Sony The Last of Us Part II OT - Best Served Cold, update: the story behind the game's realistic facial animations (PlayStation Blog)

[Dodger]

2 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

My parents are visiting for Father's Day  

 

I am treating my dad to a nice dinner.  

 

Which means I'll have little time to play TLOU2.  

 

All because he happened to help with the process of me existing, which isn't a big deal.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got the same problem dad is in town for the weekend no more game time.

[Firewithin]

are certain upgrades random?

 

Spoiler

i just started a flashback with joel and feel like i should have found a short gun holster by now?

 

[skillzdadirecta]

3 hours ago, Firewithin said:

It's not a spoiler.  There no context to it other than the song

I owe you an apology good sir

 

Spoiler

Just got to that part and I'll admit I got choked up... I think folks can actually miss this if they don't explore.

Which would be a shame.

[Kal-El814]

57 minutes ago, Firewithin said:

are certain upgrades random?

 

  Reveal hidden contents

i just started a flashback with joel and feel like i should have found a short gun holster by now?

 

Pretty sure I had it by then. Maybe it’s missable?

 

51 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

I owe you an apology good sir

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Just got to that part and I'll admit I got choked up... I think folks can actually miss this if they don't explore.

Which would be a shame.

I find that stuff a little cloying and cliche at this point personally, but I get why it hits for a lot of people. It’s well done in this game regardless of my personal take. 
 

Some non spoiler gameplay impressions. 
 

Even on hard... you’re a damn tank maybe 8-9 hours in. Unless you sprint right at something aggro with you, or decide to punch a clicker or something, you feel MUCH beefier than I remember feeling in the original. 
 

While the enemy AI is better than it was in the original, human enemies and runners are dumb as fucking rocks when you go prone. Stealth is dead easy until dogs show up. Until the game kinda forces your hand several hours in, I think I used 3 total bullets?
 

Companion AI is much better this time in general too which is nice. No more running into clickers and shoving them while they don’t react at all. That said, they often make a huge fucking racket on my surround speakers which the enemies don’t notice at all which is sometimes comical.

 

Some spoiler related gameplay and progress impressions. No revelations here, but if you’re sensitive to them, better safe than sorry. 
 

Spoiler

Naughty Dog’s use of flashbacks to advance their stories continues to annoy me. I don’t think they use them well. In this game specifically I feel like so far it dramatically reduces some of the impact of early events. 
 

Also I know this is likely going to be THE point, but... everything about this quest feels so ill advised. You’re tracking what initially seems like a small group of people but it becomes obvious really early on that’s not accurate and you’re outnumbered possibly hundreds to one or two. The lore you pick up establishes how deadly the group you’re up against initially is... and then by the end of day one in Seattle I’ve killed dozens of them. I don’t know how to express this in a way that makes sense, but so far I feel like the characters are much more obviously in a video game than they were in the first one? It’s not a bad thing. But two people trying to make it across the country seems like a more “realistic” goal than... two people going into Seattle and possibly taking down a an entire militia.

Overall really enjoying it. The pace isn’t perfect but it’s better than NDs other recent games by a good margin which is nice. 

[TheLeon]

2 hours ago, Firewithin said:

are certain upgrades random?

 

  Reveal hidden contents

i just started a flashback with joel and feel like i should have found a short gun holster by now?

 

I think it’s missable. I don’t remember exactly when, but I think I picked that up

Spoiler

Shortly after you first encounter the WLF in Seattle.

 

[Firewithin]

40 minutes ago, TheLeon said:

I think it’s missable. I don’t remember exactly when, but I think I picked that up

  Reveal hidden contents

Shortly after you first encounter the WLF in Seattle.

 

 

i actually found it in a safe in 

Spoiler

hillcrest behind one of the shops

 

 

a small detail i noticed that i really liked

Spoiler

in the second flashback you see ellies start of her tattoo but it is not finished yet

 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

Alright, gonna start this tonight. Husband was kind enough to pick mine up form BB today and updated my PS4 and installed it today while I slept.

 

Shit, this is the first time my PS4 had been turn on all year. Given that Crash Team Racing was still in the system, I think this is the first time it's been turned on since last summer!

[Spork3245]

8 hours ago, TheLeon said:

Finding that cassette in MGSV and constantly playing it over the helicopter's speakers got to me. 

 

7 hours ago, Moa said:

I was always more of a Kids in America Snake. Had to put the fear of god in em.

On PC you can use your own mp3s... here’s mine:

 

[Firewithin]

whew boy i came across the new enemy

Spoiler

stalkers

and those couple sections were giving me anxiety lol

[SimpleG]

Some minor nit picks

 

Not sure if its just me but the AI is all over the place sometimes, Ive had runners spot me from 75 feet out while crouched the grass and sometimes I can be whispering sweet nothings in their ear and they never notice me. Its not game breaking but its annoying

 

Also theres been a few times where ND purposely keeps the stealth listen mechanic from working and that really annoys the shit out of me. Theres a spot thats optional and you can see some goodies and if you have played games for any reasonable amount of time you can see the set up. Not only that but if you listen you can hear the runners,mobs and throwing items gets no reaction from them and if you use the listen mechanic it shows nothing but take the bait and instantly the mechanics are working again. I would prefer that Devs reward smart players rather then punish. There also a few story beats where the same thing happens , i know again its not a big deal but it does break the immersion .

