Disclaimer: Read this at your risk. If you do not want spoilers, try out Last of Us 2 for yourself and then give this a read. I will be talking about the game events of the original Last of Us going forward. To remind you again, if you still have not played the game yet then I suggest you go and do so. Okay here goes!

Although it’s one of the most remarkable games ever directed and created by (Neil Druckmann) Naughty Dog, the gameplay (because I dont have a console) right before part two will make the moments hit you in the feels deeply. However, part two does not depend on your ability to remember specific events and conversations, but it plays off the heavy emotions I felt watching the gameplay.

After the release of the game, it started getting a lot of negative reviews. According to one of my university friends after he played the game, “The Last of Us 2 is one of the most anticipated games to come out this year and it was a complete disaster. The gameplay alongside with surroundings and visuals are top notch, the same can’t be said for its storyline. The storyline’s main theme of revenge is beaten over to the headway too many times which makes a very unsatisfying ending. Nothing from the first game exists like interesting world building which revolves around rich characters. This is a perfect example on how not to “subvert expectations for a follow up sequel”. He rates the game 5/10.

That is fine. Everyone has got a different opinion about the game especially how it carried on, especially focusing on the beloved character “Joel” who completely shocked us when we came to know how swiftly his part came to an end- a complete character change and an early death that we weren't expecting. It is like Disney changing the character of Luke Skywalker from a brave Jedi to becoming one that is frightened and meek.

We know Joel for the fearless acts he has executed throughout the first game to protect beloved Ellie, and not letting his guard down before trusting and helping a bunch of people. In the second part, “Joel” has changed. He is not the same as we used to know, he is innocent, dropped his guard down, trusted the person to quick and then he’s cornered not knowing what was about to happen and what he has done. I know it is disappointing and that what happened with the character was not right. We all expected a satisfactory death. Although anything can happen in an apocalypse, it made us feel how things can change in reality too. Of course, we wont be having a zombie apocalypse anytime soon, you know what I mean.

For the creators of Naughty Dog, the entire gaming industry and its culture, this game sets the standard for every other game that comes after. The name Last of Us is one of the biggest, unique selling games for the gaming world because of how different and special it is. It is like playing a game and movie merged into one- a thrilling cinematic experience.

There are many things about the game that created an unnecessary backlash before the game was released. Finally when the game was made public, the audience went crazy than expected. Many parts of the game were not criticised. Except the storytelling part which stuck out the most for the audience, and received bad scores left and right while game journalists were being humiliated for their good impressions and remarkable ratings of the game.

Let us set one thing straight. Last of Us Part Two is the best game for the industry when it comes to graphics, gameplay, the design and also the story telling. There were some parts of the game that didnt make sense to me when watching and was not at all effective (the last scene), but does that mean the game is worth fifty percent of the rating? Absolutely not. My opinion about this game is that it is an amazing game changer and should be considered as the best game of the year. This game showed us what we werent expecting to see and that is change. Thinking differently and from a different perspective is what we all need to see. This game is proof that we cannot see the surprises, sadness and heartbreak about to happen in this story. You will imagine yourself in their world. The sadness when it hits, you will start to tear up, feel uncomfortable playing the game because of the situations that you are about to face in the story and it will shatter bits of hope you may have until the game finally closes its curtains.

I would say, you should play this game with a free mind instead of feeling sad for Joel. You dont expect your favorite character to be throughout the whole game, anything can happen. Try understanding the character perspectives and then you may get the clear image about what Naughty Dog was truly aiming for when they delivered this final gaming masterpiece. They ask the important questions and they answer quite smartly too.

My rating for this game is a solid 9/10.