Well, fuck you, The Last of Us

[Zhukov]

Uh... I never had this happen. Not once.

The game is split up into smallish areas. The transitions between each area are really obvious.

I explored each area thoroughly before leaving and no issues were had. I'm a bit mystified as to how someone could have managed to stumble through a transition without noticing.

 

[votemarvel]

Still, at least if you screw up the stealth gameplay it doesn't just force you to retry it. There have been a number of times where I just said "fuck it, molotovs" and everything worked out just fine, which I can really appreciate.

Where are you getting all the molotovs from.

I've been searching everything possible and have barely collected enough pieces to make four of them. No where near enough to go mad with them.

 

[aguspal]

I came to this thread expecting it to be a raging one about the fact than this game is a PS4 exclusive- Not that I myself want it or anything, but a few of my friends do and are pissed that it is not on PC.



Again, I personally couldt care less but exclusives always sucked and will continue sucking (The fact than they are exclusives not the games themselves of course).

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Still, at least if you screw up the stealth gameplay it doesn't just force you to retry it. There have been a number of times where I just said "fuck it, molotovs" and everything worked out just fine, which I can really appreciate.

Where are you getting all the molotovs from.

I've been searching everything possible and have barely collected enough pieces to make four of them. No where near enough to go mad with them.

I don't tend to need health packs very often. Usually I'll either barely take any damage in a fight, and then just heal that with some food, or I'll just straight up die. Either way I usually carry 3 health packs on me and almost never use them. So since I still keep picking up rags and alcohol, those tend to always be converted to molotovs just so that I'm not at full inventory on alcohol at all times.

Then again I also go completely insane when scrounging materials in the environment, and usually go to a lot of places I'm sure others don't tend to find. That, and every single time there's a door that requires a shiv to open I always use the shiv. It's always worth it, and most of the time you'll find enough stuff in those rooms to make a molotov or health pack.

 

[votemarvel]

I search every where I can, I'm obsessive about missing something and I'm finding almost nothing. To be fair I'm not that far in. I'm at the point after you pass through the office building and at the area where you can see the blocked subway tunnel (trying to keep things vague here for fear of spoilers.)

Genuinely I am finding it tough this early on then I don't think I'm even going to try playing any further. I don't think my blood pressure could handle it.

 

[lapan]

That reminds me of Final Fantasy 10, where you missed out on a lot of lategame stuff if you took the wrong path in one specific temple you could not return to. Stuff like that is always annoying

 

[4RM3D]

I'm still enjoying the game's writing like most everyone else but there are quite a few irritations in The Last of Us. For me it's the stealth. Sometimes I'll be in a stealth scenario where I'd prefer to slip by but it isn't clear where the room's exit actually is, or if I'm required to take everyone down before I proceed. Or how the camera gets way too close. Or how sometimes sneaking around the blinded/mostly-blinded infected isn't even an option because the developers intended more of an action-y bit to happen so they just seek you out.

I just find that the more a game challenges me and has my head banging against the wall, the more you notice the things out of your control when you fail.

Yeah, I know how you feel. I'm actually relatively good at stealth games, and I play a lot of them. The thing about The Last of Us, is that the stealth is really iffy. There's no cover system, no indicators, nothing to tell you whether you're going to be seen by someone or not. While this makes the game feel organic and realistic, it's also terribly annoying at times, especially since it seems that the range characters can see you at is fairly inconsistent.

Still, at least if you screw up the stealth gameplay it doesn't just force you to retry it. There have been a number of times where I just said "fuck it, molotovs" and everything worked out just fine, which I can really appreciate.

I thought the stealth in TLOU was pretty good. I've noticed some minor inconsistencies. But those never bothered me. I also try to stealth as much as possible. And I usually fail near the end. But then I can just brute force my way through the remaining few enemies.

But it's true that sometimes you don't really know what the game expects you to do. Sometimes you can sneak past, other times you have to kill everything and another time you get a scripted ambush. The plus side is that the game is at least somewhat varied. Little bit of stealth, little bit of shooting, little bit of exploring and walking. The balance seems okay.

Most stealth games do a lot worse than TLOU.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

Snippity snip

Does The Walking Dead really have BAD gameplay though, or just very little gameplay? I found what gameplay there was to be perfectly fine. Pretty standard adventure game stuff, really. Even the quick-time action-y bits were functional and unobtrusive. To me, anyway.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I search every where I can, I'm obsessive about missing something and I'm finding almost nothing. To be fair I'm not that far in. I'm at the point after you pass through the office building and at the area where you can see the blocked subway tunnel (trying to keep things vague here for fear of spoilers.)

