Zach Marchese

SPOILERS ————— The game play itself hasn't changed much from the first game, this semi-open world approach with a lacklustre combat in a story driven game felt dragged and slowing down the progression and enjoyment of the story, even though there isn't much of a story to enjoy. The game is trying to humanise the enemies by giving them names, having their allies calling them. Instead of following in the steps of its predecessor, the sequel throws away much of its character-development, atmosphere, and world-building for the sake of adding a playable antagonist. Despite early news promising the development of Ellie and Joel's bond, the latter is killed in the prologue of the game by said antagonist. Instead of naturally becoming a revenge story, the writers try their hardest to make the player emphasize with Abby - something incredibly difficult to accomplish if the player developed a connection to the protagonists from the first game. Characters close to Ellie die or abandon her unceremoniously throughout the course of the game in scenes that seem more reliant on shock value than good writing. Those who die are always taken out by Abby, and you'll occasionally play as her for these scenes. At the ending, Ellie saves Abby's life before challenging her to one last fight. Despite having two of her fingers bitten off in the struggle, Ellie gets the upper hand and is all set to drown the woman who has taken everything from her. With a brief vision of Joel flashing through her mind, she makes a disappointing decision to let go of Abby and allow her to get away. At the end of the day, Ellie is left with nothing. The player has gained nothing.