Haha, don't worry. I don't want to take away your own perspective. That belongs to you. Just want to share why the handling of their relationship clicked for me. The way I see it, Part 2 is fundamentally about reconciling Joel's lie at the end of the first game, Ellie's forgiveness of him, and her own self acceptance. The ending to the first game remains perfect, Joel's commitment to Ellie is affirmed beautifully and disturbingly. There's a reason people (present party included) kept talking about it seven years later. In Part 2, Ellie's got the survivor's guilt carried over from Part 1, and the guilt of not turning back before they got to the hospital when Joel gave her the chance. She loves him. She hates him. She wants to be happy, she thinks she can't be. She feels confused, she's angry about it, and she can't talk with anyone about it. She relents on her pursuit of revenge when she sees Joel's smile. She feels wrong for what she's done to herself and her body. She forgives him in that moment. When she places the guitar down, she forgives herself. It's about them. I know without question that Ellie will be able to talk about Joel again. I know Ellie will not feel guilty anymore for allowing herself to be happy. That worked for me in a big way. I really love the ending they both got. It's worth a lot that Joel's last conversation with her was the conversation they had been needing to have since the ending of the first game. I think he feels at peace knowing that he didn't die with her hating him. I love these god damn characters so much. What else is there to say?
@@OrangeLightnings That is a very beautiful take on it. I wish i saw it that way.unfortunately i am just unable to. feel free not to read on, because my view is the exact opposite of yours. It was just character assassination for me. If joel was assassinated literally, ellie had a much worse fate of being assassinated as a character. When the game started i was ready to feel sorry for Ellie, and feel some resentment for Joel because of what his lie has caused her, and what the truth will make her feel. I was ready to accept her decision of leaving him to find the fireflies or something of the sort, even though i didnt want her to. Instead i was turned off by her petty and immature reaction towards him. Surely she would be angry at him, but to try to get back at him by being terrible, and for two years? and for what? what will that achieve other than pain for both of you? its not like she was trying to punish herself as well, she seemed to be doing alright with her friends, she just alienated him. And the problem is, they did Ellie's character a disservice by not showing what she felt during those two years, so its hard for me to empathize with her, even though i was ready to, because i know how much the lie will hurt her. I didn't see the conflict i expected to see, just pure petty anger. I can't fathom how Ellie from the first game, who knows the meaning of loss, and who desperately holds on to people she loves, even if meant making selfish decisions like she did with riley, can take Joel for granted for two years before trying to work things out. and how Ellie who knew Joel's pain at losing his daughter, would not empathize with his decision, especially since he was in a very hard position, was asked to leave her without a goodbye, even though she might not accept it. Ellie's survivors guilt was not present in this game, instead it was replaced by this new generic motive of "i wanted to die to give my life value". Ellie never struck me as someone who saw so little value in her life. she wanted to save humanity at any cost, so that the deaths of all those people were not for nothing, and because she can't bear to live happily if she doesnt do it. To sum it up its because she wanted to give other people's deaths value and meaning. I want to bring up a line from her mother's letter: "Life is worth living, find your purpose and fight for it". while the second part works as the motive behind ellie's resolve to find the vaccine, the first encourages her to live. Yet somehow ellie now undoubtedly wanted to die? despite both of her parents, joel and her mother, wanting her to live and encouraging her to find something else to fight for while living? Conversely, Joel was given the most badass and perfect line in the entire tlou franchise. you surely know the line. that is unfair to ellie, it was her time to shine, yet she is given lines that seem shallow and dont resonate with me and that don't ring true to her character. And i know its not utterly unrealistic for ellie to act that way, but for me it just took so much from her character. Ellie was the hope in the darkness, but seeing her finally broken by the world snuffs out that darkness. I cant believe she doesnt pick up the ps vita !! Finally, i would like to say how furious i was when she left joel's guitar behind: how can she leave that memory of him? you dont move on from people you love, you move on from the pain of their loss, but their memory will always be with you. If anything she is doing what joel did by refusing to accept the picture of sarah from tommy. I get people grieve differently, but how did ellie grieve her mother? by keeping her knife and letter. how did she sam? by keeping his robot, that you can clearly see in her room 4 years after. for me the ending was trying too hard to look deep, poetic and poignant, without bothering to make sense. she could for example have left joel's revolver behind, as a symbol of discarding all her negative emotions, about him, about abby and the world, and take the guitar with her as a memory, trying to relearn the songs with her opposite arm.
Thank you for having your own opinion, and not one ripped from some no name twitch streamer. You know these games, and you love these characters like I do. I really appreciate that. I actually agree with a lot of what you wrote, it just brings me to a different conclusion (or, the things we interpret even a little differently have pretty serious knock on effects). I loved how you talked about Anna. I loved how you talked about how Ellie carries her switch, and holds on to the robot she picked up for Sam. The details in Ellie's psychology that we would disagree on take us to different places. I've been thinking a lot of the burdens she carries for herself, and what it means for her to have put the guitar down. What it means that her path toward retribution cost her two fingers. Thinking about this game brings me a lot of joy. I'm holding back a little here because... well I'll make a whole video about it, and I think a point by point rebuttal would be a disservice to both of our perspectives. (Unless you want that, like, I'll do it yo!)
