The GILTY List 2021
The Last of Us Part II
By Yahoo Silverman
Marky Marks clean shoes
PREFACE
I have a dog named Scrappy, he’s a Pitbull and a good boy. Good boys do not mess in the house. They go outside, out back to be specific. I also have a nephew, he’s 5, and while he’s still working towards achieving the human equivalency of becoming house broken, he is also a good boy. When I go out back, I never wear nice shoes and I always look before I step. On a couple of occasions, I’ve gone out back to play with both of the good boys. Unlike myself who has learned from my mistakes, my nephew does not look before he steps and, on several occasions, he has stepped in dog mess. We discuss this before he goes outside. He knows better, he just gets too excited, ignores past lessons, and ends up stomping where he shouldn’t.
When I say I pre-ordered the Last of Us Part II and came away with clean shoes, I mean it. I know the risk of pre-ordering games and that’s why I seldom will do so. However, between social distancing and it being a Sony published title, I was willing to take that risk. How brave of me, Mark Wahlberg could play me in a movie. Sony has a pretty good record when it comes to releasing solid titles that function as advertised day one and that aren’t and don’t become gambling software. Marky Mark’s shoes stayed clean.
Although the game released in June of 2020, I finally finished it in December of that year. For those 6 months I’d pick it up and put it down. I could not stand the pacing. If you’re reading this and thinking “wait a second…sad story, dog poo, pre-orders, Mark Wahlberg, and this guy wants to talk about pacing” then congrats, I accurately read your mind and you will die in 7 days. If you are thinking “wait a second, 2020? That was last year!” then sorry, 3 days pal. Maybe let me finish explaining before you have “thoughts”.
After finishing Part II, I walked away with more questions than closure, and I love that. If you ever want me to replay a game, then your goal should be to have me walk away unsure as to whether it was brilliant or terrible which is a something I will further massage into your brain later in this “list” when I get to Goichi Suda and Grasshopper Manufacturer.
Before I begin discussing why the Last of Us Part II deserves to be on the GILTY list I want to first acknowledge the controversy surrounding it and to be clear I am a cis white guy and while that does not invalidate my views, I can not speak as an authority for anyone other than myself. If reading anything that discusses social/political issues will cause you physical pain, then scroll to the next section and you will have officially buried your head in the sand (just kidding, seriously, thank you for reading this far at least. It does mean a lot to me).
The "politics"
po·lit·i·cal /pəˈlidək(ə)l/
An adjective used to describe something that made you uncomfortable or that does not align directly with your way of thinking.
Prior to the release of Part II there were leaks. I managed to avoid the leaks; however, I did see the outrage. People were furious, and although I was not aware of the exact event that had them so enraged, based on their extreme anger, I contextually deduced that the game literally killed their families and stole their life savings or at least something comparable.
Their anger was initially due to the death of Joel, however this quickly transitioned unto the presence of Abby (a straight white women with muscles) and Lev (a trans man). That corner of the internet that freaks out whenever they notice the presence of politics in games (notice being a very key word here) lost their minds. A woman with muscles like a man? A trans person? Way to break the immersion in my game about mushroom zombies, Neil Cuckmann. CMU? More like CM-SJW. (I lived Carnegie Mellon adjacent for several years, where Neil Druckmann went to college, so that joke is mostly for me. If you don’t know what CMU is just think MIT with less film references and more Broadway references).
As has become commonplace, not just in the gamesphere but online as a whole, the anger quickly got out of hand. Death threats to Neil and even voice actors, homophobic and transphobic nonsense being thrown around, Meta-bombing the games user score (which was meaningless since meta-bombing happening even once renders all user scores meaningless and tainted data and until Metacritic decides to verify that users played the games they are reviewing, which would require registering your Playstaion, Steam, Xbox, etc. to the site, user scores should not be taken seriously. If you do not understand why, I do not have the time to explain standards in data analysis or what the word "authentic" means, but Google might). It was, for lack of a more syllable heavy word, stupid.
