PixlBit

I was skeptical too after Uncharted 3, but TLOU gave me hope in Naughty Dog again.

1. Didn't feel anything with Ellie telling Joel- Well I did. Hell, I was contemplating so much when I was fighting them that it threw me off my game. Because that's how it is in The Laat of Us: Survival doesn't mean you get a chance to mule over these things. The Walking Dead comics do the same thing, it's just a part of zombie fiction.

2. Why didn't didn't get her?- Ellie clearly had a head start so who's to say they were organized or even there when they passed? And the game even shows her fleeing on horseback from even more guys later.

3. Too long- Funny thing is if you take that approach, you lose some of the best parts of the game. Winter for example. That wasn't really necessary to the overall plot, but it was an amazing piece of gameplay. The tunnel sequence after I felt was necessary. They established pretty much every city's overrun with savages or clickers, I wouldn't have bought it if they just got to the hospital. Even from a gameplay standpoint it felt necessary as you hadn't seen clickers for hours so it was a final encounter with them.

There's no set limit on how long a game could be just like there's no limit on how long a movie can be. I don't see anyone saying Wolf of Wall Street is too long even though it's 3 hours because it keeps itself engaging all the time. Same with Resident Evil 4 in terms of games. In fact the first thing I thought after beating TLOU was how no action game has been so long yet so engaging the whole way since RE4. I'm not alone here either. And I know you've said before you didn't like the controls which is fine but it also means the game will naturally exhaust itself a lot quicker for you.

if this is your beef, fine. I'm just saying these aren't really flaws, the game just isn't for absolutely everyone. It has it's audience and caters to them even if it means alienating a large number of people kind of like a far less extreme version of Dark Souls.

I never really felt there were any pacing issues. Like that bit when Ellie tells Joel she can't lose him, that was a way for the game to have Joel avoid admitting he was wrong while still realizing he needs Ellie, which was why he could still lie to Ellie at the end. Joel doesn't admit when he does something wrong, and those guys showing up enabled that to continue.

As for the two bloater thing, you do realize you can just sneak past them, right? In fact, it's pretty damn clear that's what the game expects you to do. I never thought it had any fat to trim either, it would be like telling Resident Evil 4 to do that. Just because it's long doesn't mean there's fat, it's just if the gameplay doesn't click with you, of course you're going to want it to be over sooner.

I got my sister all the Divergent books for Christmas. She seems to really like them so I'll have to check it out. Feels weird for them to be interested in sci-fy stuff before me though between this and Hunger Games.

I liked it, but mostly because of the style. The first level is really in your face about it, but as the game goes on it does some really cool stuff artistically. Combat was just good though, nowhere near as good as Bayonetta or Ninja Gaiden.

So glad you brought up Reservoir Dogs. Mr. Pink talking why he doesn't tip, that's relatable. We can all see where he's coming from. We may not agree with it, but it makes him more human yet doesn't take away that he's a sleezeball. Tarantino gets criminals, he has them justify what they do in their own fucked up way, which Rockstar doesn't do as well.

I like the idea of playing as a bad guy, but don't give me this bullshit that this guy's relatable then have him do all this fucked up shit.

I don't really agree with that portrayal of Michael. I think he gets off on success, on having a purpose and crime is his outlet for that. There's a huge difference between that and getting off on crime. And they don't really kill all kinds of people until they get threatened in the missions. Yeah, there's that chaos in the sandbox, but that I think is another weak link in Rockstar's story, even if it makes the game itself more fun. It's another reason I think GTA should have stuck with the sillier stories even if this isn't as bad as IV was in this regard.

And yeah, the cops are pointing guns at them, but they plan it that way. And I'm sorry, but that's just bad writing. Saying these guys are relatable in one cutscene then mowing down wave after wave of cops in another? Sorry, that's bad writing. Franklin may roll along with what's going on, but he will voice when he thinks something's fucked up. Not a word when he hears they're going to be murdering a hundred cops, but he'll speak over taking pictures of celebrities. Again, that's not thinking things through when you write.

You can say they don't give two shits about anyone else, but they don't give two shits about people who fuck with them. And that's a big difference too. You can choose to kill innocent people, but the game always gives you a choice. If they really didn't give two shits, why even offer that choice? 

Those are true, but there are two reasons I still take issue. The first is that Rockstar isn't writing those kinds of criminals. They write Franklin and Michael to be relatable to GTA players. They write them so despite their criminal actions, they're not that different from the average person. They'll still act disgusted at some of the other, but less fucked up shit that Trevor does. It's bizarre when Michael asks why the hell Trevor would kidnap someone then have no second thought at mowing down cops.

You could say it's a stretch, but every criminal is different. And when looking at which criminological theories best reflect Michael and Franklin, it is more of a stretch. Crime isn't as simple as that. The story portrays Michael being involved with crime and Franklin having blocked opportunities, which are much less inclined to kill that many people (cops or not), especially when they're portrayed as compassionate (relatively speaking) as Rockstar set out. They're not saints, but we're still supposed to be left with this idea that they are good guys at the end of the day.

The second is that these things aren't that they suddenly happen. It's that they are planned from the start. Michael and Trevor plan to defend an area from waves of cops and to put on all this riot gear so they can mow down waves of cops. It's not a fight or flight scenario, it's a let's start slaughtering almost a hundred people for a score then pretend two of us are still nice, relatable guys just because we're with this other asshole. It doesn't even reflect Michael's character that well planning it, he's not usually wants to shoot things as part of a heist unless that's the only choice, from a save your skin perspective.

Yeah, I know the military gets a good portrayal in media. In this game though, they're just cannon fodder.