NEW VID - Naughty Dog's Game Design is Outdated

Loved the vid gator boy! I personally had a very enjoyable experience with Tlou2 but your video was such a joy to watch and loved the insight you brought. Keep it up man!

Nate Barney

This video is great because I haven't played either Last of Us games but I do want to know about the discourse and you did a really good job making it easy for me to understand. Also that outfit is one spicy meatball, I'll tell you what.

DakLgrf

jakey thank u for lining up with all my opinions in an incredibly specific way. got me thinking how we could really use a 52 min video on buck bumble

appreciate u jake the snake

Daniel Jordanov

damn this video really came at me like a "goddamn rattler snake or maybe even a python UwU <3" as you said it would. but fr this video slapped and helped my stressed out little brain that is also housing a goopy gamer goblin. much love! <3

kait

I'm gonna just copy and paste my YouTube comment over because it was my instant reaction after watching the video: I felt with this game, it made an effort to try and make me feel how ellie feels and why I should care but I feel like the effort that they put into said feeling made me care about other stuff a lot more then a revenge plot. I loved this game but I still noticed the flaws, especially when it came to the character connection and the pacing. Some points in this video made me realise some stuff that i didnt really notice when I played through it which made me feel happy and sad depending on what point you were making but having played through the game, I still enjoyed it and will always say its a good game but it isnt the world building, massacre filled game that I was supposed to learn from. It just became a game where I killed with no reason and the story was just a Podcast on the side. just that we were at the same place at the same time. apologise if this comment made no sense, just kinda spit out what I was thinking. Great video Jakey, all your hard work paid off ❤️

Jack-et

Loved the game personally but very interested to hear your thoughts!

Thank you for this Jakey, It feels like I'm about to watch feature length film. Keep it up, I'm proud of you!

Moshi

Had kind of a crappy night at work, you made my night quite baller ass, thank you for everything you do. Love you and Dog Bless

Brandon

Loved the video Jakey, hope you’re well

I really didn’t understand how I felt about this game until you put it into words thanks snake gamer supreme

So proud of you dude, it absolutely shows that you've put so much time and effort into this video. I hope you get some well deserved rest and relax as much as you want. You've earned it for sure!

Illiatar

Well said Alex, couldn't agree more. Lev was the only character I wound up liking by the end.

Adam

Sleep well king, it is well deserved. Phenomenal job. I'm in a relatively unique position with this game because I'm one of maybe 5 people on planet Earth that played this game that *pause for dramatic effect* did not play the first game nor any other Naughty Dog game. I went over to my dad's and when we hang out, we switch off playing games, been our thing since I was little baby child. He had just gotten The Last of Us 2 and asked if I was down to play. I had known the general plot of the first game and other nuances were explained to me, so I was game. But needless to say, while I understood what was going on, I didn't have the long standing emotional attachment to Ellie and Joel like everyone else did going into this game. My dad and I both agreed that for awhile, neither of us understood why the game was so polarizing (neither of us really read the reviews, just looked at scores and hearsay and all that; avoiding spoilers and such); it just seemed like a well executed game: amazing graphics, engaging combat (especially since I had never played the first one and he had only just did so), and for me, a narrative that while seeming flawed, wasn't anything to get too upset about. So far. The exact point where things went downhill for us is hard to pinpoint, but where I started getting, well, I guess uncomfortable would be the best way to put it was when it started to become apparent just how hard they were going to hammer the kiddie pool themes. By the time we started playing as Abby, I was already kinda sick of Ellie's shit. After playing Abby for awhile, I just straight up liked her character more than Ellie. And by the end of Abby's gameplay, I just felt she was in the right and could not careless if Ellie got her shit kicked in. This all being said, I still wasn't too upset with the game. When it went to the little farm house with Ellie and Dina living happily, I was like "Cool, I guess I'm fine with this ending." They taught their little lessons, everyone got to go home and be happy (except all those people Ellie killed that we were supposed to care about hah a), fine, Ellie's happy. But I had a bad feeling. I turned to my dad and we looked at each other and we both knew what we were thinking: Ellie's not done. That was the tipping point for me where it went from "Okay, the narrative ideas were not very well executed, but still good game," to "Oh coME ON DUDE." So many of the decisions in this game that were made for me I just could not get behind. I don't mind a game making the player feel uncomfortable by making decisions they may not agree with, but how often and how consistently they did so just made me want to stop playing at certain points and be like "No, I don't agree with this at all," especially the aforementioned farm time. By the end, I just felt emotionally manipulated with a sore cranium after being repeatedly smashed over the head with these concepts that other games have done before and done better. Game developers should know by now that there are few things that a player hates more than having control being taken away from them and the amount of control I felt during my time playing and watching was fucking zero. I understand linear games aren't about having control over everything, that's the point, but I'm disagreeing with most of the main decisions in a game, I'm not gonna be having a great time. It felt like a lot of the "brave" and "groundbreaking" stuff that was done in this game was nothing more than shock value. Like I'm not against graphic violence, subverting expectations, or being made to feel conflicted. But when it's done with a fucking sledge hammer, repeatedly, instead of a scalpel, it's just not a good game. Honestly, the only character I really liked by the end, was Lev. The amount of cognitive dissonance this game caused me was unbelievable. Despite the fact that my dad had played the first game (and loved it), we both felt relatively the same way. When your fuck ups are felt at pretty much the same level from someone who didn't play the first game and someone who did, you know you did something wrong as a game company. I have never felt so conflicted about a game. On one hand, it fucked up in so many ways, I can't help but have to say it's a bad game. But on another, it really did have some interesting concepts and fun gameplay that really prevents me from calling it a bad game. But those reasons definitely don't balance out to make just an average game either. This game is both a solid 8 and a hard 3 outta 10 at the same time. It's fucking weird man. Anyways, sorry for the big rant, I'm sure you're gonna get a lot of these. Also sorry for how disjointed this all was, I haven't played or thought about this game in months, I definitely missed or forgot about some major stuff, but your video got my brain juices flowing and I felt like putting it all out there. I could keep going about stuff like basic missed narrative opportunities or other shit, but I'm honestly tired of talking about this right now and am a little foggy on everything. I see why this took so long; like the game itself, it's fucking draining just to think, let alone talk about the damn thing. Any anyways, thank you so much for the time and effort you put into your craft. We're so lucky to have a guy like you on YouTube making such great content. Can't wait to hear the new music, too I know it's gonna slap!

