pretty sure people are allowed to change opinions after 10 years, holding people to their initial opinions and thoughts on a product, while important is not the end all, be all of what they think and what they have to say about said product. Look at both of his Death Stranding videos, he makes it clear that the problems in the first review are still things he takes issue with, but now he highlights strong points, and this review really is no different, especially when the initial one was less than 2 minutes of actual criticism. *also this was pre-leaving league of legends dunkey we’re talking about, so yeah.*
I think he gives The Last of Us part 1 too much credit, The Walking Dead Game Season 1 already did all these themes first and done better without purposely creating a polarizing self-destructive sequel meant to divide fans into being at each other's throats. He mentions it but I get the feeling he hasn't even played it.
@@deadprank243 Nah. It's pretty consistent. The Clementine focused seasons were basically perfect with far superior writing and character development imo with an actual meaningful pay off not a dismal end making everything that came before it pointless because nothing was gained. It's a depressing ending simply for the sake of it then calling it a "deep" or "profound".
I loved that scene in The Last of Us Part 2 where Joel looks into the mirror and says “what have I become?” And there’s a flash of lightning and for one frame his face becomes that of Jeff Goldblum.
You can work on multiple projects without sacrificing every one of them. Dunkey tells the big publishers they are doodey, and then inevitably starts funding the small projects he believes encapsulate great games. A publishing manager may be working on over 3-4 dozen projects because each one doesn't need to be actively worked on by them. The artist is writing the book, the manager just keeps the timeline on schedule and networks where needed.
Part 2 is a prequel and Joel DIES in it. I hear ppl didn't like that and the whole time machine thing to bring him back to life.. I didn't play it but I would hate it too
6:18 What I like about the fact that it's a watch is how it symbolizes Joel being stuck in time with his traumas. He buries his humanity back in time when his daughter died, never expecting to change a thing about himself. Until he meets Ellie, that is.
@@estacion7386 they didnt say Joel wasnt a good guy, but that he is stuck with the trauma of watching his little girl die in his arms as he watches helplessly. That key traumatic moment defines Joels story for the years that come afterwards, it was the moment he lost his humanity
Man I still remember when I played last of us when it first came out how that first death scene tore my heart out of my chest the way his daughter gasped and whimpered in her dying breaths was hauntingly close to what I’d imagine real life would be like, I don’t know if I’ve ever cried in any other game but I’ll always remember crying during that scene. Truly powerful acting and storytelling.
YES! mediocre media conditioned me to expect a dramatic monologue from a dying child. instead it’s a few moments of animal anguish and terror as physiologic shock sets in, and you can almost feel her feeling silent blackness swallow her up… and then the whimpering just… stops. off screen. D E V A S T A T I N G
whenever dunky makes serious videos like this, you remember that not only did he get the world record on bowsers big bean burrito, but he's also really passionate about video games, and truly appreciates mastapieces like this and knack 2. Edit: holy ravioli, this blew up way more then I ever expected wtf!?
I discovered dunkey long ago and for me he was just funny but not much else. but one day I saw the dundertale video and I discovered a new way of enjoying his videos, not only funny jokes, but joy and passion for videogames. He is the greatest.
I've rewatched this vid so many times that the sudden, recent music change at the end (due to copywrite, no doubt) legit spooked me for a few seconds lol
When Ellie asked "hey who played that guy in Jurassic Park again? No not the old guy the other one" and Joel said "fuggedaboutit" it really cemented how far gone he was.
Jokes aside, I love how Dunkey deftly weaves between lighthearted commentary and profound understanding of games he enjoys. I know it’s easy to point at him and just say he’s the “RU-vid funny man”, but he has great writing chops and introspection when he dials it in.
Every now and then i come and watch your last of us reviews, and i’m just so grateful that you’re alive dunkey. Your ability to grasp every little detail that makes a game or a movie like this a masterpiece, my heart fills with joy hearing such a perfect understanding of a story.
Being able to move wind chimes with a rifle gun barrel in a post apocalyptic era is exactly what I wanted in a video game for years, and they finally did it.