Entertainment has always contained some form of politics. Leave it to Beaver demonstrated how families “should” live, according to a traditionalistic American standard. All in the family, something many say “could never be made today: it was so brave” featured some of the first instances of an “okay boomer” mentality demonstrated by Rob Reiner, a boomer that would argue with boomer meme legend Archie Bunker, his elder, over his closed mindedness and narrow view of the world. Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series has themes of anti-nuclear weapon sentiments and a fear of the growing JSDF. As much as Metal Gear Solid 5 was a result of Kojima reading Moby Dick, Bioshock was a result of Ken Levine reading works by (whoa Black Betty) Ayn Rand. The Fallout series, especially early entries, The Witcher series, Splinter Cell, you name it. They all have themes of politics in one way or another, and yes even Grand Theft Auto’s satirical takes of American culture is in its own way political. We live in a world where studios and their writers are actively pushed to deny the existence of any political themes in their games, Activison and Ubisoft are two of the biggest examples (although denying things is kind of a part of their business models at this point). Society is heavily influenced by politics. Art is heavily influenced by society. The next time you see a creator say, “We aren't taking any stances, just asking questions”, just know that sentence on its own is political for they are saying they cannot publicly give an opinion ragarding the themes of their own work because they fear the consequences in doing so.
"With their tanks, and their bombs...
...and their bombs, and their guns"
-- not Liam Neeson
If you think the cheesy quotes are going to stop, let me remind you of where thinking gets us. I’m not very interested in discussing the actual gameplay beyond saying that it improved and built upon the Last of Us’ already solid gameplay, which is impressive in of itself. We often see sequels, especially those that come years later, change the core gameplay to meet new trends, however here they simply recognized what people liked and improved on it. Movement is smoother, stealth and enemy AI is improved on a level that could rival any stealth game released in recent years, the violence violently demonstrates violence more violently than most violent games, the crafting mechanics are added upon, and the graphics meet the Naughty Dog standards; which is pretty darn high. Even if you hate the story, if you enjoy violent third person action games with optional stealth then this game should have you fidgeting in your overpriced gamer chairs.
As is the case in most of the good zombie-based media, the zombies are the least interesting aspect of the Last of Us 1 or 2. I compare the importance of the zombies in this game to the that of the wolves in the 2011 film the Grey. The wolves represent the threat, but the threats here have no personality other than “If I see you; I try to kill you”. At no point will you see the head zombie explain its master plan of world domination to Ellie just like you can’t expect a wolf to remove a facial garment and say, “remember me now?” to Liam Neeson before lunging at him. However, this does not mean the zombies (or wolves) aren’t an extremely necessary aspect of these stories.
These threats create a world in which well fleshed out characters show who they truly are and where they are willing to go more so than any circumstance that would allow them to continue wearing the masks we put on when hiding the worst parts of ourselves. The zombie presence created a domino effect in the opening minutes of the first game where we learned that Joel (and Tommy) will fight (and kill) to protect those they love and that those with authority will order their subordinates kill anyone they deem a threat, including a man holding a little girl in his arms, and we learned that those very subordinates will “just follow” the orders they are given. Whoa politics.
I compare the zombies in the Last of Us Part II to the wolves in the Grey because in same we know and accept wolves exist, that they’re dangerous, and that depending where we are they could be pretty darn close, those who live in the Last of Us universe view zombies the same way. They aren’t an oddity; they are a very real possibility. Also, Neil, please greenlight a The Grey DLC to the Last of Us Part 2 where you get to punch zombies in the face as Liam Neeson…I have no other reason to buy a PS5, but Neil, you could give me one.
This world accepts the presence of zombies and reacts accordingly to survive. Speaking of acceptance and reaction…
That's not who I am...
...anymore
>The first game had two character building narrative structures that developed throughout each season and event in the game, one for each of our main characters. Joel’s was that of love, loss, callused existence, and then learning to open up enough to allow himself to care for and love others once again. Allowing himself to feel something other than anger and rage. To feel beyond just the urge to survive.
