i played the game for 35 hours and loved (nearly) every second. i think people really dislike the idea of viewing their heroes as "the bad guy" and are being very sensitive about it. it's well established that the universe of the last of us is brutal and loved ones die in barbaric ways.

i think some people dislike that you can't make choices to alter what the characters are doing, but i think that's a powerful aspect. you aren't creating a story as you're playing, rather you're being told a narrative while you play as a character. they have already decided what they are going to do, you can't stop them. the message of the story is that everyone in this world wants to live with their loved ones, but is willing to throw the safety of themselves and their loved ones by the wayside for revenge. there is no "good guy" or "bad guy" in this game, but people want to think of main characters as inherently good.

people are comparing this to game of thrones season 8, but this is ludicrous: the writers of game of thrones wanted to move onto new projects and so they completely ignored the entire history of the show and nothing of that sort happened here. a character you loved is screwed over? it's well established in the universe of the show that your character is a bad guy to A LOT of people, they have done VERY selfish and evil things.

i give the game a 9/10 because there are some parts of the actual gameplay that i wasn't a huge fan of (sometimes i felt like i was being forced to fight in moments because the game makers were trying to lengthen the game and they just threw it in there, it was hard to tell which direction was forward in the story so sometimes i would try to explore but would accidentally move to a new area, and a few other things)

People are use to the idea that games are all about player agency. While that has always been a component of video games, that's especially the case in the last decade or so of open world games filled with "morality choices" and different endings. TLOU2 is certainly not that kind of game. "You can't stop this," says a character, and the game hammers that point pretty effectively.

Games tell us that violence and strength allows us to change the world, to make our own path. TLOU2 very much is against that, and instead uses its game mechanics to show how people dehumanize others, making it so easy to kill with impunity. I don't necessarily think TLOU2 is actively criticizing us for enjoying the game, but rather its putting us into the shoes of people who kill and murder for what they think are the right reasons.