Everyone's gotta start at 0. I was lucky my first video got the traction it did, the feedback helped me improve much faster than I otherwise would. This was by far the hardest game to write for. Comments like yours make it worth the effort, they make me want to keep getting better. So thank-you. Next week: Horizon
You have a really great voice, it soothes me while you serenade me with an in-depth explanation of why this game is so great, by saying things that I knew but couldn't put the words to.
I have to give George credit for letting us watch his short film with him in the room, because I was not willing to let you guys watch any of these yesterday. Now I get to burden you with providing constructive feedback (and I get an excuse to talk about this game again)
The quality of work in this video is truly amazing, your thoughts and passion was truly shown. Keep doing what you are doing, love what you are creating on this channel.
This editing is perfect in literally every way. I love the way you talk and explain stuff. Please keep doing these types of videos. September 24th, we'll get news on TLOU2, and I cant wait.
I am more hyped for Last of Us 2 than I have been for any game in the past decade. It's hard to articulate my anticipation in a way that doesn't sound like obsession.
I can't believe this channel isn't blowing up with views. This shit keeps making me cry. Thank u for such good emotional and in depth looks at games that mean so much, u rock dude.
First of all great video (I just subscribed, your content is soooo good, I have a bunch of stuff to watch now, thanks!) When you were talking about humanity and how it's incurable, It reminded me of Fallout (New Vegas to be specific) and how after 200+ years and with established communities and some sort of law, jobs and all that stuff, people keep doing terrible things, committing the same mistakes that the pre-war government did and creating a huge movement based of terrible ideals. And how having a cure (or rebuilding society in the case of fallout) won't fix everything. I know it's not 100% related, but it crossed my mind while watching this.
Tbh, I think Ellie knows Joel is lying to her at the end. She has a good bullshit detector that saved her from the cannibals where I and other players were masterfully fooled. I think it’s going to be a driving force in TLOU2 and I’m terrified at how it’ll play out, even though I know it’ll be well done regardless.
Totally agree, right down to bring terrified of how it'll be approached in the sequel. Ellie's an amazing character. Her BS detector is her greatest survival tool, and I think it's going to make all relationships difficult for her, particularly Joel's.
I'm really curious to see what the gameplay looks like! There's room to improve the enemy AI and environmental interactions (like what they showed in that 2012 reveal), but the weapons, tools, and crafting were all really well balanced. I know a lot of people didn't love the way it played, but the "cat and mouse" system made for so many tense moments I can't find anywhere else.
I loved the idea of the journeys through cities and seasons, and I can see glimpses of open world design in the Uncharted: Lost Legacy game. I wonder if they will take it to the next level and allow us to roam freely through areas. Naughty Dog excels at tight storytelling, and I trust Neil Druckmann to keep the story focused on Ellie's journey (whatever it may be). As for the moment-to-moment gameplay, AI improvements need to be a must, and some more VARIETY in the death animations. The amount of times I saw the same scratching at the face animation while stealth killing people got pretty annoying. The game is firmly in my top 5 games ever, but small refinements like this could push TLoU 2 into masterpiece territory. Just a few more weeks until we find out more!
There's that one fight in the main game, in the "Financial District" of Pittsburgh, where you have a couple waves of enemies, 2 vertical levels to climb, and a dozen interiors to take cover in. I can imagine a much larger city environment like that, where you just have to get from one end to the other, feeling incredible. Lost Legacy's effort was great, and if they do go in that direction, I hope Naughty Dog spaces out a couple "free roam" areas, between the more traditional, linear segments. I trust Druckmann not to let the story lose focus, but it would make my hype more cautious, since Lost Legacy did lose the plot for those 2 hours. If I see THAT stealth kill animation at any point during E3, I'm going to be unhappy.
I absolutely love this video! You dissected the story and characters perfectly. Is there any chance you'd make a video on the second one? I'd love to see/hear all your thoughts about everything about that game, including Abby, and its connection with the first game.
