«The Last of Us. One of the most highly rated games. It is probably one of Sony’s main exclusives.
Many awards, high critic scores. The merits of this game can be listed for a very long time.
But I would like to write about impressions from the perspective of a person who has been playing on PC for a long time. Who, after so many years, was able to play this «work of art».
The forbidden fruit is always sweet, and the desire to play this product was even stronger.
Story
Let’s start with the story, as it is truly the best part of the game. Of course, most people have already played it and know the events that take place in the game. But there are people like me who have recently played it, or maybe are just about to.
The main character of the game, Joel, is a man who engages in smuggling in a post-apocalyptic world. The second main character of the game, whom we will get to play a little, is Ellie, a girl immune to a deadly virus. And so our smuggler is given the task of delivering the girl to a group of scientists, to which he eventually agrees.
Circumstances force him to go through this difficult path.
And so the main narrative of the game begins, we have to overcome a great distance to reach our destination. The post-apocalyptic world is cruel: bandits, marauders, soldiers, all want to kill you. Another problem is the «clickers», they are quite dangerous and you will have to fight them too.
I know there are different disputes on this topic, but let’s consider them as a local kind of zombies. Individually, they are not much of a threat, but a few of them will easily tear you to pieces.
The story, as I mentioned above, is the strongest aspect of the game.
It is very interesting to observe the characters’ narrative, the development of their relationships. In my opinion, Joel very quickly got used to and softened towards Ellie. I understand whom she reminded him of, but somehow he very quickly transformed from a tough smuggler into a caring guardian.
It was interesting to listen to their conversations, as later when playing «God of War 4» there was a certain resonance, «Ellie, do you see anything interesting here, well Joel, of course» and «Atreus, be quiet», even though both Joel and Kratos are pretty tough guys.
Several interesting stories intertwined in the main storyline. Secondary characters, each with their own difficult fate.
There are very strong emotional moments. And in general, there is not much to criticize.
Gameplay
Now here, I have a few questions, «why?». This is a cool linear adventure and everyone agrees on that. Then the question arises: «why is there crafting in this game?».
I asked myself, so I will answer myself — to stretch the gameplay and that’s it. This mechanic does not provide any advantage to the atmosphere of the game or make it more interesting.
If all these items could simply be found, no one would be disappointed. As it is, we are forced to make lockpicks, then open doors, gather resources, make a few «goodies», and more lockpicks.
Why?
Character progression. Of course, where would we be without it in a linear, corridor, shooter game. A very important element that will make you run around the location. What would our hero lose if he were an ordinary guy without health-boosting pills?
There are games of a similar type where these elements of stretching the game are absent and that’s great. I thought of «Metro», the first or the second, it doesn’t matter. A linear adventure, you find something along the way, buy something from traders, and that’s fine.
And only in the third part of the series, where very large locations appeared, they added item crafting and weapon upgrades, not character upgrades. Exploring the locations would have been interesting without these mechanics.
For the sake of loot, as well as notes revealing this world. So, why?
Another point where I doubt or maybe even mistaken, is the attempt at realism in the game. I’m not sure, but many moments of the game, including the storytelling, make the events in this world seem realistic.
Throughout the story, they managed to make everything quite logical. But in the end, we have to kill a lot of soldiers. Smuggling is a dangerous business and changes a person who has been doing it for a long time, but he doesn’t become a super soldier.
They could have played the moment out better, simply by having fewer enemies, that’s it, no need to come up with anything. There is one trick — to bypass all the enemies. This works both at this moment and throughout the game, run to the end of the location and you’re done. But this is also a downside and essentially «breaks the mechanics».
In the end, why?
Based on all these «whys», there would be much fewer complaints about the gameplay in general if these mechanics were not there. And I’m silent about a dozen moments of rearranging the ladder, crossing a plank, moving Ellie on a pallet across the water. As a shooter game, of course, it works, plus stealth elements and a little melee combat, all this is not bad.
Nothing innovative, but nothing you can really find fault with.
Conclusion
Overall, the impressions of the game are certainly positive. I like it when there’s a good story. It’s just that, in order to see this story, you need to go through a game in which the gameplay part leaves much to be desired.
And when you get bored of killing mannequins and repeating the same mechanics, cool story moments and dramatic situations won’t fix that.
I am surprised by the critics’ ratings, as this is a game, not a book or a movie (although in movies, the story is not always the top priority either). And a product should be evaluated as a game, taking into account all factors: the story, gameplay, world design, graphics.
You can’t limit yourself to just one thing. People choose any product based on several factors, and here, if the story impresses, it means «Game of the Year», this is incorrect.
Based on all the points listed, this product doesn’t look that good. The story hooks you, the gameplay is stretched and ordinary, the staging of moments sometimes looks funny. What a masterpiece, at best a decent game.»