Finally Catching Up with The Last of Us

One of my resolutions every year is to play through some of my backlog of video games that I've acquired since 2014, for various systems. Like most people's resolutions, this one never quite survives past about March, although I'm pleased that I've stuck to the corollary resolution, which is not to buy too many new games (or systems).

The truth is that I'm not great at finishing games. When they had eight levels, simple graphics and gameplay, and didn't feature a lot of cutscenes, I could just about manage it, but at some point I guess I get bored of them and want to see what's going on with another game. With an older game, like the original Megaman series on the NES, if I revisit a game years later then at least it's not such a time investment to just start again at the beginning.

Which brings me to The Last of Us. When I bought it in early 2014, it came as a bundle with my PS3 and it was one of several titles I had my eye on because of the buzz I'd been hearing at the time. Back then, I managed the prologue but never got past the tutorial in the game proper. I moved on, instead, to other games for the system. Some I finished, like Assassin's Creed 2 and Arkham City and the Mass Effect Trilogy, while others I've dipped into again, like Skyrim, or restarted more than once, like Dragon Age Inquisition. And of course, there's also Assassin's Creed 4, which I've never even played (maybe later this year I'll write a blog about how great that one is, but don't bet on it).

The premiere of the TV show on HBO is what impelled me to try the game again. It's co-created by Craig Mazin, who co-hosts the Scriptnotes podcast and who created Chernobyl, also for HBO and one of the best TV shows I've seen in recent years. I actually started a new file of The Last of Us on the weekend the first episode was due to air, and I've managed to stick to playing it a couple of hours per weekend, then watching the show that evening.

What's funny is that those two hours each week have been enough to keep up with the show, at least so far.  The first episode started with the collapse of civilization and ended with Pedro Pascal's character, Joel, killing a soldier in front of Bella Ramsey's Ellie, which was about the point I got to on that Sunday. The following week I saw the ultimate fate of Joel's partner, Tess, and the week after I got to explore Bill's Town in the game, before watching the story of Bill and his husband Frank on TV.

I'm probably not going to be able to keep that cadence, both because of other things I have going on (like a trip to Europe later this month) and because the show is diverging from the game in order to tell its story in ways that are appropriate for TV. But so far it's been a really fun way of following along with both.

As for how I like them, well, the TV show has become a must-watch for me on Sunday nights. The lead actors are a good pairing on their own merits (and it's probably best that I don't have years of playing the game to bias me against them) and the aesthetics of the show are really well thought out, from the abandoned cityscapes to the design of the infected, especially the Clickers.

Meanwhile, the game's grown on me as I've learned how to play it. Certain parts have been frustratingly difficult, but eventually I've gotten through them, helped at times by online walkthroughs. I like the possibilities offered by gathering resources, which lets you upgrade your gear and your character, but the gameplay can be a little frustrating, since the PS3 controller has so many buttons that it's easy to forget which one you're mashing. It's pretty much a given that in a fight with a Clicker, I'll press the button to punch it instead of the button to stab it, and end up getting eaten by the bastard.

Still, it looks good and is entertaining, so what more do I need? My one concern is how I'll play the sequel, The Last of Us Part 2, since it's only on PS4. I've picked up a few mini consoles and the Nintendo Switch since I bought my PS3, but a new PS4 or PS5 feels like an unnecessary purchase if I'm not going to devote time to playing any games for it. But that's a ways off, so in the meantime I can just focus on finishing the game in front of me.

If you haven't played it or watched the show, I'd totally recommend playing them side-by-side, like I'm doing now. It's given me a greater appreciation for the storyline and the design, and it's helped keep my interest in the game (at least until the next time I want to binge a tower defense game on my iPad).