I didn't dislike The Last of Us, but to this day I don't see what everyone loved so much about the game. Its story is rather tired, treading ground that various other zombie fiction has left dusty and trampled, rescued only by some decent characters and fantastic performances. Despite that, there were occasional contrivances in the game's writing that broke the illusion that these were actual people (like Joel and Ellie reconciling almost immediately after the dam for no apparent reason), and if you couldn't figure out where the plot was going from by the beginning of Fall, you weren't trying. Its gameplay was damn good, but it never seemed comfortable to let that stand on its own, providing a clear divide between combat and exploration (you can't even draw a gun unless the game wants you to), and constantly contriving scripted sequences and setpiece moments, like the sniping section or fending off infected while dangling upside-down (with infinite ammo no less). This lead to the game shifting between combat, exploration, and things like scripted chases inorganically, never combining elements that would have lead to fantastic gameplay opportunities.
I could say far more than I already have, like how the transitions from gameplay to cutscenes are never smooth, and how Ellie's AI ruins any feeling of stealth, but I feel like I should wrap this up before I sound overly negative. The game had enough positives to even a lot of this out, and I never for a second thought that it was bad, I just don't think that it's the masterpiece that so many have claimed. I went into the game expecting to love it, and I was disappointed.