Man you make some quality videos man I hope you would get the success you deserve and I damn like how you use the games ost as the background music. Love you man
I'm a ways in now, but I can't give a take until I've sat on it for a while (per usual). I deeply appreciate how much the game is "about" the lie. I thought the ramifications for that were huge, and though I love the ending of Part 1 for having the courage to end with that hanging in the air, I saw so much potential to push further. I don't know what the resolution will look like, though I have specific hopes. I assume I know what leaked and REALLY freaked people out, but it didn't bother me as a storytelling choice. The first trailer has a character we love suppressing her human emotion (her shaking hands) after slaughtering a group of people. The second trailer has a woman's arms getting smashed in by a hammer. A Last of Us sequel has meant hurting characters I love physically and emotionally from it's first unveiling. I wanted to do a video some time back, "Setting expectations for The Last of Us 2", because I thought THAT was an insight worth sharing (but leaks scared the shit out of me - you and I are NOT talking spoilers until we've both affirm having seen the ending!) I don't know how everything comes together in the end, but at the time I was putting together my thoughts on Part 1, I was hoping for Ellie to have a true understanding of why Joel killed the Fireflies to save her. If that turns out to be the case... well I'll feel pretty god damn validated. If not, maybe I should've been looking at Joel a bit less sympathetically. I think the present plot lacks some forward momentum because of how you return to a home base periodically, and because there's not a lot of story or character development in between. But the gameplay is a big step up from the predecessor. I just have the sickest encounter with some Scars that I swear could've been used at promo footage. I got up and paced around the room after that.
@@OrangeLightnings awesome reply, thanks for the insight. Like a small look at whats to come in the video. I'm looking forward to what you gave to say about the development of the story/characters and especially the finale
I played the game 6 times, i always thought "fuck these runners/clickers/bloaters were fucking people, it makes me think how they were living and what they were dealing with, we're they good? we're they bad? we're they in the same situation as Joel and Henry, having someone to protect? I wonder how TLOU 2 will expand on this, especially his lie, using Ellie as a second chance since he failed already with Sarah, I debated with my friends about the ending, most of them said that him lying was fucking stupid, I don't see it that way, like I said Joel uses Ellie as a second chance, and also their journey took almost a year, while we witnessed it for 10 hours or less, they got close, and like you said Ellie isn't cargo at that point, especially with what happened with Henry and Sam, and also how are the fireflies going to even make a cure? yea it has been 20 years, they figured what they needed to do with the cure, but how are they going to spread that? Most people don't trust the fireflies so probably most survivors won't take the cure, and what if it backfires? there's no turning back, I felt like Joel made the best choice
My friends and I debated the ending on this game for YEARS. I love how many perspectives there are on the ending, and the themes of the game. This much time later, though, I REALLY think I've got mine. Ellie would give her life if she believed there was a 0.1% chance of it leading to a cure. Joel would save her, even if he were certain the Fireflies would have been able to save humanity. That speaks to both of their arcs. Ellie's pursuit of self-sacrifice in the name of everyone that died to the infection (in her place). Joel's (red dead) redemption for Sarah, fighting for the most important thing in the world at any cost. That their love for others, each other, and a hope to make things right drives them into conflict is a devastating conclusion. For Joel to fight so hard for Ellie "everyone who I have ever cared for has either died or left me" is profound and beautiful, and I so badly wish he had the courage to tell her the truth. I'm beyond excited to see how they elaborate on their story in Part 2, though braced for the harm that could come to them in such a hostile world. By it's conclusion, I hope for Ellie to have something to live for. More than that, I hope for a sequel we'll be discussing for as many years later as it's predecessor. The Last of Us is the best game.
@@OrangeLightnings I'm really hoping Part 2 has the same impact as the first one, after looking at the leaks and the amount of backlash it got, I still have hope that this game will be great, who knows what'll happened, guess we gotta wait until June 19th
@@OrangeLightnings Ellie's sacrifice shows how much she really doesn't care about herself, yea she does care about herself when it comes to surviving, but with Henry, Sam, and Joel, she only cares about them, she only thinks that I can't lose these people, they can't lose me either, she knew that Henry and Sam would be fine if they separate from Joel and Ellie, she also knows that Joel would be fine too but at the same time he will not be fine, she knows that Joel can fight for himself but Ellie chooses to stick with Joel because then he'll think that Ellie doesn't need Joel and all he has done so far really didn't matter, also he'll use this evidence that he's putting Ellie in danger no matter what will assume that she will feel safer if she's with someone else, but obviously that doesn't happen and Ellie chooses to be with him when that army truck comes in, and before the whole sniper sequence, Ellie asks how life was before the outbreak, she tries to make everyone have a good time when the world is shit, she just wants people to be happy even without a cure, Joel just wants a second chance, he realises that Ellie wants to make people happy and he sees something unique in Ellie, the Spring sequence he tries and open up to Ellie and becomes soft to her, after saying that he wants to start a life with her as his "daughter", he saves Ellie and lies to her not because he wanted for her to be apart of his life, not because of his own sake, it's because she's unique and she is more than just a cure, and the fact that Ellie calls him out about how others have lost people too and he isn't the only one, she helped him realize something he didn't and it makes him think that maybe she can make people realize things they haven't, she's still young, Joel's old and has no purpose, she does
Unlike Joel, if the lord gave Abby another chance, she would not do it all over again. Joel ruined her life. Then she went ahead and ruined it some more. Abby’s pursuit of revenge irreparably damages her friendships and fucks over everyone she cares about. Part 2 doesn’t just ask whether justice is worth its cost (it isn’t). It also asks asks why justice is so important to its characters. Ellie makes the decision to go after Abby AGAIN after everything went wrong the first time. It matters as much to her as it did to Abby. And she goes on anyway knowing it will cost her relationship with Dina. These girls couldn’t sleep without facing the person they think ruined their lives. Part 2 treats justice and revenge like a drug. It treats Ellie and Abby like addicts who need a fix. They are both compelled by something stronger than their own reason. Ellie’s story ends with her in a sad state, returning to a home Dina and JJ abandon. But Abby’s story showed that recovery is possible. When Abby is faced with the decision to kill Dina and Ellie, Lev stops her. She now recognizes her impulses will have consequences for him, too. Abby’s decision to put Lev and Yara first and abandon her misguided militant faction puts her on a path of redemption. So I love Abby. I want to play more of her story. Abby’s story is what gives me hope that Ellie can recover, and lead a better life.
