March Modern Community Playthrough - The Last of Us

[Raidou]

really happy i knew what to expect in the flooded basement floors, because that made that whole area infinitely easier...managed to sneak past the bloater without even fighting him.

Haha, I did the same thing in that section.  Got the keycard, turned on the generator, and got the hell out of there!   

Ah, the "Magic Generator". That section took a few attempts cos the runners/bloater spawn in random locations each time you start the generator (often in unavoidable locations). 

Funny thing is that the electronic lock has an active LED (meaning that it's drawing power from somewhere), so why did I even need to turn on the fungoid-zombie-summoning-generator at all?

[Disposed Hero]

I must have gotten lucky then.  I just turned on the generator and made a mad dash for the exit.  I didn't even see the bloater (forgot there was one in this section until techwizard mentioned it).

[techwizard]

the bloater actually spawned right next to the exit, but he was in the middle of that long animation where he throws that spore grenade at me when i got there so that took him long enough that i could run full speed past him and out the door.

[techwizard]

finished Fall, saved at the start of Winter! looking forward to this, definitely one of the best segments in the game.

[Fleach]

That's my favourite portion of the game. David is such a great character.

[techwizard]

done! even when knowing what to expect it's still such an emotional roller coaster, i always get choked up at the end

[Disposed Hero]

finished Fall, saved at the start of Winter! looking forward to this, definitely one of the best segments in the game.

That's my favourite portion of the game. David is such a great character.

Now that you guys mention it, I never really thought about what my favorite section of the game is.  The game is so consistently good throughout that it makes it hard to choose.  I think I would have to go with the latter half of the first section of the game (summer?), starting at Philadelphia (or maybe Lincoln, I can't decide).  That part just feels so gritty with the ruthless hunter faction running around that area.

Winter is also a great section of the game.  Playing as Ellie makes you think a little differently about how to take out the enemies since she can't take human shields and silently choke out enemies like Joel can.  I also really liked the 'boss fight' with David.

[techwizard]

i'm not sure if anyone realised but if you look at your collectables while playing as ellie you'll notice that you have everything she collected throughout the journey, so it accurately represents what's in her backpack. it also gives you little dialogue clips from her for each item.

[Fleach]

That's really cool. I knew you could look at everything you've collected throughout the game while playing Ellie, but I didn't know there were audio clips for the items.

Thanks for sharing that.

[techwizard]

That's really cool. I knew you could look at everything you've collected throughout the game while playing Ellie, but I didn't know there were audio clips for the items.

Thanks for sharing that.

ya, i didn't look at them during this playthrough so i don't remember if there was one for every item or not but i'm fairly sure there was

[Disposed Hero]

A little late, but I just finished the Left Behind DLC.  Overall I enjoyed it very much.  I think it's great that they expanded on events that were alluded to during the main game.  I'll include the rest of my thoughts in spoiler tags so nothing will be spoiled for those who haven't played it yet:

Spoiler (hover to show)

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the action-less sections with Ellie and Riley.  I thought these sections would get boring, but I actually enjoyed these parts more than the Winter sections.  It was fun watching those two explore the mall and just act like kids, which isn't something we get to see Ellie do too often.  I was hoping they would show what happens when Riley turns.  I assume that Ellie was the one to put her down (either that or she escaped after Riley turned), but I think it was a missed opportunity for a very emotional moment. 

As far as the more action-oriented Winter portions with Ellie fending off hunters and infected, they provided some pretty intense fights.  One thing I liked about this part was that you could lure a pack of infected towards a group of hunters and watch them kill each other, which is a strategic element I really felt was missing from the main game.  Story-wise, I didn't feel like the Winter portion brought anything to the table, but I'm assuming it was really just there for the action to offset the tamer 'prequel' portion of the game.

[Fleach]

I'm glad you had a chance to play the DLC level. I thought was great to explore more of Ellie's past and get a better understanding of the events she references throughout the main game.

Spoiler (hover to show)

The opportunity to play as a young Ellie in a collapsed society was another memorable experience. The main game sets up the setting as a place that isn't for kids and once outside the military controlled zones it is very much a kill or be killed environment. So being able to just be a kid and have innocent fun in a world that simply wouldn't allow for that was great. It brought some humanity to the game.

As for Ellie potentially putting Riley out of her misery, that wouldn't have been right. The game (the the parallel Winter segment) had enough killing that if the romp through the mall ending in a mercy kill it would have not had the same impact. It still would have been an emotional scene, but wouldn't have the same weight. The ambiguous ending was much more fitting and Riley's last words mirrored Joel's which helps the player understand a little better why Ellie is the way she is during the main game.