The Last of Us reminds me a lot of the book "The Road". Very similar plot, you got zombies or you got really evil murderous cannibals. Both stories are about the journey the two characters go through. Its a very good way of looking at what it means to be human, why we act and do things a certain way. Both are amazing works of art.
literally just watched that movie like 20 min ago with my dad. we were saying the same thing about how similar it is to tloa, but we were also laughing at how depressing that movie is. like there is no upside during the whole thing except when they find that bunker and even then they had to leave it. it's almost funny how dark it is. very good movie though, acting was almost too good. the kid's crying was too real and vigo did fantastic in that role
There’s a reference to The Road in the game actually. One of Ellie’s joke books is called “To Get to the Other Side” which shows a chicken crossing a road and is written by Kathryn McCormac, an anagram to Cormac McCarthy.
Yea, its funny that the second game was on my mind when he said it. I haven't played either of them, is the first a self contained story? Don't want anything to do with the sequel after what I've heard about it.
Mate, your videogame critiques and reviews are better than 99.999% of so-called "professional game reviewers". You just GET it. This is why you're my favourite RU-vidr. Funny as fuck and the best person to review a game.
The strangest part is knowing that this person could write that whilst actually being old enough to have a RU-vid account... Although, not quite old enough that they could have been old enough to have it from the start. Account go bye-bye now.
this is my first serious dunkey video ever and man, this really hit. i never knew he could be so sincerely passionate, but it makes sense now that i see it. what an awesome video
My most prominent memory of this game is my girlfriend getting home from work and I just finished the part where Joel says "I sure as hell ain't your dad" and she found me in tears
last of us is probably the video game my mom knows best because when i got it for christmas, my mom sat and watched me play all the way through to Sam and Henry (and my mom at the time was pretty against violence and hated swearing, she's lightened up now, but at the time, its surprising that not only was riveted, but she actually really enjoyed where the story was going.) my next plan is to sit down and watch the series with her when its out
I remember talking with my brother in law about how it was really hard for me to play it for more than an hour or two at a time because of how intense it got. He was like haha whatever so we played it together. After an hour or so he was like "okay yeah I see what you mean."
I remember Christmas 2013 when I popped the game in I had just gotten to try it out. Just wanted to do the first level and see what it was like after months of hype built it up. As I played it my family slowly one by one started to poke their heads into the Den I was playing it in. By the time I was fleeing with Sarah from the clickers everyone was there. And as the top notch acting came in as poor Sarah bled out I remember the horror on my moms face and how my dad instinctively just put an arm on my little sisters shoulder. Mama asked me to play it later as it was Christmas and she wanted things to be cheery but I’ll never forget that moment
This video is such an emotional roller coaster. One minute Joel's shutting down emotionally, then I'm laughing at Jeff Goldblum, then I'm utterly shaken by the end. Your monologue was as artistic as it was reasoned.
@@uncleurda8101 Nobody is gatekeeping anybody. OP is allowed to feel however they want, but being shaken by somebody's video game analysis is either an overexaggerstion or an overreaction. If you can't swallow that.. well that isn't my problem either. So in the words of some other dumbass I just interacted with: get over it.
I know dunkeys content since the day I played league of legends, so about 14 years now? and I just want to say how much I appreciate your existence of delivering the world quality content. I dont think I ever seen a video that didnt make me happy. all your videos I can tell you put your heart and soul into it and thats why you're my favorite! nobody can take your crown ; - ;
I remember that first video, Dunkey is so intelligent about stories in films, but when it comes to video games I always found it odd how he reverted to a goopy brained gamer who didn't care about the nuances of a story, but it seems in recent years his opinions have changed to being more open minded about video games having the story be the centerpiece over the gameplay
@@greyfox4838 I just think it's because he matured a lot as a person. A lot can happen to a person in a decade and he stated once in his recent videos of how he is starting to appreciate the "works of art" within this world.
Eh, both points are accurate. Even for it's time the gameplay was nothing special, not terrible just not great. It's noteworthy that he compares it to films because that's what it's trying to be.
That ending…Dunkey tied bill’s line together with that music to really cement home his point AND just deepen how melancholy that foreshadowing really was…powerful.
