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Is The Last of Us overrated?

Any game with praise like The Last of Us is gonna let someone out there down, no game is for everyone.

But for me, I think it's rated fairly - it's got some of the best writing ever in a video game and it's survival horror mechanics are incredibly smartly designed. It's also one of the few games where combat somehow feels really well directed like a movie. I'm not even sure how they achieved it but it still impresses me to this day - Very cinematic camera zooms and sfxs make it so fun to bash dudes heads in.
 
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yeah
 
i understand the critics about ellie being invisible to enemies.
but i prefer that over games with companion that screw your stealth session because they are morons that can be see by enemies.
if it was the opposite, double the number of people would cry about that, that's for sure.
their explanation was sincere, ia is still moronic in this games and i prefer some flaw in immersion with ellie dancing in front of enemies with her invisible clock from harry potter than failing every single stealth section because of her.
they were far less sincere about the reason why ia during gunfight was downgraded compared to the reveal. something about being too realistic and difficult...just to talk about trying to have advanced ia in both unchy 4 and tlou2 😆 😆

the real tragedy during stealth was the unawareness of the enemies towards dead allies and their shitty sight.

ia during gunfights on harder difficulties was mostly fine and aggressive except for some bug that happen in every single game ever released, even in games with 3 times the budget like rdr2.
 
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One of the best games ever made. So no, I wouldn't call it overrated by any stretch of the imagination.

TLOU2 has some big ass shoes to fill and I doubt it will come close to it. Its a game that even though it was obvious would happen, because of the incredible success of the first game, it still shouldn't have been made.
The story was done, there was no need to continue it and I bet it will end up suffering due to to this.
 
joe_zazen said:
It is in part a reaction caused by realistic sounds. A dog in pain triggers something in my brain which I have no desire to trigger via a game of all things. If people pain is done in a super realistic way like in that ball peen arm and hammer trailer, that is a turn off as well. But normal game fodder? They dont feel, sound, or act like real people.
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I can agree with this, feeling empathy is a good thing. My beef is with the group of people who will complain about the dog killing--yet they will go on a rampage with the human ennemies.

I had nightmares after the scene in god of war 3, the scene where you kill Poseidon was so violent, and the way they show the violence it quite disturbing.... That being said, I thought that the new God of War did not put me out of my comfort zone enough, Kratos is too "nice" in a way.
 
GymWolf said:
if it was the opposite, double the number of people would cry about that, that's for sure.
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The game would be long forgotten, they definitely made the right call by preventing the AI helpers from being too disruptive.
Dargor said:
The story was done, there was no need to continue it and I bet it will end up suffering due to to this.
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It depends how this game turns out, the first one had a bigger story beyond what the characters went through, I'm worried this one will be about empty revenge (no hope for cure here, gray zone morality, etc.). obviously I wish I am wrong.
 
I would say under rated, instead of a ten it deserves a twenty. One of the best gaming experiences I ever had besides Uncharted 2 and Bloodborne. Pure magic and loved the pacing, story and gameplay. Perfect symphony imo or as close to it.
 
I was a big Uncharted fan but I wasn't too keen on TLoU. Maybe it was zombie fatigue at the time but aside from a few moments here and there in the game I found it to be pretty boring.
 
alabtrosMyster said:
It depends how this game turns out, the first one had a bigger story beyond what the characters went through, I'm worried this one will be about empty revenge (no hope for cure here, gray zone morality, etc.). obviously I wish I am wrong.
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Thats what I'm hinting at, I doubt they'll have a meaningful story to tell since the one in the first game was already so complete.

But who knows, they did a good thing once, they might be able to do it again.
 
Not at all, if you want a story focused game it's still up there as the best experience you can have. It just sucks that Sony tried to do it again with basically all of their first party titles this gen.
 
I thought it was a very solid game but would never go back to it. The most memorable part was trying to start the generator without dying haha. Uncharted is a better experience imo but Last of Us was very good.
 
I found the gameplay really lacking in the fun category. For me, it killed any interest I had in the story and world about half way through.

The "puzzle" segments or raft jockeying were just plain awful and unnecessary, the action bits were linear and uninspired, and the clicker segments were too scripted and felt like a bad survival horror game.

It had me gripped through the first few hours, but the interactive portions quickly wore down any enjoyment I had.
 
