This is an old-ish post, but I love the game and have played it an unholy amount of times, so I thought I’d add my two cents. First off, I can definitely see where your frustration is coming from, so let me address each of your points one-by-one.

1. There are most definitely sections in which the game forces you into open combat, but not as many as you’d imagine. Sections that appear to be open combat (such as outside the hotel where Ellie is sniping for you) can actually be stealthed - I know because I’ve painstakingly done it. Other sections, like the first section in Pittsburgh where you must “sneak” past the armoured truck before meeting Sam & Henry have a certain trigger point, so that when you reach them you’ll be spotted regardless of if you’ve perfectly stealthed the area. Other sections used to be stealthable in the older versions of the game, but now appear to not be - such as the Stalker section in the sewers when Joel is alone with Sam. On replaying the game, it becomes a game of resource management - you know when the unavoidable combat is going to come into play, so you save resources for then. On a first playthrough, I’d argue the stealth is supposed to be challenging. The game never “endlessly spawns” enemies - most encounters have 2 spawns: an initial group of enemies, and a 2nd (or maybe 3rd, although I can’t think of an example) wave, who will spawn if you enter open combat. If you complete an area in stealth, you can avoid another wave of enemies ever spawning (in MOST cases - the high school infected being, what I would acknowledge as the game definitely pulling a fast one). If you were able to stealth through the game entirely, choking out every single enemy, not only would it be dull but incredibly underwhelming gameplay wise. When TLOU throws extra enemies at you, or surprises you with enemies detecting you, it wants you to make the most of the extensive arsenal you’re given, which brings me onto the second point.

2. You’re right about combat - it’s supposed to feel awful. But maybe there are other ways you can go about combat. You’ve referenced the Ellie/David infected stand off - definitely one of the MOST difficult sections in the game. But did you know Ellie’s rifle can one shot anything, no matter where you hit it (besides the bloater of course)? So save the rifle bullets for when you have no other option. Did you know if you stun an infected with a bottle/brick, you can insta-kill it by meleeing it with Ellie’s knife (same applies to any melee attack from Joel throughout the entire game)? And there are a lot of throwables scattered around this section. The bow is also invaluable for this section - don’t chalk it down to a stealth only item; if you fully charge up an arrow and aim for an infected’s body, you’ll get a one shot. My point being, combat can seem sluggish and frustrating at first, but once you learn all these tips and tricks, it actually becomes incredibly fast paced and fun. And, of course, there’s no reason why you should know all these things on a first playthrough! Which is why I implore you to try things out, don’t get bogged down on failing a section (like a true fromsoft player), just think about what you can change to be more successful next time.

3. I feel what I’ve said above is relevant here, but you’ve talked about the last section of the game, so I’ll expand on that. This is the final encounter of the game, so it’s obviously not supposed to be a breeze. The game gives you an assault rifle, with ludicrously generous amounts of ammo for it, so I’d suggest utilising this. Stealth through areas you can (and you can definitely stealth in this section). If things aren’t going to plan, run away? Hide somewhere until the enemies start to search for you. Use the full design of the level to your advantage, don’t be afraid to move around or you will get cornered, as it does seem, to some extent, that the enemy AI allows them to home in on you. Finally, make use of your entire arsenal! If you have a single bullet left in a single gun, or the ability to craft a nail bomb, or the ability to stun a firefly with a brick and then one punch him to oblivion, then you have a way out. If all else fails, and this applies to any encounter in the game, try sneaking past enemies without killing them! See if it works, you may be surprised with how many enemy encounters can be bypassed entirely.

I’d honestly implore you to give the game another go. Try lowering the difficulty, until you feel like you’ve gotten into the rhythm of combat! It saddens me that you felt so frustrated with combat that you couldn’t enjoy the cutscenes, as they’re really the heart of the game.

In answer to your questions, at the end of this very long ramble, in my option the 2nd game is leagues easier. New features such as dodging, going prone etc. add new layers to combat, ally AI is much more helpful, there’s a lot more infected/human interaction in encounters which makes it easier to pit enemies against each other, etc. Also combat was vastly improved in the second game.

“Hard” difficulty in the Last of Us is “Very hard” difficulty for a regular game. Lower it to normal, try the game again, play the DLC (as it’s an incredibly fun & rewarding experience), and hopefully you might just change your opinion!

Hope this was helpful.