The main problem is gamers seem to have incredibly low artistic literacy. The concepts presented by Dunkey in this video are actually pretty trivial and rudimentary in good storytelling; setting up character arcs, engaging with themes and ideas repeatedly, usually in different contexts to examine them from a new perspective (ie. The photo of Joel and his daughter; examined 3 times - once with rejection, once with embrace, once with loss). This stuff is everywhere, it's all around us, it's in good TV, good film (NOT marvel), it's in your very own life if gamers actually start looking. Can you find an object that's important to you? What does it mean to you now vs what it meant to you back then? How does its change of meaning reflect upon you? What does your changed perspective on a static object, theme or idea say about who you are and how you've grown as a person? I wish media literacy was taught more in schools. There's so much beauty to be found, but it seems that people blindly wander through stuff, they can't articulate why they like something or dislike something, they miss the point of things, they miss things outright. And gamers are chronic at this. TLOU2 is a near perfect proof of this exact fact.
@@Raecast Well it certainly doesn't help that most games dont have this basic and rudimentary story telling that you speak of. I think that was dunkey's point, TLOU does this extremely well in an era of games that could barely tell a story. And for it to be re-released 3 times and still hold up shows that.
@Raecast you kind of contradicted yourself there. you imply that predominantly gamers dont have media literacy and that good films and good tv are more consistently artistic, then say (NOT MARVEL!). not that I disagree, but clearly it isn't just gamers, most people don't have media literacy because most people aren't as interested in media as others. it would be like someone who was super interested in fitness saying "people have low fitness literacy when it comes to body parts and how to efficiently exercise them without injury, why aren't they taught in schools." because the truth is as important as exercise and art are, you only need a low amount to reap the main benefits, schools mainly teach an umbrella of sciences because they are the basis of how society operates, hoping that it will spark an interest in some for people to pursue and contribute in a more conventionally “helpful” way, whereas arts and sports etc are more so ways to enjoy life and appreciate it (to an extent of course). going back to my (semi) main point, I believe sturgeon's law might be an underestimate, especially in art, it's just much easier to see the trash and peoples opinion on it today than yesterday. look through the most popular films in terms of box office sales of the past (even in years when now stone cold classics were released) most of the top movies will be fairly lowbrow conventionally enjoyable light movies and not these highly respected art pieces. on top of that games have been a medium for a much shorter time than say literature (a medium which was shunned when it was first introduced as inferior to poetry), which is so developed that blood meridian was published and ignored years before TV producers (much less video games) opposed to Tony soprano killing even a single person on screen and they've been a *story telling* medium for even less time! and yet games like pathologic, turgor and Kentucky route zero have been released not long after games first blossomed as a viable artistic outlet. This is not even considering the way in which pure gameplay can be its own artistic expression (for example a game like ape out or shadow of the colossus) similarly to how the prose in, say, the lime twig can create a bleeding feeling of negative space. I think dunkeys comparison to the godfather is an apt one: a work that is respected and appraised by critics for being so tightly well written and well executed but overall is not the best representation of what that medium can truly do, isolated from the need of a story. Like you said these ideas are present in *good* films and *good* tv, not mediocre tv (unless i misunderstood and you were agreeing with him on its merits) Sorry if this is a scattershot of ideas but I dislike when people say “this generation is x” or “this medium is x” when i dont think an inferior medium exists. It's all in the humans that create it and humans as a whole are never really more or less intelligent, just more or less knowledgeable. Give it time and gaming will produce a significant gallery as the sieve of time sifts through the lesser works and people start rediscovering hidden classics.
@@Raecast Art and by extension media literacy is ironically becoming a lost art. It starts early, with an acute focus on income & stem related fields. The creatives are stifled in the traditional school system, and set up for failure with a distinct lack of funding for programs that will allow these individuals to flourish. I'm not that creative, but I don't know if I ever would've been either. It's a failure of the western world, specifically in NA though. Social media doesn't help at all, although with RU-vid & TikTok I think we actually are seeing a bit of a resurgence, albeit in a different form.
I died crying going down memory lane about last of us again. Such a strong story and just shows how strong video games can make a story feel. And then I died laughing because I'm watching a Dunky video and I'm crying during it
I don’t think i’ve ever seen a commentary video that captures the feeling of a game so well. The thoughts I had while playing it sprung back like I was there again and it started raining in my room.
Believe it or not this is my favorite game. You hit the nail on the head with this video. I know the game has plenty of flaws but I’ve never felt so immersed in a character before. Glad you got to replaying it and that you enjoyed it. I actually just finished another play through yesterday haha! Cheers bud.
Dunkey has been one of my favorite, one of the BEST, content creators for like a fucking decade. Nobody balances careless humor and sincere passion for their craft like he does.
