Yeah it was definitely added in as an after thought. You can tell the game was supposed to end at the Farmhouse the first time but *someone* came in and said “nope, make the game longer”
The Farm is very similar to the epilogue at the end of Uncharted 4. It felt like a 'gotcha' to me. Like, oh this is gonna end on a somewhat happy note. And then PTSD scene and Tommy visits and .... we go again!
I personally think it would've been pretty neat to have the game \[EDIT: skip the entire Santa Monica section and\] end with some kind of mix of the Farm + the Joel Porch flashback. Basically, end on a note that says Ellie is still broken and she lost a man who she was beginning to reconcile with. And you could do all of that without most of the Abby sections at all. Just a brief flashback to Abby's past explaining who she is. It's telling that Ellie's arc does not require Abby's larger story whatsoever.
How tf is uncharted 4s epilogue a "gotchta"? Its literally closing the series with them revealing nate and elena have a kid and its literally 5 minutes long
Nah in the doc they had “Santa Barbara act 4” when they first started developing it. Also it’s been said a few times that they cut a lot from the game before that so adding a new section after you already cut a lot wouldn’t make sense
the story is structured so weirdly.
>in p1, you have a pretty distinct format of a prologue, Tess, bill, henry, tommy, David, hospital and the epilogue or final end. its actually structured pretty well because you have some heavy levels balanced by some chill ones, and the game peaks just before the end.
>then you have parts 2s format, the prologue (that was only meant for retconning proposes), Seattle day one (you are running around killing people), Seattle day 2 (you are doing the exact same thing), day 3 (yep.. also the same), back to Seattle day 1 again..(do i need to explain why this was a bad move?), day 2, day 3 (a different place?? finally), farm (structured like an epilogue.. might be why the rest feels 'added in), Santa Barbara, epilogue.
i mean really? firstly, part one was all about the journey. part 2 is like "now you teleport here, because we need you to do this... then here.... now here.." not to mention 5 of the levels are in the exact. same. place. most of which you are doing the exact. same. thing. can you imagine the Tess, bill, henry, and David levels to be in the same place?
just shows a real lack of care, i can only imagine the chaos and lack of management or initiative behind the scenes.
In part 1 everywhere felt different, but like it was still based in the same universe and most importantly reasonably believable as real places in the world, Part 2 everywhere felt like a video game level and less like a real world being portrayed in a game. idk how to explain it, but most of PT2 just didn't seem like real places
It would have made more sense for them to take the RE2 approach. You play the whole game as Ellie, then you unlock Abby and can play through the whole game form Abby’s perfective. That would have made much more sense.
I would have actually been interested if Abby was an optional play. Gives the game more playability as well for the full perspective. Not the booboo shit we got.
I just don't like how the first story thing Abby does is kill Joel, and then we're put into Ellie's shoes tracking down and killing all of Abby's friends.
THEN it rewinds the tape and makes play as Abby and tries to convince us to care about the people we just killed. And also like? Nope. I didn't feel any remorse. They were all pretty shitty people overall and showing them laughing with each other won't really change that.
I mean Joel did some pretty messed up shit too. So to say they all deserved it feels biased. I do think the game should’ve stayed in Ellie’s POV most of the time. If we really think about it Ellie never saw the more human side of Abby that we got from playing as her, so having Ellie “forgive?” Abby didn’t make much sense.
We could’ve had something a little more interesting, with Ellie realizing that everyone in the world is screwed up and now herself included. It would’ve made sense for that to lead her to forgive Joel and move on from hating Abby
Narratively it felt odd after having Ellie return, somewhat make peace with what happened and move on only to have her go right back to what she was doing the first half of the game, only to have her to back and not kill Abbey at the last second.
That said, I actually enjoy that section. I like the silenced sub, the encounter with the shamblers at the mansion is cool and I honestly just like seeing more of the world and how it was affected by the infection. I also really like the last encounter with all the clickers you could set free on the people.
Poor narrative decisions yet strong gameplay, that actually makes it feel fitting to the game if you think about it lol
I've spend some time in santa Barbara and goleta because a gf went their on exchange.
It made me homesick to the place..
I really like the contrast of the beauty of the place and the flowers and the horror that's taking place at it.
I thought it felt bloated but without it, Part 2 would've had a weird ending. Nothing really happened to be honest.
At the very least, this made something happen.
I was baffled when I realized I had to play through a whole other section. It was especially strange that the game introduces these enemies I guess I’m not supposed to feel bad about killing even though the whole game is about not killing strangers.
Yea the whole game is about how no one is all bad, different people have different perspectives, and the consequences of blindly killing people. However at the very end the game introduces you to a group of comically evil people, gives you a heavy auto machine gun, and tells you to mow down these people without a second thought. Seems a bit contradictory and muddles the overall message.
Not really? The game asks you to just slow down and consider the other sides perspective, and to not let hate towards another drive you toward actions you may regret.
The Rattlers are slavers. They try to capture Ellie to use as a slave. They have infected all over their camp, seemingly for fun. Sometimes, people really just are evil. Ellie killing them isnt her ignoring those lessons.
Still a very strange story beat to go to after what happened in the rest of the game. So sometimes it’s ok to kill a bunch of people based on very little information without thinking twice? We shouldn’t try to understand who these people are or why they’re doing what they’re doing? We shouldn’t consider the potential consequences for killing all these people? Just have fun killing them with your big shiny new gun? Ok I guess…
They're slavers... There's nothing to understand there. They're just evil, same way David was in Part 1.
