The Last of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog’s follow up to the critically acclaimed The Last of Us, is a challenging game that tells a challenging story about many challenging topics. It’s well known that the game’s director Neil Druckmann said “If The Last of Us was about love, then its sequel is about hatred.” The game asks the player to introspect in ways that most games don’t, and takes bigger swings, while making bolder narrative choices than almost any project of similar scope and budget.

Far from being a straightforward revenge story, The Last of Us Part 2 puts you in the shoes of a new protagonist for fully half of its runtime and expands both mechanically and narratively on its predecessor. The game received a lot of criticism during its release for… so many things, but going back a few years later Bryan and Clint are hoping to come at this game with relatively fresh eyes. So join in as they discuss the narrative beats that make this a unique entry in the AAA landscape, and try to understand better what makes this tale of revenge, empathy, and forgiveness a game for the ages.

Three Word Reviews:

Bryan - Hatred and Forgiveness

Clint - Stop the Hate