Bevendre

So, I just finished the campaign in The Last of Us: Remastered on hard.  The good news is that the game is fantastic with a great story and pretty good gameplay.  It has great presentation, music, etc. and it nails the item management, atmosphere, and feel of survival horror in many many ways.  The trophy list is frustrating as it is entirely collectible based, and finishing the game on ascending difficulties, multiple times, but it’s worth doing.  Unfortunately, I missed at least 1 of EVERY TYPE OF COLLECTIBLE so I’ll have to pay closer attention (or use a cheat sheet) on my next playthrough. (After finishing the campaign on the second highest nonDLC difficulty I only have 5% of the trophies).

If I have any complaints with the campaign it’s that, while well paced, it tends to really abuse narrative time-skips. There is a clear progression of the characters and the relationships they have, but it’s broken a little too much into chunks which makes some of the story elements a little odd and jarring.

 I can see the progression and the reasons for the choices very clearly, they are supported, but it just seems like some of the relationship building is rushed or glossed over by a black screen saying time has passed.

It tends to happen a lot in games, and narratives in general, that take place over a long period of time (in this case the better part of a year that is spent in each other’s company) but is told through the experiences of at most a fortnight scattered throughout that time.

Time to get back into the game, and try out the multiplayer and Left Behind add-ons.  For now though, I’m giving the game a 9.5/10.  It has some narrative elements that irk me, but the story itself is still EXTREMELY strong.  Meanwhile the gameplay is nice and tight and works very well for what it is.  It could have stood to have a little bit more variety, but that’s a nitpick more than a complaint.

If people would like a full review of the game, I’ll be happy to give it (over a year late) once I’ve dabbled with the higher difficulties and multiplayer.