@@OrangeLightnings That's interesting because fans keep comparing Abby to Joel. But I like to think that Abby has more in common with Ellie both of them are motivated by hate for the other, and because of that they have dehumanized the groups and each other in order to justify their own pursuits of revenge.
As the player, we are both Abby and Ellie. It creates a strong dissonance, but it informs the conflicts both girls are dealing with. When I’m Ellie, I love Joel. But I also hate him for taking that sacrifice I could’ve made for mankind. That dark side is manifested as Abby. When I’m Abby, I am big and strong and I claimed the revenge I deserved. But I feel terrible. I screwed everything up. I’m still haunted. That demon tormenting me manifests as Ellie. I think you’re dead on, I could just go on forever about these games.
Man. After watching this video its so sad to me that TLOU2 didnt end up being something more like God of War 4 storywise. I wouldve loved to see the two of them resolve this lie somehow. Or at least gave us a couple cutscenes at the beginnung before *ahem* SPOILER ALERT they fucking kill Joel off
Joel is my favorite character of all time and I loved Part 2. The entire sequel is devoted to Ellie's difficulty reconciling his devotion to her, and his disregard of her importance to humanity. She spends the entire game wrestling with whether she was deserving of that unconditional love, and it's only at the end that she gets it. He couldn't help but love her. All she had to do was live. What I wouldn't give for an epilogue chapter of her finding new self importance that's uniquely hers. I love these characters, and I got to see them reconciled. I saw a journey that took them there, and somewhere completely unexpected. I saw Ellie transform and change into a monster, then find self acceptance, and a reason to live on. This was absolutely a game that was made for me. Also. Abby. I love Abby. I'm full of unpopular opinions.
@@OrangeLightnings you now i didn't expect that but i am somewhat of hobby writer for just stories i write time two time and really didn't like abby bc of how hypocritical she was but i could see what they were trying to do i would probably change two things and it would be better for me and a lot of people and that is to change Abby into a faithful zealot for the fireflys and keep Joel alive but crippled and not able to fight with Ellie but talk to her like how his brother was in the game it would fix a lot of the issues i and many other people had with the game that issue being that we couldn't see the interactions with Joal and Ellie that made the first game amazing and so memorable and a change of pace.
I have never bought our played the last of us. But I saw the first hour or so, then the last part of the game. And even learning more about these two, my thought still stands. I hate Joel.
Part 2 discussion below:
I hated how they handled joel and ellie's relationship in the sequel. for me this is the true ending for the last of us.
Would you be open to a different take?
@@OrangeLightnings Yeah, absolutely. probably wouldn't change my mind, but it may help me see some light in the darkness.
Haha, don't worry. I don't want to take away your own perspective. That belongs to you. Just want to share why the handling of their relationship clicked for me.
The way I see it, Part 2 is fundamentally about reconciling Joel's lie at the end of the first game, Ellie's forgiveness of him, and her own self acceptance. The ending to the first game remains perfect, Joel's commitment to Ellie is affirmed beautifully and disturbingly. There's a reason people (present party included) kept talking about it seven years later.
In Part 2, Ellie's got the survivor's guilt carried over from Part 1, and the guilt of not turning back before they got to the hospital when Joel gave her the chance. She loves him. She hates him. She wants to be happy, she thinks she can't be. She feels confused, she's angry about it, and she can't talk with anyone about it.
She relents on her pursuit of revenge when she sees Joel's smile. She feels wrong for what she's done to herself and her body. She forgives him in that moment. When she places the guitar down, she forgives herself.
It's about them. I know without question that Ellie will be able to talk about Joel again. I know Ellie will not feel guilty anymore for allowing herself to be happy. That worked for me in a big way. I really love the ending they both got. It's worth a lot that Joel's last conversation with her was the conversation they had been needing to have since the ending of the first game. I think he feels at peace knowing that he didn't die with her hating him.
I love these god damn characters so much. What else is there to say?
