thebarrylad

Alex actually asked this on twitter but... can this OST not be bought unless it's on Steam - which warns you can't do so unless you actually own the game? That seems bizarre if true.

@oldirtybearon: Okay, in some ways I do agree with you - I think the interactivity is a key aspect of the game, albeit not as key as it was to something like Spec Ops (which, to me at least, felt like a very deliberate commentary on the majority of similarly themed games).

Given the people involved, I'm more optimistic on this than if they just announced there was a film coming and didn't elaborate. It could work. It seems protecting the IP was first and foremost in their minds when it came to signing off on this.

I don't get the idea that this thing only works as a game and not as a film... how exactly?

If it's a shitty knock off of The Road, it's a shitty knock off of The Road. The medium is irrelevant. Unless your grading on a curve because it's a game and making allowances which is silly and also undersells the quality of the writing in TLOU.

@bunnymud said:

Well that's not really true, lots of people care. And furthermore I don't think it was done to be shocking, that greatly undersells the talent of the people writing this game.

Here's a new interview with Neil Druckmann and Faith Erin Hicks (who drew the comic). It's filled with Left Behind spoilers - in-depth plot discussion, so watch out. The usual interesting interview from Druckmann where he talks about the writing process. This paragraph is of note;

I still have this script written, this story about Ellie’s mom [for] an animated short we were going to do, but it fell through. I’d love for that to see the light of day sometime, maybe as a DLC or a comic book. We’re brainstorming the next [Naughty Dog] project right now; some of the ideas are sequel ideas and some are brand-new IP. We’re just trying to see where our passions lie. Is there more to do here [in The Last of Us] both on a mechanical level or a narrative level, so we’re not repeating ourselves? Or is it this a good point to say goodbye to the characters in this world? It’s a very heavy decision, because whichever direction we go in commits us for the next three to four years. So we’re going to take several weeks to make that decision. Even if we do go to new IP, I’d still like an opportunity to revisit these characters and I’d love to have Faith come back and work with her again.

Sound's interesting. As with their sequel talks, it's all very "ehhhh we'll see", but interesting regardless. If you missed it; all talk of Ellie's mom is very weird and deliberately ambiguous. In her letter to Ellie she talks about knowing her life is cut short or something, and that Ellie will learn something about her soon, and tells her "life is worth living." The comic and DLC tell us nothing about her, despite Marlene seemingly being her best friend and Riley knowing Marlene well.

This is really weird. Ken's statement is basically that he wants to downsize for creative reasons; which would be a baffling reason to fire that many people in any day and age but in the current climate? Those people aren't exactly just going to walk in to another booming developer (some will, perhaps).

So, either that's BS and there's more too this... or an incredibly tactless decision was just made.

The casting sessions/motion capture stuff is great, and the game's composer is a super interesting guy. Worth a watch for sure.

Yeah I replayed the DLC for trophies and, man, fuck that ending battle. I can deal with the combat but it was excessive there -- which I also thought was the case during the Ellie sections of the main game, although less so there.

The best thing this DLC does is show -- don't tell. It doesn't aspire to do anything other than give us a better understanding of Ellie by letting us actually live through something we already know about. The way it wrapped me up in the Ellie/Riley dynamic despite me knowing where it was going was commendable. Ellie's story about Riley at the end of the main campaign is one thing - actually experiencing it is another. Left Behind gave me a level of sympathy for her that her simple explanation didn't -- even the comic didn't really grab me in the way I thought it would. Part of that is the execution; King and Johnson are out of this world, as is the facial animation which knocks that final scene out of the park, and the score. You could argue that the dialog is a bit... philosophical for 15 year olds but it still felt sincere and honest. Plus, it did explain why they didn't just blow their brains out which seems to be the prerogative of lots of people in these settings -- and in turn that offered a great insight into the Joel story.

Looking back at key moments in the campaign, after playing this, they have a lot more weight and context to them.

I wasn't sure if these posts were joking or not.

It was pretty stunning. This gives me assurance, if it were needed, that Druckmann and Straley wont take this IP anywhere unless they're 100% sure they have a story worth telling. This one was so worth telling.

I love that it both enhanced the main game but was also a very unique, stand alone experience. Experiencing the Riley story, and seeing just how close they were, really adds your appreciation of Ellie's struggle AND further hammers home what she was saying at the end of the main game. They took this already sad sentiment of 'my friend died' and showed you how and why they were friends, how they bonded, made you laugh in the process and then gave you a heartbreaking gut punch to round it off. How the hell did they manage to get me misty eyed at the end when I KNEW what happened to Riley from the beginning? Goddamn talent is how. When Ellie finally said 'don't go' and Riley threw down the pendant? Chills. The kiss? Legit dropped my control and yelled "WOAH." Then I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach like -- shit, this wonderful story of young love is going to end in MEGA SADNESS.

I thought the Joel section felt tacked on for the most part -- like just an excuse to tie in combat, but then during the final cut scene it all tied together. It adds to Ellie's motivation in the main game and, of course, adds even more complexity to the debate about what 'Okay' even means at the end of TLOU. The writing in this game is so damn good, everything is for a reason, everything has layers to it, characters are so well fleshed out we could sit here for days talking about their intricacies. Ultimately I still feel like the Joel section was flawed. I'm not saying there shouldn't have been combat, but the final fight was excessive, and when you clear wave one and then a sniper comes at you, I was actually frustrated. It felt like they were definitely trying to meet some kind of 'gamey' quota. It felt weird in a pacing sense and it felt disconnected from the story to have killing all enemies be mandatory before you could advance.

I could talk about the writing forever, but like the main game you have to really praise the entire team effort. Everything from the stunning facial animation to level design and everything in between. Plus the new tracks from Gustavo Santalalla are stunning.