Does it bother you that the puzzles in The Last of Us are ass.

[ToddBonzalez]

Here on Era (and on GAF back in the old days), The Last of Us is held up as a game of a generation. I still see people singing it's praises from time to time and the sequel astronomically high expectations around it. And I really like TLOU too; the combat is tense, the graphics were stunning for their time, and the story is one of the best that the video game medium has given us thus far.

That being said, there's one rough aspect of the game that time seems to have smoothed over- the puzzles. The puzzles are rote and boring. They often consist of carrying ladders and pushing pallets. Hardly adding to the fantasy of surviving a zombie apocalypse and forming a relationship with your surrogate daughter. Do you agree the puzzles are shitty? Do you care? Do they affect your overall perception of the game to any degree?

 

[Fat4all]

They often consist of carrying ladders and pushing pallets. Hardly adding to the fantasy of surviving a zombie apocalypse and forming a relationship with your surrogate daughter.

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i disagree, there's often dialogue happening during them

 

[Betty]

I wouldn't call those puzzles at all, nor would i want puzzles in the game.

 

[waffleboy]

They do what they're supposed to

 

[blaze18]

Well we are not exploring an ancient tomb so I shouldn't be expecting puzzle.

If it was real life we would use common sense to traverse the map ie: moving pallets and finding ladders.

 

[Rygar1126]

What kind of puzzles would you want the game to have then?

I think the rather boring nature of them are perfectly suited for the world of the game.

 

[sibarraz]

I could agree with your argument than some of those puzzles were boring, but I totally disagree that they didn't helped to build the relationship between Joel and Ellie. There is a clear difference between the first puzzle of the game and the last one in the sense of how the characters act while doing them.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

I don't even think they are puzzles. That said, I find Naughty Dog bad at designing puzzles.

 

[AllMight1]

Theyre not puzzles, theyre just slow activities we get while the game loads and we get some cute conversations to develop characters.

 

[tryagainlater]

They're more just kinda uninteresting than straight up terrible. They're fine at giving you something that's not combat or just walking. I would not mind if they had more engaging stuff for the sequel.

 

[TheMrPliskin]

Never really thought about them to be honest. They're a tiny part of the overall experience and there's generally dialogue during them that keeps me engaged and distracts from how simple they are.

 

[srtrestre]

Yeah they're just sort of there/low effort, but I didn't mind them much.

(Then again the game was a 'play it once and done' for me.)

 

[leng jai]

What puzzles?

 

[forrest]

To me they are the valleys between the peaks, the space between the notes. Deliberate pacing tools used as a backdrop during character building, exposition, etc. You need dynamics in order to appreciate the full spectrum.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

There are no puzzles and there shouldn't be any.

 

[ApeEscaper]

Yep ruins replayability a lot

 

[More_Badass]

They aren't really puzzles and the character interactions during those moments make them engaging

 

[daegan]

Pallet pushing as puzzles in a game that has had so much care and thought put into almost every other thing in it is downright insulting and brought down the entire experience for me. If I have to push one crate or pallet into a perfectly crafted location for it in TLOU2 I will seriously drop the game on the spot and get rid of it.

 

[PopsMaellard]

They're made quite a bit better by the contextual dialogue. Late game Ellie being like "yeah yeah joel I know, get on the fucking pallet again whatever mate" is pretty fun.

 

[xir]

i love puzzles. i love when they feel natural to the world. navigating a space is puzzle-esque.

i did, however, hate in uncharted 1 when you had to shoot two chains to lower a door or something. because it came out of nowhere after hours of gameplay.

 

[Bright-Light]

Theyre not puzzles, theyre just slow activities we get while the game loads.

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Bingo.

 

[WhoaIsThatMars]

obstacles aren't puzzles

 

[Lant_War]

They should be more mindless. It's like they made them complex enough for you to have to pay attention to the puzzles instead of focusing on the dialogue. They aren't deal breakers or anything though.

Yep ruins replayability a lot

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To be fair, narrative driven games aren't meant to be replayed (or not as much as other games, at least)

 

[Okabe]

What a puzzling thread

 

[Crossing Eden]

The entertaining bits of the last of us
-combat+cinematics
-quite moments+in game dialogue
-set pieces
-
-
-
-
-
-everything that has to do with ladders/dumpster/valves/swimming/watching a help the npc climb this wall/and every other transparent loading screen

 

[MavFan619]

No, I especially like how in the last chapter Ellie's demeanor changes around a familiar "puzzle" (they aren't really puzzles) and it is an addtional way for ND to use a game to portray characters.

