The last of us II Gameplay. Let's talk about how good it was.
- Thread starter Emwitus
- Start date
Couldnt agree more that the gameplay is incredible in TLOU2. The amount of options you're given to tackle whatever scenario you're facing is incredible and a lot of fun to play around with. I hope they take this kind of approach into whatever they think of next.
Absolutely. The fact that you can choose to replay gameplay sections down to the specific encounters is brilliant. I've replayed that first encounter with the Seraphites so many times. If they can get this game to use super-fast loading on the eventual PS5 release it'll have even more replay value.
A few things worth pointing out from the video.
1. He says enemies immediately pull you out from underneath vehicles instead of looking before doing so. This is not true, as I've seen it happen on multiple occasions in the final build, and it's also possible to take them out with a headshot.
2. While he's right that it's not possible for the larger enemy with a hammer to hit the wall, there is some interactivity there.
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I wonder if the next gen update will look more like 2018 gameplay trailer.
People forget the amount of sacrifices and magic these studios had to make to get these games too look as good as they did on vanilla ps4 hardware.
Gameplay was astounding yeah. It's amazing how intensely repayable the game is, that while having such an (intentionally) exhausting story the first thing I wanted to do after beating it was still to just restart the game and keep going.
Extremely hard to play any other stealth third person shooters after this game, none of them hold up.
Extremely hard to play any other stealth third person shooters after this game, none of them hold up.
One of my favourite gameplay experiences of all time. Just like with MGSV, the mechanics were so good that the story barely mattered (still, I enjoyed TLOU2's story)
A 60fps patch/remaster might be enough to compel me to buy a PS5. Less interested in multiplayer but that might do it too
A 60fps patch/remaster might be enough to compel me to buy a PS5. Less interested in multiplayer but that might do it too
The game is a masterpiece.
Some gifs you can find from Sunhi or other creators are just insane.
Some gifs you can find from Sunhi or other creators are just insane.
easily one of the best TPS games ever made, it feels so good to play play the action can be so tense.
Yup - quite simply the best. Waiting for Factions and 60fps - i'll lose another couple months to it for sure.
The story didn't make much of an impression on me, sadly, but I'll probably replay the game eventually for the gameplay alone.
It has the best TPS gameplay ever as far as I'm concerned.
It has the best TPS gameplay ever as far as I'm concerned.
Glad to see a lotta love for the TLoU II's gameplay.
It really was just sublime to play together with the really impressive enemy AI.
Definitely the best stealth action gameplay I've experienced just about pipping MGS V.
It really was just sublime to play together with the really impressive enemy AI.
Definitely the best stealth action gameplay I've experienced just about pipping MGS V.
I think it's fantastic. Mechanically it's among the best but I will say that enemy variety undermines that a bit. Dogs were a great addition but shamblers were really underwhelming. Something like riot shield users that promote melee and gadgets, and actually FAST infected types that mess up your usual routine would've been great.
It also really, really needs 60fps to truly shine. I still can't believe that they're apparently going to paywall that.
It also really, really needs 60fps to truly shine. I still can't believe that they're apparently going to paywall that.
This, it plays like a dream, ND have really perfected their craft with this one.
So glad someone made this thread. The game massively improved on the first game and Naughty Dog has made huge leaps on this front. Now, all it needs is a PS5 update.
It is unfortunate that the "muh story" bunch had drowned out much of the discourse surrounding this game.
It is unfortunate that the "muh story" bunch had drowned out much of the discourse surrounding this game.
To me it felt like the sort of improvement i would naturally expect from a game releasing X years later on a more powerful hardware. It was mostly honing, polishing and tweaking the framework of the first game.
Thus, i was left utterly disappointed with its gameplay. It lacked ambition and was too self-content in just being a much more mechanically competent TLOU1.
TLOU2's gameplay loop gets very repetitive and almost nothing is attempted to mix it up. Arena against infected; arena against humans; arena against infected and so forth. Music swells and you start another arena fight; music dies down and you know you cleared it.
The game's format gets negatively predictable and it mostly never catches the player off-guard or surprises him with the next gameplay segment.
Even looking at the dry numbers of X new enemies/weapons over the first, TLOU2 barely scratches 'expansion pack from the 90's' level. They nixed boomers and stalkers are astonishingly underused.
TLOU2 lacks one or two marquee gameplay features/innovations that i expect from 'genre-defining' release 7 years (or how long it was) in the making. That was the underlining sensation i had all through out the game, which stands above all.
When i recall my time with TLOU2, the first and foremost thought about it that i have is: 'is this really all what the game is trying to do in the gameplay department?'.
You get to Seattle Day 1 and have that wide and open segment on the horse and map and you go 'cool'. I think to myself maybe there are going to be several segments like this throughout and that's going to be TLOU2 gameplay's claim to fame.
Some time later you first get the boat and i start having this anticipation and expectation: 'OMG, are they going to have me roam a large city area, half-submerged, akin to the horse-and-map segment from before? Holy shit!'. Let's go, let's see what they worked on all this time.
A 10-minute mostly-linear ride later, that's the last time you even get to use a boat. Not even in a later segment where you approach an island.
After that short boat segment it hits you. That Seattle Day 1 segment was a one-off. There is no grand gameplay feature to set the sequel apart. There isn't much desire from the developers to innovate or push the formula forwards.
The ambition ends with 'just' a more competent, accomplished and fulfilled TLOU1 framework. And that's when my disillusionment with the game took hold and never let go.
Afterwards it was easy to see how the puzzle elements worsened compared to the first game instead of getting more prominent and involved.
The safe-cracking element in the game is frankly a laughable design decision. You are supposed to take the risk of exploring to find the combination but ND decided to negate all that by letting you 'brute-force' the safe.
All you had to was cycle through and wait for the distinct audio cue. It was easy to do even with regular TV speakers, so i did. Many times finding the combo after i already opened the safe by 'brute-forcing'.
I don't know how this ended in the game like that. I can only imagine they wanted to indulge the more 'casual' players, and in doing so completely undermined the point of the safes.
Then you have the numerous upgrade trees that, unlike in the first game, eliminate player's choice. You have to unlock everything in a set order and thus the game squanders the opportunity to offer varied 'builds' that would have given more distinct play-styles between players and more replay-ability.
And because of the numerous trees and abilities, some end up being boring X% better and some that you don't want to get but forced to in order to get whatever next.
I think TLOU screams for a limb dismemberment system for both infected and humans and it's a shame it doesn't have one.
Thus, i was left utterly disappointed with its gameplay. It lacked ambition and was too self-content in just being a much more mechanically competent TLOU1.
TLOU2's gameplay loop gets very repetitive and almost nothing is attempted to mix it up. Arena against infected; arena against humans; arena against infected and so forth. Music swells and you start another arena fight; music dies down and you know you cleared it.
The game's format gets negatively predictable and it mostly never catches the player off-guard or surprises him with the next gameplay segment.
Even looking at the dry numbers of X new enemies/weapons over the first, TLOU2 barely scratches 'expansion pack from the 90's' level. They nixed boomers and stalkers are astonishingly underused.
TLOU2 lacks one or two marquee gameplay features/innovations that i expect from 'genre-defining' release 7 years (or how long it was) in the making. That was the underlining sensation i had all through out the game, which stands above all.
When i recall my time with TLOU2, the first and foremost thought about it that i have is: 'is this really all what the game is trying to do in the gameplay department?'.
You get to Seattle Day 1 and have that wide and open segment on the horse and map and you go 'cool'. I think to myself maybe there are going to be several segments like this throughout and that's going to be TLOU2 gameplay's claim to fame.
Some time later you first get the boat and i start having this anticipation and expectation: 'OMG, are they going to have me roam a large city area, half-submerged, akin to the horse-and-map segment from before? Holy shit!'. Let's go, let's see what they worked on all this time.
A 10-minute mostly-linear ride later, that's the last time you even get to use a boat. Not even in a later segment where you approach an island.
After that short boat segment it hits you. That Seattle Day 1 segment was a one-off. There is no grand gameplay feature to set the sequel apart. There isn't much desire from the developers to innovate or push the formula forwards.
The ambition ends with 'just' a more competent, accomplished and fulfilled TLOU1 framework. And that's when my disillusionment with the game took hold and never let go.
Afterwards it was easy to see how the puzzle elements worsened compared to the first game instead of getting more prominent and involved.
The safe-cracking element in the game is frankly a laughable design decision. You are supposed to take the risk of exploring to find the combination but ND decided to negate all that by letting you 'brute-force' the safe.
All you had to was cycle through and wait for the distinct audio cue. It was easy to do even with regular TV speakers, so i did. Many times finding the combo after i already opened the safe by 'brute-forcing'.
