Suskie's The Last of Us Remastered review

My prediction: accurate! I'm pleased that you became attached to the story and enjoyed the game (because this means that we can still be friends). In all seriousness, we seem to have picked up on a lot of the same points and I completely agree about Winter: a very interesting beat to insert in the story. It starts off feeling almost like a distraction, but then becomes maybe the most important chapter of the entire tale. Although really, I think this is a game where every chapter could be examined pretty closely and analyzed for meaning. It's a very intelligent story.

I even more agree (and I believe we make this same point in both our reviews) that this kind of game and its success shows that gamers CAN handle sophisticated story telling. However, I hope to hell that doesn't mean another round of cutscenes for all video games everywhere. Instead, I hope it means that game writers start removing exposition and start using the visual and audial medium they are placed in to do more with story than most games are doing.

About two months ago, I went over to a friend's house: he has a theater sized screen in his gigantic living room. We got a group together and I showed them a sort of "selected cut" of the Last of Us, taking them through about an hour and a half of the most relevant cutscenes, through the entire story (more or less) start to finish. They loved it, and connected with the characters instantly and deeply.

I think that says something about the quality of the writing.

But on the other hand, if they were that engrossed in the story without actually playing the game or even seeing the interactive bits in action, that demonstrates just how much disconnect that there is. But, like I said in the review, engaging is engaging, and I do think that The Last of Us raises the bar not just for storytelling in video games, but the presentation of said story. Really, you need to see this thing in 60fps. It is absolutely stunning.

Thanks to both of you for reading. Have either of you played Left Behind? I'd be curious to hear Ben's take on it in particular, since it delves into themes not touched in the main game, and in surprising ways. It really enhanced the whole experience, and since it's included on Remastered, I'm counting it as part of the game now.

I also didn't play Left Behind, as my PS3 died around the time it was released, and then also job no time saving money yadda yadda yadda. But I did care enough to read the basic synopsis, and I like at least what I read there, as far as the addition to the story goes.