Sam Brunner

There is a lot to cover here. Of course to rate the game fairly there has to be spoilers Now let’s talk about Joel’s death. It was abrupt and instant, like BAM he’s dead. A lot of people were angry about this, but I think this is the best way to do it. This is a game about how there are no good guys, everyone is evil. Joel being murdered like that sets the tone for the game, this is real people you love are going to get hurt and it can happen in the blink of an eye. When they expanded upon why he was murdered later it was great. Look, I get it, Abby is not my favorite character either. Honestly what affected me the most was knowing I killed bear and Alice. I think the playing as Abby wasn’t too great, but lev and Kara were fantastic characters. I love the juxtaposition of Joel traveling with a young girl Ellie and Abby traveling with a young boy lev. I think it was beautifully and tragically done how Ellie really led to her own downfall. The creators said this game was about hate, and they couldn’t have put it better. The moments with Ellie on the farm with Dina and her PTSD were so real and scary, it deeply moved me. This game was not perfect, the parts with the WLFS weren’t so great I’ll be the first to admit, but how those parts played into Ellie’s story, and having to punch and choke Ellie as the antagonist was so clever. The game leaves you feeling bad, no one did the right thing and that’s what this game was about. Not necessarily just “revenge” but a corruption of how Ellie was a sweet bright kid and Joel was hardened and tough, and over time Joel lightened up more and sang for ellie and in the end Ellie was killing pregnant women, she became what Joel once was, and what he hated being. In the end, Ellie was trying to play Joel’s song, but she couldn’t anymore. Her downfall was self created and she lost what was so beautiful about her relationship to Joel, and because of that arc, that amazing story we’ve all grown to love to much and means everything to me, I think this game did an amazing job. Oh and from a purely technical standpoint this has to be the most impressive game ever made.