Naughty Dog really did it. They didn't just make a sequel; they blew up the bridge behind them.
When people talk about The Last of Us, they usually mean the 2013 masterpiece that felt like a perfect, self-contained tragedy. But then 2020 happened. We got The Last of Us Part II, and suddenly, the internet wasn't just discussing a game anymore. It was a cultural war. Honestly, it’s kinda wild that years later, you can still spark a heated argument just by mentioning the name "Abby" in a Discord server.
Joel and Ellie weren't just characters. For many, they were the emotional anchor of the entire PS3/PS4 era. So, when Neil Druckmann and his team decided to take the story in the direction they did, it wasn't just a creative choice. It felt like a personal affront to a specific subset of the player base.
The Joel Problem: Why the Intro Stung So Badly
The inciting incident is the one thing everyone remembers. You know the one. Within the first two hours, the protagonist of the original game is brutally taken out of the equation.
It wasn't a hero's death. There were no soaring violins or last-minute speeches about saving the world. It was messy, cruel, and—for many—deeply frustrating. This is where the divide started. Critics praised the "bravery" of the narrative. Fans, on the other hand, felt like they had been bait-and-shifted by the marketing.
Let’s be real: the trailers showed Joel. They implied he’d be your primary companion again. When the game revealed that wasn't the case, it created a level of narrative dissonance that some players simply couldn't get past. You’ve probably seen the threads. People arguing that Joel, a hardened survivor, would never have walked into a room of strangers and given his real name. Whether you agree or not, that moment changed the trajectory of the franchise forever.
Playing as the "Villain"
Halfway through the game, Naughty Dog pulls the ultimate rug-pull. You stop playing as Ellie and start playing as Abby—the person who just destroyed everything you cared about.
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It’s a massive gamble. Basically, the game forces you to live in the shoes of your enemy for 10-plus hours. The goal? Empathy. The game wants you to see that in a post-apocalyptic world, there are no "good guys." Everyone is the hero of their own story, and everyone is a monster in someone else's.
Abby’s section is actually, mechanically speaking, some of the best gameplay Naughty Dog has ever produced. The descent into the hospital basement to fight the "Rat King"? Pure horror gold. But the emotional weight is what makes it heavy. You're upgrading her skills, finding her collectibles, and learning about her friends—the same friends you just spent the last 10 hours killing as Ellie. It’s uncomfortable. It’s supposed to be.
The Complexity of Ellie's Descent
Ellie’s journey in The Last of Us Part II isn't a hero's journey. It’s a tragedy.
We watch her lose her humanity piece by piece. She leaves behind a peaceful life in Jackson, she leaves behind Dina, and she leaves behind her own fingers by the end. For what? A revenge quest that leaves her empty. The final fight in the water at Santa Barbara is one of the most pathetic, grueling scenes in gaming history. Two broken people, starving and mutilated, fighting over a ghost.
Some players hated this. They wanted Ellie to find peace, or at least a clean victory. But that wouldn't have fit the world. The world of The Last of Us is one where every action has a violent reaction. If Joel kills a whole hospital of Fireflies to save Ellie, someone is going to come for him. If Ellie kills Abby’s friends, Abby is going to suffer. It’s a cycle.
Technical Mastery in a Post-PS4 World
Even if you hate the story, you can't deny the technical wizardry.
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The facial animations in this game still hold up against "next-gen" titles released in 2025 and 2026. When Ellie’s pupils dilate in the dark, or when a character’s lip quivers during a tense moment, it closes the gap between "game" and "cinema." The sound design is equally oppressive. The way enemies call out each other’s names—real names like "Omar" or "Nora"—makes every kill feel gross.
- The Rope Physics: Seriously, the way the rope interacts with the environment was a technical milestone.
- The AI: Enemies flank you, lose track of you, and communicate in ways that feel disturbingly human.
- Accessibility: Naughty Dog set a gold standard here, making the game playable for people with visual and auditory impairments.
The HBO Effect and the Future
Then came the show. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey brought a whole new audience to the table. Suddenly, people who had never picked up a controller were invested in the "Last of Us" lore.
This has created a weird second wave of discourse. As the TV series moves into the events of the second game, the "Part II" debate is happening all over again, but this time through the lens of prestige television. It’s fascinating to see how a story that was so controversial in a game format is being interpreted by a mainstream TV audience.
Is there going to be a Part III? Rumors have been swirling for years. Neil Druckmann has hinted that there’s "one more chapter" to this story. But where do you go after Ellie has lost everything? Does she find a new purpose, or is she destined to wander the woods like the very Infected she fights?
What Most People Get Wrong About the Ending
A common complaint is that "Ellie let Abby go, so the whole game was pointless."
That misses the mark. The game wasn't about "getting" Abby. It was about Ellie realizing that killing Abby wouldn't bring Joel back or fix her trauma. When she sees Joel playing the guitar in her final flashback—the one that stops her from drowning Abby—it's a moment of forgiveness, not for Abby, but for Joel. She finally lets go of the anger she held toward him for saving her at the hospital.
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It's a quiet, devastating realization. Ellie returns to an empty house. She can't even play the guitar Joel gave her because she lost her fingers. The cost of her revenge was the only physical connection she had left to her father figure.
How to Re-evaluate the Experience
If you played it once and hated it, or if you've stayed away because of the spoilers, there are ways to approach it now that the dust has settled.
Try a "No-Kill" (as much as possible) Run
While the game forces certain deaths, trying to sneak through encounters without engaging the "dogs" or every patrol makes the atmosphere shift. It turns from an action game into a pure survival-horror experience.
Focus on the Environmental Storytelling
The notes left behind in the houses around Seattle tell a story just as tragic as the main plot. The story of Boris, the archer in Hillcrest, is a masterpiece of world-building hidden in scrap paper.
Watch the "Grounded" Documentary
If you want to understand why these choices were made, Naughty Dog released a deep-dive documentary on the development. It shows the toll the production took on the team and the thought process behind the most controversial scenes.
Engage with the Remastered Roguelike Mode
The "No Return" mode in the PS5 Remaster strips away the narrative weight and lets you just appreciate the mechanics. Sometimes, seeing the game as just a "game" helps you appreciate the craftsmanship without the baggage of the plot.
The legacy of The Last of Us isn't going anywhere. It’s a benchmark for what games can do when they stop trying to make the player feel like a hero and start trying to make them feel something real, even if that "something" is anger or grief. Whether it's a masterpiece or a mistake is still up for debate, but the fact that we're still talking about it says everything.