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NuclearLoop β Last of Us: Winter
Published: 2013-06-26 19:08:15 +0000 UTC; Views: 3531; Favourites: 59; Downloads: 13
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"No one that's infected fights this hard to stay alive..."Obligatory fanart again because I've lost control of my life over completing the Last of Us.
I had a more zoomed in version but I couldn't decide which I liked better. [link]
Teenagers are hard to draw :I Or at least trying to portray a character in my style is challenging fff. And it was hard finding a decent reference of her friggin winter outfit.
spoiler-talk below
First off this game was so amazing, I can't decide whether I liked this or Infinite more. It definitely tugged at my heartstrings more than I would have liked ;n; The ending, to me, was so unexpected because I was for sure it was going to end how I thought it would but I was pleasantly surprised and relieved despite my disappointment in Joel's selfish choice, but I can also sympathize with him as well and I didn't wanna see anything bad happen to Ellie anyway because she's my favorite.
But tthe Winter chapter was by far my favorite I think especially this scene in particular; [link] not just because you got to play Ellie but just showing her independence as a character and how brave she is for only being fourteen, and you don't get to see that a lot especially in a young girl character. I've been really happy with games this year regarding their companions because I loooved Elizabeth too from Infinite because they're more than the annoying tagalong character you're usually stuck with.
But anyways that David dude creeped me the hell out from the start even if he did come off as inviting first I knew something was up and of course it leads up to this moment where he's willing to kill a young girl or do other unmentionable things. But what I loved most about this part was Ellie didn't get a rescue, she rescued herself. Even when you played Joel coming to find her, I figured "Oh he's gonna save her, good." and in that last cutscene where David has her pinned I waited for Joel but nope that badass girl got hold of the knife and hacked that asshole's face to pieces all by herself and I was dumbfounded and happy.
I don't like to say I'm 'feminist' per say, but I really do believe strongly in female characters who don't need a savior and are portrayed as powerful and brave. (I'm pretty sure you can or will see that out of my own comic as well.) I know Ghibli does really well in this aspect, and I really liked Brave because of it too, but it's so hard to find a lot of these stories, at least catered to the majority of the population, showing women as strong and independent, and letting men say "Hey, I want to be on her side." I need to find this conference somebody spoke at who I quoted that from, it really formulates my opinion on it.
But the whole game in general steered away from a lot of usual tropes you find in zombie games which is why I enjoyed it so much I think, a few things I could predict but it didn't take away from the main story and especially how it ended, and even if a lot of people were mad at the ending I thought it was perfect.
Anywho, enough of my rambling, play the game yourself it's not disappointing and if you don't have access to a PS3 the whole gameplay is online!
Ellie (C) Naughty Dog
Art (C) ~NuclearLoop
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Comments: 37
Nolan North did a fantastic job playing as someone who's, well, how would Ellie describe him?
"Creepy piece of shit."
exactly.
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the game was awesome! it was a lot of fun X3
this looks epic!
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It really was, and not in ways you would think, it was more psychologically and morally terrifying.Β
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I won't say I liked David, I just think he was a very "interesting".
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Quite interesting, yes. I did not like him in the slightest, haha
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I love the whole game but i loved this part of the game for the simple fact that we got to see that Ellie a total bad ass killing machine.
Nicely done
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Same! 
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I don't think that Joel was being selfish. And i agree about David. I didn't trust the guy either, even if he was so.... welcoming in the beginning.
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I think he was selfish, but with good reasons to back it up. He loved Ellie like a daughter and she was pretty much the light of his life by the end of the story and he'd do anything to keep her safe and alive because he didn't want to be alone again, the story pretty much built up to those final few moments. But then he also doomed the entire human race to forever live among the threat of spores and zombies and also the threat of potentially being overthrown or wiped out completely when there was a chance to fix things and not live in fear anymore. You know Joel saved Ellie for himself and for her as well, and that's the only reason I find it selfish, but that's just my take on it!
Shady men around a fourteen year old girl in a post apocalyptic planet never means good, I knew David was trouble the minute he appeared >:'I
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Well, in the recordings you find when you're trying to save Ellie says that there were more people who were immune, but they had all died in vain. Sacrificing Ellie might've been in vain aswell and, to me, that would also be a reason to keep the fireflies from taking her life. It's true that Joel also didn't want Ellie to die because he started to see her as his daughter, but i think anyone would do the same. And as for the threats, the biggest threat, in my oppinion, wouldn't be the infected, but the hunters and bandits. And there is no cure for them. Not to mention that nature would find a way to deal with the infected, right? Doesn't nature always find a way?