@@OrangeLightnings That is a very beautiful take on it. I wish i saw it that way.unfortunately i am just unable to. feel free not to read on, because my view is the exact opposite of yours.
It was just character assassination for me.
If joel was assassinated literally, ellie had a much worse fate of being assassinated as a character.
When the game started i was ready to feel sorry for Ellie, and feel some resentment for Joel because of what his lie has caused her, and what the truth will make her feel. I was ready to accept her decision of leaving him to find the fireflies or something of the sort, even though i didnt want her to. Instead i was turned off by her petty and immature reaction towards him. Surely she would be angry at him, but to try to get back at him by being terrible, and for two years? and for what? what will that achieve other than pain for both of you?
its not like she was trying to punish herself as well, she seemed to be doing alright with her friends, she just alienated him.
And the problem is, they did Ellie's character a disservice by not showing what she felt during those two years, so its hard for me to empathize with her, even though i was ready to, because i know how much the lie will hurt her. I didn't see the conflict i expected to see, just pure petty anger.
I can't fathom how Ellie from the first game, who knows the meaning of loss, and who desperately holds on to people she loves, even if meant making selfish decisions like she did with riley, can take Joel for granted for two years before trying to work things out. and how Ellie who knew Joel's pain at losing his daughter, would not empathize with his decision, especially since he was in a very hard position, was asked to leave her without a goodbye, even though she might not accept it.
Ellie's survivors guilt was not present in this game, instead it was replaced by this new generic motive of "i wanted to die to give my life value". Ellie never struck me as someone who saw so little value in her life.
she wanted to save humanity at any cost, so that the deaths of all those people were not for nothing, and because she can't bear to live happily if she doesnt do it. To sum it up its because she wanted to give other people's deaths value and meaning.
I want to bring up a line from her mother's letter: "Life is worth living, find your purpose and fight for it". while the second part works as the motive behind ellie's resolve to find the vaccine, the first encourages her to live. Yet somehow ellie now undoubtedly wanted to die? despite both of her parents, joel and her mother, wanting her to live and encouraging her to find something else to fight for while living?
Conversely, Joel was given the most badass and perfect line in the entire tlou franchise. you surely know the line. that is unfair to ellie, it was her time to shine, yet she is given lines that seem shallow and dont resonate with me and that don't ring true to her character.
And i know its not utterly unrealistic for ellie to act that way, but for me it just took so much from her character. Ellie was the hope in the darkness, but seeing her finally broken by the world snuffs out that darkness. I cant believe she doesnt pick up the ps vita !!
Finally, i would like to say how furious i was when she left joel's guitar behind: how can she leave that memory of him? you dont move on from people you love, you move on from the pain of their loss, but their memory will always be with you. If anything she is doing what joel did by refusing to accept the picture of sarah from tommy.
I get people grieve differently, but how did ellie grieve her mother? by keeping her knife and letter. how did she sam? by keeping his robot, that you can clearly see in her room 4 years after.
for me the ending was trying too hard to look deep, poetic and poignant, without bothering to make sense. she could for example have left joel's revolver behind, as a symbol of discarding all her negative emotions, about him, about abby and the world, and take the guitar with her as a memory, trying to relearn the songs with her opposite arm.
Thank you for having your own opinion, and not one ripped from some no name twitch streamer. You know these games, and you love these characters like I do. I really appreciate that.
I actually agree with a lot of what you wrote, it just brings me to a different conclusion (or, the things we interpret even a little differently have pretty serious knock on effects). I loved how you talked about Anna. I loved how you talked about how Ellie carries her switch, and holds on to the robot she picked up for Sam. The details in Ellie's psychology that we would disagree on take us to different places.
I've been thinking a lot of the burdens she carries for herself, and what it means for her to have put the guitar down. What it means that her path toward retribution cost her two fingers. Thinking about this game brings me a lot of joy.
I'm holding back a little here because... well I'll make a whole video about it, and I think a point by point rebuttal would be a disservice to both of our perspectives. (Unless you want that, like, I'll do it yo!)
I don't get how you only have a handful of subscribers. Your content is the best on my timeline - keep it up! Always looking forward to your videos.
Everyone's gotta start at 0. I was lucky my first video got the traction it did, the feedback helped me improve much faster than I otherwise would.
This was by far the hardest game to write for. Comments like yours make it worth the effort, they make me want to keep getting better. So thank-you.
Next week: Horizon
good lord it is criminal more people havent seen this, you are one smart cookie
You have a really great voice, it soothes me while you serenade me with an in-depth explanation of why this game is so great, by saying things that I knew but couldn't put the words to.
I have to give George credit for letting us watch his short film with him in the room, because I was not willing to let you guys watch any of these yesterday. Now I get to burden you with providing constructive feedback (and I get an excuse to talk about this game again)
Great video! Every second was entertaining. Not easy to do for 27 whole minutes.
