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The Last of Us: Part II

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    #16
    10 1/2 hours in now. Making my way through Day 2.


    Hillcrest was intense. I'd made a decision not to hurt any doggos before starting but that when out the window very early!! Terrifying.

    On my way to the hospital and found a safe house that could only be entered using a rope and strategic glass breakage.

    Then I found another safe house with a workbench and I start upgrading my pistol only to be interrupted by a group returning back who took issue with me raiding their house. It didn't end well for them.



    It's just, I can't, I mean, I never imagined that the sequel to my favourite game of all time would be this good. From a gameplay and systems perspective it is better than the first game. Technically it is refined beyond belief. It just remains to be seen if the story can carry it for the remainder of the run time and usurp the first game from top of my ranking.

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      #17
      Come on people get some scores up when you get done. [MENTION=16877]Butternut[/MENTION] you gave it 100% - did you finish, and if so post some impressions (spoiler tags)

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        #18
        I'm still playing through it atm but I'll post my thoughts afterwards (I'd be impressed if anyone has finished it yet unless they got a review copy before release day).

        I can't question the effort that went into how the game looks. Glitches happen rarely but otherwise the environments are as lush and vibrant as the first game. It'll take a lot to top this during what remains of this gen.

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          #19
          I'm at just over 10 hours, second day in Seattle. Hoping it's a lengthy campaign ... feel like I don't want it to end.

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            #20
            Man, people are powering way further than me I'm about four hours in now and so far it's a better game than the original game was. Not by a huge margin, but enough of one. I think it makes a difference that Naughty Dog is telling their own tale based on the events of the first game rather than a tale that relied as heavily as the first game did on tired cliche tropes from other superior forms of storytelling. The often touted super darkness of the game is something that hasn't bothered me so far either, it's largely confined to the cutscenes.

            There's a been a fair amount of quiet stages so far as well so I assume that the later stages of the game will push encounters more and make better use of the two new moves but so far it feels largely like if you loved the original you'll love this as so far its more of the same to a dangerously DLC level in terms of how it plays. It plays better than the first but definitely not as much as its seven year gap means it should.

            More variety in the encounters (as so far it's exactly the same three types as the first game) and a plot/structure that ramps upward and upward without sagging like Part I did and this will safely be better than Part I at the least though. Not sure when compared to the other PS4 exclusives though.

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              #21
              Going to leave it a couple of days now, don’t want to finish this in a hurry

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                #22
                It’s absolutely ****ing brilliant, I’ve just played it for eight hours today, I couldn’t tell you last time I did that with a game. Well, probably seven years ago.

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                  #23
                  [MENTION=9865]Colin[/MENTION]

                  /Insert John McClane "welcome to the party pal" meme.

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                    #24
                    Getting withdrawal symptoms already
                    Can't wait to get back on it Wednesday night. Got three 12 hour day shifts to grind through first
                    Always a mark of a classic game when its on your mind on and off gaming.

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                      #25
                      I've spent a few more hours on this now, I know I'm still early in it as I'm still on Day One but I'm going slow and taking my time and I think... it's starting to get its teeth into me. I know exactly why, I'm curious how much of the game plays this way so I'll play more tonight before I settle more on an updated impression but the game is improving...

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                        #26
                        Another couple of hours today. Yesterday was an utter binge, but a friend told me it’s about twenty five hours long, so not really sure I want it to be over In just a few days! That said, there’s also that bit of me that really wants to know the full outcome. It really is a ridiculously good looking game, I don’t think I could play this on the upstairs TV as it needs the cinematic feel that the main TV gives it. 10/11 hours in and I’m massively invested in it. I won’t lie, I was teary eyed at one point. Only the second game that’s ever affected me that much and the other was the first! Unless something happens in the second half to really piss me off, I can see this going top three, maybe even top in my all time standings.

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                          #27
                          I'm taking some time to think over what I've seen so far (naturally anything specific will be put in spoiler tags). I just want to gather my thoughts firstly before I post again about it.

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                            #28
                            I'm going to spoiler tag mine so there's no risk of ruining anything for anyone but for those who have been playing it I'm currently still in Day One at about 8-9 hours in:



                            It's mostly illusion but I think the biggest change between this game and the first that's made a big difference to the pacing and feel of it has been widening areas by 3 or 4x the amount. I never really took to the open areas in Uncharted 4 as they made the game feel flabby in parts. They're very uncinematic areas that feel like game bowls rather than the open environments they're supposed to be so they gel poorly with the rest of the game. In this though the more open approach has been used more consistently and a lot more smartly so you feel like you have a couple of directions to go but are still be ushered forward as you opt to clear buildings or not, but are rewarded for doing so. That slight easing of the first games corridor based approach does wonders for the pacing as you feel like you have more control over encounters. Hopping through the window of a building taking out 1-2 enemies then if it suits popping back out and coming back in the building from a side door is a small thing but it breaks the Pac-Man mentality of the first games encounters. Plus reaching each area so far feels a little intimidating in size but as you explore it very manageable and well laid out. So far I've had hardly any use at all for prone or jumping but this change in structure alone is responsible for steadily improving my opinion of the game over its predecessor.

                            Story wise so far I think I've done fine but largely because... there's a fair lack of story to be honest. In hindsight I do think ND dropped the ball with the opening hours and the handling of Joel. Despite the original game and what I've played of Part II so far I feel a lot colder to Ellie and Dina than I did Joel and Ellie as a combination and I think a lot of that is because Part I was built from the opening moment to foster the feeling that you are Joel and you're following him on this journey to protect Ellie as he develops a very paternal relationship with her. Part II should have sidelined Ellie and Abbey for the opening hours and followed Joel and Tommy on their rounds. When he's been captured and is being beaten (perfect QTE time) the gameplay could then shift to Ellie as she attempts to save him. Reducing Joel to a cutscene NPC who doesn't feature that much in the opening hours really killed the feeling they were going for and I felt pretty indifferent to his fate because it felt from the outset that he was in the game solely for the purpose of killing him off (especially when the marketing already made it obvious he wasn't in it much).

                            Dina's a big shoulder shrug character too so far, they share a kiss and then it jumps to a few weeks later and they say they love each other but so far that's about it. It's to fit around the story ND is trying to tell but it skips the way in which the first game built the characters relationship up with each other and the player, I'm finding that doesn't help to make the characters as likeable as most of the time now seems to be with Ellie who is also a bit of a personality vacuum this time because she's older and so more miserable.

                            I don't dislike either but it means I'm more indifferent to them so I wonder if it will affect my views on the story as events roll on. It's hard to know what to say about Abbey to be honest, her section was a bit of padding it felt like. Whilst the settings are so far nearly the same stuff you'd see in Part I it's very consistent and I've only seen one or two minor visual glitches. So yeah, it's currently almost a slight inverse of the first game with the story dialled down and a little less well delivered but the gameplay element improving as I go so I can see why some fan corners are disappointed (beyond the dumb anti-gay ones) but for me it feels like it's taking the series in the better direction so far

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                              #29
                              16 hours in. (So much for not binging)

                              Game made a change I thought I’d hate. I’ve ended up loving it as I think I know what it’s going to force me to choose.

                              I hit a frustrating double header that made me want to smash the controller, yet I stuck with it to see what comes next.

                              I genuinely feel like I’m obsessing about getting my next fix.

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                                #30
                                Originally posted by Neon Ignition View Post

                                Part II should have sidelined Ellie and Abbey for the opening hours

                                I thought playing as Abbey in that early stage was a stroke of genius. Without even thinking about it my assumption was that she must be okay if i'm playing her ... which made what followed all the more shocking

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