I just wanted to put out there what finishing The Last of Us 2 really makes me feel, which is that this story is not a warm story or a welcoming story. It is not my story, and I think that is very important, at least to me, in terms of processing what I have just experienced and why I really love the game.
This story did not care about me at all, I think to myself.
And I think this is one of its most defining and polarizing features. The Last of Us 2 is somebody else’s story. I got to live inside it for a little while, but it’s not my story, and it doesn’t care about me, and as someone who has read many beautiful books that have done me the same cold way, I have to say I personally admire it, and I think it is quite harmonious in how it makes me care so goddam much despite caring for me so goddam little.
Because the thing about the first game, and maybe part of why the sequel feels so jarring, is that the first game cares. The Last of Us REALLY cares about its player. It really cares about me, as I play. It makes its lovely, sweeping moves in the story where people change and think and it choreographs these beautiful scenes and exchanges between Ellie and Joel to make us feel like we are a part of something bigger than ourselves, and in this, it succeeds.
But I have learned that the sequel is not the original.
In the sequel, that great big beautiful thing we thought we were a part of is dismantled violently and abruptly right before our eyes, and instead of apologizing to us or hoisting us up and making us feel better about it, this story forces us to experience the pain of picking up the pieces of a broken life with absolutely zero sympathy. It is brutal and mean in this way, and to experience the story means to experience the brutality and meanness of Ellie’s survival and her grief, and personally, I think it is just incredibly powerful how it culminates in the end. It’s harsh and beautiful, and I am very proud of Ellie, and I have a lot more to say, but maybe later because I just wanted to make a feelings post for now.
Note that none of this is up for debate, because it is just my feelings. If you don’t like my feelings, that’s okay with me, and I am not trying to change anyone’s mind, just show my point of view. Thanks.
