De-romanticizing Violence For Exalted Storytelling-- The Last Of Us Part II

Very rarely do I get to say that once a game’s credits rolled, it had me put down the controller and rethink my notion of moral compass, impulse, loss and redemption. The only occurrences I can vividly remember are Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018).

It’s needless to say that Naughty Dog’s newest masterpiece The Last Of Us Part II has joined those ranks. With this review, or rather, a personal reflection note, I would like to delve deeper into why The Last Of Us Part II is a game that re-contextualizes storytelling and will be talked by the gaming industry for years to come.

Lead character, Ellie, on her mission to exact justice and vengeance on those who wronged her

“Gameplay is king” is an expression that can never be challenged and good gameplay goes a long way to make a story and game deeply enjoyable and effective. It’s no surprise that Naughty Dog revamped the gameplay in great effects to really drive the point home. While the basic foundation of the gameplay is built on 2013’s The Last Of Us, whose gameplay I did not enjoy that much, I am happy to say that this gameplay is far more re-contextualized, improves to great lengths, has far more enjoyability than I expected. You will be given limited supplies and ammo and you can choose to go into full-blown combat or careful stealth.

Or switch in and out of stealth to combat back to stealth. Which brings me to my next point: Enemy A.I.

A.I has been improved and now enemies are more frantic and agitated which keeps them moving from place to place from time to time, which in turn keeps you on the move. So staying at one place during stealth is not recommended.

There are 3 classes of enemies: The Seraphites, The WLF and The Infected.

I want to start with the WLF first. WLF, abbreviation for Washington Liberation Front, is a militia group that is highly organized with military grade weapons and guard dogs to sniff you out.

The Seraphites, or Scars, aptly named by the self-inflicted scars they bear across their faces, are a religious cult that believes that the ongoing pandemic came from the sin of humanity. They stone, disembowel and pierce their enemies with great cruelty. They are known for being stealthy using bow and arrows and foliage to conceal themselves as much as possible. But the threat that originally brought the world to its knees 25 years ago, the Cordyceps-mutated humans, the Infected are very much present. Apart from the common classes introduced back in The Last Of Us, there are two new classes: the Shamblers, whom upon close contact, leave a corrosive cloud of acid and an unnamed one that is far more deadlier and scarier, which I won’t mention. Combat is intense, with the player able to switch from stealth to combat to back to stealth is a stroke of genius. Encounters are different each time too. There’s almost no sense of repetition and each encounter is bound to leave you with heart racing, palms sweating and you yourself exhilarated.

Level design is another aspect Naughty Dog nailed. Locations are huge, intricately detailed with utmost attention and vigour and while you can get somewhat lost, the sense of exploration and wideness is unmatched. And you can use the geometry of locations during enemy encounters to your advantage.

All these amount to a gameplay thoroughly enjoyable, extremely replayable and just astonishingly cohesive. Graphics are usual Naughty Dog, which is to say that it is unbeatable. The fact that a souped-up game made in 2020 runs so superfluously on a console made back in 2013 is no easy feat. Naughty Dog somehow manages to churn the PS4’s slightly weaker hardware in ways that no other developers can think of. It’s simply magic. Motion matching, light source geometry, accentuated facial expressions (even during gameplay, nonetheless) is remarkable. This harkens back to when the developer made The Last Of Us back in 2013, showing how far the PS3’s capabilities could reach. The same goes for The Last Of Us Part II. Both games came out during the end of their respective consoles’ life cycles, leaving hearty promises for the next generation.

Audio department is also as strong as ever. Careful and rigorous audio mixing and sound effects give that much more depth to the game, making every punch, bullet sway, breathless running and pain feel that much more impactful. Returning composer Gustavo Santaolalla makes a solid statement with this even darker OST that resonates far intricately with the bleak tone of the game. I would be remiss not to mention additional composer, Mac Quayle’s amazing, amazing brass work, bringing to life the tense action scenes. The game’s own SFX, combined with Gustavo Santaolalla and Mac Quayle’s masterful OST, is a treat to the ears, one I never knew I wanted but needed badly.

For reference, feel free to check out Mac Quayle’s adrenaline-inducing “Eye For An Eye” or Gustavo Santaolalla’s melancholic “Beyond Desolation.”

Set five years after their dangerous journey across a post-pandemic United States, Ellie and Joel have settled down in the idyllic hills of Jackson, Wyoming. Despite the threats of Infected and other obstacles, they lead a peaceful life among a thriving community of survivors reconciling in their survivability and wanting for peace and stability. When a violent event puts a wrench in their peaceful life and turns their world upside-down, Ellie must embark on a harrowing journey that challenges her notions of justice, impulse, revenge, retribution and forgiveness.

What might seem like a simple revenge story on the surface gradually turns into a war of moral compass and ambiguity and you, the player, will be questioned about your own sense of good and bad, justice and harm. The thematicity is ripe with conflict, resolution, character study and more. Legacy characters are given their due respect, while new characters are also fleshed and given their charm and nuance. Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Ashly Burch and many more give it their all to bring these complex characters to life. I would be wrong to not mention creative directors Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross’ engrossing, transcendent writing that really catapults the plot and characters to a realm of believability and nuance.

The ending is masterclass in thematic writing with emotions whirling and character arcs coming to their solid resolutions. It might not be taken well by a lot of the audience because it does not go the way many may have hoped for, in turn leaving an unsatisfactory taste. But upon delving more into the layers of character drives, it becomes all the more transcendent.

All in all, this game boasts a risky, flawed but ambitious and nuanced narrative. And it's understandable that many may not like for all the strides it takes, especially hardcore fans of the first game. But it would be remiss to not acknowledge the hard work it does in stretching the possibilities of thematic and engrossing storytelling in videogames. Even after that, if one is hesitant to try out this game for its risky story, at least it’s a damn amazing game to show off the PS4’s capabilities.

The Last Of Us Part II earns my immaculately glowing recommendation and it is a game everyone should try with an open mind and unbiased love for the first one. Its $60 price tag is justified in all aspects and if even then, that’s still a hard pill to swallow, a price drop will definitely make it worthwhile for you.