The Last of Us - The Pepsi Max of Rendering Effects

[Rombie]

J - Glad you enjoyed the pic. My comment is humorous but there is truth in the undercurrent of anything getting so many high reviews that people can be harsher on judging it. Hell I know I have too.

My point though is you shouldn't carry any expectations upon it. Simply the content is more than able to speak for itself. I know you didn't like the end but lots of people did. And if that's the case and everyone acknowledged there is something there its worth everyone to try it and see what they think.

I know you could say that of most things but I really think still there is enough amazing elements for me to sit there and say for the experience alone people should try it. A sequel/side story or anything else would be for those to decide after they've played the first of course. But before that I couldn't say anything but highly recommend to try even if the end they didn't like it.

[Carnivol]

While I generally liked the game's story, here's the one thing that really doesn't "click" with me in the game, and it's also one of the most important aspects of it, and that is Joel and Ellie's relationship. They have a lot of really nice scenes together, genuinly beautiful stuff, but ...

Spoiler:

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I get that the general idea is; Joel loses his daughter, becomes a bit of an asshole shut-in, doesn't want to sorta "care" for someone anymore in fear of getting hurt even more, slowly opens up to Ellie to the point where no one's gonna "take away his little girl" again. Basically.

I'm just not feeling a transition there. There's too many rough cuts over short time spans, despite the scenario taking place over a very long period. There are scenes early in the story that feels more at home maybe later in the game and vice versa.

Another minor detail that kinda bothers me;
Spoiler:

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Also, I hate how the Military gets presented as some sort of evil and oppressing power at the start or something, to then just get ditched and never to be seen again once the story moves outside the starting area. While, in actuality, they're probably not only the only "good guys" around, but also the only ones clearly capable of handling the situation the world's in -- despite being bullied for whatever reason by the Fireflies. I especially don't like how they're quickly brushing it under the rug, considering how they're the reason Joel's in the situation he's in in the first place. But I guess Joel might've just decided to forgive and forget or something, since their action made sense ... or maybe he carries and silent grudge and that's why he goes for the Fireflies ... or wait, no, he initially rejected the fireflies ... I don't even ...

On games where I feel the actions of the characters in the ending is a justifiable/reasonable sum of all the events you've experienced as a player up to theclimax, I must say that I feel NieR (2010), Binary Domain (2012) and Prince of Persia (2008) all does a much better job on the narrative side.

[Dark_Chris]

There are no good guys in this game...not even Joel is. TLOU is a amazing game, maybe even the best game in the last 10-15 years. You just need to stick with Xbox Carn.

[Carnivol]

Oh. Right. My bad. The fact that it's on the PlayStation 3 was clearly why I don't think the game's perfect or the best thing ever. Had it only been on the Xbox, the narrative wouldn't have been all over the place. Writing is just so much easier on a Microsoft platform, what with Word and all that. Thanks for enlightening me on what clearly was the problem I had with the Uncharted series, Siren: Blood Curse, Metal Gear Solid 4, Ni no Kuni, Gran Turismo 5, Valkyria Chronicles, Folklore, Haze, etc.. All their problems would've been swept away had they been on a different platform . . . Now, please enlighten me on what game(s) Last of Us dethroned from its 10-15 year old reign as the Game of the Forever. I need to go see if it holds up.

(Actually, the only complaint I have in regards to the platform would be the puzzling decisions regarding cutscenes; not that most of them are pre-recorded videos, making alt costumes a little slightly boring/pointless during replays, but the fact that the pre-recorded cutscenes stand out just like in Uncharted -- being, for reasons unknown -- not in a near lossless format, so they are clearly deprived of color depth, contrasts/transitions, and such ... along with the slightly uncanny difference in quality in mocap/animation between the realtime and pre-recorded stuff.)

[News Bot]

Yeah the cutscenes being pre-rendered was pretty disappointing.

[Zombie_X]

Yeah, the cutscenes were pre-rendered, but at least they didn't have severe compression like some games. They still looked quite nice.

[Carnivol]

Yeah, the cutscenes were pre-rendered, but at least they didn't have severe compression like some games. They still looked quite nice.