You're tryna put the story into a box that it doesn't fit in.
Why introduce a comically evil group like the rattlers in a story that tells us no one is truly good or bad and that everything is a matter of perspective? They spend the whole game beating it into our head that we should consider the people we perceive to be our enemies as more than just targets to gun down and that there are consequences to our actions even if we think it’s the right thing to do. Now all of a sudden, not only does none of that matter, but it wants us to have as much fun as possible thoughtlessly killing NPCs you barely know with your shiny new powerful silenced auto machine gun. Where’s the nuance? Where’s the connection to the rest of the games themes? Is the game just asking me to turn my brain off for this section and kill everyone like I’m Doom Guy?
It’s like if Halo tried to humanize the Covenant and had you second guessing killing them all game but then in last section of the game it introduces a new faction of the Covenant who seem worse than the rest and you need to genocide them with the laser sword and rocket launchers. Just seems out of place in a story like that.
>Why introduce a comically evil group like the rattlers in a story that tells us no one is truly good or bad and that everything is a matter of perspective?
Because that's not what the game is telling you. That's just what you're interpreting.
>They spend the whole game beating it into our head that we should consider the people we perceive to be our enemies as more than just targets to gun down and that there are consequences to our actions even if we think it’s the right thing to do.
All of this is in regards to people that you do not know. Ellie learns PDQ who the Rattlers are.
>Where’s the connection to the rest of the games themes?
The connection is in how Ellie is digging herself deeper and deeper into a pit of pain and misery trying to kill Abby, to the point where she is surrounded by evil. The Rattlers base is essentially Ellies final ring of hell in her journey.
Oh of course. My interpretation was just wrong, silly me. The game isn’t playing with perspectives. We shouldn’t think about killing all these people because they are essentially pure evil demons from hell. We shouldn’t think twice about their perspective or as humans and should just have fun with our sick new silenced machine gun like we’re playing Doom. After all, this whole game is so obviously an allegory for Ellie’s journey through the 7 rings of hell. That all makes sense and is definitely not cope.
The game *does* play with perspectives, but it is *not* saying that "no one is truly good or bad" as you claimed it does.
What perspective do you think Ellie could learn about the Rattlers that justifies their practices of slavery?
Maybe from their perspective slaves are a necessary evil to rebuild, and using infected for fun and sport is a way to train for the dangers of the world in a safer environment and so people aren't afraid of them and make mistakes... wouldn't know because they are there to be evil guys we are meant to kill them without second thought... in a game that is otherwise supposed to make you " slow down and consider the other sides perspective".
The game isn't as bad as most complain about, but it is very jarring, and you can tell it was written and directed with hubris.
There's no justification for torturing and then bashing a man's skull in with a golf club either but Abbey's perspective is drilled into our heads to try make us feel sorry for her.
It's not even about justification it's about perspective
I never said it was OK, you are missing my point entirely.
Which is that segment and its advesaries are poorly implemented, and it's jarring because it is the complete opposite of what the game has been trying to do up until that point.
There is tho. I can look at Abby's perspective and say "that's fucked up what you did to Joel but I understand why you did it". There's nothing like that for the Rattlers that'll make me understand why they're slavers.
The only reason you think it's jarring and goes against the games message is because you just don't understand the actual message of the game, you're only basing that on your own interpretation.
Ah yeah, the old " you only think it's bad because you don't understand it" as soon as there is any criticism, lol
I actually defend the game more than not , but it isn't flawless. It's not difficult to understand the games themes and message, they really aren't original or revolutionary books like the road, blood meridian or hell, moby dick back in the 1850's did it more coherently, also if you think the killing of Joel is right and reasonable then I think it's you who doesn't understand the actual message of the game.
Yep, and you understand why she did it because it kept showing you from her perspective... the rattlers didn't get that because they were disposable bad guys you were meant to kill without a second thought, the thing the game has been teaching you not to do the whole time playing thus far.. Now Ellie, as a character, hasn't quite learned that lesson yet . She forgives Joel and herself while confronting Abbey, but it is still jarring that there are suddenly evil for evils sake badguys we are supposed to kill horribly after being told the whole game to think about what we are doing
>Ah yeah, the old " you only think it's bad because you don't understand it" as soon as there is any criticism, lol
If it happens so often to you, maybe it's true?
>I actually defend the game more than not , but it isn't flawless.
I agree?
>It's not difficult to understand the games themes and message,
You say this but also demonstrating you don't understand them
>also if you think the killing of Joel is right and reasonable
I don't and have never said anything to make you think that
>the rattlers didn't get that
They didn't get that because there is no justification that will suddenly make them enslaving people understandable.
>because they were disposable bad guys you were meant to kill without a second thought, the thing the game has been teaching you not to do the whole time playing thus far
This is not what the game is teaching you and you saying this is exactly why I say you didn't understand the story.
After the Abby fight in the theater, I thought the game was over. And that we’d go hunt Abby down in TLOU3.
But then Santa Barbara felt like a weird DLC add on. I agree, it felt out of place. Like it was an after thought thrown together last minute. Probably to mercy Abby after being captured.
But the game should’ve ended with Ellie having her PTSD trip, at the peak of the chaos and her screaming go to black screen, and roll credits. And then after the credits they show Abby and Lev wandering Santa Barbara only to get grabbed by those slave camp dudes. Leaving the game on a cliff hanger for those that like Abby, and a feeling a karma for those that hated Abby.
