The Last of Us is, personally, one of my absolute favorite games and has been since I was 14. I truly believe, in total, I've played well over one hundred times. It's one of my comfort games so I always fall back on it whenever I'm feeling down. The characters are so complex and real; it's amazing. Unfortunately, I don't own a PS5, given that it's still so hard to get ahold of one. However, I have been able to appreciate the new release of the first game through YouTube videos, like Jacob Forster—my absolute favorite Content Creator—and how stunning the graphics are. After staring at Ellie, whose eyes are way too big for her own face, it's been awesome to see this new model of her. She looks more human than alien now. The DLC was also remade and Riley's model is beautiful. I wish she lived to see the two games.
I'm about to say something that is very controversial amongst the gaming community, but personally, I loved The Last of Us Part 2. My favorite characters were both Ellie and Abby. The amount of hate that Abby got just because she doesn't have many feminine features is astounding to me. As an artist myself, who came to school to focus solely on character development and character design, Abby is real. Body builders are going to have that hour glass shape every single time to satisfy society's view of women. My goal is the bring more diversity to the gaming community when it comes to video game characters, and Abby made me really excited, seeing they are broadening their horizons with different kinds of characters body types. Same with Dina, her body type is not the typical body type usually seen in video games, and it's amazing to see someone with my own body type in a video game. They are kicking butt and being strong independent people who don't rely on other people or isn't there solely for comedic relief.
Naughty Dog absolutely hit it out of the park with the different depictions on character models for their main cast. On top of this, the story for Part 2 is *chefs kiss." Not only did it show the maturity of the characters who were raised in a zombie filled world, but it made you feel bad for all sides. Something that I have been preaching for a long time is that both sides of this small war were bad, neither side were good in the end. Joel was going to die regardless of it being by a clicker or by someone he did wrong. Joel slaughtered an entire hospital filled with people to save the life of one person—of course Joel made some enemies! In the end, his actions caused a lot of hatred in a world, and Joel had to reap what he sowed. Joel went on a revenge rampage to protect someone he loved. Abby did the exact same thing, going on a revenge rampage to bring justice to the murderer who killed her father. Ultimately, leading her to the same fate of Joel. and then Ellie fell into the same tracks.
In a world like this one, it's easy to fall into bad habits and lose faith in humanity. Part 2 is so beautifully constructed and I hope Naughty dog creates a new game for the series, but I do hope its about a different story line. I feel as if Ellie's story has been told, it's done now and it's time for a different person's story to be told. The game is called "The Last of Us" so I feel it's only right to go and show someone else who is also going through their own hardships. I'd like to see a story about a young boy who gets separated from his older sister and tries to find her again. Or exploring a different country to see the effects going on there.
All in all, this franchise has helped me through many tough times. I'll probably continue to play it forever. I highly recommend it, if you haven't played it already, but go into Part 2 with an open mind and not anger. If you go into thinking you won't like it, you probably won't, but going into with an open mind will allow you to really enjoy it.
