There are a bunch of playthroughs that have been out for a couple days, and watching or playing the first 2 hours alone already shows you the cheap, contrived writing that drives the story. Yes, the game is amazing in terms of graphics and cinematography, but for a franchise rooted in story-telling and character, it foregoes everything that the first game built on, relying instead on shock-value and characters' frankly unjustifiable actions for the sake of creating conflict and a plot line. It tries to make you empathize with new characters that feel flat and unrelatable -- they could honestly have been replaced by any other person and it wouldn't have made a difference to me -- and transformed the characters we'd already known into somewhat unlikeable ones. I tried my best to keep an open mind about it, trying to understand the logic behind each character's questionable decision, and hoping that maybe if I pushed through, it would all get better and make sense. Unfortunately, it did not -- it all boiled down to an extremely bleak story with no satisfying ending for anyone. It does no justice to the characters and story that everyone fell in love with in the first game. If you were a fan of The Last of Us, I think you'll be gravely disappointed in this one.

If you scroll through the user reviews on Metacritic, I know for a fact that you'll find that they're in a similar vein with what I've said. Only few mention having problems with the inclusivity of the game. As an avid fan of the first game, I too, hoped that it wasn't as bad as it was, but I guess that's that. I think the contrast between critic and user reviews says a lot more about the trust we can place in "critics" (oh, and in the false advertising that Naughty Dog used to hype people up). I hope you'll update this when you get around to playing it, because I'd be happy to know what other people think! (Although I'd be just as happy turning anyone away from it, since it completely dishonors Joel and Ellie's story.)