> That doesn't mean that it is without merit. I also find it tiresome when people just claim everything is subjective when it really isn't.
I mean, if you want to look at things purely objectively, the last of us was a great game. It made tons of money, got amazing reviews, its recommended and loved by gamers, it frequently appears in lists of the best games ever made, it's won literally hundreds of awards, other game developers have cited it as an influence in their own highly acclaimed works, and it spawned (for better or worse) a media franchise that includes books, comics, television, a stage production, a Universal Studios theme part attraction, a sequel, and a handful of remakes/releases.
I struggle to come up with a single objective measure for a good game is that the last of us doesn't satisfy. It hits every benchmark except your personal feelings about it. Even as a fan I'd agree that it wasn't without flaws, but none of them were enough to make the game a bad one. The slow movement and scavenging were a part of the game's atmosphere that to many were actually beneficial to the game.
> The game is boring to play once you know the story.
I, and countless others, have replayed the game and didn't have that issue. It's kind of like going back to movie or book. Some people don't see the point in that either. It's not the best game for replay value. but there are some alternate game options provided and collectables if you missed any in the first run. Players can also experiment with with different weapons/upgrades/tactics. I suspect that most people who go back, go back for the story.
> How about I start awesome and become even more awesome? Or make it make sense that I am weak and incorporate it into the gameplay itself.
I agree with you there. If they're going to start you out weak when the character shouldn't be (I'll point again at spiderman here) they should at least come up with a reason for it. It's can still feel kind of cheap when all your powers are taken from you just so that you have to gain them back again, but some games don't even bother.
> As for PG-13, the old God of War games managed to garner a wide audience while being R rated. The argument doesn't make sense.
Sure, old God of War games. The nudity in those games have been a source of controversy and it's been dialed back. Not that it had any impact on the actual rating thanks to tons of violence but prudish Americans are fine with killing for some reason while drawing the line at boobs. There's no doubt that there will be people who won't or can't play games with a lot of nudity. Personally, I think America should grow up and get over the weird sex hangups, but Corporate America is full of cowards who only care about the bottom line and that doesn't encourage them to to push boundaries.
> They also soft-censor a lot of games. For example, the Stellar Blade demo originally (it was patched later) had a lot of gore and cleavage. The game that finally released toned down both.
"lack of cleavage" is really not something you can honestly criticize Stellar Blade for, even though some outfits have been changed. They absolutely caved and censored the work from where they started though. I didn't have any issue with the design of Lara for the reboots. She certainly wasn't sexless (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cb/Lara_Croft_(2...) and was still attractive. I wasn't looking for people's comments on her looks at the time though.
I mean, if you want to look at things purely objectively, the last of us was a great game. It made tons of money, got amazing reviews, its recommended and loved by gamers, it frequently appears in lists of the best games ever made, it's won literally hundreds of awards, other game developers have cited it as an influence in their own highly acclaimed works, and it spawned (for better or worse) a media franchise that includes books, comics, television, a stage production, a Universal Studios theme part attraction, a sequel, and a handful of remakes/releases.
I struggle to come up with a single objective measure for a good game is that the last of us doesn't satisfy. It hits every benchmark except your personal feelings about it. Even as a fan I'd agree that it wasn't without flaws, but none of them were enough to make the game a bad one. The slow movement and scavenging were a part of the game's atmosphere that to many were actually beneficial to the game.
> The game is boring to play once you know the story.
I, and countless others, have replayed the game and didn't have that issue. It's kind of like going back to movie or book. Some people don't see the point in that either. It's not the best game for replay value. but there are some alternate game options provided and collectables if you missed any in the first run. Players can also experiment with with different weapons/upgrades/tactics. I suspect that most people who go back, go back for the story.
> How about I start awesome and become even more awesome? Or make it make sense that I am weak and incorporate it into the gameplay itself.
I agree with you there. If they're going to start you out weak when the character shouldn't be (I'll point again at spiderman here) they should at least come up with a reason for it. It's can still feel kind of cheap when all your powers are taken from you just so that you have to gain them back again, but some games don't even bother.
> As for PG-13, the old God of War games managed to garner a wide audience while being R rated. The argument doesn't make sense.
Sure, old God of War games. The nudity in those games have been a source of controversy and it's been dialed back. Not that it had any impact on the actual rating thanks to tons of violence but prudish Americans are fine with killing for some reason while drawing the line at boobs. There's no doubt that there will be people who won't or can't play games with a lot of nudity. Personally, I think America should grow up and get over the weird sex hangups, but Corporate America is full of cowards who only care about the bottom line and that doesn't encourage them to to push boundaries.
> They also soft-censor a lot of games. For example, the Stellar Blade demo originally (it was patched later) had a lot of gore and cleavage. The game that finally released toned down both.
"lack of cleavage" is really not something you can honestly criticize Stellar Blade for, even though some outfits have been changed. They absolutely caved and censored the work from where they started though. I didn't have any issue with the design of Lara for the reboots. She certainly wasn't sexless (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cb/Lara_Croft_(2...) and was still attractive. I wasn't looking for people's comments on her looks at the time though.