Brian Seebach

I felt disappointed enough with this game to actually go and post a review online, which I dont think I've ever done before. Spoiler free part: The story was just a waste of time. The gameplay was solid, music, voice acting, graphics, etc. All superb, so please understand how bad the story had to be to get such hate. The first half of the game was fun, overall off to a great start. The problems arise half way through, when the terrible decisions come through. I'M GOING TO BE CLEAR, my dislike for this game has nothing to do with it's LGBTQ themes, I was actually excited to see how they would handle these in the storyline. My issue is with the story progression, and the characters. !!!!!!!!!!!!Spoilers!!!!!!!!!!! Abby is just an unlikable character. I knew Joel at some point was going to die and I knew the game would mostly be about Ellie which made sense, I was ok with that. I DIDNT know Joel would brutally killed by Abby in the first hour. Seems like we were promised a LITTLE more Joel than that, but ok, revenge quest starts early. It was fine for the first half...then, the switch. We actually have to play as Abby. The character we all hate for killing Joel. And we don't just play as her for a little, or in little bursts. you play almost an entire half of the game as her! And despite SOME cool scenes, you don't stop hating her. Playing as Abby was a "meh" experience at best. She's boring and the first impression of her is an irredeemable one. I can't count how many times I repeatedly let her die in game. If all you care about is gameplay and graphics, this is a great game. If you like stories,, but you didn't play the first, its ok. But if you LOVED the first as much as I did, and loved the characters, and waited 7 years to see what happened to them, this game is heartbreaking. LOU was a masterpiece, 10/10. It deserved a 10/10 sequel and got a 4/10 AT BEST. Part 2 had all the makings of a great game DESTROYED by awful story choices which for a studio of this quality is inexcusable. Therefore, one star. The trailers led us to believe this would be the next chapter in Joel and Ellie's story, it wasn't. It was half a game about Ellie and half about someone we don't care about and don't like. We deserved a better story than this. This isn't what we were promised.