Genuinely I am finding it tough this early on then I don't think I'm even going to try playing any further. I don't think my blood pressure could handle it.

Wait...you're only that far in and you're complaining about only being able to make 4 molotovs? I would have KILLED for enough supplies to make 4 molotovs at that point. You're not having trouble finding stuff, trust me.

And yeah, it really shouldn't be that tough that early on. If you're having trouble there you're going to hate some of the later parts of the game, especially when you start running into other survivors who try to kill you (shut up, that's not a spoiler it was in ALL the gameplay previews). Of course the further into the game you get the more varied ways you'll have to deal with various situations.

May I ask what exactly you're having trouble with? I might be able to offer some advice, because I would hate for you to quit the game so early on just out of frustration, it really is a great game.

 

[Tallim]

I can honestly say I haven't run into this problem at all.

It's actually relatively easy to tell where you're supposed to go in The Last of Us to progress the story. There are a lot of subtle, and not so subtle hints given to you through certain colors, lighting effects, and etc. which tend to tell you exactly where to go, so all you have to do is refrain from going into the direction you instinctively want to.

I'm still enjoying the game's writing like most everyone else but there are quite a few irritations in The Last of Us. For me it's the stealth. Sometimes I'll be in a stealth scenario where I'd prefer to slip by but it isn't clear where the room's exit actually is, or if I'm required to take everyone down before I proceed. Or how the camera gets way too close. Or how sometimes sneaking around the blinded/mostly-blinded infected isn't even an option because the developers intended more of an action-y bit to happen so they just seek you out.

I just find that the more a game challenges me and has my head banging against the wall, the more you notice the things out of your control when you fail.

Yeah, I know how you feel. I'm actually relatively good at stealth games, and I play a lot of them. The thing about The Last of Us, is that the stealth is really iffy. There's no cover system, no indicators, nothing to tell you whether you're going to be seen by someone or not. While this makes the game feel organic and realistic, it's also terribly annoying at times, especially since it seems that the range characters can see you at is fairly inconsistent.

Still, at least if you screw up the stealth gameplay it doesn't just force you to retry it. There have been a number of times where I just said "fuck it, molotovs" and everything worked out just fine, which I can really appreciate.

You do get the sound indicator when someone can see you though. There is a rising chord sound that indicates that you can be seen and it takes a few seconds, even on Survivor, for them to actually "see" you and go on the offensive depending on distance.

 

[votemarvel]

And yeah, it really shouldn't be that tough that early on. If you're having trouble there you're going to hate some of the later parts of the game, especially when you start running into other survivors who try to kill you (shut up, that's not a spoiler it was in ALL the gameplay previews). Of course the further into the game you get the more varied ways you'll have to deal with various situations.

I confess to having a bad temper, I've snapped game discs in half before now out of frustration. So yes, I don't think this is a game that I am going to be playing any further.

I made a promise to myself that I'd only play games that entertain me and for me when I start getting angry at a game, it stops being entertaining.

May I ask what exactly you're having trouble with? I might be able to offer some advice, because I would hate for you to quit the game so early on just out of frustration, it really is a great game.

It is simply that I suck at stealth games and The Last of Us is pretty much a stealth game. Perhaps the big issue is my temper, as I said it is short and that can lead to a lack of patience when it comes to having to replay a level again...and again...and again. Of course the more annoyed I get on each try means the more mistakes I make and then I get even more annoyed.

I genuinely appreciate the offer of help but I don't think anyone can compensate for my lack of skill and patience.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I can honestly say I haven't run into this problem at all.

It's actually relatively easy to tell where you're supposed to go in The Last of Us to progress the story. There are a lot of subtle, and not so subtle hints given to you through certain colors, lighting effects, and etc. which tend to tell you exactly where to go, so all you have to do is refrain from going into the direction you instinctively want to.

I'm still enjoying the game's writing like most everyone else but there are quite a few irritations in The Last of Us. For me it's the stealth. Sometimes I'll be in a stealth scenario where I'd prefer to slip by but it isn't clear where the room's exit actually is, or if I'm required to take everyone down before I proceed. Or how the camera gets way too close. Or how sometimes sneaking around the blinded/mostly-blinded infected isn't even an option because the developers intended more of an action-y bit to happen so they just seek you out.

I just find that the more a game challenges me and has my head banging against the wall, the more you notice the things out of your control when you fail.

Yeah, I know how you feel. I'm actually relatively good at stealth games, and I play a lot of them. The thing about The Last of Us, is that the stealth is really iffy. There's no cover system, no indicators, nothing to tell you whether you're going to be seen by someone or not. While this makes the game feel organic and realistic, it's also terribly annoying at times, especially since it seems that the range characters can see you at is fairly inconsistent.

