing1209]

Just finished the game. It's 9.5 or 9/10 game for me.
I only don't like those open areas in the game. Those areas ruined the game really bad. I love the story but all those open areas make me can't focus on the story.

 

[vpance]

Did anyone else find the hand 2 hand fight in that night scene with the stalkers kind of ridiculous? I played on hard and it seems like literally spamming dodge non-stop was the key, lol.

I might give survivor a go but only if there's a next gen patch. Glad I chose hard, otherwise my first playthrough would've easily been close to 40 hours.

 

[GymWolf]

I'm in the final scene but something stinks here and it's not dina's breath...
i fully expect

Spoiler

something terrible like all of this being only in ellie's mind, it's too a perfect scenario for such a bleak game

in a couple of hours i'm gonna discover the truth.

 

[Collin]

How do you feel about...

Spoiler

Ellie losing two fingers? I hate that she is now maimed. She was this perfect, well-intentioned child in the first game but has wound up as a depressed woman who's physically deformed. She deserved better.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Eh, losing those two fingers really isn’t that detrimental to most things you do in life, except play guitar which has very intentional thematic reasons for Ellie.

In fact, I noticed a very interesting foreshadowing in Abby Day 1 on my replay. When you’re at Issac’s WLF camp, I overheard Manny talking to some guy about being scared of losing fingers and Manny even says “Hey man, you only need the main three to survive! Don’t sweat it!”

 

[Thaedolus]

How do you feel about...

Spoiler

Ellie losing two fingers? I hate that she is now maimed. She was this perfect, well-intentioned child in the first game but has wound up as a depressed woman who's physically deformed. She deserved better.

Spoiler

It’s the price she paid. It’s a little too explicit to be honest but the whole game is about paying the price for revenge. Abby loses all her friends to get back at Joel. Tommy is crippled. Ellie loses fingers. It’s a futile endeavor. The one you end up hurting most is sometimes yourself. It feels bad that Ellie learned it the hard way but it’s better than her not learning it at all

 

[BluRayHiDef]

Spoiler

It’s the price she paid. It’s a little too explicit to be honest but the whole game is about paying the price for revenge. Abby loses all her friends to get back at Joel. Tommy is crippled. Ellie loses fingers. It’s a futile endeavor. The one you end up hurting most is sometimes yourself. It feels bad that Ellie learned it the hard way but it’s better than her not learning it at all

Spoiler

So, Ellie shouldn't have sought revenge for Joel? She should have just accepted his death and moved on?

 

[Hobbygaming]

I haven't played any games since I beat this one and I kinda want to start a NG+ so I can get anything I missed.

Yep, I started a new game + right after I beat the game

 

[Thaedolus]

Spoiler

So, Ellie shouldn't have sought revenge for Joel? She should have just accepted his death and moved on?

Spoiler

It seems to be the message the game is sending. I’ve had to do this calculation in my life: to pursue legal action against someone I’ve felt very wronged by, or just let it go and move on. Anything that could’ve been gained by involving courts a and lawyers and all the stress would’ve been totally nullified. So sometimes you let shit go. Ellie was still haunted and did the math and decided It was worth going after Abby after it had already gotten Jesse killed and Tommy crippled. She paid a price for it, even when she realized at the last minute Joel would’ve wanted forgiveness and for her to move on and be happy.

It might not have been the right choice for her to go after Abby, but in the end she saved her and Lev and paid a price. She found resolution in forgiveness and saved the person she meant to kill. In the world as presented, she’s lucky she only lost a couple fingers in that pursuit

 

[Hobbygaming]

Some comments about Abby’s story:

Spoiler

It relies too much on coincidences to be believable:
She magically meets Joel and Tommy while being chased by a giant zombie horde in a almost frozen region with daily scouts, wut?

She magically falls into a pool when she slips up from that crane thing on the skyscraper

Manny comes out of nowhere to save her from Tommy, just so that he can die later

While being close to starvation and obviously dehydrated, she manages to fight an armed Ellie for a while, only going down after several slashes

I really like Abby’s story, but this stuff is really bad writing

You can dissect situations in every game like this and then they'd all have bad writing

 

[Thaedolus]

You can dissect situations in every game like this and then they'd all have bad writing

Right; A story full of benign events and no coincidences and unremarkable characters isn’t a good story, it’s just boring. If you want a game about what it is to stock shelves in a Walmart in bumblefuck Arkansas, kewl, I’ll take my zombie apocalypse revenge story with great narrative beats and awesome emotional storytelling

 

[Hobbygaming]

Just finished.

