How The Last of Us: Part II Challenges the Morality of Gaming

I, of course, like so many of you, am obsessed with HBO’s adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us. I love the first game and its sequel even more, and Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann’s adaptation has been a brilliant, clear-eyed retelling that tugs the brilliancy of the game into a new lens while providing further context to a world underdeveloped due to its medium’s constraints. However, with the announcement of season two, it’s an intriguing thought experiment to wonder what a sequel fraught with controversy and fan disliking might look like when it is reborn in a new space. I am not quite sure. In this anticipation, however, I walked down memory lane to watch those initial playthroughs by youtube personalities and gaming channels alike with the Last of Us: Part II. The way they reacted to the twists in the story, some screaming in agony about how “unsatisfying” this game was or how “bleak” it was for “no reason.” Pushing aside the transphobia and homophobia that placated the game upon its leaks, the storytelling devices did seem to create a genuine disconnect amongst gamers. Something I did not experience, and I think a lot of that dissatisfaction stems from gamers encountering a game that is not designed to be enjoyed in the traditional sense. <a href="https://fanfare.pub/how-the-last-of-us-part-ii-challenges-the-morality-of-gaming-56d92d994902">Read More</a>