Why didn’t 2020 impact The Last of Us Part II?

We are in unprecedented times with a world wide pandemic. The Last of Us Part II releasing to great reviews and strong preorders seems surprising given what we have seen in 2020.

In world where we are going through many different events currently, such as Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement, a game like The Last of Us Part II might hit a little too close to home.

The Last of Us being, a game about a sickness that has spread across the world and one about violence seems to be something I believe some people might wish to avoid right now.We already know that Neil Druckman shared early on when the game was first showcased that this game was going to be one about hate and violence.

Yet with the fact that there are parallels between the game and what is happening in the world right now, we can see that the game is doing very well on preorders, surpassing Spider-Man’s preorders in Europe. It also has received amazing reviews and is currently at a 95 on Metacritic.

The Last of Us Part II seems to not be, in any form, hurt by the current climate of the world. Yet there have been many other forms of entertainment, such as movies that have decided not to release certain films and shows that they think might be similar to the situation happening in the world.

Which leads to one of two very interesting thoughts. Either most people do not have as hard of a time separating the entertainment that they are watching to the real world events around them. The other being that people do not want to see media that is parallel to the pandemic, but The Last of Us Part II is excluded from that desire.

If the first is true, then the media industry truly need not worry about most of the entertainment that they release during this time.

However, I believe that it is most likely the second, for some reason TLoU has not been seen as problematic even though someone could very easily find similarities to the real world.

The big question, Why is TLoU still so enticing for so many players?

I think it comes down to a few different factors. The first being that people are excited for TLoU, it is the way that the game industry has always worked. We get small trailers and gameplay videos all the way up to release. Then, partner that with the fact that TLoU is one of the most critically acclaimed games ever. There are a lot of people that will probably always be excited to play it no matter what is happening around them.

I also think that TLoU might actually be in a way a therapy for some people, while the game will be dark and depressing. It is most likely going to be a game about trying to survive and overcoming the problems of living in a dystopian world. It may be that some players find it therapeutic to overcome the challenges in the game.

Then, there will most likely be players that are never even bothered by the similarities of the game to the real world. They may never even have it cross their mind, and thats okay, too. Video games are art like books and movies. They make people feel different ways and they may get a totally different experience from their play through of the game.

I think that ultimately it is important for a game like this to exist. I think that while the game may have its own flaws and may be coming out a very interesting point in time, 2020 needs a game that shows us that people have the ability to overcome just about any challenge that can be thrown our way.

So, if you play The Last of Us Part II I would like to hear about your experience. I think it will be interesting to find out what this game means to people in a time of uncertainty and fear about what happens next.