The quality of work in this video is truly amazing, your thoughts and passion was truly shown. Keep doing what you are doing, love what you are creating on this channel.
Thanks Alex! That means a lot, and you wouldn't believe how much comments like these motivate me to work on the next thing.
This editing is perfect in literally every way. I love the way you talk and explain stuff. Please keep doing these types of videos.
September 24th, we'll get news on TLOU2, and I cant wait.
I am more hyped for Last of Us 2 than I have been for any game in the past decade. It's hard to articulate my anticipation in a way that doesn't sound like obsession.
Is it wrong to be obsessed with TLOU though? I think it's a normal thing, because I am too!
@@hunterofhunters1326 If it's wrong, I don't want to be right.
@@OrangeLightnings me neither! and if it's wrong, we overthrow the government.
@DaNiRus No, not a single bit. Pain. Thanks for asking though, what about you?
I can't believe this channel isn't blowing up with views. This shit keeps making me cry. Thank u for such good emotional and in depth looks at games that mean so much, u rock dude.
Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying these!
First of all great video (I just subscribed, your content is soooo good, I have a bunch of stuff to watch now, thanks!)
When you were talking about humanity and how it's incurable, It reminded me of Fallout (New Vegas to be specific) and how after 200+ years and with established communities and some sort of law, jobs and all that stuff, people keep doing terrible things, committing the same mistakes that the pre-war government did and creating a huge movement based of terrible ideals.
And how having a cure (or rebuilding society in the case of fallout) won't fix everything.
I know it's not 100% related, but it crossed my mind while watching this.
Dude, this is absolutely brilliant. Thank you, thank you! This explains it so well.
Imma fan now. No video gave me goosebumps like this. The uncharted video, night in the woods and god of war. All amazing essays!
Did you play RDR2?
Orange Lightning nah, never been much of a rock star fan. But if you are working on something about it, I’m game.
Tbh, I think Ellie knows Joel is lying to her at the end. She has a good bullshit detector that saved her from the cannibals where I and other players were masterfully fooled. I think it’s going to be a driving force in TLOU2 and I’m terrified at how it’ll play out, even though I know it’ll be well done regardless.
Totally agree, right down to bring terrified of how it'll be approached in the sequel. Ellie's an amazing character. Her BS detector is her greatest survival tool, and I think it's going to make all relationships difficult for her, particularly Joel's.
I'm expecting to click one of your videos on day and see you at 10k subs suddenly. Keep up the good work dude.
You shared your valuable feelings and thoughts.
With full honesty: Thank you
You are a great and understanding human being
Big day tomorrow. Who's staying up late tonight??
Thanks for watching
Phenomenal essay for one of my favorite games ever. Absolutely cannot wait for E3 and more info on The Last of Us Part 2
I'm really curious to see what the gameplay looks like! There's room to improve the enemy AI and environmental interactions (like what they showed in that 2012 reveal), but the weapons, tools, and crafting were all really well balanced. I know a lot of people didn't love the way it played, but the "cat and mouse" system made for so many tense moments I can't find anywhere else.
I loved the idea of the journeys through cities and seasons, and I can see glimpses of open world design in the Uncharted: Lost Legacy game. I wonder if they will take it to the next level and allow us to roam freely through areas. Naughty Dog excels at tight storytelling, and I trust Neil Druckmann to keep the story focused on Ellie's journey (whatever it may be).
As for the moment-to-moment gameplay, AI improvements need to be a must, and some more VARIETY in the death animations. The amount of times I saw the same scratching at the face animation while stealth killing people got pretty annoying. The game is firmly in my top 5 games ever, but small refinements like this could push TLoU 2 into masterpiece territory. Just a few more weeks until we find out more!
There's that one fight in the main game, in the "Financial District" of Pittsburgh, where you have a couple waves of enemies, 2 vertical levels to climb, and a dozen interiors to take cover in. I can imagine a much larger city environment like that, where you just have to get from one end to the other, feeling incredible. Lost Legacy's effort was great, and if they do go in that direction, I hope Naughty Dog spaces out a couple "free roam" areas, between the more traditional, linear segments. I trust Druckmann not to let the story lose focus, but it would make my hype more cautious, since Lost Legacy did lose the plot for those 2 hours.
If I see THAT stealth kill animation at any point during E3, I'm going to be unhappy.
I have had this video in my watch later list for a while, I loved the video and the work behind it , please keep making content like this .
Thank you
Red Dead 2's delayed the next big project, but it'll be worth the wait. Thanks for your comment!
This video is amazing! To the plane dream , the incurability of humanity. Just amazing 😉
Precious thoughts you expressed here 💖
I absolutely love this video! You dissected the story and characters perfectly. Is there any chance you'd make a video on the second one? I'd love to see/hear all your thoughts about everything about that game, including Abby, and its connection with the first game.
Your so underrated man.
Man you make some quality videos man I hope you would get the success you deserve and I damn like how you use the games ost as the background music. Love you man
I really enjoyed this video!