And yeah, shady man around a fourteen your old girl in a post apocalyptic planet is, indeed, never a good situation. Despite the inviting attitude, i just couldn't trust the guy, either. XD
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Huh, I'll have to go back and play that part again cause I don't think I found all the recordings since I was more focused on saving Ellie through my tears x'D And this is true, it's sort of human instinct anyway to protect those closest to you and he very well could have saved her from a sacrifice that meant nothing in the end. And this is also true the hunters and bandits pose a big threat as well, especially because they're fully functional human beings who can find their way into heavily guarded camps and whatnot versus mindless infected who can be shot at a distance. Perhaps if they had found a cure though those guys wouldn't be wanting to rob and eat everybody XD There's two sides to every story, I guess it's just up to interpretation how everything played out in the end haha.
I admit I had doubts on whether or not David was gonna turn out the way I thought he was but I knew we wouldn't see the end of him after Ellie finally gets back to Joel after she hunted. Just some bad vibes, man :'I
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It's the doctor's recording, if i'm not mistaking, that tells you about 'previous cases' and 'hundred of men and women who bled for their cause'. It was because of that recording that i found Joel much less selfish. And i don't think i would just let the Fireflies kill my kid. So i would've done the same.
I didn't really have any doubts. I just didn't like the guy. XD
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Huh, then I'll have to look for that recording next time I play then XD Like said, I think anybody would put their loved ones before anything else, it's just sort of a natural thing to do I think
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Very naturall, yes.
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Normally I really hate the Damsel in Distress clichΓ©, but in this game I didn't mind it because for once they had someone fighting back while being captured. In most games. When a Character is captured they don't even try to fight back and doesn't do anything. However Ellie does and I like that.
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Yeah, that was one of the reasons I loved Ellie so much because she knew all the risks and even when locked in a cage at risk of being cut to pieces she still stood her ground and didn't let the guys get the better of her and utterly beat the crap out of them. I don't think I mind the damsel in distress aspect by itself but it usually bothers me when the main character (usually male) saves them, not that it's a bad thing but it was such an overused idea it seems. So Ellie saving herself was a great comeback for that, and a plus considering she was only 14. [I hope I'm not spoiling anything I assume you've beaten the game] Things like when she drowned towards the end where you had to get her I can tolerate though because she was physically incapable of swimming and she really couldn't help, nor when she was sedated and Joel was coming to get her.
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Yeah that's the reason I like her too. Unlike some Damsel in Distresses like Peach from Mario or Elena in the first Uncharted. Also you're not spoiling anything at all.
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It's a cool game!
Also, fun fact: "feminism" isn't a bad thing! It's been perpetuated as a terrible thing, but it's simply the fight for equality no matter what your gender is. And if you've been paying attention to all the debates over what rights a girl has over her own body (I speak of abortion bans and outfit bans in schools) and whether or not it's her fault over what situations she gets into (saying that she shouldn't have gotten raped instead of he shouldn't have raped her), then it's easy to see exactly how "terrible" it is.
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It is!
Haha yeah I think feminism is a good thing, I just don't call myself one I guess, I just strongly support some of the issues they fight for. And yeah I've been paying attention to those debates as well, just a lot of controversial topics I guess you could talk about. But I do believe women should be able to walk the streets with the same amount of control over their body and lifestyle as men do, I just find it ridiculous in this day and age we're still fighting for that. :C
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It's absurd, yeah. ono
I really adored watching both this game and Bioshock Infinite unfold, both because of the story and because the secondary characters, both female, were actually the main focus of the story. In BI Elizabeth's story was much more important than Booker's, and in TLoU it's the same for Ellie. Joel and Booker may be the "main" characters, but the story is not focused on them - it's given to two young women who totally blow it out of the water and are the stars.
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Tis unu
I agree! I think my worst experience with an escort game was Resident Evil 4 :'I These two games however worked so well I had nothing to complain about. I love how Liz was portrayed as smart and Ellie as brave and independent, and they both grew up quite drastically from beginning to end. AND the producers sort of steered clear of a lot of gamer-woman stereotypes and they actually looked like real women who aren't sexualized with revealing clothes and exaggerated features
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The revealing clothes bit is getting extremely tiring, really. There's nothing wrong with a chick wearing those clothes per se, but it's meant to be a sex object and she's obviously only eye candy. Give me a chick with revealing clothes but who's a hell of a character and carries through strongly and I'd be fine with it.
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Agreed x.x The only person with a lot of sexualized traits I can think of off the tip of my tongue would be Bayonetta, maybe, though I haven't played the game myself she's the main character who seems pretty self sufficient, but I'm not sure her entire story line.
