Opinion: Making The Wrong Choices The Right Way In The Last Of Us

Polygon: ''This article contains spoilers pertaining to the entirety of The Last of Us, including the story's conclusion. You've been warned.''

[iamnsuperman]

SPOILER WARNING

"By truly inhabiting a character and getting in their skin can you make an emotional connection. The writing, incredible animation work and voice acting of The Last of Us made it easy to deeply care for Ellie as a character, and to see why someone so close to her would do the worst possible thing to save her."

I agree and I really felt connected to both of those characters. I would have made that decision also and that shows how well I connected with those characters and how much I believed their relationship was real

One thing I have to praise Naughty Dog is the choice at the end. It is so subtle and at first you feel the ending might be an anticlimax but when you really look at the choice about the doctors it shows how involved you got into the game (also worth noting I did still like the anticlimactic feel as it felt right for the tone of the game). I felt I needed to kill them to save Ellie. But I didn't. I only had to kill the one threatening me. Too many games put choices in your face like a child trying to show you their crappy drawing. Subtle is best.

[BattleTorn]

Also, Spoiler warning

I completely agree. I loved the ending. Namely because I was so engrossed into the story that I felt Joel's actions were justified.

I feel like people who thought it was "wrong" weren't fully immersed. (feel free to disagree) Because if you were, you'd realize that the hope for the cure wasn't real - to Joel specifically. Joel lived this world - and he knew how much of it was lost, and more importantly the only tangable thing in his life was the relationship he had with Ellie. If you truly look at it through Joel's perspective, you'd know how truly lost the old world was - and that even a cure wasn't going to stop people killing each other for what others have. (incredible writing by ND)

IMO, there was a critical point, right towards the end of seeing the Giraffe, when Joel turns to Ellie to ask if she really wants to go through with this (that they can turn back - go to Tommy's) - and this is where Ellie has her "it all has to be for something" speech.
Immediately after Ellie walks through the door, Joel takes one glace back at the Giraffe. To me, this one the pivotal moment for when Joel realizes that *what they have* is more important, that their relationship has become something more than what they've been working for, and thus even the hopes of a cure. And that he knows, in this new/lost world, fighting for what you have is all you can do.

And the way they did it, so you can look back and realize that Joel could very well be perceived as "the bad guy" was nothing sort of astonishing!

[gameseveryday]

Polygon gave TLOU 7.5/10

I am not even bothering to read this article.

[iamnsuperman]

No really do. Polygon seem to be all over the place when it comes to The Last of Us. First they did a (i would say) poor review of it. Then they wrote an equally poor article on it ( http://n4g.com/news/1318571... ). But this article seems like the author loved and cared for the game. You have to remember that each thing is written by somebody completely different. They may be under the Polygon name but this person seems to live in reality and gets The Last of Us

[SquareEnixFan]

I did not like the ending but this article does have a valid point for why it ended the way it did.