You deserve so many more subs, and so many more views...so, so many more
Wonderful work on this video brother!
Brilliant stuff, mate.
great video and analysis.
Please make more videos! 🙏🏻
Last of Us got a sequel that I'm really REALLY into 😉.
Secret Metal Gear video to tide you over...
ua-cam.com/video/Rm2UdCPPpMI/v-deo.html
Watching the last of us 2 reminds me of your video and I'm curious on your take of the story
I'm a ways in now, but I can't give a take until I've sat on it for a while (per usual). I deeply appreciate how much the game is "about" the lie. I thought the ramifications for that were huge, and though I love the ending of Part 1 for having the courage to end with that hanging in the air, I saw so much potential to push further. I don't know what the resolution will look like, though I have specific hopes.
I assume I know what leaked and REALLY freaked people out, but it didn't bother me as a storytelling choice. The first trailer has a character we love suppressing her human emotion (her shaking hands) after slaughtering a group of people.
The second trailer has a woman's arms getting smashed in by a hammer.
A Last of Us sequel has meant hurting characters I love physically and emotionally from it's first unveiling. I wanted to do a video some time back, "Setting expectations for The Last of Us 2", because I thought THAT was an insight worth sharing (but leaks scared the shit out of me - you and I are NOT talking spoilers until we've both affirm having seen the ending!)
I don't know how everything comes together in the end, but at the time I was putting together my thoughts on Part 1, I was hoping for Ellie to have a true understanding of why Joel killed the Fireflies to save her. If that turns out to be the case... well I'll feel pretty god damn validated. If not, maybe I should've been looking at Joel a bit less sympathetically.
I think the present plot lacks some forward momentum because of how you return to a home base periodically, and because there's not a lot of story or character development in between. But the gameplay is a big step up from the predecessor. I just have the sickest encounter with some Scars that I swear could've been used at promo footage. I got up and paced around the room after that.
@@OrangeLightnings awesome reply, thanks for the insight. Like a small look at whats to come in the video. I'm looking forward to what you gave to say about the development of the story/characters and especially the finale
your videos are really great :)
Love your content
Plot twist:Cola is the cure.
If I lived through everything Joel did I'd do the same thing, believe the same things. Maybe more apathetic.
I played the game 6 times, i always thought "fuck these runners/clickers/bloaters were fucking people, it makes me think how they were living and what they were dealing with, we're they good? we're they bad? we're they in the same situation as Joel and Henry, having someone to protect?
I wonder how TLOU 2 will expand on this, especially his lie, using Ellie as a second chance since he failed already with Sarah, I debated with my friends about the ending, most of them said that him lying was fucking stupid, I don't see it that way, like I said Joel uses Ellie as a second chance, and also their journey took almost a year, while we witnessed it for 10 hours or less, they got close, and like you said Ellie isn't cargo at that point, especially with what happened with Henry and Sam, and also how are the fireflies going to even make a cure? yea it has been 20 years, they figured what they needed to do with the cure, but how are they going to spread that? Most people don't trust the fireflies so probably most survivors won't take the cure, and what if it backfires? there's no turning back, I felt like Joel made the best choice
My friends and I debated the ending on this game for YEARS. I love how many perspectives there are on the ending, and the themes of the game. This much time later, though, I REALLY think I've got mine.
Ellie would give her life if she believed there was a 0.1% chance of it leading to a cure. Joel would save her, even if he were certain the Fireflies would have been able to save humanity. That speaks to both of their arcs. Ellie's pursuit of self-sacrifice in the name of everyone that died to the infection (in her place). Joel's (red dead) redemption for Sarah, fighting for the most important thing in the world at any cost. That their love for others, each other, and a hope to make things right drives them into conflict is a devastating conclusion. For Joel to fight so hard for Ellie "everyone who I have ever cared for has either died or left me" is profound and beautiful, and I so badly wish he had the courage to tell her the truth.
I'm beyond excited to see how they elaborate on their story in Part 2, though braced for the harm that could come to them in such a hostile world. By it's conclusion, I hope for Ellie to have something to live for. More than that, I hope for a sequel we'll be discussing for as many years later as it's predecessor.
The Last of Us is the best game.