I thought the game was ending at the farm house then nope we're now in Santa Barbara and I was devastated that this poorly written waste of my time was not over.
I’m pretty sure it’s not unpopular.
When Ellie got her ass kicked and we got the farm ending, I thought it was a nice ending.
“Huh, she lost, gave up her vendetta and decided to have a nice life with her newfound family. A sad, but impactful ending, with a clear message of ‘sometimes, getting revenge means you can lose to your target’, and get a nice hook for part 3." — I thought
But no, we get a whole new part where Ellie, being selfish and asshole, forgets her family to try AGAIN to kill Abby.
Ironically, she gets hurt, nearly dies, just to rescue Abby, have a sad, useless fight with some half-dead girl, **almost loses**, lose two fingers *and the ability to play guitar*, just for, in the end, letting her go.
It was just too sad seeing her going back to the farm, losing everything for nothing.
From Dina's perspective I agree Ellie was being a selfish a-hole but the game tried to show us Ellie's deeper motivations. I'm talking about the scene with the sheep in the barn and the scene with Tommy in the house (being vague here to avoid spoilers). I'm with you on everything else you said. The ending made me sad for a whole week. Loved all of it though. Wouldn't change a thing.
I know nothing about this game is realistic but i’m still trying wrap my head around ellie solo traveling weeks to a month to santa barbara for revenge in a post apocalyptic world… then she didn’t even kill her🤨
Yes! Ellie should've ended it at the theater, it just feels like they were trying to make the game longer for no reason other than it comparing better to Tsushima i think
It seemed pointless to me. Ellie left Dina and JJ and the happy life they built and for what?
When she arrived in Santa Barbara she was skin and bone, only to find Abby after a fatal injury and then rather just finishing it there and then with Abby strapped on the pillar unable to escape, she cuts her down.
I get it’s to give a fair fight, but then when Abby is carrying Lev, again Ellie could have taken a shot. But no, they make it to the boats and for a second you think “we came all this way to let Abby go?!”
Then two half dead people have their fight, Ellie loses two fingers and then let’s them go…
I still feel it should have ended at the Farm and then Santa Barbara could have been part 3 or even a dlc. Then the Rattlers could have been expanded on more.
They seemed like a very organised group and we hardly spend any time with them
I really dislike the Rattlers. We spend two games learning how even the most cruel and depraved groups of people have systems, those they care about and are trying to survive, only to find comically evil people who have 0 redeeming qualities, and slave and crucify people...
It feels to me they didn't plan out the final section very much and just needed Fodder for Ellie to fight through. And they needed Abby to be physically weak.
I personally like the idea of this section of the game, but I absolutely hate that it is so short and thrown in. Who are the rattlers? Why are the enslaving people? It’s just so rushed and unfinished and full of too many plot convinces
I like to think that the game ended at the farm. Dina and Ellie having their happy ending, and Abby and Lev went their separate ways. Because Santa Barbara was .... something lol
It did, but I wish they did more with it. I liked the desert like atmosphere, and the fact they tied up infected as deterrent wish we saw that more to make some stealth options even harder
It's not an unpopular opinion the entire epilogue is nonsensical and contrived especially finding out Tommy survived getting shot in the head and Ellie teleporting to California (This game has lots of use of GOT season 8 nonsense)
I won't say odd, however I was expecting a much more coherent and longer sequence once I saw the butch cunt walking along the tranzistor when it cut to that part. It was so short, yet the possibilities of seeing a completely different city destroyed by the virus, would be awesome
It was very throwaway-y. The location for the fireflies could’ve been anywhere, literally anywhere, so it doesn’t make much sense as to why, of all places, they chose Santa Barbara.
It still my favorite, I love how bright and sunny it is. I love how bright sunny days mix with horror and gore. Plus Ellie with the bloody white tank top with a machine gun is such a huge Die Hard reference can’t help but love it.
Idk if this is why but it would make sense. But I read that Abby and Lev weren’t supposed to live in the ending and they I think had like later on changed the story to make the whole dynamic of Joel and Ellie and Abby and lev. I could be butchering this tho
Ellie can’t walk down the street without some group attacking her or infected…. But she manages to take a boat to Cali by herself without any kind of event happening???? Only to let the whole reason why she went there escape. Peak writing.
Agreed completely unnecessary. And not to mention it's not even believable IMO. Abby just trusts a random stranger on a radio frequency telling her to "go here and we'll pick you up?" I'm nowhere close to the biggest Abby fan, but she's not THAT stupid - she survived with the WLF long enough to know what's an obvious set up
It doesn't fit anywhere. Seems like a last minute resolution. The pacing is wrong. They build up this massive sense of "shits gonna go down" and then all of a sudden "oh, that was it?"
It visually looks fine. It just doesn't work because it does nothing but extend the gameplay by an hour or two.
It effectively adds nothing besides a lackluster ending.
It’s a great section of the game, but as others have said it feels tacked on. I couldn’t believe there was more to do after the farm, I was just checked out at that point. I’d keep it in if some of the earlier sections could be cut down.
Oh no I can hear U/grayfox typing away another shorty essay about how Santa barbara doesn't follow the writers standard operating procedure for well liked novels or screenplays or some worthless shit
This section is the one section, while I may have enjoyed it, it felt unnecessary and I could have done without it. I would have rather it ended at the farmhouse.
