What Is Causing Zombies?

[rionaleonhart]

More of The Last of Us! I'm in the school, I think.

I've started saying 'Ellie?' aloud when I'm not sure where Ellie's got to. Ellie, of course, cannot hear me because she is a videogame character, but I can't stop myself. I just want to keep an eye on her.

There was a terrible bit where she opened a gate and then waited by it and wouldn't follow me until I went through it. I went to investigate a building first and she just stayed back there by the gate where I couldn't make sure she was safe! I got so nervous!

(Later, I watched th_esaurus play through the same part. Turns out that Ellie goes into the house with you if you haven't opened the gate first, and then there's a weird blowing noise and OH NO, IS IT A ZOMBIE? NO, IT'S JUST ELLIE TRYING TO TEACH HERSELF TO WHISTLE AT THE WORST POSSIBLE MOMENT, bless her. I was quite sorry to have missed it.)

I had to smile when Ellie started humming to herself while we were wandering around. The first time she really captured my heart was probably when we went into the museum; Tess stayed on high alert, clutching her gun, but Ellie went around looking at all the displays. I forgot about searching for supplies and just watched her for a while. Her curiosity is incredibly endearing.

I love it when AI companions in games are a real pleasure and comfort to have around. Companions like Ellie and Tess, like Elena in Uncharted, like your horse in Red Dead Redemption (levels of emotional attachment may vary, I suppose; there are probably people who'll just grab the most convenient horse and don't really have one they think of as 'theirs', but I loved my horse). You sometimes have to protect your companions in The Last of Us (whereas in Uncharted I'm fairly certain your allies can't be harmed in shootouts), but they never feel like a burden.

(Speaking of protecting your companions: in Uncharted, you simply can't crouch in the same place as a partner. In The Last of Us, if you and Ellie hide against the same wall, Joel will try to sort of shield her with his body. It is the loveliest thing.)


The SA Let's Play forum paywall has come down, if any Dangan Ronpa readers on my flist haven't yet snapped and bought an account! Here's the ongoing translation of the second game (and here's the completed translation of the first, if anyone new wants to dive in). Both threads have links to all the actual updates in the first post, so you don't have to read the discussion between updates; reading the discussion is, in fact, strongly discouraged. I have found recent developments very distressing.

Comments

[futuresoon.livejournal.com]

Well now I'm just confused. There's a section that takes place at University Eastern Colorado, but it looks very much like a college campus? What actual location are you in?

[rionaleonhart]

I'm about 40% of the way through the game, I think? We went to the school with Bill to get a battery from a van that had crashed into it. Then there was a charming scene in the car, in which Ellie perused an inappropriate magazine, and then some guys tried to ambush us and we ended up crashing. That's where I am.

And whoops, I had other things I wanted to say! I was so terrified that you might spoil me that I forgot about them in the urgency of correcting your impression of where I was.

Yes, Ellie is brilliant. I missed a conversation with her - I was on a school bus and noticed, looking out of the window, that she had the talky icon above her head, but by the time I reached her, as I hadn't realised I could have vaulted out of the bus window and gone straight to her, it was gone - and I was extremely distressed. I had faith in Naughty Dog's AI companions before playing this game because they're so great in Uncharted. You're never happier on your own than you are with a partner in a Naughty Dog game, which I think is really nice.

(Ahem. Edited because I had a closing bracket and no opening bracket and it was really annoying me.)

[futuresoon.livejournal.com]

OH THAT SCHOOL. I forgot it was its own location; I just lump everything from that section into "Bill's town". So you are actually rather far away from the thing I wasn't going to spoil you about anyway! This--this does explain why th_esaurus was distressed on tumblr when I posted a gifset from the section just before the university, doesn't it. Oh, miscommunication.

I wish I could remember what the school bus conversation was, since I have watched that section literally four times, but either it slipped my mind or every let's player in the world hasn't gotten it either, in which case at least you are not alone. Every time I see the conversation icon above her head and the let's player doesn't immediately select it, I have a moment of inner distress thinking that they'll just ignore it. ACCIDENTS ARE THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE REASON TO MISS DIALOGUE.

(I understand your annoyance, and would in fact have done the same in your place.)

[rionaleonhart]

Augh, no, did you post the gifset untagged because you thought the Riona-RD household was already there? I suppose I owe RD an apology. Is it safe for me to look at Tumblr now if I have 'last of us' and 'TLOU' blocked?

I'll be honest: the first thing I did after missing that conversation was go to the Let's Play you posted. And it wasn't in there! Doomed to never find out what Ellie was going to say when she was looking at the silver car near the school bus.

(There was also a moment when Ellie came up while I was searching a house and said, 'You got a second?' and Joel said, 'Not right now, Ellie,' and I was so annoyed with him.)

[futuresoon.livejournal.com]

It wasn't a spoilery gifset, just a cute moment, but even being spoiled for little things can be annoying, I know. D: I don't actually tend to tag my TLOU posts unless they're originals that I want people to see--up until now pretty much everything has been reblogged from Fuck Yeah The Last Of Us, so "reblogged from fuckyeahthelastofus" is already in there and I have just realized that is in fact not helpful unless you've blacklisted "thelastofus" in addition to "the last of us", oh dear. I suppose I'll have to start actually tagging, then. I haven't actually posted anything spoilery besides that gifset, though; it's all just fanart and graphics so far, and I actually told th_esaurus as much, since I thought she might like to look at those. BUT I BETRAYED HER TRUST.