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It would be an understatement to say that The Last of Us Part II was a much-awaited game for the PS4. It was quite easily the most anticipated title of this console generation and one that fans have been looking forward to for 7 years.
Naughty Dog's 2013 effort, The Last of Us, is considered one of the best games ever made. The pressure to follow up on what is considered to be a modern classic is bound to be extremely difficult to deal with.
A large section of the fanbase felt that a sequel was not required because the first Last of Us had ended so definitively. However, fans were excited when Naughty Dog revealed their plans for The Last of Us Part II in 2016.
The game, after a tumultuous development period, was finally released on June 19. The early reviews were nearly perfect across the board, with a 96 score on Metacritic.
However, soon after the game's release, massive fan outrage flooded the internet. A section of fans was disappointed with certain aspects of the game and some even went as far as not considering the game canon.
Here, we look at some of the most common reasons for the fans' disappointment with the game.
Reasons why people are disappointed with The Last of Us Part II (Spoilers)
1) Change in perspective
One of the most common grievances players have with The Last of Us Part II is the developer's choice to make players take control of Abby.
A little past the halfway point of the game, the perspectives shift and the game gives players control of Abby, who -up until that point- had been the primary antagonist of the game. The jarring shift in perspective meant that all the momentum the game had developed with Ellie's journey was brought to a stand-still.
Players were also reluctant to play as the character that had killed Joel, one of the favourite characters in the game.
2) The ending did not provide gratification
The ending for The Last of Us Part II is one that has divided the fanbase right down the middle. While some appreciate the game for trying to explore deeper themes of forgiveness and vengeance, some found the ending to be insulting.
According to some players, the game set up a revenge tale that ultimately has no payoff and neither the characters nor the players received any gratification from the ending.
At the end of the game, Ellie decides to let Abby go instead of killing her. This made fans extremely angry and their dissatisfaction with the ending is pretty evident on the internet.
3) Lack of Narrative Focus
The first Last of Us benefitted from a tight, linear narrative that paid off in the best ways as there were great character moments sprinkled in throughout the game.
The Last of Us Part II is a game which is on a significantly larger scale. There are way more action set-pieces in the sequel than the first one. Some feel that the scale, perspective shifts and converging plot points took away a lot of the narrative focus. They believe that this made for a much messier narrative that was hard to follow.
4) Joel's uncharacteristic carelessness
Perhaps this isn't as big of a character shift as the others in The Last of Us Part II, but it is one of the biggest reasons why fans are quite angry at Naughty Dog.
According to players who are disappointed with the game, Joel and Tommy's decision to let Abby and her group know their names is extremely out of character for Joel.
The revelations led to the unceremonious torture and eventual murder of Joel. Fans are furious with Naughty Dog as they feel that a hardened survivor like Joel would not slip like that. They also think that the devs simply used Joel's death for shock value as his death did not make sense thematically.
5) Empathising with the villain
Naughty Dog made a bold move by killing off Joel, who is perhaps the most favourite character in The Last of Us. However, they made an even bolder move by making users play the story through Abby's perspective.
While some fans appreciated this move and even applauded Naughty Dog for going beyond the norms of gaming, it did not sit well with a lot of other fans. They feel that once a character does something as dastardly as torturing and murdering a fan-favourite, there is simply no way that they can sympathise with him/her.
Players also believe that The Last of Us Part II's attempts at making the player sympathise with Abby is a terrible move as it ultimately led to fans being disappointed with the result.
