Melanie Darling

(SPOILERS) This game met, then exceeded my expectations. The reason I loved the first game so much was for the story. The reason I love the second game is for the combat and story/characters. The combat in this game felt so much better and was really fun! Shooting with guns or with the bow and arrow could be challenging, without feeling impossible. The story in this game was also great! I felt immersed in the game. I felt the emotions as I was playing. At first, I did not like how long I played as Abby, but quickly realized I liked learning about her back story and reasonings. I also enjoyed seeing how W.L.F. operated and their headquarters. I HATED Abby at first, but by the final fight scenes, I almost couldn’t bear to watch. I didn’t want either character to die! Some say Abby got away and Joel didn’t get justice. But considering the state Abby was in the last time Ellie found her and the fact Ellie killed all her friends involved with killing Joel, I think she suffered enough and Joel had justice. If Ellie killed Abby, chances are either Lev (who was innocent and had nothing to do with Joel) would have died OR he would have survived and hunted Ellie down to kill her too. People are upset for several misogynistic and homophobic reasons. If you fall in this category of a person this game isn’t made for you. (Don’t worry almost all the rest of the thousands of video games on the market are!) Disclaimer: Being transgender or gay is not a political statement and in turn, having a transgender or gay character is also not a “political” statement. This game did make a statement to the gaming community. A “we see you woman and LGBTQ+ members” who would like to play some video games without being represented as a sex object or monster. As a woman, this was the first game I felt accurately represented and acknowledged in. Woman in this game aren’t sex objects for males to look at and fantasize about. We’re real people in the real world and this games characters were made off that. So thank you to naughty dog for a great representation of woman and for making a stand in the gaming community on what woman should be in games!