Dave P

SPOILER ALERT: Let me first start by saying that on my first play through I was outraged, and quite frankly jumped on the bad wagon and began hating this game. I was so upset that a few hours into the story they killed off one of my favorite characters and completely severed the relationship Joel and Ellie had. It’s safe to say that my emotions were all over the place and honestly I had to put the game down for a few days. During my time away from the game I watched a few YouTube videos trashing the game and exposing various holes in the plot. I had no intentions on finishing the game as I spoiled much of it from these videos. Something was telling me to go finish this game though, and I’m so glad I did, because in my play through I gained a whole different perspective for the game and the story which it told. First and foremost, I don’t think this game ever had intentions on keeping Joel alive. From the first game, we know that after the death of Joel’s daughter Sarah, he was never the same. After Joel was tasked with protecting Ellie, we could tell he was hesitant to show his true colors, and even more hesitant to let this daughter like figure into his life. Ellie personality, and Joel’s knack of being a father like figure helped forge a bond between the two, that ultimately lead to Joel’s demise. Let’s be honest here, this is an apocalyptic world and from the characters we meet, and the notes we find, we should all realize that no one is safe in this world. Joel and Ellie, both two headstrong characters helped to make each other better people, but at the same time we never meant to live a “happily ever after”. I know the critics say it’s not that Joel died that bothers them, but rather how he died. I struggled to accept this as well until I came to realization that Joel’s death was not random. In the games universe, death oftentimes isn’t pretty, nor normal. Before Joel’s death, Dina and Ellie find a weed farm from an old man from Jackson, and he died a “normal” death, one that alluded that his kind of passing was out of the norm in this universe. Shortly after this scene, the hunt to find Joel begins. To our bewilderment and anger, Ellie walks in on Joel’s execution by Abby. Joel’s death was blunt, and hard to watch, and direct symbolism to the nature of this world; cold and cruel. Some time shortly after this, the game forces us to play as Abby. Now everyone is outraged. Believe me I was too, and I believe naughty dog had a reason in doing this. They wanted us to experience Abby and her life, before we went on this hunt to go kill her as Ellie. It would be kind of pointless in my opinion to kill a character(s) without knowing their side of the story. The only knock I have on the game is the timeline, oftentimes the flashing back and forth is confusing and hard to understand. But other than that I believe this game was an absolute master piece. It really played with my emotions and I went from loving it, to hating it, to loving it. All in all, play this game and formulate your own opinion, but try to formulate that opinion with an open mind and I think you’ll find a respect for the game. If you read this, thank you. I don’t know about you but I’m excited for this games TV adaption as well!