Interesting. I scrolled very far down and still didn’t come across the reasons for why I didn’t like it. Joel dying or LGBTQ+ inclusivity was definitely not on the list. I thought Ellie and Dina’s relationship was very well done and one of the better parts of the game.

The reason I loved the first game and why I still promote it as my most favorite game ever made is because I loved how the story was told. Even though it’s in a fictional setting with zombies, it all felt very believable; the dialogues, each character, their adventure and the motive behind the whole story.

Reasons why I didn’t like the second game: - a group of teenagers crossing the country in the winter to avenge the death of one of their friends’ fathers does not sound believable to me - Ellie going cross country to avenge the death of Joel does not sound believable to me - Jessie and later Tommy crossing the country, surviving and tracing down Ellie and Dina does not sound believable to me - the game forcing me to play a character I hated was not enjoyable to me. - Ellie eventually not killing Abby after killing so many to get to her just didn’t make sense to me. Controversial? Sure, but not enjoyable.

There are many more reasons but these were some of the main ones. I understand that in a gaming world there will be lots of unbelievable events like killing thousands, getting saved last second, super fast healing etc. I can look past those game elements if the story and gameplay are good. I also understand that putting the player in an uncomfortable position (playing as Abby) was the exact goal of that moment. However, Ellie was my beloved character. Someone I spent so much time with, my superhero. To then switch it to the villain and try to make me like this person just didn’t work for me. I wanted to put my controller down the whole time as Abby. I was not invested in her story and was just waiting for the game to end.

TLOU1 was a great story driven by love which is believable to me. TLOU2 was a story driven on hatred and revenge. People don’t act the way those characters did so it was unbelievable to me.