The Last of Us- GOTG?

[ZenErik]

The Last of Us. Game of the Year OR Movie of the Year? I like more game in my games.

I'm about seven hours in (almost half way through). The vast majority of the time I've spent with the game involves scavenging for things, walking around the gameworld, and engaging in stealth or combat. Are there plenty of cutscenes? Sure. Is it even 25% of the game time so far? No.

Interesting. The few hours I saw seemed about 50% cutscenes. So I was a bit turned off by that.

Still debating whether to buy. So far I've just seen a friend play a bit.

[dsheinem]

The few hours I saw seemed about 50% cutscenes. So I was a bit turned off by that.

I imagine there's a way you could play - trying to run past everything and not exploring much if at all - that would reduce the playing time considerably and lead to a higher percentage of cut scene time. I think that so far the scenes are well placed/paced, generally short (with a few exceptions), and are useful in driving the narrative forward (they don't feel like filler).

[Jmustang1968]

I am really enjoying this myself. I feel there is much more gameplay time than cutscene time. It isn't even close. And the cutscenes feel approtriate in length, content, and placement. A great game.

I only have a few immersion type issues as gripes. This has to do with AI. Such as someone with you saying 'Ok lets approach quietly' then they go stomping around, talking loudly and are in plain sight.

But the graphics and lighting are great, as are the facial expressions. Good writing and story and combat can be tough. I do wish there was more of a penalty to death. As it is, you can just be reckless with out much fear of repurcussions. So dying isn't as bad or scary as it should be which lowers the suspense from a game that has the potential to be very suspenseful.

[dsheinem]

I am really enjoying this myself. I feel there is much more gameplay time than cutscene time. It isn't even close. And the cutscenes feel approtriate in length, content, and placement. A great game.

I only have a few immersion type issues as gripes. This has to do with AI. Such as someone with you saying 'Ok lets approach quietly' then they go stomping around, talking loudly and are in plain sight.

But the graphics and lighting are great, as are the facial expressions. Good writing and story and combat can be tough. I do wish there was more of a penalty to death. As it is, you can just be reckless with much fear of repurcussions. So dying isn't as bad or scary as it should be which lowers the suspense from a game that has the potential to be very suspenseful.

I agree with much of this. Companion A.I. should not do things that you aren't doing or, if they do, there should be real repercussions for their mistakes. Stupid Bill was stomping around the clickers while I was sneaking to shiv one, and the clicker couldn't have cared less.

We should get together sometime and talk about the game - maybe we could even record it or something!

(frankly, I wasn't so sure you were sold on picking this one up. glad you did!)

[ZenErik]

Yea. I did notice that when my friend died he just immediately restarted only losing maybe 30 seconds of progress. But I think that sort of goes with the cinematic goal/experience of the game. They want to encourage you to keep playing and keep moving forward and not beat you down and penalize you for dying like in a game such as Dark Souls. I certainly prefer Dark Souls style, but I can see why they wouldn't do things that way for this game. Just my thoughts.

[ZenErik]

I also saw my friend get killed by AI a few times. He would try to sneak up on an enemy and the AI would shoot during the process. Enemy would quickly charge and kill him, haha. But overall it wasn't too bad. And with some of the human enemies it was perhaps too easy to sneak up on them. They would have to be deaf not to hear all the noise 5 feet away from them.

[SpoonyBard]

Stupid Bill was stomping around the clickers while I was sneaking to shiv one, and the clicker couldn't have cared less.

Consider yourself lucky. Bill was a total bastard in my game, he got me caught constantly.


Starting off, dying felt like more of an issue as I struggled to stay alive. I'd use up every health kit, fire off every bullet, drop every bomb and sometimes i'd make it enough to hit an autosave point where I had no health or ammo. As I progressed though, I realized how it worked and was more apt to give up and start over than lose supplies to progress. I do wish there was more of a penalty.

[dsheinem]

I do wish there was more of a penalty.

What's the hardest difficulty setting introduce, if anything? Maybe there's an equivalent to "1999 mode" or some such?

[Jmustang1968]

Stupid Bill was stomping around the clickers while I was sneaking to shiv one, and the clicker couldn't have cared less.

Consider yourself lucky. Bill was a total bastard in my game, he got me caught constantly.


Starting off, dying felt like more of an issue as I struggled to stay alive. I'd use up every health kit, fire off every bullet, drop every bomb and sometimes i'd make it enough to hit an autosave point where I had no health or ammo. As I progressed though, I realized how it worked and was more apt to give up and start over than lose supplies to progress. I do wish there was more of a penalty.

I am pretty sure you were seen as the AI doesn't seem to respond to your teammates if you havent been spotted yet. Once you are spotted, your teammates start shooting.

So this is good and bad. It is good that stupid AI doesn't cause unnecessary frustration making stealth impossible. It is bad because it breaks immersion and believability. I think they erred in the preferable way for most gamers. Obviously you would want both...

Yeah often times if stealth or combat goes bad it is better just to die and restart than waste your supplies. Once you figure this out it makes the game a little less frantic and suspenseful.

[Jmustang1968]

I am really enjoying this myself. I feel there is much more gameplay time than cutscene time. It isn't even close. And the cutscenes feel approtriate in length, content, and placement. A great game.

I only have a few immersion type issues as gripes. This has to do with AI. Such as someone with you saying 'Ok lets approach quietly' then they go stomping around, talking loudly and are in plain sight.

But the graphics and lighting are great, as are the facial expressions. Good writing and story and combat can be tough. I do wish there was more of a penalty to death. As it is, you can just be reckless with much fear of repurcussions. So dying isn't as bad or scary as it should be which lowers the suspense from a game that has the potential to be very suspenseful.

I agree with much of this. Companion A.I. should not do things that you aren't doing or, if they do, there should be real repercussions for their mistakes. Stupid Bill was stomping around the clickers while I was sneaking to shiv one, and the clicker couldn't have cared less.

We should get together sometime and talk about the game - maybe we could even record it or something!

(frankly, I wasn't so sure you were sold on picking this one up. glad you did!)

I knew I was going to get it, but just didn't know when. I thought I may wait for price drop. But my buddy brought it over Saturday night. I put a couple hours progress in, and to keep it fresh in mind, I went ahead and picked it up. If I waited I wouldve had to restart.