@@OrangeLightnings I'm really hoping Part 2 has the same impact as the first one, after looking at the leaks and the amount of backlash it got, I still have hope that this game will be great, who knows what'll happened, guess we gotta wait until June 19th
@@OrangeLightnings Ellie's sacrifice shows how much she really doesn't care about herself, yea she does care about herself when it comes to surviving, but with Henry, Sam, and Joel, she only cares about them, she only thinks that I can't lose these people, they can't lose me either, she knew that Henry and Sam would be fine if they separate from Joel and Ellie, she also knows that Joel would be fine too but at the same time he will not be fine, she knows that Joel can fight for himself but Ellie chooses to stick with Joel because then he'll think that Ellie doesn't need Joel and all he has done so far really didn't matter, also he'll use this evidence that he's putting Ellie in danger no matter what will assume that she will feel safer if she's with someone else, but obviously that doesn't happen and Ellie chooses to be with him when that army truck comes in, and before the whole sniper sequence, Ellie asks how life was before the outbreak, she tries to make everyone have a good time when the world is shit, she just wants people to be happy even without a cure, Joel just wants a second chance, he realises that Ellie wants to make people happy and he sees something unique in Ellie, the Spring sequence he tries and open up to Ellie and becomes soft to her, after saying that he wants to start a life with her as his "daughter", he saves Ellie and lies to her not because he wanted for her to be apart of his life, not because of his own sake, it's because she's unique and she is more than just a cure, and the fact that Ellie calls him out about how others have lost people too and he isn't the only one, she helped him realize something he didn't and it makes him think that maybe she can make people realize things they haven't, she's still young, Joel's old and has no purpose, she does
🙏🏿
TLOU2 PepeLaugh Sadge
What are your thoughts on Abby?
Unlike Joel, if the lord gave Abby another chance, she would not do it all over again. Joel ruined her life. Then she went ahead and ruined it some more. Abby’s pursuit of revenge irreparably damages her friendships and fucks over everyone she cares about.
Part 2 doesn’t just ask whether justice is worth its cost (it isn’t). It also asks asks why justice is so important to its characters. Ellie makes the decision to go after Abby AGAIN after everything went wrong the first time. It matters as much to her as it did to Abby. And she goes on anyway knowing it will cost her relationship with Dina. These girls couldn’t sleep without facing the person they think ruined their lives.
Part 2 treats justice and revenge like a drug. It treats Ellie and Abby like addicts who need a fix. They are both compelled by something stronger than their own reason. Ellie’s story ends with her in a sad state, returning to a home Dina and JJ abandon. But Abby’s story showed that recovery is possible. When Abby is faced with the decision to kill Dina and Ellie, Lev stops her. She now recognizes her impulses will have consequences for him, too.
Abby’s decision to put Lev and Yara first and abandon her misguided militant faction puts her on a path of redemption.
So I love Abby. I want to play more of her story. Abby’s story is what gives me hope that Ellie can recover, and lead a better life.
@@OrangeLightnings That's interesting because fans keep comparing Abby to Joel. But I like to think that Abby has more in common with Ellie both of them are motivated by hate for the other, and because of that they have dehumanized the groups and each other in order to justify their own pursuits of revenge.
As the player, we are both Abby and Ellie. It creates a strong dissonance, but it informs the conflicts both girls are dealing with.
When I’m Ellie, I love Joel. But I also hate him for taking that sacrifice I could’ve made for mankind. That dark side is manifested as Abby.
When I’m Abby, I am big and strong and I claimed the revenge I deserved. But I feel terrible. I screwed everything up. I’m still haunted. That demon tormenting me manifests as Ellie.
I think you’re dead on, I could just go on forever about these games.
@OrangeLightnings And why The Last of Us Parts 1 and 2 are unforgettable experiences!
Man. After watching this video its so sad to me that TLOU2 didnt end up being something more like God of War 4 storywise. I wouldve loved to see the two of them resolve this lie somehow.
Or at least gave us a couple cutscenes at the beginnung before *ahem* SPOILER ALERT they fucking kill Joel off
well i know this video is older but.......you won't like what they did to Joel...
Joel is my favorite character of all time and I loved Part 2. The entire sequel is devoted to Ellie's difficulty reconciling his devotion to her, and his disregard of her importance to humanity. She spends the entire game wrestling with whether she was deserving of that unconditional love, and it's only at the end that she gets it. He couldn't help but love her. All she had to do was live. What I wouldn't give for an epilogue chapter of her finding new self importance that's uniquely hers.
I love these characters, and I got to see them reconciled. I saw a journey that took them there, and somewhere completely unexpected. I saw Ellie transform and change into a monster, then find self acceptance, and a reason to live on. This was absolutely a game that was made for me.
Also. Abby. I love Abby. I'm full of unpopular opinions.
@@OrangeLightnings you now i didn't expect that but i am somewhat of hobby writer for just stories i write time two time and really didn't like abby bc of how hypocritical she was but i could see what they were trying to do
i would probably change two things and it would be better for me and a lot of people and that is to change Abby into a faithful zealot for the fireflys and keep Joel alive but crippled and not able to fight with Ellie but talk to her like how his brother was in the game it would fix a lot of the issues i and many other people had with the game that issue being that we couldn't see the interactions with Joal and Ellie that made the first game amazing and so memorable and a change of pace.
I have never bought our played the last of us. But I saw the first hour or so, then the last part of the game. And even learning more about these two, my thought still stands. I hate Joel.
Why do you hate him?
Sucks last of us 2 ruined all of this
I don't know if this means anything coming from me, but... I feel differently.