Yeah, fortunately they're not using anything like BINK or something like that, but they still stand out like they did in Uncharted, thanks to the "soft/bland" colors and how we've gone beyond the point of FMVs being that "treat" you get when the game needs to go above and beyond what the hardware can normally do. I just think it feels so strange and stylistically inconsistant when a game still "looks the same", but the animation quality is suddenly strangely smoother for a tiny moment (and sometimes during scenes that are far less "important/vital" than some scenes that are done realtime with "stiffer/jaggier" animation) :/

[Branden_Lucero]

There are no good guys in this game...not even Joel is. TLOU is a amazing game, maybe even the best game in the last 10-15 years. You just need to stick with Xbox Carn.

nah. naughty dog might make fantastic stories with characters that deliver it, but their combat/ fighting system is no where as good as other games.

[DeadArtist]

I'm 72 % in the game, played 15 hours which surprises me (although I am playing on hard) and so far I really can't stop playing. The only thing I am not enjoying is the lack of enemy variations or the fact that the only spooky enemies are so limited. I do feel very tense during gameplay so that is a plus.

[Lead belly]

SPOILERS

My two cents. I thought the "Bloater" infected was a nice take on the mini boss/pseudo regular enemy type, akin to how the Garrador in RE4 was. Nolan North's character "David" I think they could've done much more with. Perhaps during the restaurant fight scene with Ellie, have him gradually start turning into an infected and losing control. Maybe even a couple scenes of his crew confronting him about it during the Ellie search, might've been good. Also, they could've expanded on the changing seasons aspect of the story. Like its effect on infected enemies, perhaps some unique reactions during the winter that would make them even more formidable foes. Another enemy type that I really liked was the SWAT-like human enemies at the end. Idk if it's just me but they were the most challenging of all IMO, because it seemed as if they were more difficult to see/hear even with the "spidey sense" ability Joel has. They're exclusive assault rifles with the knock back effect were impressive too. Just think these guys went underutilized. I guess my biggest critique of the game is that it could've used a tad bit more variety in the enemies - even if it had one more enemy type I think it would've been perfect. Maybe a flamethrower wielding guy or another clicker variant. All in all, superb game. Just some minor gripes :p.

PS: Did anyone else get a sudden surge of nostalgia finding and reading notes/letters everywhere?

[Carnivol]

PS: Did anyone else get a sudden surge of nostalgia finding and reading notes/letters everywhere?

One thing that has always pissed me off about notes like that in ALL games is how incredibly perfect the English of everyone leaving notes is. Even the most rushed and retarded handwritten notes utilize perfect and flawless use of English grammar.

[Carnivol]

Zero Punctuation just took a look at The Last of Us

[BBboy20]

Troy Baker really has come full circle since playing Matt Baker.

[Graco]

I thoroughly enjoyed The Last of Us but I don't feel it was a perfect game. The story was excellent, but due to the whole "20 years later" thing I can't relate to Joel too well. He's been doing this, I haven't so it takes me out of the immersion. Regardless, the plot and characters were probably the game's strongest suits.

I too would have preferred more enemy variety. The game puts you against a multitude of humans for so long, and after so many encounters with them and only Runners/Clickers it all becomes too stagnant for my taste. The infected more or less seemed like feral humans and not monsters. They felt very uninspired like the humanoid enemies from the Silent Hill 2.

The quality of the environments was superb and the pacing between them and the events was perfect. However, the soundtrack could have been much more immersive. In older Resident Evil games, the soundtrack helps play a part in the horror feeling so that in those moments where there is no music, the player's tension begins to rise. They did the reverse in this game, keeping the music sparse and only using it at certain times. which doesn't come anywhere close to achieving the same effect. RE2 excelled at properly utilizing its soundtrack.

That said, the game was fun to play but Joel felt very stiff and rigid. It reminded me of the first time I played the original Dead Space. The crafting system was fun and hopefully they'll expand upon it if they choose to make sequels. I found the implementation of stealth elements enjoyable but I felt that the game focused too heavily on it. The game rewards you and is entirely too forgiving if you just go around choking everything to death as opposed to straight-up combat.

Overall, I'd say the game is a solid 7.5-8/10 for me. I do hope they choose to make a sequel (or a prequel for that matter) to see what kind of adjustments they'll make. It has good potential but I don't think the current system execution does the game justice. I liked most of what I played but felt that the parts that were lacking were a bit too much. As with most of my favorite video game series, the first entry isn't my favorite so I suppose now I will just have to wait and see what ND does next.

[Dracarys]

I find myself saying this on a lot of games this gen: Where is the replay value? Is no wonder I've rented most of the games I played this gen.


I'm mostly sticking to RPGs these days I think, seem to be the only games that have any replay value. Well, maybe bargin bin prices for other genres.