Ellies transition was nearly the complete opposite. A kid that still had a candle of optimism burning somewhere inside, tucked away from the winds of doubt and pessimism that a world like the one she finds herself in sows naturally and often. Growing up under the Fire Flies may or may not constitute as “privileged” in a world reclaimed by nature. However, she did grow up with at least some semblance of structure, community, and security...even if it was dwindling more by the day. Throughout the game she learns not only how to kill your fellow man, but also how to live with those actions. How to accept that it was her, or them, while trying to maintain her back to the blowing wind, protecting that flame. She learned how survive a cruel world all alone as she spent the harsh winter keeping an incapacitated Joel alive as the wind blew stronger. She learned just how cruel man can be as she was captured and locked away, left exposed holding that dimly lit stick of wax to the hurricane-force winds. However, while most would find themselves shivering and shaking through the five stages of grief, at best landing on “I hope they kill me before they do whatever they plan to do to me next”, Ellie fought back. She ran straight into the wind, candle in hand, and did what she learned to do. Kill them before they kill you, and by the end of it Ellie looked at her flameless candle and knew a part of her was dead, and whoever she was now was still breathing because of her will to survive and the man she kept alive. The man who appeared in hell alongside her. The man who saved her life. Joel.
When they first met, Ellie was just “precious cargo” to Joel. The Fireflies, Ellies aforementioned community, hired Joel to deliver her from point A to point B. A trek across the United States where zombies are as prevalent as dangerous and violent factions of survivors. A journey where death is a statistical likely hood stranding all but a little hope in even the most optimistic (Kojima reference #2).
By the end of the game, she was not just another job for Joel. She was not “precious cargo”. She was worth more than the agreed upon guns and rations for taking the job. She was no longer a piece of a transaction, she was priceless. She was Ellie, he loved her and Ellie slowly became Joel.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free...
...and discover that prisoner was you."
Lewis B. Smedes
For those of you who have read this far and are wondering why I spent the last couple thousand words talking about a game that is not the Last of Us Part II, well it’s because I wanted to. This is just how I write when I’m doing it for myself, I guess. Also, it will provide context for what I am about to dive into. This section will explain why I absolutely loved the story of the Last of Us Part II.
In Part II a woman named Abbie ultra-violently kills Joel in front of a restrained Ellie. Another candle within her was blown out, a candle you (nor her) can fully identify until later in the game. The reason I haven’t mentioned Ellies immunity to the virus or the fact that Joel killed an entire hospital of Fireflies in order to keep them from Jack Kevorkian-ing Ellie in order to extract and examine whatever it was in her brain that caused her immunity and then lied to her about doing it and even went as far as to tell her that her immunity is meaningless is because I feel that part of the story belongs right here because in my (likely ridiculous) opinion, that piece of the story has much more to do with the second game than the first and we will come back to it.
At the end of the first game Ellie and Joel settle in a small community in Jackson, Wyoming where Joel’s brother Tommy resides. This is where the second game picks up. Ellie seems to have as close to a normal life as you could imagine in this world. Friends, interpersonal drama, a job, a home, a role in a community. However, her and Joel seem to be at odds, and one can only infer as to why. Did she find out that Joel lied to her? Did something totally unrelated to his mass killing of fireflies at a hospital happen? Did Ellie build a website to discuss one game then spent thousands of words discussing other stuff instead and Joel had enough?
After Joel’s death, and well into the game, we learn that she did find out the truth about Joel after venturing back to that very hospital. She confronted Joel, he finally came clean, she proclaimed she was done with him and bear in mind this is not the Ellie we were introduced to in the first game, this Ellie does not bluff, use hyperbole, or make vale threats. This Ellie will just do it. To quote Youtuber Jayvee, Joel “corrupted what she viewed as her ultimate purpose in life”. How could she ever forgive him for that? The wick of another candle stripped of its flame. But that was not the candle I mentioned in the beginning of this section, for the candle that this game truly revolves around was not blown out, but rather was snuffed out with no warning while the phrase “how do I forgive myself for not forgiving him in time?” tattooed itself upon Ellies psyche before the words “forgiving him” were covered up by the words “killing them all”. Slowly, letter by letter, the words disappeared until it simply read “how do I kill them all?”.
Now, to explain Abbie’s story beyond the fact that her father was one of the surgeons killed that day is to also explain Ellies story starting on the day Abbie kills Joel. Both of their psyche’s inked with the phrase “how do I kill them all?”. That became them, and they became obsessed. Joel was Abbies Moby-Dic and Abbie Became Ellie's. The death of their elusic enemy was “their ultimate purpose in life”.
