The real problem with The Last of Us 2

There's no multiplayer.

We have the best playing naughty dog game ever with the gameplay far superior to TLOU 1 but we can't take it online in any capacity. I thought the first game's multiplayer was underrated and did a great job translating the atmosphere and frantic nature of combat in single player to an online mode.

From what I've heard Naughty Dog is planning on potentially making the multiplayer it's own game down the line and charging for it separately? The idea of paying for multiplayer separately after the first game isn't exactly enticing.

Not trying to rag on it too much. I really enjoyed the game but in my opinion the absence of multiplayer is felt, especially after finishing it. What do you guys think? Do people care about TLOU multiplayer or am I in the minority?

I would expect the forthcoming multiplayer component to be free to play. The first game was pretty rotten with microtransactions (pay to win, one could argue), so it would make sense to do a free to play thing for the sequel's multiplayer. At this point, we're probably talking about a PS5 thing though.

I was one of the people excited for TLOU2 because there was going to be a new multiplayer mode. Story and characters are obviously a huge part, but that first game was the complete package. I played through the campaign four(?) times and maybe spent 20-40 hours with multiplayer when I never played online games.

I was a little disappointed it didn’t ship, but that game was so hellish as is I get why they made that decision.

i think they absolutely made the right call separating it out.

whatever it ends up being- a standalone charge, free to play, or just a download for people who purchased the game- that game didn't need additional development effort bolted on to what was already a colossal effort.

the multiplayer is a nice bonus- but that franchise clearly prioritizes its single player narrative experience- so if they needed all hands to work on that, so be it.

Not 100% sure how to reply to you guys. I agree I was really excited for how the multiplayer would evolve and feel like without it it feels like a lesser package than the first game.

That's a good point mellotronrules I'm sure they made the right call for the quality of the game (I don't know much about game development). I think if the multiplayer gets added on or is free to play I'd be more positive on the overall package. But what they accomplished with this game's single player is incredible

Interestingly I never played uncharted multiplayer for more than 5 min but played LOU multiplayer like you said clagnaught must be for well over 20 hours