My experience with games changed profoundly after playing The Last of Us. I can’t quite recall another game I looked forward to as much as this one. During the months and even years building up to its release, Naughty Dog and the gaming community kept our collective appetites whetted with a steady stream of tantalizing trailers. By the time I got my hands on the game, it was clear this was no ordinary release. No, this was a title bound to leave an indelible mark on me.
I can still remember just how excited I was to get the game. And I wasn’t the only one. All across the gaming community, you could hear the building hum of anticipation. It wasn’t too surprising, really, considering that the lead-up to the game’s release promised in press releases and interviews that this game was going to be a kind of watershed moment—a big part of the conversation around what video games could do well and how well they could do it.
First Impressions: A Game-Changer
I had no clue what to anticipate the first time I started the game. Its reputation preceded it, painting hues of anticipation and thrill that simmered within me. The title screen popped up, and I felt like I was about to open a much-anticipated Christmas present.
When ‘Start’ is pressed, you land right in the game; there’s no leftover exposition to navigate. All the details about the world are fed to you through the immediate apparentness of what you’re seeing or hearing and the conversations you have with the characters you meet. The next tutorial comes up as soon as you’re done learning something in the apparent environment you’re in, and when you’re done with the first area, you’re fed right into the next. There is no stop-and-go sensation you get from going into the cartridge unloading zone of an old-school RPG.
Unforgettable Moments and Emotional Highs
For me, as for many, the game left an indelible current of emotions. That’s in large part, I think, because of the way it handles the player protagonist concept. I was blown away by it. … As I sat there, controller in my hand, I could feel the responsibility it gave me. I was making the choices now, and they were choices this poor character had to live with. She was my avatar.
I often felt protective of the lead character. She was just 21 and had been dragooned into what is effectively a death sentence. I could tell that she held a very strong desire not to let anyone down—without also wanting to go and get this thing done.
Beware, anyone who has a problem with raw emotion. You will have to avert your eyes from the screen or else watch at a 45-degree angle if you don’t want to risk being seen crying or something like that. Your virtual roommate will walk in on you as you quiver to the voice of the lead character saying things like, “I never asked for this. I had a totally normal life …”
The Enduring Legacy of a Masterpiece
The gaming industry has felt the deep and still-spreading impact of The Last of Us. The game has far exceeded what we thought a game could do, and in every respect, it feels full. There has never been anything more satisfying to critique; an almost perfect recipe to heap lavish praise upon. And most of the time, for most of the right reasons, it simply stuns. We have not seen a game make such a big, inescapable splash (to the tune of sales and over 200 Game of the Year awards) since Hasbro. In a very practical sense, yes, The Last of Us has been a very big deal in a number of ways. And because of its excellence, the only serious negative criticism thrown at it usually amounts to calling it a “linchpin” and “divisive” work.
The Buzz Before the Release
The first real glimpse of The Last of Us was the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, where it won the “Most Anticipated Game” prize. Not only did it look stunning, but the first trailer also promised a deep, emotional experience, as you compiled a picture of a decaying America. “When you think of the power of video games as a believable form of storytelling, this is a good one to point to.”
Lots of buzz followed, with rumor conjecture, fresh trailers, and finally, when the game released, electrifying sit-downs and animations in the same nerve-wracking vein that kept you pushing through to the next narrative beat or breathtaking setpiece.
And, for some fans, when word on what The Last of Us Part II looked like finally arrived, it produced more speculation and fueled the fires of excitement more effectively than ever. While some worried about what revenge made Ellie look like as a “hero,” you could still effectively guarantee you’d be playing a get-it-yourself game if you didn’t pre-order it off some storefront’s virtual shelves or sit down on a friend’s couch right near midnight on June 19, 2020.
There’s no arguing that The Last of Us has had a major impact on how people perceive what video games can be. When we here at GameCola consider the game’s legacy—the way it’s been like a Staedtler Lumocolor permanent marker that’s been primed with a lighter before putting its indelible ink on the State of Gaming Landscape—what have the many fans of this narrative game taken away from its story?
A lot more happens in The Last of Us than we would be able to fit into a relatively normal introductory paragraph. And, in the usual—completely spoiler-free—way in which we do these introductory sections for most GameCola Legacy posts (because the point is to explore the big-picture ideas that have stuck with us and not just give a play-by-play of the plot), I’m probably going to lean into the list of “key takeaways” or “learning opportunities” à la Idaho Hunt (which, by the way, is also an awesome game) and focus on the game’s flagrantly fresh exposition on what might also be 57 different takes on “the human condition—on the good, the bad, and the ugly of us”.
