The Last of Us - HBO Spoilers See warning in post #1

Dial Hard · 05-01-2023 3:41pm

Welp, we got 4 pages in without some malcontent invoking the W word without even anything to base it on. Probably good going for Boards these days.

satguy · 05-01-2023 4:38pm

With show after show losing money, fans, viewing/streaming viewers, the W word needs to be discussed.

It's why we come to discussion boards, to talk about stuff..

Link to why we might be in for more of the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkGd8heQMas

TheIrishGrover · 05-01-2023 5:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120069292#Comment_120069292

Talk about your one-trick-ponies. The lot of them. Must be exhausting being so outraged the whole time. Basing their (incorrect) assumption on the W word because the other W words (women & white) are involved. As someone who has played the games, I can tell you: It's not "W": Yes, there are strong female characters. Yes there are gay characters. Yes there are non-white characters. Some of them are all three. This was the same when the game came out 10 years ago. Enough said.

Anyway, moving on from the non-issue

I know the game and love the game (Which is why I know this is not..... sigh.... "W"). I played it on the PS3 (Best looking game on that machine. Ultimate swansong) and then on the PS4 and 5 and loved it each time (Although I'm not going to go out and buy the over-priced remake).

I am looking forward to this but there are so many lesser "zombie" series out there that it will be hard to stand out. The game was fantastic of course but part of that was down to the fact that we never saw such a mature naratively-driven game before. Naughty Dog had given the fun Uncharted games which were also all about the story. You couldn't wait until the next scene to see what happens (Especially Uncharted 2). But this was a serious game with flawed but realistic characters. When playing the game you had to perform morally questionable actions to move it on. (Something the sequel expanded upon greatly to genuinely heart-breaking effect. Some REAL gut-punches in the sequel. Makes the first one look like a barrel of laughs)

But to those who haven't played the game, this probably looks like just another Walking Dead clone (albeit with quite a pedigree given the cast and writing/producing/directing team from Chernobyl). So it's a tough sell.

I mean HOPEFULLY it does well. If only so that people who played the game can be all all like smug a**holes and say "See? TOLD ya games were more than Mario" (and I include me in that smug a**hole brigade) 😁

TheIrishGrover · 05-01-2023 6:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120069597#Comment_120069597

I actually sat through that video. And it's about how people didn't like the direction the sequel took (Please don't expand on that to avoid spoilers). And it's about the fact that the showrunner made some comments about videogames. The video also mentions race-swapping? The only race-swap I can think of is Joel who went from a standard white male in the games to Chilean-born Pedro Pascal (And an equivalent change for a later relation). But, let's be honest, Pedro Pascal looks amazing in the part. Troy Baker (Who voiced the part in the game) looks nothing like Joel and is too young and, as much as I love his voice-work, I don't think I've seen him in a movie or TV show. Certainly not as a lead.

So if that's their "W" card, if that's their biggest issue with the TELEVISION SHOW (The direction the 2nd GAME took and recasting Joel to the awesome Pedro Pascal) then I pity them.

Actually (And this would be a spoiler so don't look, non-players)

I had to look it up. They are on about Sarah.... Who will be in it for, what, 1st episode? Should even be in it that long but she either goes before opening or closing credits of FIRST episode. Unbelievable what people get upset with. Wow......

It REALLY is a non-issue

El Gato De Negocios · 09-01-2023 11:35pm

Looking forward to this. Absolutely loved the first game, probably my favourite game of all time. Interested to see how this goes.

FortuneChip · 10-01-2023 1:00am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120069597#Comment_120069597

This video reeks of some personal issue with Neil Druckmann.

Had to laugh at his closing:

"The Last Of Us (show) is going to be as big a disaster as The Last Of Us Pt 2 (game)"

It wasn't without controversy, and review-bombing, but TLOU Pt2 has a few steps above disaster.

It's got a pretty decent 93/100 on Metacritic.

It took Witcher 3's crown for most GOTY awards of all time (since surpassed).

And it's one of the top selling PS4 games of all time, with no game released since having surpassed it yet.

That a small, very vocal minority hated the direction the game took, does not make TLOU2 a disaster.

A few of the comments coming out in recent weeks have been a little misguided with respect to the world of gaming, but I still think we're a long way from a disaster without having seen any episodes to date.

I can't remember the last time I was actually this openly optimistic about a new show. I think it's on the right network, I think the writing team inspire confidence, I like a lot of the expanded casting choices, trailers suggests they've nailed the tone, and they've some seriously quality source material to play off.