I read the spoilers, watched the cut scenes and leaks and was convinced the story was BS and ruined.

Boy was I wrong, it literally might be my single player game of a gen.

I was amazed at how they got me to care about Abby

 

[Slothbeing1209]

Just did a quick fanart of the game. Based on famitsu cover

 

[Keihart]

My tommy

thomas kretschmann

My Ellie

beverly marsh

But Beverly Marsh doesn't play characters in the present or future

 

[iorek21]

You can dissect situations in every game like this and then they'd all have bad writing

Yes, it might seem nitpicky of me to point out this situations, but they seem to me as story moments that could be easily changed with minor consequences to gameplay, like the pool scene, for example.

These moments aside, I still don't think that the story was well written and even well structured. The core ideas were great, but the execution wasn't, IMO.

 

[Roni]

I find it interesting Ellie is physically changing with each meaningful person she's ever been in contact with...

She carries the bite she got with Riley
Her clothes are basically what Joel wore
Dina gave her the bracelet she still uses
Abby gave her the missing fingers

 

[evanft]

So I have Josh Holloway as Tommy. And now I think Ronda Rousey will make the perfect Abby.

There's something about women with developed arms/shoulders that really drives me nuts.

 

[Alebrije]

Well after the events of TLOU2 I do not see room for a TLOU3. It seems ND wanted to seal the IP forever. Its sad becuase think is one of the best apocaliptic zombie series...

Gameplay and graphics are great , setup nice but after some hours is boring to see the sime type of buildings /architecture. Story is nice but sometimes felt forced and out of focus so you end no taking care of characters, some quest / missions are just a wasted of time and do not add value to the main plot, and the excesive use of some feelings end making the whole game predictive.

I am pretty sure that if you play in reverse the games ( 2 then 1 ) story of 2 would feel more appealing.

 

[Knitted Knight]

Well after the events of TLOU2 I do not see room for a TLOU3. It seems ND wanted to seal the IP forever. Its sad becuase think is one of the best apocaliptic zombie series...

Gameplay and graphics are great , setup nice but after some hours is boring to see the sime type of buildings /architecture. Story is nice but sometimes felt forced and out of focus so you end no taking care of characters, some quest / missions are just a wasted of time and do not add value to the main plot, and the excesive use of some feelings end making the whole game predictive.

I am pretty sure that if you play in reverse the games ( 2 then 1 ) story of 2 would feel more appealing.

Ohh there is plenty of room for TLOU3 (she's still the walking cure, and the

Spoiler

fireflies

are out there. But you're right, the way the story ended, you could call it a day on the series (just like with the first game). I like that about these games, it's very smart. But I rather we get a new IP. If we get a new IP we're probably seeing that game at 2023 at the earliest so that's almost half-way into the PS5 lifecycle. We won't see a TLOU3 till PS6.

 

[Hayabusabruh]

Was balling the whole time I made this

 

[Geki-D]

Well after the events of TLOU2 I do not see room for a TLOU3. It seems ND wanted to seal the IP forever. Its sad becuase think is one of the best apocaliptic zombie series...

Spoiler

What do you think the Fireflies are going to do when they learn that Ellie is still alive, and Abby knows whereabouts she is?

They could easily make a sequel. Or just make a new story in the same universe.

 

[Woggleman]

They should make a game set in this universe but with different characters. There are many stories that can be told in this world. One nitpick I have is apparently Ellie forgot how to craft nail bombs.

 

[nowhat]

Spoiler

What do you think the Fireflies are going to do when they learn that Ellie is still alive, and Abby knows whereabouts she is?

Spoiler

Does she? There's no guarantee that Ellie will go back to Jackson.

 

[Keihart]

They should make a game set in this universe but with different characters. There are many stories that can be told in this world. One nitpick I have is apparently Ellie forgot how to craft nail bombs.

