The Last of Us Part II - Critics vs Community

Finally, after so many years of waiting, the sequel to the legendary story of The Last of Us arrived this Friday 19th June on PS4. With expectations high, the entire world dived into the experience resulting in highly polarizing feedback - with the community on one side and the critics on the other side - is The Last of Us Part II a masterpiece or an absolute disaster? 

Above is the situation as displayed on the Metacritic page - high praise averaging 95 from 94critics while the user score submitted by over 20,000 community members sits at a dismal 3.3. 

Let's start with the positive: what do the critics have to say about The Last of Us Part II? The following quote from Gaming Age is probably the most suitable, as a standard for what most critics had to say. 

With an enthralling story, complex characters, interesting gameplay and gorgeous visuals and audio, The Last of Us Part II is probably one of the most polished videogame experiences out there and it’s pretty easy to give it a great score and call it a day. But honestly, thanks to the intense pace, mature subject matter and stressful situations, it may not be for everyone.

That last part is cause for worry - 'may not be for everyone'. The community definitely agrees, as represented by the following selected review: 

Graphics... That's the only good thing about this. Everything else is either mediocre or down right awful. The game play did not evolve one bit since 2013. It's still a walking simulator that's more a movie than a game, which would be enjoyable if it had a good story but God damn is it bad. The story simply broke my heart and not in the good way. It's like a spit in the face of the entire fan base.

It's like the worst fan fiction you could possibly find. Seriously? This is what you came up after 7 years? Did Twitter write this game? It's full of plot holes and the characters you fell in love with in the first game are completely ruined and you are forced to play with the character that ruined them. - Lex1993

Most reviews offered the same criticisms - high levels of disappointment after the incredible wait, a dissatisfactory story mode, identical gameplay to the prequel and above all, a narrative driving certain ideas very aggressively in the players' face and abandoning beloved characters. 

Multiple news sites have reported this as 'review bombing', however, I wouldn't be so quick to disregard the community's negativity as mindless 'bombing'. 

Naughty Dog didn't make it easy on themselves either. When you forge such a masterpiece such as The Last of Us and continuously promise a sequel for so many years, people's expectation will rise. Yes, maybe some reviews are out of frustration due to this and perhaps not completely factual, but does that discredit the community's feedback? 

Has Naughty Dog responded in any way? Neil Druckmann, Vice President at Naughty Dog, had the following to say on Twitter earlier today: 

Oh man... in just a few hours we have almost DOUBLE the number of user reviews for #TheLastofUsPartII than the first game received in seven years. Love that passion!

That is not a response that respects the community's feedback. They're supposing that all the reviews are mindless review bombs which aren't legitimate. 

It's definitely discomforting to witness this level of disrespect to the community which has been patiently and loyally awaiting a sequel and have the right to give feedback. Are the critics offering valid reviews or are they afraid to negatively review the heavily awaited Playstation exclusive? 

That's all for this discussion - let us know if you've played The Last of Us II and share your experience in the comments section below - who's right, the critics or the community?