A MISUNDERSTOOD MASTERPIECE | A video essay

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Published on May 2, 2022 8:00:09 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emb2F5HMpRI

Game:

The Last of Us Part II (2020)

Duration: 26:23

165 views

10

A misunderstodd masterpiece: THE LAST OF US PART II

At the climax of The Last of Us, a blockbuster 2013 video game that is about a zombie-fungus apocalypse but is really about the lengths a parent will go to protect a child, you are forced to kill a doctor. This doctor is not a threat. He stands there limply, holding a scalpel, so technically he’s not unarmed — but you’ve got a gun and the gameplay has made it clear, after hours of close fighting, that your character could subdue the man peacefully if he wanted. But most players including myself, chose to kill him and his nurses in a brutal manner in order to save our baby girl. Video games are constructed around choice. A lot of games, including highly ambitious ones, present you at various points with a kill-the-guy/don’t-kill-the-guy binary, allowing you to shape at least a part of your character’s morality or the eventual outcomes of the story. At this juncture of The Last of Us, however, there was nothing but a glaring lack of alternatives. The only way to move the story forward — and reach an ending in which we had already invested 14 emotionally debilitating hours — was to murder the pleading doctor and his nurses. The sequence helped establish The Last of Us as one of the most successful games in the medium’s history, a high-water mark of both artistic achievement and commercial viability. The title sold more than 17 million copies and counting, won numerous Game of the Year awards, and is being developed into an HBO series.

All my links: https://linktr.ee/Rud3b0yGaming

While the first game uses carnage to strengthen your character’s relationship with a digital teenager, The Last of Us Part II stuffs you with pain and guilt, making you commit heinous acts as one person, then experience the repercussions as another. This is made even more exhausting by a battery of digital tricks that make you feel absolutely horrible about what you’re doing.

#NaughtyDog #VideoEssay #TheLastOfUsPartII #TLOU2 #TheLastOfUsHBO #TheLastOfUs #Joel #Ellie #Abby #Lev #Yara #Dina #Jesse #Owen #Mel

TLOU2 is a remarkably impressive blockbuster videogame that develops characters and places both visually and emotionally to an extent rarely seen in videogames. TLOU2 is about revenge and how violence begets violence. It’s not the most original or revolutionary theme, but it’s delivered powerfully and effectively by, somehow, making every single character on each side of the conflict relatable and sympathetic. No one is entirely evil, and no one is entirely good. Becoming Ellie, and then Abby, will leave you surprised, frustrated, challenged and hurt — maybe even damaged. It isn’t much fun, but neither are sad movies. In conclusion, as an observer of this story, it could be easy to look at it as a simple “revenge is bad” riddled cliché, but if we take a closer look, what you’ll uncover is an allegory about grief, violence, forgiveness, and the dangers of resentment and confirmation biases. Hanging like a daunting mist over nearly every character and situation in the TLOU2, unbridled grief corrupts, rots, and ruins everything in its path, for grief is simply love with nowhere to go. This game and its message about the power of understanding, grief, and redemption have not left my mind since I first played it through on launch week back in June, and even though it was an incredibly challenging experience, it is one I will never forget. My only hope for part 3 when it eventually comes out is that we’ll get to see Ellie complete her redemption arc and finally finish her own hero’s journey alongside Abby’s. Naughty Dog, through pushing the boundaries of interactive storytelling by confronting players with their own anger and bitterness, have created one of the most visceral and emotionally challenging stories of the last generation, one whose influence and impact will surely be remembered for years to come. I know it’s one I surely won’t ever forget.

Checkout some of my other playthroughs:

- DETROIT BECOME HUMAN: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgLayK4I9FrEKK04udC2NH3Yx8toq-ohn

- THE LAST OF US PART II: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgLayK4I9FrE0R3yloZkEe_jdjAux7kVW

- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgLayK4I9FrEhc3MJIJYNQVLrK7xrUycX

- LITTLE HOPE: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgLayK4I9FrHQxC4-pFXbhAcSwn_-KUPf

- HOUSE OF ASHES: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgLayK4I9FrGgV1rKQ85w_dpXZhypvzoO

Recommended Playlist – TLOU2 - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgLayK4I9FrE0R3yloZkEe_jdjAux7kVW

Let’s connect:

Instagram – @TheOnlyTaps

Twitter – @Rud3b0ygaming

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BACKUP/2nd channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UCDa4uBdb5uZdKFHEAZrG79g

TIMESTAMPS:

00:05 START
01:20 THE LAST OF US
03:07 Creative Direction
05:20 Modern day tribalism!
06:45 The plot
10:50 Why?
11:58 Flip the script
14:02 Why change direction?
15:11 The beauty of it all
16:08 The setting
17:15 Final lil summary
22:07 Conclusion
25:40 END

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