I also really had fun getting Infected to fight

Spoiler (hover to show)

Robert's

men. According to some developer interviews that was something they would have liked to include in the main game, but didn't have the time/programming prowess for.

[Crabmaster2000]

I'm a little late to the party, but I recently started playing through the Last of Us as well. I'm unfortunately not enjoying it as much as you guys seemed to. If you've listened to me talk about Bioshock on the podcast that kind of sums up my feelings on the last of us as well. I don't get it

I guess both because of the universal praise/Game of the Year statements for the game and the emphasis on it being very immersive I expected it to be a very unique experience. It was not. It has so many video game tropes strewn about that everytime I would start to get sucked into the world I'd get tossed back out again.

My thoughts would go something like this while playing "Henry is kind of a jerk, but I guess I can see why he would put Sam as his priority and it did work out when it was all said and done. Looks like people used to live in the sewer down here. That classroom is prett ominus. Hey! There is some water! Time to find a pallet........" Or "Man that was a close one. Two bullet shot wounds and a runner attack. Good thing rag+booze=surgery+recovery time!"

The atmosphere feels very tense at first as well. Limited inventory, easy to die during most fights. I can get behind that. BUT pretty early on you are tought that it doesnt matter at all. The anxienty I had during the first few fights left when I realized you just respawn right away with no real consequences. And by the time I was entering the Hotel I had maxed out all my crafting weapons and items so I was never in need of inventory items anymore.

I remember Bil talking about how each person you took down struck him as an actual human. How you felt the impact of that death as you made it happen. I definitely couldn't feel that as the enemies still act very much like typical video game enemies. "Oh did you hear that bottle smash? Better check it out in a small group and leave our back to the hero so he has enough time to take us all out". It also took me out of the experience when I noticed things like you are invulnerable during certain animations. I could smash an enemies head into something or beat them to death with a melee weapon while taking heavy gunfire and come away unscathed. I've even had Ellie/Sam/Bill/Tess/Henry walk out right in front of an enemy while we were being stealthy, literally walk into them in a few cases, and they didn't notice thier presence.

Lastly the story so far (I'm just about the enter the science area of the University), seems very familiar and not really unique. I've seen this all before so far (Children of Men, Walking Dead, 28 Days Later, etc.). Fleach said the ending is a twist though so I'm gonna see it out for that.

What makes this game so special for all of you guys that are loving it? I'm just seeing it as "Dark Gloomy Shooter 105".

[Fleach]

Let's get this out of the way first: as a game, The Last of Us isn't anything new or innovative (and it is pretty buggy at times.. "Bill stop running in front of that clicker!"). Except for the game not pausing while your craft items, maybe. The major downfall of this game is also perhaps its best trait - it wants to be a movie. It's written extremely well, gets you interested in the characters and their motivations, and makes you want to see them succeed in their journey.

What I liked most weren't the stealth or action sequences, but the quiet moments where I could just rummage through the debris for supplies, take in the beautifully decayed world, and getting snippets of conversation from Ellie and Joel. It would be unrealistic if they didn't talk to each other, or if the conversations only involved the plot or their situation. And if Joel was some kind of Rambo one-man-army the game would lose its impact and tension.

But at the end of the day you're playing a video game. You're going to succeed by trial and error and sometimes luck (which makes it feel like less of a game and more of a movie). To incorporate a Heavy Rain-esque consequence system wouldn't work because who would replace Joel? It might slightly work that when Ellie dies you see some kind of cut scene that shows the decline of America into a bunch of fungal zombies, but that would be cliche and silly, and would lose its meaning very fast.

What I took away from The Last of Us wasn't the game play but the experience of going on that journey. It was a well told story and hooked me and left me feeling satisfied.

Crabby, watch this YouTube video when you finish the game. This guy shares you pain.

Spoiler (hover to show)

[techwizard]

i can see all the problems you mentioned crabby but for me this is one of those games where i enjoyed the story so much that the problems with the gameplay weren't very detracting. also if we're comparing it with movies or books, then no it's not very original. besides the infected it's extremely similar to Cormac McCarthy's The Road. compared to games though i haven't seen many that i feel pulled off a story like this in a way that didn't feel cheesy or uninteresting. there are enough twists (especially from winter and spring, which you haven't gotten to yet) that put it above and beyond most games for me.