Fimbulwinter The Last of Us Part II Remastered Review

The Last of Us Part II is a game with lofty ambitions, but it achieves them through blatant manipulation of the player. Instead of telling an honest story, Naughty Dog substitutes genuine narrative depth with emotional blackmail and outright disrespect for its audience. 1. Gratuitous Violence Without Substance The game tries to shock the player with relentless brutality, but instead of delivering a meaningful critique of the cycle of revenge, it devolves into a shallow bloodbath. The developers clearly expected players to blindly empathize with the violence, yet failed to give it any real weight. Murdering countless enemies in gameplay completely undermines the "moral dilemmas" of the main characters—the game hypocritically condemns vengeance while forcing the player to slaughter waves of enemies. 2. Emotional Manipulation & Forced Sympathy The writing desperately tries to make players care about Abby, even when her actions are outright despicable. Rather than earning genuine empathy, the game resorts to cheap tricks: "Look, she’s suffering! Look, she saves kids! Now you HAVE to like her!" But the problem is that her prior actions (like Joel’s brutal murder) give no reason to actually sympathize with her. The developers don’t respect the player—they assume they can force them to feel a certain way by inserting a few contrived emotional scenes. 3. Disrespect for Players’ Attachments The first game made us love Joel and Ellie, but the sequel deliberately destroys that connection. Joel is killed off in the most humiliating way possible, while Ellie is turned into a hollow, revenge-obsessed shell of her former self. This is framed as "deep storytelling," but in reality, it feels like a slap in the face to fans. The developers seem to say: "Forget the old characters—here’s your new ‘complex’ cast!" But players shouldn’t have to accept this forced "depth." 4. Linearity & Lack of Player Agency The game denies players any real choice, forcing them into actions that go against their own instincts. The final fight between Ellie and Abby, for example, is pure coercion—whether you want to or not, you’re made to participate. Instead of meaningful interaction with the story, the game endlessly hammers in its "correct" morality. Verdict: A Game That Doesn’t Respect Its Players The Last of Us Part II isn’t a bold narrative experiment—it’s a cynical manipulation. The developers don’t want players to think for themselves; they want to force-feed their vision, even if it contradicts logic and emotion. Mindless brutality, artificially imposed sympathy for unlikable characters, and outright disdain for fan attachments make this a deeply disappointing experience. If you enjoy being treated like a puppet, jerked around for the sake of a "profound message," then this game is for you. But if you value honest storytelling and respect for the audience, The Last of Us Part II will only leave you frustrated.