Hahaha, yeah, but hey where too OP as throwables and proximity mines.

 

[DragoonKain]

Some later reviews came in from people I respect.

Colin Moriarty
Jeremy Jahns
ACG(Karak)

All liked the game, but think it flutters in spots and isn’t as good as the first.

I’m at Hillcrest so I’m not near the end I don’t think, so interested to see if I agree with them on their takes or not,

 

[Knitted Knight]

They should make a game set in this universe but with different characters. There are many stories that can be told in this world. One nitpick I have is apparently Ellie forgot how to craft nail bombs.

I think they thought it would be too OP for beginners and become the go-to throwable weapon of choice instead of the molotovs - just speculating. I have no idea why they decided to split the nail bombs into trip mines and pipe bombs. Nail bombs were fine. You could always make them consume more materials or put a cap on how many you can carry. Very odd. More odd when you consider Factions multiplayer.

I’m at Hillcrest so I’m not near the end I don’t think, so interested to see if I agree with them on their takes or not,

You are at the very beginning of your journey. Many, many hours still ahead.

 

[SliChillax]

Spoiler

Man that ruined skyscraper is one of the best levels in gaming. So horribly beautiful and intense.

 

[timmyp53]

Alright so I just beat the game today. I'm going to share my surprising thoughts and opinions on this matter.

So first of all I went in to the game knowing
major story beats from a random spoiler filled assassin's creed youtube comment section.

While playing the game I was fully expecting to dislike it. I thought I knew the main beats of the story and admittedly was taken aback after "that" moment happened.

Almost close to a feeling of hate and repulsion for characters formed in me while playing.

Fast forward to now my thoughts have reversed. Naughty Dog has done something truly incredible with this title...

While I reached near the conclusion of the game. I really began to grasp/ to understand what ND was trying to get across and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I realized the laser focused character motivations and flaws are true to life. Seeing these elements form in me as I played, as I witnessed myself holding feelings of homophobia/aversion/repulsion/hate for what I don't understand or don't want to understand.

In this game world full of violence and hate , the unthinkable happened. I let go and became more open minded.

This world is not black and white and when I first began this journey I saw everything surrounding this game too narrowly.

Don't be confused I'm not even in the slightest talking about politics or acceptance of ideas. You can't be forced to accept anything. That is why we are blessed with free will. What was given to me instead was perspective. The last of us part 2 might be the greyest cinematic story ever told.

Naughty dog presents us with an unsettling journey. A journey that is supposed to make you uncomfortable, a journey that makes you question why characters go to the incredible heights they do, and engaged me on level that I haven't seen before in a game.

This is and will be one of the most divisive stories ever told. And that's a good thing. This will be a topic for years to come and I truly believe thats what their team set out to do.

Im eagerly looking forward to their next title and feel truly happy I didn't give up on the game after the leaks and controversy.

Thanks for reading fam.

 

[mekes]

I need to be put out of my misery. Please somebody confirm that Dina will die? I’m still early in the game and don’t know if I could do 20+ hours with that naked mole rat flashing her mongoloid smile at me as I play acoustic guitar. Where’s the button prompt to wrap it around her head?

I can’t believe that Abby is my favourite part of the game so far. She is the only spark in this failing melodrama. I’m just playing, hoping to reach something good and being disappointed every time.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[Kingthrash]

You're Welcome

 

[Korkoran]

Guys. If without RT support, ND finds a way to do this on PS4, imagine what this studio will do with the PS5 in hand.

Radiosity (nearby things take on the color of the illuminated object). And detail that ND was a pioneer in this with the PS3.

Naturally losing or gaining strength with distance.

 

[Geki-D]

Spoiler

Does she? There's no guarantee that Ellie will go back to Jackson.

Spoiler

"It's a lead"

 

[Keihart]

Guys. If without RT support, ND finds a way to do this on PS4, imagine what this studio will do with the PS5 in hand.

Radiosity (nearby things take on the color of the illuminated object). And detail that ND was a pioneer in this with the PS3.

Naturally losing or gaining strength with distance.