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-shrugs- I guess we're at least making progress, even if it's baby steps.
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Last Of Us... I don't believe I heard of it, but seeing this fanart, I may have to do something about that :3
Wow! I just love the composition, everything! The warm orange glow really adds to the thrilling, suspenseful feel of this!
GAAAH! And creepy dark figure in bg is creepy O_o
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It's a super good game, I definitely recommend it!
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aaaHHH I agree with everything you said here. Gawd the Winter chapter was definitely my favorite part. I adore Ellie's character here, and especially how drastically she had to grow up.
At first, with this game, I felt all like "uggghhh not another escort story" but The Last of Us proved to be so much more. Getting to actually play as Ellie helped make it so she was more than just some AI behind you.
I was not expecting the ending, and I guess I both like it and don't like it. The mixed feelings come from me questioning who Joel has become by the end of it; because yay, everyone's okay, but also Joel... yikes.
Also good art too. C: your picture fits the scene flawlessly. Especially the light from the fire.
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Ohh I know, the character development in her was so natural. It seemed like she and Joel kinda swapped places where she was a little less talkative and grown up towards the end while Joel seemed more comfortable and open around her.
And yeah that was my biggest problem at first too but I'd been waiting for the game for so long I knew I was going to play it anyway (plus zambies). Ellie's character really blossomed from bratty teenage pottymouth to something fearless and mature it seems.
I definitely had mixed feelings towards the end as well but in the end I figured for their characters it was right. I was so mad at Joel though, and you could tell Ellie knew he was lying but he did it for her. I understood his reasons though but he also doomed the world to stay where it is for the rest of forever because he couldn't let her go. He seemed sooo changed from the beginning though, like sort of possessive/protective maybe? And I'm also a sucker for father/daughter relationships which is probably why I sympathize with him more than I should. But despite this I was happy Ellie or Joel didn't kick the bucket because that was honestly what I was expecting from the start pfff. My only question was will Tommy believe him when Joel gets home and says they stopped looking? >:V
And thank you!
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Yesss the character development totally worked. Ellie had to mature because of the world around her. And you're completely right about them switching places, almost as if they rubbed off on each other.
Haha I was 70% sure one of them would die by the end of it, so I'm glad that it ended with them both alive too. You feel really conflicted about the ending because you're glad everyone important to you as the player is still alive, but the world's been doomed because of it. And then Ellie has survivor's guilt while Joel is more protective, so I worry that they might not have the same wonderful relationship they had a bit sooner in their journey.
GAH good question, I hadn't thought about that. How do they explain that to Tommy? I think if he knew the truth he'd be eternally pissed, and probably maybe kick Joel and Ellie out.
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Haha yes, I think it was kinda sad how much Ellie had to grow up at her age but she's also super wise and willing to sacrifice herself for others, especially Joel, at the cost of her life. And like they said she would be willing to give herself up for a cure it would seem and you can tell when she talks at the end as well.
Yeah I was wondering about their relationship afterwards, you can kinda see how unsure Ellie was when they were getting back to that camp place. I know I wouldn't be able to see him the same way after everything they'd been through but at the same time I think back to her quote about her being afraid of being alone and you know she cares about Joel and maybe even appreciates him saving her, it's just one of those endings you kinda gotta interpret for yourself since it cuts off so abruptly.
That's what I wonder. Because Tommy knew Joel's struggle with losing his daughter and the reason he decided to help them was because he saw Joel cared about Ellie so he probably would assume Joel would do anything to keep her safe and I doubt "they stopped looking" would convince him. What if Tommy went out to the hospital himself and found all the Fireflies shot down? So many questiooooooooooooons ;n;
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This game is just so full of feels
I'm left with so many questions about how their lives will progress after all that
I would like to think Ellie still trusts Joel even if she could tell he was lying. Being so alone seems like the worse choice.
Oh NO that'd be bad if Tommy went to the hospital and put all the things together. Maybe if Joel told him that they would have had kill Ellie, Tommy would understand, but if he knew Joel killed the Fireflies too...ugh.
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Ugh I've never cried in a game so much, feels all over the place.
I think Ellie will settle after awhile, Joel only meant well for her when you think about it, maybe she'll return the favor or thank him for it someday yanno?
Yess ;n; I could see Tommy possibly sympathizing with Joel if he explained but being a firefly and whatnot I could see him getting angry too but I'm not sure what he'd do about it, kick them out or just sort of deal with it? >:I
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really! Very few games have made me cry that much!
That is exactly what my head wants to happen.
gaaah Tommeh
You can only hope for the best response, but we will never know!
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