Games that make you think. The Last of Us.
Games that make you think.
Nowadays, it is customary to scold games for a single-button gameplay, for plots at the level of kindergarten, but the industry is growing, games are developing, someone will say “imperceptibly”, someone will say “in the wrong direction”, but this is a fact. It is enough to compare the games of the beginning of the zero with the current ones, remember how they abandoned the first-aid kits in shooters, what a revolutionary decision it seemed then, almost on the verge of a foul, but how it was served: “The player would not be distracted from the action to search for some first-aid kits”. No, no, and think sitting at the next shelter. You can go even further and recall the games of the role genre at the dawn of the industry and compare with what RPG is considered now. But I was a little distracted, about the development and its direction somehow another time. In the meantime, the game industry is getting closer to public recognition along with cinema and music, more serious topics are raised in games and questions are asked. We already have our own pops, an alternative, art house, have its own stars and recognized masters, each creation of which is waiting especially, and after the exit, they recall and discuss for a long time. About such a game today will be discussed.
One of us
ATTENTION. Spoilers. Before reading, it is better to go through the game.
Here it is worth mentioning the Uncharted series, without which The Last of us simply would not be. Games are art, and any work of art is a product. And for the master to create, he must eat something. And that means doing something to order or what is guaranteed to make a profit. And how good it is that they saw the potential in Sony, gave the developers to “take a break” from the adventures of Neutan Drake, and allowed to create from the heart. Think about how for solid men in expensive costumes the idea of allocating money for a new iPi sounded, for 18+ an audience, and even in an unusual genre for the developer. However, the stars came together in the right order, and in the end we have a game, which many magazines and sites called the game of the year, and some even awarded the title of “Best Game of Generation”.
I will not go deeper in particular gameplay, however, I https://sistersitescasino.co.uk/casinos/winzino-casino/ note that he, like everything in The Last of Us, is in height, in moderation of a simple one, while quite adicitive and not interfering with the narrative.
I would like to talk about the characters. The protagonist Joel, whom life did not spare before the epidemic, and before us he appears as a completely morally broken person who no longer knows why he lives at all. The meaning of life – this question passes through the whole game. “You always need to look for something for which it is worth continuing to fight,” says Joel. Twenty years pass between the entry and the beginning of the main part of the game, and as Joel lived these years, we can only guess. The game has a lot of passive narrative, when we don’t tell us anything specific, but according to phrases abandoned by heroes or by those frozen scenes whose witnesses we become, the imagination draws a story behind all this. I remember how I found a river, a little at a distance from a long -abandoned tent, a children’s grave, and Joel then said: “What a little grave”. Such a short phrase, but uttered so that any other words would seem superfluous, empty. Here we must recall that Joel is voiced by the Voice of the Troy Baker’s industry, who put his entire talent and played this role at the highest level, was not without reason he was called to the next game of Uncharted 4: a Thief’s End, where he will be the voice of the main character Neitan Drake. But back to Joel, we know that he is a bad person, but which of us is without sin, and there is practically no good left in him, he is not afraid to kill, strangle people with bare hands, issues of conscience and honor have long been thrown back. Joel survives, and he is good in that. He thinks and takes care, first of all, about himself, only about himself. Such a person cannot have friends or family. The only person nearby is Tess, accustomed to rely only on himself, but has not yet completely lost hope for the future. Joel is not associated with her, but rather a cold calculation, together to survive easier. The authors make it clear that Tess and Joel, if not in the break, then certainly their relationship on the decline. Surviving together is not the same as living together. Joel is not tied to people and, all the more, does not allow to attach to himself, he does not like when they climb into his soul. A broken clock on the hand, a gift of Sarah’s daughter, like a reminder, hang with a dead load. Feeling guilt for the death of his daughter eats Joel from the inside, not even leaving hope for a normal life, if one is generally possible in this world. That is why, when Ellie appears, and Joel is forced to take up her escort, he tries to pull away from her as much as possible, not to give feelings to flare up and not begin to empathize with the little girl, almost to the same age as Sarah. No, for him Ellie is just another smuggling, at least at first.
Ellie is a difficult child, she was born after the disaster. She has no one left, she was “abandoned”, no one needs her, but, despite this, Ellie believes that people can still be saved, that you can still fix it. Naive disinterested kindness, too inappropriate in the world of complete cruelty, where people show their true nature in all “beauty”, where they survive such as Joel.
In the course of their journey, our heroes involuntarily come closer, helping each other in dangerous situations. The moment is noteworthy when Joel trusts Ellie’s weapon after her life saves him. And when, two brothers meet the heroes – Henry and Sam, the elder Henry trusts Joel, only because he is also with the child. Joel understands that from the side, they, with Ellie, are perceived together. The turning point comes when the heroes get to his brother Joel – Tommy, he lives in the community, he has a pregnant wife, and, despite what is happening around, life seems normal. For Joel, all this is too hard. When Tommy wants to give his brother an old photo where Sarah is still alive, Joel refuses, he punishes himself, a normal life is not for him, he wants to quit Ellie. However, it is not easy to do this, the girl has already become his daughter and then Joel dares to start living again, now there is a meaning in his life. From this moment, Joel and Ellie together, and so it should be, no matter what.
For such moments, the authors want to say special thanks.
I want to talk about this game for hours, but in order to save your time, I deny myself in this desire and go to the finale. We get to the laboratory of cycades and learn that to save humanity, and in fact, only give a chance to salvation, you can only at the cost of Ellie’s life. For Joel, this is unacceptable, he will not let anyone take him the most expensive for the second time. We burst into the operating room and take the girl, along the way, Joel kills everyone who dared to stand between him and Ellie. We run away from cicads, and thereby doom humanity to oblivion. In the last scene, Ellie demands that Joel vowe that everything he said is that it is impossible to create a medicine that Ellie is an uneven one, and her immunity is not a chance to save people, the few who still survived, the last of us, the last of us. Joel, not hesitating for a second, replies: “I swear”.
This is how this story ends. I remember, at the end, I was still waiting for me to choose the ending, as it became fashionable in our time, but not. This game does not ask a question, she knows the answer, but at the same time makes you think. I would have acted differently, if I were in Joel’s place? It would be enough for me to let go of the most expensive person for me, the last one who fills my life with meaning. Moreover, Ellie is ready to sacrifice himself, and in fact, Joel steps over her decision. Joel’s act is a manifestation of selfishness of the highest degree, such a characteristic line for people. But recalling what, the heroes had to go through, you think about whether humanity of such a sacrifice is worthy? Do people deserve salvation? The answer to the question is by no means obvious.
The question seemed to freeze in her eyes: “And what would you do?”
P.S. Write in the comments which games made you think?