Yes, the amount of cubemaps they probably used to fake all those reflections was either a very cool pipeline or a lot a man hours making them. I'm inclined to say it's a little bit of both (talking about the plethora of puddles and windows and surfaces that have a mix of cubemaps and screen space reflections without being proper reflections like the specific mirrors)

 

[nowhat]

Guys. If without RT support, ND finds a way to do this on PS4, imagine what this studio will do with the PS5 in hand.

Radiosity (nearby things take on the color of the illuminated object). And detail that ND was a pioneer in this with the PS3.

Naturally losing or gaining strength with distance.

<Alex from DF>I can't wait to see what this game looks on PC with proper ray-tracing</Alex from DF>

 

[GymWolf]

I'm playing the finale and now i understand why people talked about characters doing moronic chooices...

God ellie is such a bitch in this game, i was very sad when

Spoiler

abby didn't killed her.

 

[GymWolf]

I need to be put out of my misery. Please somebody confirm that Dina will die? I’m still early in the game and don’t know if I could do 20+ hours with that naked mole rat flashing her mongoloid smile at me as I play acoustic guitar. Where’s the button prompt to wrap it around her head?

I can’t believe that Abby is my favourite part of the game so far. She is the only spark in this failing melodrama. I’m just playing, hoping to reach something good and being disappointed every time.

Yeah abby is the best character in the game for me, mostly because the other characters are boring or shitty.
Not that i was expecting great or memorable secondary characters after the first game...

 

[DForce]

Game feels much better during my second playthrough.

 

[GaviotaGrande]

<Alex from DF>I can't wait to see what this game looks on PC with proper ray-tracing</Alex from DF>

Well it would look absolutely amazing, no doubt. People who shit on ray-tracing are those who never experienced it in real time playing a game. It's a shame. I hope that they can add some ray-tracing in PS5 version, especially when it comes to contact shadows. Take this screenshot for example. That little bench next to the bed looks like it's floating.

 

[nowhat]

Well it would look absolutely amazing, no doubt. People who shit on ray-tracing are those who never experienced it in real time playing a game.

Oh sure (but we'll probably never know, as I don't see this coming to PC), was just having a laugh at the guy. You could do a two-tile bingo sheet for DF to see if it's Alex just from the transcript. If you get "ray-tracing" and "Crysis", you got a bingo.

 

[ToadMan]

Spoiler

It seems to be the message the game is sending. I’ve had to do this calculation in my life: to pursue legal action against someone I’ve felt very wronged by, or just let it go and move on. Anything that could’ve been gained by involving courts a and lawyers and all the stress would’ve been totally nullified. So sometimes you let shit go. Ellie was still haunted and did the math and decided It was worth going after Abby after it had already gotten Jesse killed and Tommy crippled. She paid a price for it, even when she realized at the last minute Joel would’ve wanted forgiveness and for her to move on and be happy.

It might not have been the right choice for her to go after Abby, but in the end she saved her and Lev and paid a price. She found resolution in forgiveness and saved the person she meant to kill. In the world as presented, she’s lucky she only lost a couple fingers in that pursuit

Spoiler: SPOILER

I agree. I also think part of Ellie’s motivation wasn’t so much revenge for Joel as it was a need to feel like she was doing this to mend things with Joel - with his memory at least.

Looking at the scenes leading up to his death - the party where she lashes out at him and then the porch conversation where she’s says he should have let her life mean something by letting the procedure go ahead.

It’s clear there was a problem with their relationship based on the events at the end of TLOU 1. It seems Joel tried to fix things and stay relevant in Ellie’s life.

She just pushed Joel away in those moments though and then he was dead before they could properly reconcile.

Her revenge mission was as much to exorcise her own guilt at how things had become with Joel as it was to take revenge or enact justice.

In the end that’s what she realised.

The parallel was there with Abby too - she’s asked by Lev and Yara why she’s helping and says words to the effect that she needed to do it for her feelings’. It’s not about them it’s about her.

I think Abby and Ellie’s motivations are largely similar.

 

[ToadMan]

I need to be put out of my misery. Please somebody confirm that Dina will die? I’m still early in the game and don’t know if I could do 20+ hours with that naked mole rat flashing her mongoloid smile at me as I play acoustic guitar. Where’s the button prompt to wrap it around her head?

I can’t believe that Abby is my favourite part of the game so far. She is the only spark in this failing melodrama. I’m just playing, hoping to reach something good and being disappointed every time.