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Lionel Richie said:
Not at all, if you want a story focused game it's still up there as the best experience you can have. It just sucks that Sony tried to do it again with basically all of their first party titles this gen.
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Yeah I think about Joel and Ellie when I'm web swinging across skyscrapers in Spider-man and when I'm freezing robot dinosaurs in Horizon Zero Dawn

/s

😂
 
Hobbygaming said:
Yeah I think about Joel and Ellie when I'm web swinging across skyscrapers in Spider-man and when I'm freezing robot dinosaurs in Horizon Zero Dawn

/s

😂
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Spider-Man is the exception to the template. Horizon is basically a RPG version of TLOU (without the cool story), it even features some stepdad bonding.
 
Personally, I wasn't a huge fan of the gameplay in The Last of Us. Especially the zombie stealth segments.

It's 95 on Metacritic. I think that's slightly overrated. I think it's closer to 88 or 89, maybe 90, which is still an outstanding, top 10% game.

Is it better than Bloodborne, GTA V, God of War, Portal 2, Arkham City, or Mass Effect 2? I don't think so.
 
I think so.

It has a great presentation, but the story is very generic/predictable, and the incredibly average gameplay doesn't make up for that.
 
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I never (or very rarely) buy into hype, to me it was an okay game with massive flaws in gameplay. The stealth sections were especially bad, were some sections felt extremely random (the cemetery escape thing... the way clickers react there made no sense compared to the rest of the game). The gunplay felt also very lackluster, but that's okay because it doesn't want to be a shooter. I never felt like playing again... but I did like the relationship between Ellie and Joel and how they grew together over the game, though.
 
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Lionel Richie said:
"Walking breathing macguffin girl who is prone to sarcastic quips is the only person that can fix a current apocalyptic event, must travel while coming to grips with her feelings for her stepdad".

Which game am I describing?
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Bravo! That reach to connect the two games like that is impressive lol

Is Ellie a robot too? 🤔 Horizon really isn't about a girl coming to grips with her feelings towards her stepdad though...

She loses him early on and that's that
 
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Hobbygaming said:
Bravo! That reach to connect the two games like that is impressive lol

Is Ellie a robot too? 🤔 Horizon really isn't about a girl coming to grips with her feelings towards her stepdad though...
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There is some conflict and bonding though. Horizon's story was so inconsequential that I don't remember much about her father figure narrative, but I remember that he was a bit rough and dickish but they eventually warmed up to each other. It felt very similar, I think Guerilla was forced to kill him so people wouldn't make the connection. Can't fool me though!

Come to think of it, Spider-Man is also about a father figure struggle.
 
Lionel Richie said:
There is some conflict and bonding though. Horizon's story was so inconsequential that I don't remember much about her father figure narrative, but I remember that he was a bit rough and dickish but they eventually warmed up to each other. It felt very similar, I think Guerilla was forced to kill him so people wouldn't make the connection. Can't fool me though!

Come to think of it, Spider-Man is also about a father figure struggle.
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No, Rost was already warmed up to Aloy and there really isn't a big emphasis on that part of the story he died and she moved on

Dr. Octopus was Peter's Boss and a role model yes, a father figure... no

And if parents are all you have, to say that these games are similar Lol
 
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Hobbygaming said:
No, Rost was already warmed up to Aloy and there really isn't a big emphasis on that part of the story he died and she moved on

Dr. Octopus was Peter's Boss and a role model yes, a father figure... no

And if parents are all you have, to say that these games are similar Lol
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I'm being facetious here, but you seriously don't think it had any impact on these games whatsoever? I clearly see a template for "bombastic cinematic experience" here.
 
I love it, its a great game, but if it had just one more pallet moving puzzle, I would hate it.

I played for the first time the ps4 version, so to me it looks and runs great and I took gaf´s advice and played it without the ...hear mode was it called, and I loved it.

My seconds runs was vanilla, with hear mode and it kinda ruins the game. the X ray thing ruins the stealth, So i recommend playing it with headphones, stealth and no xray visions.


Great fucking game.
 
DonF said:
I love it, its a great game, but if it had just one more pallet moving puzzle, I would hate it.

I played for the first time the ps4 version, so to me it looks and runs great and I took gaf´s advice and played it without the ...hear mode was it called, and I loved it.

My seconds runs was vanilla, with hear mode and it kinda ruins the game. the X ray thing ruins the stealth, So i recommend playing it with headphones, stealth and no xray visions.