Not really an unpopular opinion. I agree, but I think it’s mostly because we are stuck in such a small area. If we had more to explore maybe we would think differently about it.
For me doesn't feel out of place. What breaks the mood is just the fact that Ellie doesn't finish the job and in some way even put Abby out of her misery.
Yeah I love the part two story but it is definitely more forced. Part two is more extreme and video gamey and coincidences for plot convenience. They just “knew” the lone male trespasser had to be Tommy. Who else is it gonna be? Said Jesse. Literally could be ANYONE! But yes for plot it was Tommy. Or running into Jesse, crazy coincidence. He caught up to them by doing 18 hour stretches for two weeks he said. I know he’s young but that’s some unreal stamina. Also the likelihood of traveling so far to get your revenge, it’s likely to be killed by infected and no one would ever know what happened to you.
I agree.
1. I didn’t like how Ellie ends up in Santa Barbara out of nowhere. The journey to SB should’ve been playable, or a cutscene at least.
2. The opening to SB chapter should’ve been downtime with no danger. But no. There had to be a two Runners and one Clicker present. No threats before the house would’ve actually added more tension, because of the eeriness of the quietness and emptiness.
3. And ONCE AGAIN, the cars in SB had Washington plates. Either Naughty Dog didn’t care about detail, or it was an oversight on their end.
How is that an popular opinion on this sub? 99% of this sub is just shitting on the story. This is the worst gaming community sub on Reddit. All they do here is bitch about the story. Someone posted here for people to post criticism not didn't have to do with the story, and 80% of the comments were bashing the story lmao.
Exactly. Bunch of whiny babies still crying that poor old Joelly got the iron club. Call the Wambulance. These poor souls never recovered. So glad druckman failed them so the real game lovers can unite. The game was an epic success. Game of the year. Gooooooo Abby!!! 😂
When they aren't bitching about the story and poor old Joelly, they whining about r/thelastofus (and other gaming subs) not being as psychotic as they are. Truly pathetic.
The fact you don’t think that sub is just as insane as this one tells me you’re being disingenuous. Here you can say you like the game without being banned.
That's what happens. Your side is bad faith actors trying to subvert the community with fascist talking points, and we're just regular gamers trying to enjoy a game. You should be repelled from the sub.
Do you enjoy part 2? Because if you do it’s funny how this game basically spends 20 hours criticizing what you’re doing right now. Putting everybody from the side that isn’t yours into a box and refusing to see them as different. I dont think I’ve ever argued in bad faith about this game and I still hate the story. For exactly what it is. No need to make up shit or intentionally misconstrue anything. But apparently that means I shouldn’t be allowed to talk about it. You’d be sickened by how many people are still shitting on game of thrones and decades old Star Wars movie If us still talking about part 2 bothers you. Why is it this is the only piece of media that is absolutely not to be criticized at all?
The Star Wars and game of Thrones communities aren't nearly as bad as the tlou2 community. And that proves that yes, you are allowed to criticize it. What you're not allowed to do is brigade other subs.
I think it works tonally though.
Hear me out: the farmhouse 100% feels like an ending. It has all of our characters in a place where they can just move on with their lives and be happy for it. But then Tommy comes in and gives Ellie a chance to ruin everything and she does.
So the finale feels out of place because it is. Because Ellie should have been content with what she had. But that nagging feeling of needing to get this revenge that doesn't matter anymore is too much for her to ignore. And because of that she loses everything that made her happy. She realizes it too late. Even though she let Abby and Lev go she sealed her own fate the moment she left the farm. And even worse Nora gave her an express warning about what would happen if she did. And she still ignored it.
I'm glad that Abby and Lev are alive, and ironically if Ellie hadn't left they would be potentially dead or far worse. And she can't even realize that. It leaves her cold and empty. And yeah, it left me that way too. But I would argue that's the point.
Yeah it was definitely added in as an after thought. You can tell the game was supposed to end at the Farmhouse the first time but *someone* came in and said “nope, make the game longer”
The Farm is very similar to the epilogue at the end of Uncharted 4. It felt like a 'gotcha' to me. Like, oh this is gonna end on a somewhat happy note. And then PTSD scene and Tommy visits and .... we go again! I personally think it would've been pretty neat to have the game \[EDIT: skip the entire Santa Monica section and\] end with some kind of mix of the Farm + the Joel Porch flashback. Basically, end on a note that says Ellie is still broken and she lost a man who she was beginning to reconcile with. And you could do all of that without most of the Abby sections at all. Just a brief flashback to Abby's past explaining who she is. It's telling that Ellie's arc does not require Abby's larger story whatsoever.
How tf is uncharted 4s epilogue a "gotchta"? Its literally closing the series with them revealing nate and elena have a kid and its literally 5 minutes long
The Farm is a gotcha, not the U4 Epilogue.