[CastlevaniaNut18]

3.5 hours in, it’s goooood. 

[Spork3245]

FYI, if you go into the accessibility options you can enable something that lets you “scan” for items with a pulse while in listening mode. I decided to turn it on after finding out how easily it is to miss upgrades.

[skillzdadirecta]

The melee combat is sooo good... I use guns as a last resort. This game has one some of the best baseball bat gameplay in the business 

[Bloodporne]

6 hours ago, SimpleG said:

Some minor nit picks

 

Not sure if its just me but the AI is all over the place sometimes, Ive had runners spot me from 75 feet out while crouched the grass and sometimes I can be whispering sweet nothings in their ear and they never notice me. Its not game breaking but its annoying

 

Also theres been a few times where ND purposely keeps the stealth listen mechanic from working and that really annoys the shit out of me. Theres a spot thats optional and you can see some goodies and if you have played games for any reasonable amount of time you can see the set up. Not only that but if you listen you can hear the runners,mobs and throwing items gets no reaction from them and if you use the listen mechanic it shows nothing but take the bait and instantly the mechanics are working again. I would prefer that Devs reward smart players rather then punish. There also a few story beats where the same thing happens , i know again its not a big deal but it does break the immersion .

This is a big thing in the first one if we mean the same thing. There'll be a clear arena with enemies you're about to drop into so I'd throw a bottle and then check with Listen mode. Nothing despite obvious noises. As soon as I drop down the ambush breaks out as predicted.

 

That's an example where I do have an issue with the cinematic thing sometimes. I don't need a 3 second cutscene of enemies popping up behind shelves and my character expressing dismay in favor of smart gameplay like you said. I often got the sense ND don't trust the players enough with their encounter designs and hopefully they let that go a bit in the sequel. A minor gripe for me overall but I know what you mean.

[atom631]

About 5.5hrs in. Really good and thoroughly enjoying it. 
 

but I had a giant LOL at this:
 

Spoiler

When We first meet Dina I thought, wow they gave her a pretty big schnoz....then you get to the synagogue scene and find out she’s Jewish..  

that is no coincidence! 

[Kal-El814]

8 hours ago, SimpleG said:

Also theres been a few times where ND purposely keeps the stealth listen mechanic from working and that really annoys the shit out of me. Theres a spot thats optional and you can see some goodies and if you have played games for any reasonable amount of time you can see the set up. Not only that but if you listen you can hear the runners,mobs and throwing items gets no reaction from them and if you use the listen mechanic it shows nothing but take the bait and instantly the mechanics are working again. I would prefer that Devs reward smart players rather then punish. There also a few story beats where the same thing happens , i know again its not a big deal but it does break the immersion .

This game definitely “cheats” more with the Batman vision and in general than the original. There are a couple places that are similar to the setup you mentioned, and if you use (Very light weapon “spoiler”)

 

Spoiler

Trip mines 

 

they don’t affect enemies at all until the scripted bits end. 

[best3444]

Can't play today cause I'm visiting my dad. 

 

Tomorrow after work I'll be back at it. I wish they told you how long you've been playing.

[Kal-El814]

4 minutes ago, best3444 said:

Can't play today cause I'm visiting my dad. 

 

Tomorrow after work I'll be back at it. I wish they told you how long you've been playing.

They do. Make a manual save and it says it there. 

[best3444]

8 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

They do. Make a manual save and it says it there. 

 

Shit. I never manually saved for the 6 hours I played. I'm keeping track like an idiot.

[skillzdadirecta]

2 hours ago, atom631 said:

About 5.5hrs in. Really good and thoroughly enjoying it. 
 

but I had a giant LOL at this:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

When We first meet Dina I thought, wow they gave her a pretty big schnoz....then you get to the synagogue scene and find out she’s Jewish..  

that is no coincidence! 

Spoiler

She also has a fairly big ass too 

That said, 

Spoiler

With the two main characters be lesbians and one of them a JEWISH Lesbian

It's no wonder the gamergaters are up in arms about this game.

[BloodyHell]

This game is so good. I made an account here just because I wanted some place to talk about it. 
 

I honestly didn’t think I would play a more polished game than FF7R this year, but twelve hours in and im having an incredible time with it. Its hard to say its a good time, because the game is so heavy, and the themes of revenge are so incredible. 
 

how do we make those spoiler tags that I see in this thread? I don’t want to ruin anyone’s experience on my first day here.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

@BloodyHell - do you see the "eye" icon in the toolbar?  That's how you make a spoiler tag.

