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dkirschner's The Last of Us Part II (PS5)

[July 30, 2025 06:57:30 AM]

I beat this like a week or 10 days ago or something. I wish I remembered when! But I've been too busy to sit down and write about it, though I have given it some thought. Most of my thoughts relate to the story, tied as it is for me with the HBO show. I played the first game alongside watching the first season of the TV show, which was a fascinating way to experience both and heightened my appreciation for both. I tried the same thing this time, but wasn't able to keep my playing up to speed with our watching the second season (I think we were watching around the end of the semester and my Game Pass month, the former of which meant minimal gaming and the latter of which meant bingeing Game Pass games). Therefore, instead of experiencing them together, they were more sequential.

I did go back and forth with the show until Ellie and Dina arrive in the TV station in Seattle. Then I finished the show, and a month or two later finished the game. It turns out that this is a decent way through the show, but only the earlier hours of the game. This is because the second season of the show stops a little more than halfway through the second game. This was frustrating (a) because the season alone felt unfinished even before I knew that the game kept going and (b) now I have to wait however many years to see how the show compares to the second half of the game, and there's a decent chance I won't care by then.

Anyway, I won't spoil anything related to the story, but will note that the show and game continue to be really similar; I had expected more differences, as typically the longer an adaptation continues, the farther it strays from its source material. Granted, there were a couple large parts of the show that were created for TV, such as the entire first chunk in the town or introducing the Scars early to develop them (early) as an antagonist, but most of the differences simply involved a character in the show doing something that a different character did in the game. I think the biggest of these "character swaps" happened toward the end of the show/game (and you'll know that the same character can't do the same thing at the end of the show and the game once you get there). These swaps were generally to expand Ellie's character or her relationship with Dina, which was fine, but I worry that it will diminish Abby's characterization in season three. I preferred the game's characterization better. It's hard for a six-episode TV show to create the same depth of character as a 25-30-hour game. And given how the second season of the show pulled material from the second half of the game, the third season of the show might have less punch; they'll have to create more content not currently in the game to fill space. This is fine if they write some excellent new material, but the old material was great where it was in the game, and after playing and looking back on the show, the absence of that great game content could really be felt in season three.

Story, story, story. How did it feel to play? Great. It's got a nice rhythm back and forth between combat-heavy parts and exploration parts, and these weave together seamlessly. I liked and actually used all the guns, though I didn't bother with all the tools (bombs and traps went ignored). Enemies are tough and there are multiple ways to approach many encounters. I used both stealth and guns-a-blazing. There are lots of buildings and places to explore off the main path; this game definitely had a bit of an open world vibe compared to the first one, especially when you first arrive in Seattle and are exploring the city on horseback. The crafting system returns and is really useful. I was always crafting new shivs, silencers, health kits, deadly melee weapons, and so on. I know that a game is doing something right when I engage with the crafting system and "optional" tools (even though I ignored the bombs and traps)! The only gripe that I have about the entire game is that (but yay useful crafting system!) there are so many crafting materials to pick up. Exploring a building became me methodically running up and down aisles, scouring bookshelves and cabinets, going in every corner, looking for a little highlighted thing to pick up. I didn't look at the environment, just head down, scanning the shelves for crafting materials. I would have to pull myself away from scrounging around to actually take in the building! This is partly a "me problem" but when there are items all over the place, it's hard for me not to become very instrumental in my exploration; I don't like being so instrumental, but am compelled to do it.

So, A+ for The Last of Us II. Now I can give it to my friend to play, hooray!