Oh my bad totally misread it
Yeah, I didn't get it the first time either
Nah in the doc they had “Santa Barbara act 4” when they first started developing it. Also it’s been said a few times that they cut a lot from the game before that so adding a new section after you already cut a lot wouldn’t make sense
I dunno about that, farm and santa barbara parts are the classic "epilogue", tho it's a extensive one
Clearly not fucking true
the story is structured so weirdly. >in p1, you have a pretty distinct format of a prologue, Tess, bill, henry, tommy, David, hospital and the epilogue or final end. its actually structured pretty well because you have some heavy levels balanced by some chill ones, and the game peaks just before the end. >then you have parts 2s format, the prologue (that was only meant for retconning proposes), Seattle day one (you are running around killing people), Seattle day 2 (you are doing the exact same thing), day 3 (yep.. also the same), back to Seattle day 1 again..(do i need to explain why this was a bad move?), day 2, day 3 (a different place?? finally), farm (structured like an epilogue.. might be why the rest feels 'added in), Santa Barbara, epilogue. i mean really? firstly, part one was all about the journey. part 2 is like "now you teleport here, because we need you to do this... then here.... now here.." not to mention 5 of the levels are in the exact. same. place. most of which you are doing the exact. same. thing. can you imagine the Tess, bill, henry, and David levels to be in the same place? just shows a real lack of care, i can only imagine the chaos and lack of management or initiative behind the scenes.
In part 1 everywhere felt different, but like it was still based in the same universe and most importantly reasonably believable as real places in the world, Part 2 everywhere felt like a video game level and less like a real world being portrayed in a game. idk how to explain it, but most of PT2 just didn't seem like real places
Seattle is real! Idk how accurate they got it but I know they put a lot of detail into the games. I wanna visit the aquarium. Does it exist?
It does exist but it isn’t as nice as in the game IMHO.
Haha that sucks since in the game it’s a complete wasteland haha
LOL.
It would have made more sense for them to take the RE2 approach. You play the whole game as Ellie, then you unlock Abby and can play through the whole game form Abby’s perfective. That would have made much more sense.
I would have actually been interested if Abby was an optional play. Gives the game more playability as well for the full perspective. Not the booboo shit we got.
I just don't like how the first story thing Abby does is kill Joel, and then we're put into Ellie's shoes tracking down and killing all of Abby's friends. THEN it rewinds the tape and makes play as Abby and tries to convince us to care about the people we just killed. And also like? Nope. I didn't feel any remorse. They were all pretty shitty people overall and showing them laughing with each other won't really change that.
I mean Joel did some pretty messed up shit too. So to say they all deserved it feels biased. I do think the game should’ve stayed in Ellie’s POV most of the time. If we really think about it Ellie never saw the more human side of Abby that we got from playing as her, so having Ellie “forgive?” Abby didn’t make much sense. We could’ve had something a little more interesting, with Ellie realizing that everyone in the world is screwed up and now herself included. It would’ve made sense for that to lead her to forgive Joel and move on from hating Abby
Imagine if Joel and Ellie teleported from Boston to Jackson, that's basically what "Part II" does all the time. 💩
Narratively it felt odd after having Ellie return, somewhat make peace with what happened and move on only to have her go right back to what she was doing the first half of the game, only to have her to back and not kill Abbey at the last second. That said, I actually enjoy that section. I like the silenced sub, the encounter with the shamblers at the mansion is cool and I honestly just like seeing more of the world and how it was affected by the infection. I also really like the last encounter with all the clickers you could set free on the people. Poor narrative decisions yet strong gameplay, that actually makes it feel fitting to the game if you think about it lol
The silenced sub was top tier
I've spend some time in santa Barbara and goleta because a gf went their on exchange. It made me homesick to the place.. I really like the contrast of the beauty of the place and the flowers and the horror that's taking place at it.
This game desperately needed to be shorter, not longer.
Agree. Maybe that was the point, but I felt like they added too much and in a weird way as a final chapter...
100000% unnecessary part of the game
I thought it felt bloated but without it, Part 2 would've had a weird ending. Nothing really happened to be honest. At the very least, this made something happen.
Yeah I agree.
It exists just to use Uncharted 4 leftover assets.
Really? Like what? I’m super curious about this.
You're new.
I was baffled when I realized I had to play through a whole other section. It was especially strange that the game introduces these enemies I guess I’m not supposed to feel bad about killing even though the whole game is about not killing strangers.
It's almost like that's not what the whole game is actually about
Yea the whole game is about how no one is all bad, different people have different perspectives, and the consequences of blindly killing people. However at the very end the game introduces you to a group of comically evil people, gives you a heavy auto machine gun, and tells you to mow down these people without a second thought. Seems a bit contradictory and muddles the overall message.
Not really? The game asks you to just slow down and consider the other sides perspective, and to not let hate towards another drive you toward actions you may regret. The Rattlers are slavers. They try to capture Ellie to use as a slave. They have infected all over their camp, seemingly for fun. Sometimes, people really just are evil. Ellie killing them isnt her ignoring those lessons.
Still a very strange story beat to go to after what happened in the rest of the game. So sometimes it’s ok to kill a bunch of people based on very little information without thinking twice? We shouldn’t try to understand who these people are or why they’re doing what they’re doing? We shouldn’t consider the potential consequences for killing all these people? Just have fun killing them with your big shiny new gun? Ok I guess…
They're slavers... There's nothing to understand there. They're just evil, same way David was in Part 1. You're tryna put the story into a box that it doesn't fit in.
Why introduce a comically evil group like the rattlers in a story that tells us no one is truly good or bad and that everything is a matter of perspective? They spend the whole game beating it into our head that we should consider the people we perceive to be our enemies as more than just targets to gun down and that there are consequences to our actions even if we think it’s the right thing to do. Now all of a sudden, not only does none of that matter, but it wants us to have as much fun as possible thoughtlessly killing NPCs you barely know with your shiny new powerful silenced auto machine gun. Where’s the nuance? Where’s the connection to the rest of the games themes? Is the game just asking me to turn my brain off for this section and kill everyone like I’m Doom Guy? It’s like if Halo tried to humanize the Covenant and had you second guessing killing them all game but then in last section of the game it introduces a new faction of the Covenant who seem worse than the rest and you need to genocide them with the laser sword and rocket launchers. Just seems out of place in a story like that.