Forgiving each other was never in cards, and they were willing to lose everything (and do) in the name of vengeance. But is vengeance worth more than everything and everyone around them?
The scene that sold me on the entire game
Now, Ellie did not go on this “adventure” alone. Dina (her old friend and recent girlfriend) decided to tag along on their journey to…kill a ton of people. Relationships are about compromise, but it’s nice to have the same hobbies. Several hours into this adventure (probably "in world" weeks?) Dina realizes she’s pregnant and that it isn’t Ellies, so she gets benched. I honestly do like their chemistry, and I have seen a lot of people wonder “why did they have Dina go if she’s only there for a few hours?” and to that I say, “you should read what I am about to write”. You see, at one point Dina and Ellie have a conversation where they take turns painting a picture of a life they would want to live together, away from all this misery. The completed piece involves the two of them living on a farm together, building a happy little life.
About 3/5th of the way through the game you, Ellie, are on a farm with Dina and the non-playable infant. You spent hours and hours brutally slaughtering your way through breathing obstacles, zombie or otherwise. But, now you’re here, where you wanted to be, right?
The players thoughts and expectations are to represent Ellies own internal dialogue, and does so skillfully and effectively. You aren’t done, you didn’t even kill Abbie yet. What are you doing here? Is this it? Is it over? As you make your way from the house, following Dina, you find yourself in a barn holding the baby and talking to your boo when BAM a zombie appears! You react, though startled, as you always have. You're ready to kill, no second guesses. However, the zombie is not actually there. It was all in Ellies head, all that misery, bloodshed, and ultraviolence has taken its toll and holy ghosts and talk show hosts did they nail this.
As you go inside you hear a knock at the door. It’s Tommy. He knows where Abbie is, and he wants you to kill her. Now, here is where the game sealed the deal for me.
Ellie is in a place where she can grow and build a life where both the tangible and nontangible can exist in plenty. That’s what Joel would have wanted, heck that’s what I want for her, but I also don’t want the game to end. I want that closure; I want to get Abbie. Dina tells you that if you leave, she will not be here when and if you return. Dina does not bluff, use hyperbole, or make vale threats, Dina “just does it” and Ellie knows this. The player has no choice in this decision because Ellie feels she has no choice in this decision. She leaves everything behind for vengeance. At that moment Dina realizes that Ellie never had the “how do I kill them” tattoo removed from her psyche, she was just covering it up hoping it would fade away in time all on its own. Dina had to come along with her on their “adventure” because they had to build that relationship, because Dina had to be cast aside as a casualty of Ellies obsession with vengeance.
This game elicited emotions from me, but this chapter dictated them.
Okay, okay I'm done.
To wrap it up, I loved this game the second time around because I had already had time to chew on that scene during my first playthrough and it completely changed my view on the game. The first game was not Joel’s game. It was Ellies origin story, a story about how this world can completely erode and reshape a person in its image and the second game was about the consequences of giving in to and embracing the monster this world wants you to be. About lighting a candle that takes a lot more than hurricane-force winds to blow out. Joel died as a direct result of feeding that candles flame and relying on it for warmth.
By the end of the game both Abbie and Ellie had lost everyone and everything. They’re both just sunburnt skin and bones with nowhere to go. Ellie having lost fingers on her left hand, a harsh and callous reminder of her decisions, even more so when she tries to play the guitar Joel taught her to strum only to find she can't, and never will be able to again as she leaves it behind in the same, now empty, farmhouse she once left Dina and the baby behind in. Abbie herself has lost everyone but Lev who has lost everyone but Abbie. There is a lot of speculation as to why Ellie did not kill Abbie, but in my opinion…it doesn’t matter. It woldn’t change anything, and maybe that's the point.
If you read all that, thank you.
I know I did not talk much about Abbie or Lev here and it’s because I plan on doing so in another entry (not the GILTY list). If you read this whole thing, thank you. Seriously. I’m not much of a writer (or a web developer) but I wanted to try both. I hope you enjoyed this and will check out the next entry of the GILTY list…which will be at some point before 2022.