Great fucking game.
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Your next run up the difficulty to hard (or above if you feel like it) without the magic radar obviously.... I did it twice on hard now and I'm starting to feel the game is too easy even on hard--I don't consider myself that good of a player.
 
I liked it. It was fun tricking the AI on the harder difficulties. The designers did a good job of balancing scarcity with freedom of action.

Dunno about overrated. Most narrative-driven games are going to be "over"rated by people who loved the narrative (Earthbound) and underrated by those who didn't.
 
Yes it's good, but not it's not great, it's one of those you could watch somebody else play it an get a similar experience imo.
 
I LOVED the story but HATED the the game play so that is a pretty solid yes from me . If there was every a reason from Twitch or Youtube playthroughs this is it. Can't wait to watch Last of Us 2!
 
Absolutely not. Great considered gameplay with healthy tactical and stealth elements along with the thing that the vast majority of other games lack - great writing and pacing.
 
Yes it is, it is a good game (7.5), good history with a repetitive gameplay, boring after a while. I dont regret buying it on my ps3, it is a good game :)
 
First thing: I loved TLOU, I love TLOU now. But it's not a masterpiece of Game Design, Game Mechanics, IA and other things of Gaming. The Last Of Us has a film script, the characters are characterized, they have a deep personality (not like Bioshock which is among the best in history)-
 
It's one of the most overrated games of all time. It has high production values, that is its only exceptional aspect. Far from groundbreaking narrative/storytelling and slightly above average gameplay at best. Both of it's main inspirations in Ico and RE4 blow it out of the water.
 
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For me, the game was great, but it's story was just your typical, uninspired zombie apocalypse thing (I know, no zombies bla bla). What elevated it from storytelling mediocrity were the characters, by the end of the game you really cared for them.
 
Lionel Richie said:
Spider-Man is the exception to the template. Horizon is basically a RPG version of TLOU (without the cool story), it even features some stepdad bonding.
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plot, storytelling method and gameplay in horizon are totally different compared to tlou, and his dad
dies in a couple of hours from the beginning of the game
 
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alabtrosMyster said:
Your next run up the difficulty to hard (or above if you feel like it) without the magic radar obviously.... I did it twice on hard now and I'm starting to feel the game is too easy even on hard--I don't consider myself that good of a player.
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hard is very easy, if you explore you always have resources and dead enemies give you enough ammunition.

the last 2 difficulty level are better.
 
For people saying it was a walking simulator is either trolling or haven't played much of the game, there is tons of gameplay, people obviously don't understand the concept of exploration or just don't like this type of game. If it's not your type of game then I understand but to just say it's flat out boring or shit.. Well you are wrong!

The sales, reviews and success of the game speaks for itself!
 
GymWolf said:
plot, storytelling method and gameplay in horizon are totally different compared to tlou, and his dad
dies in a couple of hours from the beginning of the game
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You still bond and then the girl reminisces on their time together during the journey, like "holy shit if only Roast could see me now!!". I think Horizon is much closer in tone and overall presentation to TLOU than it is to The Witcher 3, despite also being a RPG and despite The Witcher 3 also featuring stepdad dynamics. I'm not even presenting that as a negative, but there's no reason to act like Sony exclusives don't follow a bit of a model. So does Nintendo btw, but Nintendo varies the gameplay style of its games while Sony basically does "third person set piece heavy romp" over and over.
 
I thought it was great when it first released and nothing has changed.
I enjoyed the story, I think Joel was a great main character, there's good performances from the main cast and it overall did a good job about making me care for these characters. It's not the most amazing story ever told but at least to me it is one of the more memorable "zombie apocalypse" stories.

And I always see people saying the gameplay was bad but I personally loved it. On hard and with listening mode disabled I found all encounters to be very tense and it made a good job at making me use every tool at my disposal instead of sticking to a couple of ones I like which is what I end up doing in a lot of games. I also really like games with simple crafting like this, by limiting it to a small number of materials you can still make resources feel scarce and exploring every location feel worth it without then having to spend 20 minutes looking at a menu to craft and manage your inventory.

It has some issues like the bad raft "puzzles", and Ellie basically being invisible to enemies was definitely a bit immersion breaking (though I'll take that over the alternatives of getting spotted because the AI screwed up or having to spend the entire game babysitting crappy AI), but overall it was a great game and one of the highlights of last gen for me.

Oh and the Multiplayer was great too. It's a real shame they cut it from the sequel.
 
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