For real though. Can we just appreciate how Dunko keeps the party up front and business in the back? I can consistently count on him to balance such passion with jokes in such a flawless way.
Donkey, I've watched every single one of your videos for the past 19 years (Morose Mordekaiser, anyone?) But I think this video is my favorite. I love it when you go into depth on things, and talk about the subjects most reviewers won't bother to. I've never played Last of Us, but from your description I knew right away that Joel was compartmentalizing. And then you identify it right away too. Put a real smile on my face. Pointed at my phone like I was showing something to somebody. I appreciate you Donsly. Mwah.
This is the first time I’ve ever stopped to realize that naughty dog characters are AI companions…it’s so weird to think about because of how well they’re performed
@@hulkamania5071 What Sorus meant, I think, is that reaching suspension of disbelief with an AI character is difficult and rare. AI companions are still mostly buggy, glitchy, poorly written, poorly animated, idiotic, annoying, artificial garbage. To not feel that way towards an AI character is an achievement.
omfg, no theyre not. jesus christ you people are so easily fooled. the ai is not good because it doesnt go with the gameplay. it adds literally nothing. this is still a video game
@@mitchhamilton64 exactly, it adds nothing gameplay wise so it doesn’t have the opportunity to be buggy and annoying. Your suspension of disbelief is heightened because of the ai. That’s what a good video game is, An immersive experience where you are absorbed by the narrative, and ai like Ellie, sully, Dina, Tess, bill, Chloe, sam, lev and so on and so forth enforce the idea that these are supposed to be real characters, not just elements of a game. The fact that I could name all of them off the top of my head says how important they are to a game like this, and how memorable the experience is because of it.
Holy shit man, ive played this game so many times, but you just said some shit that makes me look at certain aspects in a different way. Thank you man. That was fucking awesome!
Very cool to see Bigmode's first indie hit, The Last of Us Part 1. Dunkey sure knows how to pick them. Very bold to greenlight a sequel so soon, but that's Bigmode for you.
Wow, this is probably the most serious, deep and beautifully done dunkey review I have watched....perfectly suitable for a dark and serious story like TLOU
Donkey’s fascinating and analytical approach to understanding story telling in games is hard to beat. Even if you don’t like it at times it still feels you can’t realistically disagree with his personal perspective and take aways. Love ya dunk love these videos.
I never really thought about how Tess thought she was sacrificing herself to save the world in a last ditch effort to redeem herself, but ultimately she didn’t even get what she wanted when Joel killed the fireflies and rescued Ellie.
The irony is that Joel’s actions didn’t really change anything. The Fireflies couldn’t have cured the virus - imagine trying to manufacture and distribute a cure or vaccine on a global or even national scale, when what you have at your disposal is a single rundown hospital and a bunch of dirty, secondhand equipment. The conceit of the whole first game is very cleverly making you believe any of it matters, but really their grand plans were all doomed from the start. TLoU is a great tragedy.
That's never talked about enough. She had faith that he would do the right thing, which would be bigger than him. It's sad that she doesn't know it was all in vain.
'A story that you see repeatedly in the background of this game is how when people show their humanity, when they finally let their guard down and do the right thing, their rewards is...death." A very accurate take, and one that applies to Pt 2 as well. Joel does let his guard down by opting to save Abby, only to end up being lured to his death. It's no wonder that Ellie becomes so dehumanized in the second game. The world she lives in punishes people for trying to be good.
Which makes it so much kore powerful when they choose to do good. They choose to be good, not seeking any reward, knowing punishment awaits, because they truly are choosing to be good.
One of the criticisms of the game was always "Joel would never do that," which always annoyed me because that argument is clearly devoid of context. The whole series is about how that is (literally) the last of all of us. Hints are shown at the beginning of part 2 that Joel has let his guard down and softened up. Any basic level of common sense (and evidence from in game) tells us that Jackson takes people in, and that's what he was trying to accomplish. He also clearly by the opening shot feels very guilty about what he did to the fireflies. The decision of helping Abby and joining this group was not "out of character," it's character development. I'll never understand why critics of part 2 live under the assumption that characters must stay exactly the same and never change for their entire life.
