So, TLOU2 can be summed up in two words.
Subverting expectations.
Players went into TLOU2 expecting more of the same from the first game, but oh no! Druckmann had other ideas!
Expecting to play Joel? Screw that! We'll kill him off super early on! And we'll do it uber-gratuitously!
Okay, then we'll play as Ellie, right? Hah-ha! No! We'll make you play as Joel's murderer, and we'll get you to like her!
Wait, so if Joel is dead, I guess there is a revenge plot for Ellie, at least? Abolutely! But we'll twist it into making her a sick, murdering psycopath that is totally unlike our lovable Joel-murdering heroine! You'll hate her!
But we'll at least get to kill Joel's murderer by the end, yeah? Nope! Not gonna happen! We'll force you, the player, to let Abby go at the last moment! No player agency and no satisfaction for you, now-evil Ellie!
Okay, so I'm being flippant. But all of the above is true. Every expectation you might have going into this game, and going through it, is turned on its head. No doubt Druckmann thinks himself very clever for all this, when in fact, all he has done is kill his own franchise.
Kill off the male main hero... check!
Ruin the character of female main hero...check!
Force player to play as steroid-abusing female murderer...check!
Deny hoped-for vengeance resolution...check!
I doubt we'll get a TLOU3. It's difficult to see where they could go with it. Certainly, any attempt to shoehorn Abby into it will be a non-starter and Ellie is just broken. Given Druckmann's awful writing I wouldn't be surprised if he would force Ellie and Abby into being BFF's or some similarly risible nonsense.
Anyway, story aside, the gameplay is decent, though not that much of an evolution over the first game. The problem is, as I ranted above, is that for half of the game you are playing as a character you don't want to play. This makes the gameplay feel hollow and pointless. Throughout my time playing it, I was wondering why it was being forced on me. Why was the game trying to make me like a character I was expecting to kill by the end of it? Of course, the joke was on me.. because ultimately, the character survives.
What a waste of a game and a franchise in order to stroke Druckmann's writing ego. Newsflash Neill! You ain't that good! Uncharted 4 felt overlong and hollow too. Should never have got rid of Amy Henning.
SUMMARY: Pretentious nonsense. Druckmann channeling M Night Shyamalan with his "What a twist!" storytelling. Ruins characters you love, forces you to play characters you hate. Deeply unsatisfying, manipulating nonsense. Not recommended if you loved the first game.
Subverting expectations.
Players went into TLOU2 expecting more of the same from the first game, but oh no! Druckmann had other ideas!
Expecting to play Joel? Screw that! We'll kill him off super early on! And we'll do it uber-gratuitously!
Okay, then we'll play as Ellie, right? Hah-ha! No! We'll make you play as Joel's murderer, and we'll get you to like her!
Wait, so if Joel is dead, I guess there is a revenge plot for Ellie, at least? Abolutely! But we'll twist it into making her a sick, murdering psycopath that is totally unlike our lovable Joel-murdering heroine! You'll hate her!
But we'll at least get to kill Joel's murderer by the end, yeah? Nope! Not gonna happen! We'll force you, the player, to let Abby go at the last moment! No player agency and no satisfaction for you, now-evil Ellie!
Okay, so I'm being flippant. But all of the above is true. Every expectation you might have going into this game, and going through it, is turned on its head. No doubt Druckmann thinks himself very clever for all this, when in fact, all he has done is kill his own franchise.
Kill off the male main hero... check!
Ruin the character of female main hero...check!
Force player to play as steroid-abusing female murderer...check!
Deny hoped-for vengeance resolution...check!
I doubt we'll get a TLOU3. It's difficult to see where they could go with it. Certainly, any attempt to shoehorn Abby into it will be a non-starter and Ellie is just broken. Given Druckmann's awful writing I wouldn't be surprised if he would force Ellie and Abby into being BFF's or some similarly risible nonsense.
Anyway, story aside, the gameplay is decent, though not that much of an evolution over the first game. The problem is, as I ranted above, is that for half of the game you are playing as a character you don't want to play. This makes the gameplay feel hollow and pointless. Throughout my time playing it, I was wondering why it was being forced on me. Why was the game trying to make me like a character I was expecting to kill by the end of it? Of course, the joke was on me.. because ultimately, the character survives.
What a waste of a game and a franchise in order to stroke Druckmann's writing ego. Newsflash Neill! You ain't that good! Uncharted 4 felt overlong and hollow too. Should never have got rid of Amy Henning.
SUMMARY: Pretentious nonsense. Druckmann channeling M Night Shyamalan with his "What a twist!" storytelling. Ruins characters you love, forces you to play characters you hate. Deeply unsatisfying, manipulating nonsense. Not recommended if you loved the first game.