I know you're a big fan of The Last of Us and saw you playing the second one... How's the story? Is the flack the game's been getting since the leak warranted?
aye man i’m having a blast with the game lmao. I’ll preface this by saying I’m yet to finish it (although I’m really far ahead and shouldn’t take much longer).
honestly, the conversation around this game is/will always be tainted.
the game does a lot that makes multiple/different groups of people feel uncomfortable. It has a lesbian protag and romantic scenes and it features a woman who’s a bodybuilder in one of the most prominent roles (she’s brollic and doesn’t fit in most dweeb gamers expectations of either what a girl video game character should look like or “anime tiddies” tropes). It also forces the players to confront their biases about characters they had/have placed on a pedestal, and it’s brutal.
i said that to say, there’s a herd mentality at play here. Internet weirdos weaponized the game’s LGBT representation and the way it challenges video game tropes (even if we’re only speaking artificially here) to spread toxicity and misinformation about the game, with the aid of leaked, and out of context spoilers, to point at it and use it as evidence of a so-called “agenda”. Also, some people were beasting about said out of context spoilers so hard they can’t walk it back without looking stupid, so they double down.
in relation to putting characters on a pedestal, some people wanted this game to somehow be a cheerful carousel ride with the protags from the first game, despite it being a violent post-apocalyptic world and actions having reactions and consequences. Essentially, niggas is pussy and wanted disney princess happily ever after endings and shit. but Marlo told yall years ago “you want it to be one way, but it’s the other way”
there’s other elements at play too. it’s a critically and commercially successful, exclusive game. niggas that can’t play it, won’t like it, and saying you not feeling it gives you that “je ne sais quoi i’m a critic and know better than the masses” aura that a lot of people find alluring.
that’s not to say there aren’t any issues or people that have valid complaints not tethered or rooted in what I said here (I personally feel some sections drag, could’ve been shortened). I’m just saying there’s too much noise around the conversation about this game for me to take it seriously or partake. Niggas is weirdos.
Ultimately, to me, the game is brazy. The encounters are super tense, the gameplay is much improved and you can do some really cool shit. I’m enjoying the story, but i’ve never been the type to wholesale hate on something because xyz characters got their wigs pushed back. Unless this shit totally collapses on it’s final act, it’ll be one of my favorite games, and even if it does, it’ll still rank pretty high for me.
shit nigga made me write a book, you know.
this is the only games media I trust
^ exactly why I asked. I appreciate you taking the time @tsunamiwavesurfing