The Last of Us Part II is out and the internet if rife with debate over whether or not the game is a masterpiece, if the violence depicted is necessary, and if the discomfort the game imparts of some people is a valid criticism. But I want to focus on an aspect of the discourse that I don’t think has been represented.
The games industry, in spite of greater financial success, still feels the need to prove its validity and storytelling capability to older media such as movies. As much as I wish it weren’t the case, many people outside the world of gaming still see the medium as lesser then passive media. Because of this, whenever a game comes out that pushes the bounds of a gaming’s storytelling power and can objectively demonstrate the industry’s artistic validity, the game ends up becomes a sort of symbol to represent how far video games have come in their ability to make people feel emotion.
The problem with this line thinking is that many feel that this means the game in question needs to be infallible. The masterpiece can’t be imperfect, so when that status is questioned many go on the attack. What makes TLoU II unique however, is that there’s no question of the game’s ability to impart an emotional experience. The issue is that the experience is one of suffering and guilt.
TLoU II is a visual marvel but the gameplay and narrative can make people feel uncomfortable and make it hard to want to keep playing. That level of discomfort can make people feel negatively about their experience (which is a perfectly valid reaction) but many want this game to be a perfect experience that everyone needs to play, so they feel these reactions and content warnings serve as a black mark, preventing it from being masterpiece that many in the gaming world want it to be.
I think the point I’m trying to make is this: we’ve forgotten that a masterpiece that imparts a negative experience is still art. The goal of art is to make the audience feel what the artist wants them to feel, and The Last of Us II absolutely succeeds on that front. But this also means that when people have that experience and don’t enjoy it or the emotional toll it can take, those feelings are just as valid as the games artistic merit.
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