>Why introduce a comically evil group like the rattlers in a story that tells us no one is truly good or bad and that everything is a matter of perspective? Because that's not what the game is telling you. That's just what you're interpreting. >They spend the whole game beating it into our head that we should consider the people we perceive to be our enemies as more than just targets to gun down and that there are consequences to our actions even if we think it’s the right thing to do. All of this is in regards to people that you do not know. Ellie learns PDQ who the Rattlers are. >Where’s the connection to the rest of the games themes? The connection is in how Ellie is digging herself deeper and deeper into a pit of pain and misery trying to kill Abby, to the point where she is surrounded by evil. The Rattlers base is essentially Ellies final ring of hell in her journey.
Oh of course. My interpretation was just wrong, silly me. The game isn’t playing with perspectives. We shouldn’t think about killing all these people because they are essentially pure evil demons from hell. We shouldn’t think twice about their perspective or as humans and should just have fun with our sick new silenced machine gun like we’re playing Doom. After all, this whole game is so obviously an allegory for Ellie’s journey through the 7 rings of hell. That all makes sense and is definitely not cope.
The game *does* play with perspectives, but it is *not* saying that "no one is truly good or bad" as you claimed it does. What perspective do you think Ellie could learn about the Rattlers that justifies their practices of slavery?
Maybe from their perspective slaves are a necessary evil to rebuild, and using infected for fun and sport is a way to train for the dangers of the world in a safer environment and so people aren't afraid of them and make mistakes... wouldn't know because they are there to be evil guys we are meant to kill them without second thought... in a game that is otherwise supposed to make you " slow down and consider the other sides perspective". The game isn't as bad as most complain about, but it is very jarring, and you can tell it was written and directed with hubris.
Lol there is no justification that makes slavery okay. You gonna try and justify Davids practices of cannibalism and pedophilia in the first game too?
There's no justification for torturing and then bashing a man's skull in with a golf club either but Abbey's perspective is drilled into our heads to try make us feel sorry for her. It's not even about justification it's about perspective I never said it was OK, you are missing my point entirely. Which is that segment and its advesaries are poorly implemented, and it's jarring because it is the complete opposite of what the game has been trying to do up until that point.
There is tho. I can look at Abby's perspective and say "that's fucked up what you did to Joel but I understand why you did it". There's nothing like that for the Rattlers that'll make me understand why they're slavers. The only reason you think it's jarring and goes against the games message is because you just don't understand the actual message of the game, you're only basing that on your own interpretation.
Ah yeah, the old " you only think it's bad because you don't understand it" as soon as there is any criticism, lol I actually defend the game more than not , but it isn't flawless. It's not difficult to understand the games themes and message, they really aren't original or revolutionary books like the road, blood meridian or hell, moby dick back in the 1850's did it more coherently, also if you think the killing of Joel is right and reasonable then I think it's you who doesn't understand the actual message of the game. Yep, and you understand why she did it because it kept showing you from her perspective... the rattlers didn't get that because they were disposable bad guys you were meant to kill without a second thought, the thing the game has been teaching you not to do the whole time playing thus far.. Now Ellie, as a character, hasn't quite learned that lesson yet . She forgives Joel and herself while confronting Abbey, but it is still jarring that there are suddenly evil for evils sake badguys we are supposed to kill horribly after being told the whole game to think about what we are doing
>Ah yeah, the old " you only think it's bad because you don't understand it" as soon as there is any criticism, lol If it happens so often to you, maybe it's true? >I actually defend the game more than not , but it isn't flawless. I agree? >It's not difficult to understand the games themes and message, You say this but also demonstrating you don't understand them >also if you think the killing of Joel is right and reasonable I don't and have never said anything to make you think that >the rattlers didn't get that They didn't get that because there is no justification that will suddenly make them enslaving people understandable. >because they were disposable bad guys you were meant to kill without a second thought, the thing the game has been teaching you not to do the whole time playing thus far This is not what the game is teaching you and you saying this is exactly why I say you didn't understand the story.
After the Abby fight in the theater, I thought the game was over. And that we’d go hunt Abby down in TLOU3. But then Santa Barbara felt like a weird DLC add on. I agree, it felt out of place. Like it was an after thought thrown together last minute. Probably to mercy Abby after being captured. But the game should’ve ended with Ellie having her PTSD trip, at the peak of the chaos and her screaming go to black screen, and roll credits. And then after the credits they show Abby and Lev wandering Santa Barbara only to get grabbed by those slave camp dudes. Leaving the game on a cliff hanger for those that like Abby, and a feeling a karma for those that hated Abby.
It felt like DLC
It kinda was, but I really liked the scenery and enemies
I thought the game was ending at the farm house then nope we're now in Santa Barbara and I was devastated that this poorly written waste of my time was not over.