@@20tetsuo77 exactly. And to add on to your point, we even saw Joel softening up in the first game. Sure he still ended up killing the doctor and more fireflies after he started to soften up, but by the end of the first game joel is already a much different person than he was in the beginning of the same game. People seemed to think that in part II they needed to compare him to the version of Joel that he was at the moment we picked up playing as him at the first cut to 20 years later in the first game, but really he should be compared to the end of the first game if anything. Which you still need to take into account the fact that he lived in a good civilization for 5 years and likely was bringing in new people to that civilization very often.
@@20tetsuo77 Ye, people probably just hated that Joel pretty much wasn't in the game. However, I must admit I too was slightly annoyed with Abby parts and the ending felt weird to me. Like the flashback and ohmigod what have I done I can't kill my 1000th enemy in the game just wasn't it for me. I would welcome a very dark ending where she finishes her revenge and THEN realizes nothing really changed que the scene at the house at the end. Maybe even a suicide scene. Maybeeee even INTERACTIVE suicide scene tho It may be too drastic but implied suicide with fade to black would be acceptable I think. To be clear I'm a sucker for happy endings but the theme of the game just begged for such a devestating ending.
You know the writing is good when it makes my heart hurt to watch a Dunkman video about it and I've never even played it myself. I've only watched SSoHPKC's playthrough of it 8 years ago and it still hits so hard.
One of my favorite games of all time and dunk perfectly articulated why. Just a beautiful game with some of the best storytelling and characters the medium has ever seen. Joel losing his daughter at the beginning made me cry. Best opening ever, IMO.
I tried this once like a year ago and got bored pretty quick. The walk heavy gameplay was a bit mid. But I watched the pilot of the show with my dad the other day and was pretty intrigued. I feel like I should give it another try, considering I've come to appreciate gaming narratives a bit more
I've never commented on one of your vids, and I don't know if you read them or not, but I've been a long time watcher. Just wanted to say how impressed I am by this review/essay, it's humanistic insight and empathetic commentary are some of your greatest skills. You some how have the ability to make me laugh till I'm crying and cry till i laugh. It's impressive to say the least. These style videos remind of the essays that Koganada use to do for Criterian Collection (before he became a wildly successful film director). Anyway keep it up!
Dunks, I just want to say I really appreciate your thumbnail, my best friend was an artist for the remake and one of her very first things was recreating this scene. We used to sit around and watch all your vids and laugh our asses off. I was nearly in tears seeing that be your thumbnail. thank you for bring joy to my friend during her stressful times.
ya his insight is great. People too often only look at games skin deep. The game was good and emotional but many only think that far. Taking it for all of its subtext and depth is something that only comes often when playing a second or third time of a game. Even though it isn't hiding the intended emotional response there are layers to it.
@@TheMomentNo Gotta say I disagree, the gameplay loop surprises me every time with how well set up it is. Only part that sucks is on high difficulties when you have to spend too much time looting in order to survive at all.
Dunkey is giving us everything that comes to mind. The fluxuation of pace in recent videos, frustration, rabbit holes, and rants are all a part of the creative process. Very thankful that we get to see the realest dunkview we could ever ask for; this channel.
Phenomenal video. I've still never played the game, but this piece got me to care about these characters, while still combining social commentary and humor so effortlessly with a momentum that leads to a satisfying conclusion. And with the added context of the games that came before and after it, it truly deserves that earnest end title card of "more dunkey." Excellent work.
I think another thing that makes this game so special, is how it treats death. There is no long goodbyes, there is no montage of all the good times, it's fast, and disturbing. Tess didn't go out as a hero, she didn't die by gunfire as she sacrificed herself, taking some with her, Tess got put down like an animal by people who didn't even think twice
When people show their humanity. When they finally let their guard down and do the right thing. Their reward is death. This is an idea cemented into every human being in this game. It's something that Joel understands better than anyone, and yet in the right circumstance even he says FXXK it. Gosh! This is so poetic.
Definitely one of the best video games I ever played. Didn't know they're planning on a multiplayer game though. Which is awesome, cause the multiplayer VS mode in the game was actually a lot of fun.
@@zackwyvern2582 Exactly! You described my thoughts even better than how I did. You know, I have unsubscribed from a lot of gaming channels lately (I still love gaming, but don’t have the time to watch RU-vid videos about it). So, it makes me happy that those creators that are special for me can still enjoy it and express themselves. Here’s to Dunkey and to you 🍻💪🏻