... Keep going ... Things change as you progress ...

 

[PanzerAzel]

That's literally the entire point of the game and why you play as Abby LATER, after you've come to hate her.

I understand that, and it didn’t work.

My tommy:

thomas kretschmann

Love this guy, but he’s far too German looking to pass off as a good ‘ol boy from Texas. Doubt he could hit the accent either.

I must admit its strange to be about women empowerment yet them reducing Dinas tits. Ellie, Abby and Dina all have less than average. One or two characters would be fine but all three gives the impression some how that bigger busts are somehow bad. For me this is the first time politics has started intruding in Naughty Dog games in a forced/unnatural way.

Welcome to the strange world of Druckmann, who apparently views any form of overt femininity as disempowerment and over-sexualization; combine that with a heavy desire for trans accommodation and there you go. I’m honestly surprised there were any characters that had racks larger than Ellie’s mosquito bites. If they weren’t all dressed up in gear that constantly hid their anatomy, it was borderline non-existent or heavily marginalized. What an exceptionally sad worldview to hold that looks upon the female form as something to be ashamed of and belittled.

I need to be put out of my misery. Please somebody confirm that Dina will die? I’m still early in the game and don’t know if I could do 20+ hours with that naked mole rat flashing her mongoloid smile at me as I play acoustic guitar. Where’s the button prompt to wrap it around her head?

Agreed.

If it’s any consolation, Dina does get her head slammed repeatedly into the floor by Abby, very, very hard.

 

[Apollo Helios]

<Alex from DF>I can't wait to see what this game looks on PC with proper ray-tracing</Alex from DF>

as far as PC port begging, that would be something he wouldn't do because he is PCMR and that would mean consoles have better games which is actually a fact but if he did he can go ***** input your choice of curse here, I hate that DICKtator guy.

 

[sxodan]

LOL, SkillUp is one cheeky bastard.

 

[Steve.1981]

Ok. After finishing the game on Saturday & letting it sit for a couple of days, I've noticed a couple of things. Firstly, it keeps creeping into my head, like it made an impression on me & I didn't even realise. Second, I think I misunderstood the main themes, or ideas, that it was trying to get across.

Spoiler: Musings on the whole story

I can't help thinking that guilt is the main driving force of the whole story. Both Ellie & Abby doing things because they feel guilty & want to make amends somehow.

Thinking again about the flashbacks with Joel & Ellie, I'm struck with the idea of her behaving like an annoying teenager who tells their parent "I hate you! You don't understand anything! I know better!" While the parent just tries not to make things even worse. I admit that during the scenes where Ellie attacks Joel verbally, I wanted him to defend himself in a more animated fashion. But now I can't help looking at Joel as a dad, who just wants to protect his daughter & tell her that he loves her. Because he did defend himself, right at the end when he told Ellie he would do it all again. He both defended his actions & told her how much he loves her at the same time. Quietly. In a mature way, like a responsible parent.

So now I'm looking at Ellie's quest for revenge & thinking that she was driven by guilt. She felt guilty because she gave Joel such a hard time for loving & protecting her, only to then lose him forever, before the reconciliation that was coming, based on their last conversation. That moves me, I have to say.

Abby mirrors Ellie in some ways. I'm now thinking that she was driven to help Yara & Lev because she felt guilty for having tortured Joel in the way she did. Killing him slowly, painfully & in (for him) an embarrassing fashion. I think the memory of those actions tormented her & drove her need to do something good & worthwhile. Funnily enough, she then almost becomes what Joel was in part 1. She dedicates herself to protecting a child against all odds.

We see her running down that corridor in the Salt Lake City hospital multiple times. First she finds her dad, dead. This drives her to get revenge & kill Joel. But then later, she finds herself running back down the same corridor in her nightmares. She finds Yara & Lev. She realises that killing Joel didn't change anything for the better. It didn't bring her dad back. She does everything in her power to protect Yara & Lev. Only then does she run down the corridor to find her dad, turning to her with a smile.

I dunno for sure. These are the thoughts that I've been stuck with since finishing the game. It's definitely made an impression on me & I'm starting to think I was too harsh in my criticisms.