The Last of Us Part II (2020)
A majorly anticipated sequel to the 2013 hit "The Last of Us" from game developer Naughty Dog, a storm of unforeseen circumstances would sour the first impressions of many to this title. Having been initially begun conceptualization in 2014, and then picking up actual steam in 2016, this was to be Naughty Dog's biggest project yet which is a fact made obvious to the public upon its reveal. Riding on the high from the prospect of getting a sequel to a wildly renowned smash hit, fans eagerly awaited for release; the Covid-19 pandemic, however, would lead to an indefinite delay meaning the team couldn't place a release date. Stewing in anticipation, a floodgate would soon be open by an impatient fan who would end up leaking the game's plot to the chagrin of many other restless fans. The people were less than pleased with what they saw, and with no one having hands on the game, there was no possible rebuttal for the wave of negativity being lauded at the narrative direction. Two huge points of contention were the very early character death of Joel, the protagonist of the first game, and having to play a large portion of the game in the perspective of Abby, the one who murdered him. Outrage was particularly magnified by the structure of the game's pacing, the developers deliberately wanted to cultivate feelings of hatred towards Abby by only disclosing her motivations after she murdered Joel. Once the game released, players did indeed fester in negative emotions, however by virtue of the leaks many went into the game with an adversarial view; the standard fictional experience stood out leading to many narrative decisions being labeled as cheap or manipulative tricks. Despite this, the current day opinion has mellowed out signaling that the initial buzz perhaps does not signal the opinion of the average player as the game was initially review bombed. It could alternatively be the case that more new people have enjoyed the game, having not been influenced by negative opinion, got into the franchise by viewing the HBO show on the first entry, or those who had a negative first impression played it again and changed their minds concluding their initial frustrations were due to circumstance. Ultimately, it's made clear that things would've been very different had the game not leaked.
Holiday, Charming. “The Last of Us 2 Leaker Found, Reason for Leak Explained.” Game Rant, 4 Feb. 2024, gamerant.com/the-last-of-us-2-leaker-naughty-dog-found-reason-why/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
“RTTP: The Last of Us Part II, I Changed My Mind!! The Game Is a Storytelling Masterpiece!! (OPEN SPOILERS).” ResetEra, 7 Aug. 2022, www.resetera.com/threads/rttp-the-last-of-us-part-ii-i-changed-my-mind-the-game-is-a-storytelling-masterpiece-open-spoilers.616725/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
Tassi, Paul. “‘The Last of Us Part 2’ Is Getting Predictably User Score Bombed on Metacritic.” Forbes, 21 June 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2020/06/21/the-last-of-us-part-2-is-getting-predictably-user-score-bombed-on-metacritic/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
“The Last of Us Part II.” Www.metacritic.com, www.metacritic.com/game/the-last-of-us-part-ii/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
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