Still, at least if you screw up the stealth gameplay it doesn't just force you to retry it. There have been a number of times where I just said "fuck it, molotovs" and everything worked out just fine, which I can really appreciate.

You do get the sound indicator when someone can see you though. There is a rising chord sound that indicates that you can be seen and it takes a few seconds, even on Survivor, for them to actually "see" you and go on the offensive depending on distance.

Huh, I actually never noticed that. I always turn the music down in any game that I play, specifically so that I can better hear sound effects and character conversations. Maybe I'll have to turn the music up now that I know this. I usually keep the music at 50%, the sound effects at 75%, and dialogue at 100% with subtitles on.

 

[Savagezion]

Snippity snip

Does The Walking Dead really have BAD gameplay though, or just very little gameplay? I found what gameplay there was to be perfectly fine. Pretty standard adventure game stuff, really. Even the quick-time action-y bits were functional and unobtrusive. To me, anyway.

I agree with Robot V (Johnny 5 reference?) on the Walking Dead's Gameplay. You know when you get stuck on a part in Final Fantasy and you don't know what to do so you just run around talking and interacting with everything in hopes to stumble across what you are supposed to do and the story will continue? That is the Walking Dead's Gameplay for the most part. Some bits its obvious what you are suppose to do and other sections are you just walking around clicking on stuff to see if that will progress the story. Either way though, it is basically giving you something to do for the sake of you having something to do. I wouldn't really call the gameplay engaging or really even good. It just happens to have gameplay. Personally, I would be ok with just watching it and picking dialogue options or making choices. I'll pass on putting batteries in the radio because a character can't figure that out themselves because TellTale needed to give me something to do.

As for the Last of Us, I don't think it takes itself too seriously, I think it just takes itself seriously. It has a couple spots where they didn't quite hit the perfect note but they always had the pitch right to compensate - for a wonky analogy. It had some parts that were "good enough" and some parts that were downright as good as it gets for an action narrative game. To me being "too serious" usually ends up in the realms of pretentiousness and I just don't see that from TLoU. Usually, pretentious writing offers some nonsensical and, ironically enough, cliche explanation and just expects you to roll with it. I didn't find any of the writing and dialogue in TLoU pretentious or nonsenisical. They only revealed what you needed to know and left most everything else in the dark rather than work up some convoluted explanation. They left a lot of it up the audience's imagination and interpretation. I think the gameplay mostly offers a lot to the game as it keeps things flowing nicely which is important in a narrative game I think due to the fact that if you are rewatching parts of the narrative due to difficulty in not getting something completely precise or whatever and constantly having to "try again" every 5-10 minutes, the narrative loses impact. It would be like every so often during a movie it keeps skipping back 5 mins and you have to rewatch that part. This is a large hurdle games are finally starting to overcome this generation.

 

[Zenn3k]

Its a linear narrative game with mild exploration thats rewarded generally with more supplies.

I can't picture the point in the game you're referring too...but maybe you shouldn't be expecting an OPEN WORLD game when you didn't buy one?

 

[Johnny Impact]

So far I've found the arbitrary, unfair clickers to be much more of a problem. Seriously, I have bought nothing but sensory upgrades for Joel, I spend several minutes scouting each room, counting enemy types, watching patterns, looking for weak points -- and the motherfucking clickers STILL appear right behind me as soon as I engage my first target.

It's not a stealth game unless attentiveness and planning are rewarded. In The Last of Us, they're a complete waste of time. The first few times, the be-perfect-or-die nature of this game adds tension. After the fiftieth reload, it's just old. It smacks of old-school side-scrollers, games that offered knuckle-biting difficulty because they had nothing else.

I haven't cared all that much about searching for extra gear. That's telling, considering I normally check every corner in games like this. It's probably because I know it isn't going to do any good. No amount of gear can make even the slightest difference, so why bother?

 

[The_Scrivener]

Thank you for making it impossible to explore the environment.

Hmmm, shall I take the left door or the right door? I'll go left... *surprise* Door slams shut and no way to look what's behind door number 2. Well, no problem. I'll just reload the game. Oh wait, the game gets auto-saved every minute in 1 save slot without backup[footnote]yes, you can save in another slot, but it takes ages[/footnote]. This hasn't happened once or twice... it's happened a lot.