TheIrishGrover · 10-01-2023 12:09pm

I'm assuming Metacritic and other aggregators will be review-bombed by those unhappy with the direction the GAME sequel took so best to stay away from them. So proper reviews are coming in and they are pretty good. Some love it, some think it's OK:

Empire:https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/the-last-of-us/

... All of which was a good reason to avoid an adaptation in the first place. Why risk ruining a perfect thing? Why sully what came before? Why, when video-games have famously had a diabolical track record in films and television, even bother?

The answer comes in spectacular, emphatic fashion from co-showrunners Neil Druckmann (the game’s original creator) and Craig Mazin (the writer/producer behind the similarly apocalyptic and similarly excellent Chernobyl). The live-action The Last Of Us is a superb example of how to make an adaptation work...

The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/23543145/hbo-the-last-of-us-review

... HBO’s new series is extremely fine. Not great, not terrible, but fine...

Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/the-last-of-us-review-hbo-zombies-neil-druckmann-pedro-pascal-bella-ramsey-1234655768/

... It is extremely straightforward and simple in what it’s trying to do, but hard-hitting about it. I’ve never played the game, but Druckmann and Mazin have turned it into something that works incredibly well as a television show.

Edit: Removed my thoughts and comments on the impact of review-bombing of the game as it should be (But won't be) unrelated to the series. Just bear in mind for those that have no history with the game that this will quite likely be review-bombed also. If you are interested in reviews, see if someone you trust has reviewed it and make your mind up. Avoid aggregators.

El Gato De Negocios · 11-01-2023 10:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120088253#Comment_120088253

I think the biggest cranks about the game part 2 were people that were pissed about - MAJOR SPOILER BELOW.

Joel getting killed early doors

But this somehow got wrapped up into a weird argument against an imo non-existent "woke" agenda.

BruteStock · 11-01-2023 12:55pm

The metacritic review score of the game is 5.8 , that accurately represents the opinions of independent creators whom are to be trusted more than game journalists.

Angry Joe , Skill-up , Yong Yea , The Escapist , PewDePie , Jeremy Jahns , ACG , Fextralife all had an underwhelming reaction to the game.

Jim Sterling called it "self indulgent with a miserable storyline thats nowhere near as invocative or shocking as it thinks it is"

These are people who are not being paid to write reviews. So to say that only a small minority of people didn't like the game is not true in the slightest. Remember the Korean streamer who went viral for cutting his disk in half.

Lovers of the game will call critics bigots but Left Behind was very well received. The very first trailer featuring Ellie kissing Dina was well received. No backlash occurred until the full story was revealed. Having followed development of the game closely , nobody was expecting Joel to survive the game.

How he departed the game is what fans took issue with. Angry Joe explains the hate..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ETJX6qcxk&ab_channel=Skippa

TheIrishGrover · 11-01-2023 2:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093730#Comment_120093730

Don't mead to backdoor mod but can you spoiler that (You know the bit). For the TV viewers.

CastorTroy · 11-01-2023 2:54pm

Yeah, I think the thread title should be updated to state No Game Spoilers.

Looking forward to the series. I'm up to date on the games.

Though if they're loyal to the game, maybe I'll just wait for the season 1 remaster or remake. 😛

BruteStock · 11-01-2023 3:07pm

You can't spoil something you never seen. Besides the show is going in a different direction indicated by replacing spores with tendrils. It's not going to be a scene by scene recreation of the game. I'd also be willing to bet the lodge scene is rewritten in some way for the show. That will likely be season 2 or even 3 so it will be a long wait to find out

CastorTroy · 11-01-2023 3:22pm

According to Brian Altano on IGN, who has seen the whole season, as well as other reports I've read the first season covers

The whole of the first game.

As for spoiling something you haven't seen, it's an adaptation so apart from some changes they stay mostly loyal. Same reason book spoilers aren't allowed in GoT threads.

With regard the spores, I usually thought they didn't make sense. Like removing the mask right after leaving a room, as if the spores wouldn't linger a bit in smaller numbers outside the area or even on the clothes, etc.

pixelburp · 11-01-2023 3:24pm

Mod: going to invoke the same etiquette that might be asked with any other sort of adaptation: if you're discussing events from the original source, put it behind Spoiler Tags. No more than the same approach worked fine with (say) Game of Thrones book spoilers back in the day.

Wanna talk something that happens in the games? Put it behind a Spoiler Tag. Many folk will be potentially watching this with a minimal or absent familiarity with the games and won't appreciate details being spoiled - especially some larger ones.

