Spoilers included here guys so steer clear if you’re trying to keep things a secret.

I enjoyed the first game, maybe not as much as some but enough that I had this one pre-ordered and was eagerly anticipating its release (not to mentioned watched a full play through before starting this).

After beating it I watched/read a bunch of the negative reviews and I just don’t get it.

The people who hated this game didn’t like it because Joel died and we had to play as Abby and the characters weren’t the same as the first game.

Yeah, this game took place many years later. People change. Is this really a hard concept to understand?

Also, many gripes were around us not caring about Abby and her story wasn’t long enough. Yeah Ellie was around for 1.5 games and Abby for half a game (basically). Of course her story is going to be underdeveloped in comparison.

I really enjoyed the double perspective approach to the story.

What were people expecting? The first game all over again with an older Joel and Ellie? We already played that. Time to move on. Personally I really enjoyed how things changed for this time. People change, the story is played in two halves...to me it felt ‘fresh’. I have no gripes at all about the changes made. Was I pissed that Joel died right away? Hell yeah. Did I get over it noting that the whole story was still basically about him and Ellie? Of course.

If I wanted to play the same game over and over I’d pick up NHL or COD.

I really liked Abby’s revenge story as her dad really was just trying to better the world. This was a huge loss both personally and to humanity as a whole.

Ellie? Well...I don’t ever think she understood why Abby killed Joel. At no point did her character realize that Joel killed her dad first (if were using Joel as the father figure).

They are more alike than they would like to believe. Had Ellie known this, maybe things would have been somewhat different who knows.

What we did learn is that ultimately Ellie is a really ‘selfish’ individually, caring only about herself throughout the story. Abby on the other hand, evolved and became more selfless as the game went on. It took Ellie losing absolutely everything to realize she’s going down the wrong path (likely by getting to her destination she realized this isn’t how she wants to live).

It was, in my opinion, a greater overall story than simply continuing along the linear path of Joel and Ellie again. I feel a bit sorry for those that really just didn’t get this game at all.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings!