Why the first game succeeded and why this game failed.

[StuckInWashingMachine]

Spoilers* The difference between The Last of Us Part I and Part II is by how each game handles player interpretation and moral complexity.

In Part I, Joel does terrible things — that’s not up for debate. But what is powerful is how the game presents those actions without glorifying or condemning them. We’re left to sit with Joel’s choice to save Ellie at the cost of a potential cure, and whether we agree with him or not becomes our personal interpretation. The story doesn’t tell us how to feel — it respects us enough to let us feel it ourselves. That’s what made the game mature and emotionally resonant. Joel didn’t get a happy ending or a tragic one — he just made a human choice, and we lived with it.

Part II takes a very different approach. Ellie and Abby’s stories are split, but the game clearly wants you to come away with a specific message: “Revenge is bad. Let it go.” Abby ends up with a redemption arc — she gets a second chance, a new surrogate family, and closure. Meanwhile, Ellie loses her fingers, Dina, and Joel. Her ending isn’t ambiguous — it’s punishment.

Instead of letting players arrive at their own conclusions, the game forces a message onto them. It doesn’t trust the audience the way Part I did. The result is a narrative that feels manipulative rather than earned. Joel’s death doesn’t feel like a consequence of his past — it feels like a plot device to push the theme of forgiveness. And that’s where it falls flat.

It’s not that I wanted a happy ending. It’s that I wanted a story that earned its ending, like the first game did. I wanted moral ambiguity, not a lecture. I think the first game should’ve been left as it was — a complete, haunting, and unforgettable story that didn’t need to be continued.

[Mord]

The game has sold over 4 million copies. How is that a failure? Those numbers do NOT include remaster sales, which broke 1.2 million on PS5.

None of that speaks to failure.

Also, if you didn't get the condemn memo from the games last scene, you missed the entire point. The plot entirely condemns Joel's selfishness and ability to lie to the person he loves the most.

[tpowl1400]

This game failed because Neil took the story to run it his own way by listening to Anita Sarkeesian on top of what he thought and how he thought about female characters before he began the work on the Last of Us franchise. None of this is a news to anyone so you can stop with the echo chamber.

[VDRSK]

Joel died for his selfishness, Abby's friends got slaughtered for her and their need for revenge, Tommy got an arrow and a bullet for his revenge, Ellie lost Jesse, Dina and her fingers for her revenge.

While the story overall is heading for "revenge bad", I think simplification of a story is not a fantastic way to evaluate it as it has multiple themes and takeaway's one being that people are doing what they do generally for a reason, it's never usually "I am going to kill for the sake of killing". Sonder; Everybody has a life as complex as yours, handling of grief Ellie has had journals and outlets, Abby had very little, i believe she mentions feeling better after writing to Owen more.

Abby doing the same action that killed her friends also saved her life; Sparing Ellie. This game isn't here to demonize or glorify anyone.

[episoder]

ehh... why not take the "the game teaches me this or that" way out of the equation?

it's just a game with story elements. some are consequent. some are sad. and it has very positive and fullfilling gameplay on the other hand to counter balance it. so... why complain about it or calling it a failure?

the mixture is a clear success if you take out your damn "ma joel died" emotion. ain't that all, this thread is about? and... yes... i don't like the ending aswell. that's that.

[LeftIsBest-James]

OP mad their self-insert got Negan'd by karma.

[bokke_commando]

If only this game hadn't failed, maybe we might have seen a remaster and eventual port to PC. They could have even had a television show or something. Oh well, such is life I guess.

[Kaptain KFC]

Originally posted by bokke_commando:

If only this game hadn't failed, maybe we might have seen a remaster and eventual port to PC. They could have even had a television show or something. Oh well, such is life I guess.

The remastered pc port comes out tomorrow and the remastered pc port of the first one has been on pc for a few years

[MansLaughter]

Originally posted by Kaptain KFC:

Originally posted by bokke_commando:

If only this game hadn't failed, maybe we might have seen a remaster and eventual port to PC. They could have even had a television show or something. Oh well, such is life I guess.

The remastered pc port comes out tomorrow and the remastered pc port of the first one has been on pc for a few years

whoosh

I don't want to be rude as not everyone picks up on sarcasm, but I felt it needed to be said.

[bokke_commando]

Originally posted by MansLaughter:

Originally posted by Kaptain KFC:

The remastered pc port comes out tomorrow and the remastered pc port of the first one has been on pc for a few years

whoosh

I don't want to be rude as not everyone picks up on sarcasm, but I felt it needed to be said.

There is hope for this world after all.

[Sebalatro Balatrez]

I believe it's a combination of the leak controversy, detractors had a few weeks to spew whatever narrative they wanted to tell. This skewed the playerbase's perspective which coupled with a poorly executed conclusion is what did this game wrong. I'm honestly excited to give it a try, played the first on PS3 and never got the chance to play this one.

[DR GOO]

The game failed because the talent at Naughty Dog had already gone. There was no-one to reel Druckmann's absurd "creative" ideas in. The writing is a testament to how NOT to write compelling stories. A "Frankenstein" experiment in societal grooming that went wrong.

That's why it failed.