TheIrishGrover · 11-01-2023 3:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120094351#Comment_120094351

I just meant the last couple of lines in your post. The majority here have not played the game or sequel. And it could be years (if ever) if a season 2 is made. This wasn't a complaint about opinions or anything but just didn't want to ruin for the TLoU virgins :)

TheIrishGrover · 11-01-2023 4:13pm

But wait until Rick Grimes turns up in the last episode!!!!!

JK

BruteStock · 11-01-2023 6:21pm

K , no game talk.

About the tendrils, is it believable they could bring about the end of the world.. The spore infection is more threatening and dangerous because its airborne and almost invisible to the naked eye. The spread of tendrils would seem to be a lot more manageable hence why Day Of The Triffids wasn't set in an apocalypse.

TheIrishGrover · 11-01-2023 6:35pm

Yeah, those things are absolutely horrific in real life (Have seen the footage of them infesting an ant)

Zero-Cool · 14-01-2023 1:24am

Podcast companion show will release after each episode. The Chernobyl podcast companion was fantastic so I'm sure this will be worth a listen as well.

https://twitter.com/TheLastofUsHBO/status/1613974159213592591?t=d8w8bYR6jDVgyDWxop6Hvw&s=19

satguy · 15-01-2023 12:00am

If HBO want to change things we like, into something for the modern audience, then surely its OK for the old audience to get the hump and stay away.

Just look at what HBO have done to Scooby Doo, How can you have Scooby Doo without Shaggy.. It's not right..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT59Bx5EPtY

CastorTroy · 15-01-2023 12:15am

Shaggy is in it, just using his real name of Norville. scooby's the only one of the 5 not in it.

Anyway as for The Last of Us, I'd say they'll address some of the questions I had that aren't answered in the game

one armed dwarf · 15-01-2023 12:18am

Is the 'woke mind virus' like the fungus in TLOU in that it possesses certain users to just ramble on constantly about 'wokeness' in near every topic about current pop culture against their will?

Anyway, found this an interesting article on the apparent canonisation of TLOU as the best game ever, and how it may have rode a culture wave of similar stories which makes its cross over potential not that surprising in hindsight

https://www.polygon.com/gaming/23552202/last-of-us-greatest-video-game-status

noodler · 15-01-2023 12:27am

The reviews for this have had the same effect as the casting and superb trailers for me - absolute excitement.

Can't wait, only problem is the relatively poor quality of SKY GO streams.

NIMAN · 15-01-2023 3:35pm

Seems to be some excitement for this show 'dropping'.

I'm not a gamer, have seen the cover of the game in shops etc but no idea what it was about.

Only recently have a few gamer colleagues told me it's probably one of the best games in the history of computer games, and they are falling over themselves waiting for the show.

Let's hope it lives up to expectations. Lot of 'big' shows of recent times have disappointed.

brianc27 · 16-01-2023 5:34am

brilliant first episode i thought, some scenes seemed like they were pulled straight from the game but still enough going on to be it on thing, pedro pascal and bella ramsey are perfectly cast, hope the rest of the season is as good as that first episode

Slydice · 16-01-2023 9:40am

1: Feature length at 1 hour 20 mins!

Haven't played the game. Thought this was a solid intro to the world.

Guessing there's the outline to the story too.. maybe..

Something like.. the girl is immune and maybe a cure/vaccine can be created from that.

Then also about rescueing Joels brother. Maybe get to somewhere else to settle down or something.

Saying that, there's also feeling like a story there about him eventually dieing to save this girl.

With a maybe on this rebellion thing panning out to be the big story... after cure/vaccine I'd guess.

The one thing about the game I knew was from either watching a trailer for it or maybe a first 20 mins playthrough or something..

because I knew the daughter was going to die.

This didn't pack the same level of a punch as what I remembered from the the game.

Still it was done well enough and I'm not sure if my knowing probably affected it.

Slydice · 16-01-2023 9:46am

Oh.. and the song at the end is the 1987 song:

Never Let Me Down Again by Depeche Mode

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Let_Me_Down_Again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snILjFUkk_A

petes · 16-01-2023 10:21am

Watched it this morning and I'm a big fan of both games, thought it great tbh 😀

BruteStock · 16-01-2023 11:18am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120114364#Comment_120114364

There's no need to be telling people this. Credit songs can be a nice surprise at the end of an episode

BruteStock · 16-01-2023 11:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120114674#Comment_120114674

What part of spoiler tags about a show most have not seen yet do you not understand?

The Last of Us - HBO *Spoilers* See warning in post #1

Comments

The Last of Us - HBO Spoilers See warning in post #1