 

[Deleted member 10629]

No, they barely pass as obstacles.

 

[ColonelForbin]

Rather not have any of those puzzles. Soooo boring. Must be better rays to have dialogue sections ina game

 

[Alxjn]

Yeah, they could have done more to make the stuff between the combat more engaging. They barely require anything from the player until the very last ladder 'puzzle'.

 

[VideogameVices]

I hardly recall puzzles. They're such a small part of the game.

 

[Orochinagis]

I dont remember them at all, outside ellie saying some dad jokes

 

[Freezasaurus]

The world ended. Ain't no one got time to set up puzzles.

 

[Funkbrotherdee]

How are they puzzles? 'Cause the dont involve combat?

 

[Kuro]

Yeah those aren't puzzles. If you want to see their real puzzle design, then play Uncharted. Spoiler alert: their puzzles fucking suck except for like one or two in Lost Legacy.

 

[Buttonbasher]

The combat is what killed it for me. I feel like the story would have benefited from gameplay more puzzle oriented. Or at very least, less combat.

 

[ClickyCal']

I don't even think they are puzzles. That said, I find Naughty Dog bad at designing puzzles.

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Uncharted 3 and 4 has some interesting ones.

 

[daegan]

"Oh, they're just obstacles/a pacing tool" posts are missing the point. Surely, a team as talented as Naughty Dog can conjure a more enjoyable way to spend downtempo moments than the most rote task possible.

 

[RecLib]

The moments of "Find the wooden pallet for ellie to stand on in this murky shit water" were definitely strong lowpoints in that game, but I don't think enough to drag down the game from the well deserved praise it receives.

 

[newmoneytrash]

I think it's less puzzles and more busywork, but either way I do not enjoy them

 

[Neuromancer]

I don't even think of them as puzzles, so no.

 

[DreadfulOmen]

I didnt see then as puzzles for some reason. I'm glad though, I hate puzzles.

 

[Manu]

It happens like 3, 4 times during a 15 hour game. So nah.

Each scenario I mean. A couple ladders, a couple pallets.

 

[Acorn]

No, I can't even remember them.


Edit oh the pallet shit, nah. It's whatever, just there to slow down stuff for some dialogue.

 

[dyst]

Not every game needs puzzle.

 

[Unknownlight]

That's because they're not puzzles. They're nuzzles.

This is kind of to your point; I was watching a developer commentary play through of Darksiders, a game I really enjoyed.

The developer walks up to a door and it's locked. The guy playing then goes, "Oh look, I forgot we put this nuzzle in here, we tried to shy away from this in the second one."

He then proceeds to explain what a nuzzle is: a not puzzle. Basically some stupid task inside the game that is in no way hard to figure out, but instead just makes you grab some random key that isn't far away or hard to get to. Basically just a total waste of time disguised as a puzzle.

Now any time I get some stupid task that takes only time and no effort, I know what to call it. A fucking nuzzle.

I promise this word is going to be stuck in your head for the rest of time. Every game does it.

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Source.

 

[RivalGT]

the game had puzzles?

 

[BouncyFrag]

Uncharted 4 crate 'puzzles' are the best. What say you ladder 'puzzles'?

 

[Jenea]

Those are not puzzles, and i did enjoy those moments.

 

[Khanimus]

Theyre not puzzles. They're there to break up the pace, give the player a reason to explore, and give the characters a chance to interact.

 

[semiconscious]

Here on Era (and on GAF back in the old days), The Last of Us is held up as a game of a generation. I still see people singing it's praises from time to time and the sequel astronomically high expectations around it. And I really like TLOU too; the combat is tense, the graphics were stunning for their time, and the story is one of the best that the video game medium has given us thus far.

That being said, there's one rough aspect of the game that time seems to have smoothed over- the puzzles. The puzzles are rote and boring. They often consist of carrying ladders and pushing pallets. Hardly adding to the fantasy of surviving a zombie apocalypse and forming a relationship with your surrogate daughter. Do you agree the puzzles are shitty? Do you care? Do they affect your overall perception of the game to any degree?

Click to shrink...

you forgot 'do you think they're puzzles?' :) ...