I don't know how this ended in the game like that. I can only imagine they wanted to indulge the more 'casual' players, and in doing so completely undermined the point of the safes.
Then you have the numerous upgrade trees that, unlike in the first game, eliminate player's choice. You have to unlock everything in a set order and thus the game squanders the opportunity to offer varied 'builds' that would have given more distinct play-styles between players and more replay-ability.
And because of the numerous trees and abilities, some end up being boring X% better and some that you don't want to get but forced to in order to get whatever next.
I think TLOU screams for a limb dismemberment system for both infected and humans and it's a shame it doesn't have one.
i disagree with almost all of this. prone, tall grass, silenced pistols, dogs, and improved ai all made tlou2 a superior stealth game to tlou1. in fact you can get through most of the game's encounters without killing anyone (unlike in tlou1).
also tlou2 does have a limb dismemberment system? it made killing infected and human enemies a lot easier.
Yeah its a bizarre read considering how much was changed and improved from the first game from the way stealth works, to disarming melee combat and adding a dodge mechanic. Even the set pieces are frequent enough to keep things interesting; Open World segment, Motor Boat exploration, the introduction of the seraphites in the park, dogs sniffing you out, the sniper segment, the Rat King, whatever was happening on that island, Ellie vs Abby in the theatre.... so many unique encounters on top of an already solid gameplay system and most of those I just listed were in the second half. The most surprising gameplay moment of the first game was when Joel ends up in a trap upside down but I think the second game had a lot more going for it.
I also dunno if their version was censored or what because people definitely lost all kinds of body parts...
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If I'd never played the game and you told me this was PS5 footage, I'd probably believe you lol.
TLOU2 impressed me more than most PS5 stuff for now. That alone shows how Naughty Dog are still DAT studio.
Hell i was checking an Uncharted 4 video a few days ago and i still can't believe how well it holds up.
I'll echo other here, and say that it's the best TPS I've ever played. Compared to ND's earlier efforts, the gameplay feels like it was designed by top Japanese developers. It's unbelievably smooth, responsive and fun. It can feel arcade-y at times which, in my opinion, is a really good thing.
The only thing missing is 60fps. I can't wait for that to happen.
The only thing missing is 60fps. I can't wait for that to happen.
This.. PS5 will shine with the next Horizon or God of War game but I'm sure that TLOU III or the next big ND game will rise the bar again on PS5.
Adding jump, prone and dodge makes me wonder what the hell all the buttons in the original game did
Pretty sure X was still to climb, L1 still made you run and circle still made you crouch.
Yep it's really good. I remember my first playthrough of the first game and I did it so stealthily that it was just too easy, especially with the human enemies - discovered harder difficulties plus aggressive style made it much more fun, so I just carried it over for part 2. It's also much more enjoyable for someone else to watch. The swipe for slow mo was also gleeful, used that a lot for explosions and the like in my second playthrough.
I watched this late last night, it was a great watch. Thank you for sharing.
Author perfectly encapsulates the strides ND has made in the gameplay department, I would go a step further and say that Part II really is the absolute best in its genre.
My personal game of the generation is Red Dead 2...
But, I have to admit that what makes both TLoU 2 and God of War (2018) stronger contenders is the fact that they are the rare cases in the industry where you don't have to deal with the trade-off: gameplay vs story. They are narrative-driven, but their controls and encounters also exude tremendous development care.
But, I have to admit that what makes both TLoU 2 and God of War (2018) stronger contenders is the fact that they are the rare cases in the industry where you don't have to deal with the trade-off: gameplay vs story. They are narrative-driven, but their controls and encounters also exude tremendous development care.
It's not just the gameplay. The most underrated thing about tlou2 is the level design. It's marvelous that how ND created this believable environment which also a masterclass in level design. They cherry on top is how good AI is and how they navigate in this maze.
ND made a better feeling TPS than gears, mgs
ND made better levels than Dishonored 2
ND also had AI far ahead of competition
ND made a better feeling TPS than gears, mgs
ND made better levels than Dishonored 2
ND also had AI far ahead of competition
Thought it has the gameplay and story of a 10 hour game. Unfortunately it was.. like 30? I can't even remember, I was bored to tears by what I thought was the end (and would have been a solid end). Then the game kept going another 5 hours.
I don't recall Uncharted 2 being shitted on in 09? I remember being a step up from Uncharted 1 though. It probably doesn't play as well due to it being more than a decade ago and game mechanics have improved.