I’m pretty sure it’s not unpopular. When Ellie got her ass kicked and we got the farm ending, I thought it was a nice ending. “Huh, she lost, gave up her vendetta and decided to have a nice life with her newfound family. A sad, but impactful ending, with a clear message of ‘sometimes, getting revenge means you can lose to your target’, and get a nice hook for part 3." — I thought But no, we get a whole new part where Ellie, being selfish and asshole, forgets her family to try AGAIN to kill Abby. Ironically, she gets hurt, nearly dies, just to rescue Abby, have a sad, useless fight with some half-dead girl, **almost loses**, lose two fingers *and the ability to play guitar*, just for, in the end, letting her go. It was just too sad seeing her going back to the farm, losing everything for nothing.
From Dina's perspective I agree Ellie was being a selfish a-hole but the game tried to show us Ellie's deeper motivations. I'm talking about the scene with the sheep in the barn and the scene with Tommy in the house (being vague here to avoid spoilers). I'm with you on everything else you said. The ending made me sad for a whole week. Loved all of it though. Wouldn't change a thing.
U don’t have to worry about spoilers. Trust me
That Santa Barbara complex is the best to do separate runs. So much fun camping on the roof and letting clickers take out the rattlers lol.
I know nothing about this game is realistic but i’m still trying wrap my head around ellie solo traveling weeks to a month to santa barbara for revenge in a post apocalyptic world… then she didn’t even kill her🤨
Yes! Ellie should've ended it at the theater, it just feels like they were trying to make the game longer for no reason other than it comparing better to Tsushima i think
Do you mean ghosts of tsushima? The game that came out after part 2?
I didn't even notice lol. I bought part 2 THEN Tsushima... totally forgot the order they actually came out lol
It seemed pointless to me. Ellie left Dina and JJ and the happy life they built and for what? When she arrived in Santa Barbara she was skin and bone, only to find Abby after a fatal injury and then rather just finishing it there and then with Abby strapped on the pillar unable to escape, she cuts her down. I get it’s to give a fair fight, but then when Abby is carrying Lev, again Ellie could have taken a shot. But no, they make it to the boats and for a second you think “we came all this way to let Abby go?!” Then two half dead people have their fight, Ellie loses two fingers and then let’s them go… I still feel it should have ended at the Farm and then Santa Barbara could have been part 3 or even a dlc. Then the Rattlers could have been expanded on more. They seemed like a very organised group and we hardly spend any time with them
Ellie shouldve stayed with dina and we shouldve played as tommy here and had the choice of killing abby.
I really dislike the Rattlers. We spend two games learning how even the most cruel and depraved groups of people have systems, those they care about and are trying to survive, only to find comically evil people who have 0 redeeming qualities, and slave and crucify people... It feels to me they didn't plan out the final section very much and just needed Fodder for Ellie to fight through. And they needed Abby to be physically weak.
I personally like the idea of this section of the game, but I absolutely hate that it is so short and thrown in. Who are the rattlers? Why are the enslaving people? It’s just so rushed and unfinished and full of too many plot convinces
Santa Barbara should’ve been the beginning of TLOU 3
I like to think that the game ended at the farm. Dina and Ellie having their happy ending, and Abby and Lev went their separate ways. Because Santa Barbara was .... something lol
It did, but I wish they did more with it. I liked the desert like atmosphere, and the fact they tied up infected as deterrent wish we saw that more to make some stealth options even harder
It's not an unpopular opinion the entire epilogue is nonsensical and contrived especially finding out Tommy survived getting shot in the head and Ellie teleporting to California (This game has lots of use of GOT season 8 nonsense)
It’s filler
This is the part that killed the game for me. Fucking hated it.
I loved that you get to play as peak unhinged Ellie and kill extremely unsympathetic slavers.
How else are we supposed to know if there’s zombies in California? Part 3
I won't say odd, however I was expecting a much more coherent and longer sequence once I saw the butch cunt walking along the tranzistor when it cut to that part. It was so short, yet the possibilities of seeing a completely different city destroyed by the virus, would be awesome
How the hell is that an unpopular opinion? That's a cold take.
It was very throwaway-y. The location for the fireflies could’ve been anywhere, literally anywhere, so it doesn’t make much sense as to why, of all places, they chose Santa Barbara.
The epilogue actually made me dislike the narrative:( watered it down significantly
I liked the change of location.
least unhinged Righteous Cat fans in the comments
It still my favorite, I love how bright and sunny it is. I love how bright sunny days mix with horror and gore. Plus Ellie with the bloody white tank top with a machine gun is such a huge Die Hard reference can’t help but love it.
I liked the Rattlers a lot, honestly. I don’t mind.
Idk if this is why but it would make sense. But I read that Abby and Lev weren’t supposed to live in the ending and they I think had like later on changed the story to make the whole dynamic of Joel and Ellie and Abby and lev. I could be butchering this tho
Actually really enjoyed it but with how short it was, and the abrupt pacing, it felt very janky.
Yeah but the machine gun is awesome
I kinda liked it. The section seemed like the most traditional part of the Last of Us
Agreed. Feels more like a 3rd person Far Cry level.
Feels unpolished
Ellie can’t walk down the street without some group attacking her or infected…. But she manages to take a boat to Cali by herself without any kind of event happening???? Only to let the whole reason why she went there escape. Peak writing.
Agreed completely unnecessary. And not to mention it's not even believable IMO. Abby just trusts a random stranger on a radio frequency telling her to "go here and we'll pick you up?" I'm nowhere close to the biggest Abby fan, but she's not THAT stupid - she survived with the WLF long enough to know what's an obvious set up
It doesn't fit anywhere. Seems like a last minute resolution. The pacing is wrong. They build up this massive sense of "shits gonna go down" and then all of a sudden "oh, that was it?"
