A deep dive analysis of “The Last of Us”

Below is the premable for a piece that’s been an on and off production for the better half of two years. The aim currently is for this piece to be completed by July but given the length and overall scope of the piece, i’m not promising anything.

The Last of Us part 1 is a game I’ve played many a time at this point, as I finished it once on the PS3, twice on the PS4 and now once on the PS5 (despite it being no different than the PS4 version). My last run through of the game was actually around October of 2020 in which I blitzed through the game in anticipation of its sequel. I’m now revisiting it in order to fully gain the proper context needed when playing the second one again. The reason for this context despite having already played and finished the second game is that The Last of Us 2 (TLOU2) came out during the pandemic and as such, really came out at a point in which I was in a very negative head space. I couldn’t appreciate my time with the game and I ended up playing it out of sheer obligation rather than for enjoyment. This isn’t to say I didn’t like the game as I quite enjoyed the journey of the game when reflecting on its story. However, I’m unable to really dissect and critique the game in the way I normally would. As such, a rerun of the series is in order and this blog/article/mental raving of a former writer is here to document the journey on what was once a beloved game franchise.