Blake Hopkins

Honestly, the people that are grouping up and spamming this with one star truly are so blind sided in their hate for what they feel like they deserve, they ignore the most important part of this game. Yes, it has shocking and abrupt changes from the first one. Yes, the leads are BOTH female, and strong characters. And yes, there is romance this time, and no, it's not only hetero. If you take away your bias for what the first game was, which was Joel's story, and treat this as what it IS, which is Ellie's and Abby's you'll realize what you have. What you have is an amazing installment in a fantastic gaming universe. The gameplay is amazing, and while Abby and Ellie have overlap in weapons, they still felt unique enough that you got to experience two different styles of play. The expansion of the infected also was welcome, and made the Bloaters of old REALLY feel powerful this game. The leveling/crafting system felt like what we loved with the first, with minor adjustments. Collectibles felt interesting, and like they contributed to the story as well as their own. And most importantly, the story truly is amazing. A story of revenge, a story of love, a story of redemption, and a story of self-discovery. Maybe you can't handle that Ellie is homosexual. Maybe you can't handle that Abby is a LITERALLY strong (and looks the part) female character. Or Maybe you can't handle that the story premise isn't what you wanted, but it doesn't change the fact that it IS amazing. The actors and actresses involved did and truly superb job, and game looks and plays beautifully, and much like the first installment, this is a masterpiece. For those of you who spam it with hate based on the spoilers you saw, or because of your misogyny or homophobia, I challenge you to open your mind and give yourself a chance to ACTUALLY enjoy this incredible sequel. Otherwise, you need to learn that some things are NOT made for you, the creators aren't beholden to your narrow vision, and because they didn't conform to it, doesn't mean the game is objectively bad. It means you, are subjectively a bad person instead.