The Last of Us - it's the time of the season

Is this for real? https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ftc8vMnakAA6U43?format=jpg&name=large

A new patch for the PS5 version of The Last of Us Part I is now available, including new @HBO t-shirt cosmetics for Ellie, as well as improvements and fixes to combat, accessibility, audio, and more.

Read the full patch notes here: https://t.co/YGzDjEWHM6 pic.twitter.com/CLRTN5wsKu

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) April 11, 2023

So I guess just cosmetic novelties. Pretty tacky, regardless.

as well as improvements and fixes to combat, accessibility, audio, and more.

Yeah, that's the rest of it.

Pretty good summary of the formal shortcomings of the HBO show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Hs8_DzU3M

TLOU stuff starts at 13:05.

interesting, it's a real testament to this story and its evolution that people are still discovering, discussing and debating it.

gonna hard disagree Josh. the story is pulp trash that we’ve seen a million times. it’s about zombies for christ sake. what made it different was the execution. the acting in particular is tremendous. the co-op mechanic, also not new, actually worked instead of being annoying. the gameplay loops were very satisfying and the difficulty was pitched just right. etc

pulp trash? hmm.

I do see what you mean, but the characters are what ultimately sets it apart, imo, and the characters are the sum of writing and performance, which ultimately adds up to story. The gameplay and all those other important details, I think that's what helps it achieve more than just good story, for sure. But, like, its big inspiration was The Road, which is also pretty familiar stuff, but far from pulp trash, because of it execution. Again, imo.

I don't think Tracer was slamming the game, just noting that the plot itself is rote.

I think the specific callout from the video I linked I wanted to mention was the gulf between the playable action vs. set-piece adaptation. The Capitol Building clicker section is still way scarier in the game than it'll ever be for me just watching it on the show because I can actually fail that section, but something that's easier to overlook is the supply economy, inventory management, etc., i.e. basic gameplay elements that are uncinematic but go a long way to establishing the game's mood.

Yeah, I think I got that, but the video basically enforced that the same story has now been told essentially four different times, each using more or less the exact same framework with their own set of pros and cons. I agree that losing the gameplay is the biggest con, the question becomes how much does it fundamentally change that framework. I agree that it changes it a lot, and I agree with the video, in that the show lost something that the game uniquely provided, despite being overwhelmingly similar otherwise.

mourning the emotional wallop of crafting after hbo had finished sucking all the usable material out of the powerful cutscenes about fatherhood is exactly what millennial gamers had coming to them the moment they signed that infernal pact with roger ebert imo, a learning experience

Drag Me To TV

https://kotaku.com/last-of-us-clicker-bread-sculpture-joel-ellie-1850908509