Random Rant: Public Reaction of The Last of Us 2 Proved It’s Point
The Last of Us 2 was one of the most highly anticipated games when it was announced. Everyone, including myself, simply wanted to know what was next for the duo we became so invested in. So when the game was finally released I was surprised to hear it was to mixed reviews, especially with regards to the story. Warning, there are major spoilers ahead.
Now I haven’t owned a Playstation since the 2nd generation, and had played the original Last of Us borrowing my friends PS3 after he bought the newly released PS4 (thanks WG!). Since the sequel had such mixed reviews, I decided to not go to such extremes and simply watched a Let’s Play from my favorite YouTuber to see what all the controversy was about.
The world is not fair
The first thing people reacted strongly to was how early in the game Joel was killed. Everyone wanted to see a story of Joel and Ellie again; what many thought a true sequel would be. So when that opportunity was so grossly ripped away, people became upset.
What I think of Joel’s death I argue it was the type of story they were trying to tell from the very beginning of the first game: the world is not a fair place. Joel’s daughter was killed in the very beginning of the game, and he lived on with survivors guilt which led to his ruthlessness when dealing with the harsh new reality of the zompocalypse. The consequences of his past caught up to him even though now he is older, wiser, and a very different person from the man he was before. Not only that, but his death was necessary to move the game in the direction to make the next point.
Everyone has a story
In the first game we saw one side of a story. We saw Joel, who lost his humanity along with his daughter, regain a spark of his old life when taking a young girl across the country. Joel didn’t care about the mission, something he clearly verbalized when he was first asked to smuggle Ellie. Honestly, the players probably didn’t care about saving the world either. But what we did grow to care about was watching the father/daughter relationship form throughout the journey (while also having feeling like a badass killing some fungus zombies). People were split about Joel’s decision to save Ellie from the operation, but understood his reasons for doing so either way.
In the sequel, people were shown the other side of the story through Abby; and no one wanted to hear it. We got to see how Abby’s revenge tore Ellie apart, and everyone sided with Ellie’s quest for revenge. This was only natural because we have been part of the journey with Ellie and Joel. They were one of us. So when the player was forced to switch roles and see how Joel’s actions tore Abby apart, people were not receptive to say the least. The reason for that was we had already picked a side, and no one wants to question that their side might not be the good guys after all.
The controversy stems from the human condition
The truth is everyone is an anti-hero if you look at things from an outside perspective. Each person has flaws, and those flaws lead to making poor decisions from time to time. Sometimes the consequences are small, other times those consequences are life changing. At the end of the day, people make the best decisions they can think of in that moment. That is why a good villain is one that truly believes they are the hero of the story. A good villain will even have a noble goal but some element of their execution is taken too far.
But humans are simple creatures, and taking into account each person’s individual story would tear our psyche apart when we remember that the world is not a fair place. It is far easier to align ourselves with a certain clan and demonize the rest of the world. When someone in our clan makes a mistake, we know the reasons behind it and can often find room to forgive or justify the action in some way. However, when someone outside the clan makes a mistake we are quick to say they were all born bad people.
tl;dr
The Last of Us 2 was always going to spark controversy given the nature of its storytelling. Players related to the main characters due to their experience of the first game. When players were shown that our characters, our clan, were flawed human beings that made mistakes with major consequences, they did not like the dissonance that was created along with it. The image of being the good guys had already been created in their minds and for some, no amount of empathy for the other side was going to change that. This led to a poor fan reception filled with controversy. As more time passes on and people are able to separate from the characters more, the audience’s view might change. Only time will tell.