Adam

One of your best Jakey. Really loved it. Honestly, the game is so technically profound in showcasing just how beautiful a game can look with enough hardware-specific optimization and access to first-party software. Just like The Last of Us has gone down as one of the greatest looking PS3 games of all time, this goes down as the same for the PS4. Having said that, the story is just... bad. It makes far too many assumptions about how you would feel at certain shocking moments throughout, and unless you're willing to be taken for a ride and give up your agency as the player, it simply doesn't stick the landing as a result. The player losing interest in the story isn't a matter of if, but when. For most, it's when the game switches to Abby's perspective. This sort of linearity is fine, but when you cloak it in this false sense of choice or agency (or that the world is a living, breathing, dynamic place), you're sending mixed signals and I start to lose interest. But the problem is that the story you have to tell then becomes one-upping "shocking" moments from earlier in the game by making Abby the hero of it all. How could you kill Bear, Abby played catch with him you MONSTER?! All the while, Abby almost devolves as a character from someone mysterious who was hurt directly by Joel's actions to just a goodie two-shoes flat character who has very little depth other than wondering how the hell she got so ripped during a worldwide zombie apocalypse. This linearity argument is a similar one to what you noted about RDR2, but I think in that case, the game's story and characters were far stronger. Not to mention the rest of the content the game offers: side missions, more depth, more interesting things to do, and of course, online. The value proposition is just better. When you're paying $60 for a narrative-driven experience, you want the narrative to be good, and this just... wasn't. When many of your game's players wished that the entire game was centered around the glimpses of Joel and Ellie's relationship deepening and evolving shown exclusively in short flashbacks, you know you made a really uncompelling story. At the end, I didn't care about anyone except for Lev, and that includes Ellie. The game was just a disposable tech demo wrapped up in gray morality with absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel. I was disappointed, and frankly a little depressed at how this game's story turned out.

Alexander Grenon

A truly amazing video. Has someone who doesnt play much video games anymore because I have no time, you still bring ao much entertainment with these videos and I have loved every single one. Get some good rest you have made a masterpiece. Much love!!!

Allan Collins

Thoughtfully done. I really appreciate your careful input 😊

abitofmiranda

Much love, Jakey. Thank you for all your work!

Bix

Second comment here because I just finished the video and PHEW this gives me a new view on Part 2. The game truly is a technical masterpiece with subpar everything else in a lot of instances, and I don’t know if I’ll play it again for a while cause it’s just a miserable story to get through (for the story, not the story making decisions). Love the content as always!

AJ Sharp

Worth the wait! I guess I have to invest in 2X4’s now

Jake

Honestly, I think this is your best video yet

Jakey! I loved the new video, you really captured all of the thoughts I had but couldn’t put into words. The reason your videos are my favourite on the internet is because you managed to both make incredible, informed points about video games and add jokes about midwestern hardware stores and audacity. I am so glad that you decided to start making videos as well as ass-kicking music. I couldn’t tell you how much your art means to me. Thank you for existing, thank you for being so cool, will you please be my big brother?? Please, seriously, big bro… come on! It’s my turn on the xbox!!! Hugs and kisses from Scotland

Aidan Kennedy

fuck yes jakey you kept your promise i love you sleep well xoxo

Raph

Get some sleep jakey!! I’m so excited to watch, been wondering what your thoughts on the game are

AJ Sharp

oh no!! i haven’t finished playing last of us 2 yet. should i finish it first? but i’m so excited. i want to see the video. ha.

omar gomez