Point/Counterpoint: The Last of Us Part II

An analysis of the key criticisms

News Flash: The Last of Us Part II is a divisive game. Many critics are hailing it as one of the greatest games of this generation, while many “average gamers” seem deeply upset by it. Some YouTube influencers have posted very critical reviews of the game, which has of course renewed the “game sites are paid off to give good reviews!” cry among the populace. As of this writing, Metacritic shows a user score of 4.3 with over 70,000 reviews.

Now, the original game is my favorite of all time, and I very much enjoyed this one as well. Seeing all the hate, I wanted to examine exactly what people thought was wrong with the sequel. So I dove into the Metacritic reviews and asked a bunch of people who had played it, a mix of those who loved and hated it, to find out what was going on.

I’ve taken what seem to be the most common complaints, with the goal of offering a different perspective on those issues. I believe there is incredible power in being able to see all sides of an argument, something that seems to be quite lacking in discourse these days.

This is going to be super-spoilery, so be warned, and please go play the game or watch a play-through on Youtube before you read ahead. Hopefully you enjoy the game, but even if not, you can be part of…