The Last of Us

I'm getting older and I can't afford to spend the amount of time on videogames that I used to when I was younger and time was cheap. Certainly couldn't afford to spend an entire winter hiatus trying to beat a game I borrowed from a friend, so... I played it on the "Easy" setting. Which I think officially makes me a "casual gamer".

I played it on "Easy" and I played the entire thing through over the course of two days.

I think the narrative made more of an impact because I played it straight through without getting too hung up on any one particularly difficult section. (Though even on "Easy", there were a number of sections I had to replay a few times because of the difficulty level.)

I'd heard rumblings about this game, but the story's fucking intense. The ending (NO SPOILERS) is fucking intense. And troubling. And moving.

It's weird when videogame narratives rise to the level of feature films. Because a lot of people who might be moved by this narrative will never experience it. This is a serious, gut-wrenching story. And it builds character in a way that many feature films fail to.

Awesome game. A little heavy to take all at once... but awesome.

This will concern an even smaller fraction of you, but after you've completed playing the game, I think that THIS is a good article which sums up a lot of thoughts I've got on the game. Except for the fact that I don't think this game should have a sequel. It's a perfect, closed ending. Yes, there's always story to explore, and it leaves you imagining what the future holds, but I think that's perfect. This shouldn't be turned into THE WALKING DEAD: a story that doesn't know when to end and just keeps going without aim.