rionaleonhart | Look For The Light.

I've finished The Last of Us, Part II!

I don't want this game to still be going. Things can only get worse from here.

I don't want Ellie to kill Abby. I don't want Abby to kill Ellie. I just don't want anyone else to die.

Abby caught a break! We'll see how long that lasts.

Not very long at all, astonishingly. But, hey, at least it's not Ellie ruining Abby's day!

Are they seriously introducing new characters and factions at this stage? How much of this game is there?

Ellie killing that guy with a Clicker! My girl's so good at murder! I'm so proud of her!

I'd love it if this game ended with Ellie saving Abby from the Rattlers and the two of them teaming up, but, let's be honest, that's not going to happen.

Ellie's in pretty bad shape, and I'm starting to worry she'll end up collapsing and dying regardless of how this story ends.

I feel that's at least the third Rattler named Matteo I've killed.

Ellie threatening Lev is upsetting, but I'm convinced she wouldn't actually have done him harm. She doesn't threaten Lev to prevent Abby from escaping. She's already in a position to prevent that. She threatens Lev to force Abby to fight her, because she can't kill Abby if she's not fighting back. So there's no way Ellie would actually carry out the threat; the threat itself is to prevent her from having to kill an unresisting person.

It'd be really interesting to see stats on how long people hesitate before taking the final blow in that brutal fight against Abby. (Also on how long they hesitate before striking Nora.)

Ellie spared Abby at the last second! I wasn't expecting that! I'm so proud of her!!

I am also, of course, proud of her when she does kill people. I love that girl unconditionally.

I nearly got a little choked up when Ellie was sitting in the surf, crying, after letting Abby go. Ellie, I'm sure it feels terrible. But you did the right thing here. You really did. A lot of people died on the way here, but that doesn't mean that killing Abby would make it any better.

I'm very glad that Abby and Lev survive to make a life together. She's so fond of him and it's very sweet.

I feel that whether this game succeeds for you probably hinges pretty strongly on whether you warm to Abby. I'm glad I did in the end. I think Lev was crucial to that, so thank you for making this game work, Lev!

Ellie making a first tentative step towards reconciling with Joel just before his death is heartbreaking.

Aww, Ellie and Joel dueting over the credits!

Ellie lost a lot, and took a lot, but she made it out alive. I'm so glad. I don't know where she's going to go now, but I wish her the best.

I love Ellie so much. I think my biggest fear for this game was 'what if I don't love Ellie any more?', but I absolutely still love her. She makes some pretty terrible decisions, but, let's be honest, terrible decisions have never stood in the way of my loving a character.

I know this is a divisive game. I don't love it in the way I loved the original Last of Us, and I don't feel the original really needed a sequel, but I've enjoyed my time with it.

And now I'll finally be able to post this fic!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Man, you went hard.

I already got spoiled to hell and back - largely due to the vitriol being thrown at poor Laura Bailey over twitter - so I've been following along with these entries as I slowly try to finish the first game. And I am thoroughly outpaced! Well done.

Did you feel that the story effectively sold you on Abby, even with her Big Kill?

Sorry for the delay! For some reason I've really fallen behind on comment replies recently.

Poor Laura Bailey. Some of the backlash to this game has been really shocking. Voicing a character who murders someone isn't the same as murdering someone, I promise!

I do feel the story sold me on Abby, which I'm glad about, because I think the game as a whole wouldn't work nearly as well if I didn't care about her. I've got a couple of people on my flist who didn't like the game and one who liked it a lot, and the deciding factor seems to be whether they liked Abby.

Glad to see you finally finished it, this game is a long one.

Personally, while I see what the devs were trying to do with Abby, the pieces never really lined up for me. I think by the end I felt indifferent to her at best, and I think I would've been fine with Ellie just letting Abby and Lev go on the boat rather than goading her into a fight. That was just due to me being worn out with the story than anything else.

I'm glad you really enjoyed it though :) It was interesting reading your thoughts on it as you progressed

I think I would've been fine with Ellie just letting Abby and Lev go on the boat rather than goading her into a fight.

I thought this was going to happen at first, and I was going 'no Ellie NO ELLIE NO' when she turned around. I'm glad she managed to spare them in the end, though!

That was just due to me being worn out with the story than anything else.

I enjoyed the game overall, but I did feel it was a bit too long, although part of that might have been my impatience to finish it so I could post the fic I'd written!

Are they seriously introducing new characters and factions at this stage? How much of this game is there?

This part made me sigh too (^_^;)

I'd love it if this game ended with Ellie saving Abby from the Rattlers and the two of them teaming up, but, let's be honest, that's not going to happen.

I approve of this idea.

I feel that whether this game succeeds for you probably hinges pretty strongly on whether you warm to Abby.

You're right and you should say it.

I love Ellie so much. I think my biggest fear for this game was 'what if I don't love Ellie any more?', but I absolutely still love her. She makes some pretty terrible decisions, but, let's be honest, terrible decisions have never stood in the way of my loving a character.

♥

You're right and you should say it.

It was really interesting to read your entry afterwards and see how different the experience of the game is if you dislike Abby throughout. I'm sorry it was such a disappointment for you. (I'm glad you enjoyed the Ellie-Dina-Jesse dynamic as well, though!)

I feel like I could have liked Abby a lot more if the game hadn't tried to sell me a redemption arc that took place over the course of a day or two in game, without actually getting into the meat of the situation. I loved the interaction between Abby and Lev, and Yara as well. I just don't think it was executed well enough for what they were trying to do.

It doesn't help that I'm also pissed about the way they framed (are framing?) this game in general grumble grumble

I don't want this game to still be going. Things can only get worse from here.

YUP. SAME. D:

Are they seriously introducing new characters and factions at this stage?

Yeaaaah I was miffed by this too :\ it totally makes sense in the context of the game, but like... wow, we've already had to swallow a lot as players. This is a bit too much too late into the game. At the same time, I can't see how this could have even been hinted earlier on. Like people in Jackson probably would've had zero idea about WLF and Scars if Abby and Gang didn't stroll on in. I doubt anyone knows about the fucked up shit some dudebro hunter gang is up to in Santa Barbara :\

Fuck, everything about the Ellie and Abby fight broke my heart. I so didn't want to do that fight, but I also feel that just shows how amazing the narrative is if it gets under your skin THAT much.

I feel that whether this game succeeds for you probably hinges pretty strongly on whether you warm to Abby.

Y U P. A lot of people I've seen hate on the game tend to also not even remotely like Abby. I loved her as much as Ellie by the end. I wanted both of them to live and heal :'(

Ahhhh I had a blast reading all your commentary throughout this! Many thanks for sharing 💕

I really wasn't expecting to end up liking Abby as much as I did! Which ended up being very distressing, because there were moments like the final Ellie-and-Abby fight where I was going 'I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO WIN, I DON'T WANT THIS TO BE HAPPENING AT ALL, PLEASE JUST GO HOME,' but it definitely also enhanced the experience of the game.

I'm glad we played this game at such a similar pace; it's been great to see my journey reflected in yours!

Reading all your posts about this game was a lot of fun - your reactions mirrored mine a lot of the time. I really didn't want either Abby or Ellie to kill each other at the end and I was so glad when they didn't. (I also thought the game had ended and then it just kept on going.)

I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the game as well! I can understand why it didn't work for some people, but it's really nice to see some positivity about it.

Look For The Light.

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