Jul04
The Last of Us Part II Review
The Tale of two sides of a coin
The Last of Us Part II tells a tale of revenge in a post apocalyptic world.
Story
The game tells a brutal tale of revenge and how revenge can take everything from you. It takes you from Wyoming to Oregon all the way to California. Throughout the journey you will have to fight not only enemies, but the emotional toll it takes on its characters. The games second act is to long at 7-9 hours when it needed to be closer to 3-4 in my opinion, but overall the story delivers. The Flashback scenes are some of the best in the whole franchise and really pull at your emotions. The Games story is very controversial, especially the ending, but if you go into it open minded the story can have a deep impact on how revenge and past choices can ruin a life.
Graphics
This game looks good. I mean really good. It is probably the best looking game on PS4 right now. The lighting, environments, and especially the characters look so real. The water and fire effects are also some of the best in modern gaming.
Gameplay
A game means nothing if the controls are not good and the game itself is not fun. The controls are laid out well and the ability to tweak the controls, difficulty levels, and assists is what every game should do. They added things like infinite breathing for one example to make the game more assessable to people, especially those that do not play games as regularly. Elle has new moves like the ability to jump and go prone. She can also slip through small areas to help open up the fighting environment. She also no longer needs shivs. Her knife never breaks, which for me was an amazing change.
Trophies
The list itself is mostly finding collectables, upgrading weapons, and character progression. I wish there had been more story trophies and a little disappointing that there are no difficulty ones. The list is a simple Platinum if you take the time to do 2-3 play throughs.
Final score
I would rate this game a 8/10. The second act being a little too long and it feeling like a long side quest is what holds the Sequel back from reaching the heights of the first one.
Ethics Statement
The reviewer spent roughly 21 hours beating the story to its conclusion. He collected most of the collectables receiving 16/26 trophies and is preparing to do a second play though to mop up collectables and player upgrades.