[skillzdadirecta]

3 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

This game is so good. I made an account here just because I wanted some place to talk about it. 
 

I honestly didn’t think I would play a more polished game than FF7R this year, but twelve hours in and im having an incredible time with it. Its hard to say its a good time, because the game is so heavy, and the themes of revenge are so incredible. 
 

how do we make those spoiler tags that I see in this thread? I don’t want to ruin anyone’s experience on my first day here.

Welcome to the boards  to use spoiler tags, click on the little eyeball icon in the tool bar then type what you want in there. 

[BloodyHell]

Just now, skillzdadirecta said:

Welcome to the boards  to use spoiler tags, click on the little eyeball icon in the tool bar then type what you want in there. 

Thanks. @Emperor Diocletian II filled me in as well. 
 

12-13 hours in and I just

Spoiler

Started playing as Abby, which i have mixed feelings about after the death of joel. Im interested to see if they can make me have any sympathy for her.

 

[johnny]

1 hour ago, BloodyHell said:

This game is so good. I made an account here just because I wanted some place to talk about it. 
 

I honestly didn’t think I would play a more polished game than FF7R this year, but twelve hours in and im having an incredible time with it. Its hard to say its a good time, because the game is so heavy, and the themes of revenge are so incredible. 
 

how do we make those spoiler tags that I see in this thread? I don’t want to ruin anyone’s experience on my first day here.

Welcome!

[SaysWho?]

I'm 100% sure I got to the part @Kal-El814 mentioned early in the game. For what it's worth, I'm no longer in town:

 

Spoiler

You knew when you played Abby that she was not trying to get into town for a stroll. So when we met up and she told him about the mansion at which they could seek shelter, I had a bad feeling. I just didn't think they were gonna attack Tommy and Joel as quickly as they did.

Of course, I have my ideas as to whom the Washington Liberation Front is related. Man, I really bought into every fiber of hatred she has for Joel without knowing a thing yet. It kind of reminds me of Starcraft: Brood War in the sense that you play characters that are not great characters, and you have to do things at the beginning you know are going to lead to something bad, and you can't stop yourself from doing it. But it gets you into the characters' psyche.

I'm not that far in obviously, but I can say it's been a "good" time in the sense that I love the gameplay and exploration already, and I know it's going to get way better. But it's also good because even though I audibly gasped twice once Joel and Tommy arrived at the mansion, I am so into this story right now.

 

[Firewithin]

just got to the part at 

Spoiler

the ferris wheel when Ellie is looking for Abby and it was revealed she killed the girl and she was pregnant...

 

oof that got dark

 

[Kal-El814]

I’m at what I’d guess is the 75% mark and the enemies being morons is now a bit of a drag. I wonder if survivor makes things more interesting or just lets them “cheat” more.

 

I’m also a little concerned that the story is going to take a less interesting turn than I’d initially assumed, which would be a bummer, it’s been pulling me in so far. 

[atom631]

6 hours ago, BloodyHell said:

This game is so good. I made an account here just because I wanted some place to talk about it. 
 

I honestly didn’t think I would play a more polished game than FF7R this year, but twelve hours in and im having an incredible time with it. Its hard to say its a good time, because the game is so heavy, and the themes of revenge are so incredible. 
 

how do we make those spoiler tags that I see in this thread? I don’t want to ruin anyone’s experience on my first day here.

 Welcome to D1P. Lots of good people and conversion to be had here...so stay a while!

 

with that, i couldn’t disagree more with the FF7R comparison. With how linear that game is, I expected the same level of polish as TLOU or Uncharted and it just does not have it. I’m at chapter 12 and do not have the desire to continue. Eventually I suppose I will, just to complete it...but it’s one of the biggest disappointments this gen for me. 

[johnny]

Fuck this is so god damn good 

[best3444]

I literally just called in sick this morning so I can play this game all day. 

[Spork3245]

20 minutes ago, best3444 said:

I literally just called in sick this morning so I can play this game all day. 

 

 

 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I sat up too late playing the game. But I think it was worth it. 

[BloodyHell]

13 hours ago, atom631 said:

 Welcome to D1P. Lots of good people and conversion to be had here...so stay a while!

 

with that, i couldn’t disagree more with the FF7R comparison. With how linear that game is, I expected the same level of polish as TLOU or Uncharted and it just does not have it. I’m at chapter 12 and do not have the desire to continue. Eventually I suppose I will, just to complete it...but it’s one of the biggest disappointments this gen for me. 

I completely disagree. I loved every second of it. Midgar has always been linear, the gsme never opened up until after you get out of it. 
 

im almost at the end of the game. My wife wwtched me play for a couple of hours last night. About two hours in, she went to bed because she was disturbed by all the violence. About 30 minutes later she was up because she couldn’t sleep 😂 she doesn’t do well with this. Bloodborne scares her too. 

[Bloodporne]

39 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

Bloodporne scares her too.