Forgettable and 2 years after the fact there's still discussion about the game. People feel some type of way about what happened to Joel to such an extent that it prevents them from enjoying a classic game. If the spoilers don't happen we'd have a better perspective from those that hate the game. I wish it didn't go down like that.
Neil used TLOU2 as a experiment and unfortunate sacrifice for objective story telling, where the meanings behind the story are the characters vs. the characters in of themselves, who only help represent the microcosm. Neil focused on the meaning rather the characters, even though, as smart/genius as he is, I think he genuinely underestimated how many people (not just neckbeards) are attached to Joel and how much they would hate Abby or refuse to try to understand her story at least. The game was brilliant for me until the ending which was horrible. However with the right framing it can be a deep and I appreciate it now but I think they should have kept the dark tone and left the plays truly feeling empty by killing Abby in that state like Neil originally intended.
I appreciate TLOU2 because now more devs are going to take risks in story telling and characters. More experimentation but the key is the game and story has to be quality. One criticism I agree with is that the conversations aren't as deep and meaningful. A lot of stories follow themes of idealism and the author's own subjectivity while TLOU2's story shows how our objectivity is our subjectivity, and what happens when a story is told objectively, as a series of events with each event being a consequence of the 1 before it