I am not scared of an (infected) ambush, I am not scared I am going the wrong way... I am scared I am going the right way and miss out on stuff. So, I am extra careful when navigating through the environment because it might be a one way trip. Those big falls are pretty obvious. But then I went through a window, because nothing can go wrong (besides another event were I get *****-slapped around). Except when I turn around the window is suddenly closed and I am unable to return. And auto-save of course raped my progress.

Well, fuck you, The Last of Us. Thanks for ruining my game.

Normally I wouldn't care much, but it's such a shame for an otherwise good game.

Exploration and fun? Why have that when there's so much SEWIOUS DWAMA to get through? Why give a shit about how the player feels as long as you impress some kind of invisible video game oscar council?

Invisible Oscar Game Council? You mean, a popular consensus that the game is well-above average quality? I hear more about this game Oscar-bating than anything else ever. It's the damnedest thing. I swear I thought we'd gone past the era of ubiquitous irony addicts who are so bent on avoiding whatever being a hipster is to the point they've come full circle around the idea to the point they're epitomizing the arbitrary thing they're trying to avoid.

Spoiler alert: If you want to criticize a game, you have to do better than "lots of people like it." There is no video game Oscars. There is no context for your point of view. Either present your opinion in a vacuum based on what's actually happening with your controller and on your TV screen or shut up. The reason it's acclaimed is because it's human and it plays fine. If it doesn't line up with your personal tastes, that's fine. It isn't my favorite game ever, but using bullshit middle school rhetoric by intentionally misspelling words makes you look retarded.

I avoided the last of us. Don't care how good the story is, it looks like another gritty and depressing slog. I'm tired of those.

 

[The_Scrivener]

I have no idea why post merged with someone else's posts. Sorry for the double post, but what the hell happened?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I have no idea why post merged with someone else's posts. Sorry for the double post, but what the hell happened?

You quoted the guy, then wrote your post in the middle of his post between the quote tags. Had you done it correctly it would have looked like this:

Spoiler

Thank you for making it impossible to explore the environment.

Hmmm, shall I take the left door or the right door? I'll go left... *surprise* Door slams shut and no way to look what's behind door number 2. Well, no problem. I'll just reload the game. Oh wait, the game gets auto-saved every minute in 1 save slot without backup[footnote]yes, you can save in another slot, but it takes ages[/footnote]. This hasn't happened once or twice... it's happened a lot.

I am not scared of an (infected) ambush, I am not scared I am going the wrong way... I am scared I am going the right way and miss out on stuff. So, I am extra careful when navigating through the environment because it might be a one way trip. Those big falls are pretty obvious. But then I went through a window, because nothing can go wrong (besides another event were I get *****-slapped around). Except when I turn around the window is suddenly closed and I am unable to return. And auto-save of course raped my progress.

Well, fuck you, The Last of Us. Thanks for ruining my game.

Normally I wouldn't care much, but it's such a shame for an otherwise good game.

Exploration and fun? Why have that when there's so much SEWIOUS DWAMA to get through? Why give a shit about how the player feels as long as you impress some kind of invisible video game oscar council?

I avoided the last of us. Don't care how good the story is, it looks like another gritty and depressing slog. I'm tired of those.

Invisible Oscar Game Council? You mean, a popular consensus that the game is well-above average quality? I hear more about this game Oscar-bating than anything else ever. It's the damnedest thing. I swear I thought we'd gone past the era of ubiquitous irony addicts who are so bent on avoiding whatever being a hipster is to the point they've come full circle around the idea to the point they're epitomizing the arbitrary thing they're trying to avoid.

Spoiler alert: If you want to criticize a game, you have to do better than "lots of people like it." There is no video game Oscars. There is no context for your point of view. Either present your opinion in a vacuum based on what's actually happening with your controller and on your TV screen or shut up. The reason it's acclaimed is because it's human and it plays fine. If it doesn't line up with your personal tastes, that's fine. It isn't my favorite game ever, but using bullshit middle school rhetoric by intentionally misspelling words makes you look retarded.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

I thought the stealth in TLOU was pretty good. I've noticed some minor inconsistencies. But those never bothered me. I also try to stealth as much as possible. And I usually fail near the end. But then I can just brute force my way through the remaining few enemies.

But it's true that sometimes you don't really know what the game expects you to do. Sometimes you can sneak past, other times you have to kill everything and another time you get a scripted ambush. The plus side is that the game is at least somewhat varied. Little bit of stealth, little bit of shooting, little bit of exploring and walking. The balance seems okay.

Most stealth games do a lot worse than TLOU.

That's what I do, go around and choke out as many as I can, that way, when I do get spotted, I have less to deal with.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

I hate it when games do that. It is some of the worst design I have ever seen, and it seems to be getting increasingly common. It's even worse when there's no level select.