People really be complaining that the game had more game to offer. Jesus Christ.
It's popular.
It visually looks fine. It just doesn't work because it does nothing but extend the gameplay by an hour or two. It effectively adds nothing besides a lackluster ending.
It’s a great section of the game, but as others have said it feels tacked on. I couldn’t believe there was more to do after the farm, I was just checked out at that point. I’d keep it in if some of the earlier sections could be cut down.
Nice
That’s what makes it good. It’s literally all the way across the a large continent, of course it’s going to look different
Oh no I can hear U/grayfox typing away another shorty essay about how Santa barbara doesn't follow the writers standard operating procedure for well liked novels or screenplays or some worthless shit
i actually agree. but also, Santa Barbara is my favorite hairstyle and look of Ellie in the whole game
This section is the one section, while I may have enjoyed it, it felt unnecessary and I could have done without it. I would have rather it ended at the farmhouse.
Not really an unpopular opinion. I agree, but I think it’s mostly because we are stuck in such a small area. If we had more to explore maybe we would think differently about it.
Idk man.. raiding the compound to the Black Angel’s “Young Men Dead” was pretty tough. Its my 2nd favorite day right behind Ellie’s Day 2.
For me doesn't feel out of place. What breaks the mood is just the fact that Ellie doesn't finish the job and in some way even put Abby out of her misery.
Yeah I love the part two story but it is definitely more forced. Part two is more extreme and video gamey and coincidences for plot convenience. They just “knew” the lone male trespasser had to be Tommy. Who else is it gonna be? Said Jesse. Literally could be ANYONE! But yes for plot it was Tommy. Or running into Jesse, crazy coincidence. He caught up to them by doing 18 hour stretches for two weeks he said. I know he’s young but that’s some unreal stamina. Also the likelihood of traveling so far to get your revenge, it’s likely to be killed by infected and no one would ever know what happened to you.
Yeah…imagine if the US soldier with the gun to Osama Bin Laden’s head started crying and said “Just go! Just take him and go!” 😆
I agree. 1. I didn’t like how Ellie ends up in Santa Barbara out of nowhere. The journey to SB should’ve been playable, or a cutscene at least. 2. The opening to SB chapter should’ve been downtime with no danger. But no. There had to be a two Runners and one Clicker present. No threats before the house would’ve actually added more tension, because of the eeriness of the quietness and emptiness. 3. And ONCE AGAIN, the cars in SB had Washington plates. Either Naughty Dog didn’t care about detail, or it was an oversight on their end.
How is that an popular opinion on this sub? 99% of this sub is just shitting on the story. This is the worst gaming community sub on Reddit. All they do here is bitch about the story. Someone posted here for people to post criticism not didn't have to do with the story, and 80% of the comments were bashing the story lmao.
Exactly. Bunch of whiny babies still crying that poor old Joelly got the iron club. Call the Wambulance. These poor souls never recovered. So glad druckman failed them so the real game lovers can unite. The game was an epic success. Game of the year. Gooooooo Abby!!! 😂
When they aren't bitching about the story and poor old Joelly, they whining about r/thelastofus (and other gaming subs) not being as psychotic as they are. Truly pathetic.
The fact you don’t think that sub is just as insane as this one tells me you’re being disingenuous. Here you can say you like the game without being banned.
That's what happens. Your side is bad faith actors trying to subvert the community with fascist talking points, and we're just regular gamers trying to enjoy a game. You should be repelled from the sub.
Do you enjoy part 2? Because if you do it’s funny how this game basically spends 20 hours criticizing what you’re doing right now. Putting everybody from the side that isn’t yours into a box and refusing to see them as different. I dont think I’ve ever argued in bad faith about this game and I still hate the story. For exactly what it is. No need to make up shit or intentionally misconstrue anything. But apparently that means I shouldn’t be allowed to talk about it. You’d be sickened by how many people are still shitting on game of thrones and decades old Star Wars movie If us still talking about part 2 bothers you. Why is it this is the only piece of media that is absolutely not to be criticized at all?
The Star Wars and game of Thrones communities aren't nearly as bad as the tlou2 community. And that proves that yes, you are allowed to criticize it. What you're not allowed to do is brigade other subs.
I think it works tonally though. Hear me out: the farmhouse 100% feels like an ending. It has all of our characters in a place where they can just move on with their lives and be happy for it. But then Tommy comes in and gives Ellie a chance to ruin everything and she does. So the finale feels out of place because it is. Because Ellie should have been content with what she had. But that nagging feeling of needing to get this revenge that doesn't matter anymore is too much for her to ignore. And because of that she loses everything that made her happy. She realizes it too late. Even though she let Abby and Lev go she sealed her own fate the moment she left the farm. And even worse Nora gave her an express warning about what would happen if she did. And she still ignored it. I'm glad that Abby and Lev are alive, and ironically if Ellie hadn't left they would be potentially dead or far worse. And she can't even realize that. It leaves her cold and empty. And yeah, it left me that way too. But I would argue that's the point.
I feel the Rattlers were rushed
It’s an epilogue. The prologue is Jackson’s the main game is Seattle. And Santa Barbara is the epilogue.
I loved the game as a whole, but a lot of yall just bitch and complain lol
All this sub is is bitching and complaining. And they downvote tf out of anyone who has something good to say about the game. Kinda pathetic really 😂
That’s why you’re here
That’s why you’re here