There is an old proverb about revenge. It says that when you start down a road of vengeance, you should dig two graves, one for your enemy and one for yourself. The Last of Us 2, created by Naughty Dog, is a deep reflection on this idea. Never mind the clickers or any monster, it is humans who drive the characters to very dark places. A sequel to one of the most beloved games of all time, this sequel decides to not play it safe. It forces the player to explore the bad side of the characters and perhaps, even themselves.
Years after the first game, Joel and Ellie have settled down in Jackson, Wyoming. Ellie has become a moody teenager. Her relationship with Joel seems strained and she has developed feeling for her friend, Dina. Away from the town, a mysterious group watches. One member, Abby seems intent of finding someone in the town. These two characters will collide in bloody fashion, and their destines will take them both to the west coast of a destroyed America.
The game looks stunning. The textures of the seasons seem real and we see more of the world from the first game. The battle scenes are tense., The crafting system is a huge upgrade and the characters feel real. We laugh, cry and cringe as they interact. The dialogue never seems scripted. Much like how The Walking Dead became less about the zombies and more about the humans, The Last of Us 2 shows that while we hope mankind would come together after a crisis, sometimes that just is not possible.
Ellie is a remarkable character. We might miss the optimistic girl we met in the first game, but we see why she is like this. It would be laughable if Ellie did not suffer some form of PTSD after the events of the first game. through flashback sequences, we see how Joel and Ellie spent their time after the first game and before the start of this one. There are some surprising revelations in these sections, and we see that some of the actions in the past have created the problems in their relationship now.
For long stretches of the game, the player controls Abby. Abby is an antagonist (her actions in the first few hours confirm this), but she is a fascinating one. The most interesting villains in any sort of media go beyond surface level reasoning and have a bit of truth in their actions. By forcing the player to control her and learn her story, we have to get into her mindset and see why she believes what she is doing is right. We might never like Abby, but by the end, we understand and may even pity her.
The Last of Us 2 is not for everybody. It is bloody and dark, but the message is an important. We never now what might happen tomorrow, so it is best to keep those important relationships in good standing.The first game was about how love can survive, and this one is how hate can destroy anything. Love or hate it, you will be thinking about it long after the credits are done.
10/10
Available on PS4
