The Last of Us Part 2 - Trying to be The Good Guy

[@andybagles4156]

Can I know what Songs are at 33:06 and 37:10? Another Great Vid!

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Ye! That's Lady Maria from Bloodborne, "Disease" from Pathologic (fantastic soundtrack, sequel is a better game), and Forgotten from FutureGrind (fun bike game that was part of The Bundle for Racial Justice that was up this summer).

[@andybagles4156]

@@MoxyCaldwell Great Music, knew it was either Dark Souls or Bloodborne but couldn't remember which. Nice Music choice Dude! :D

[@superstrat5826]

It's criminal this doesn't have more views to be honest.

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Thanks for checking it out! Looks like the algorithm's picking it up now, so we'll see how this goes. Thank you for the kind words.

[@SR-og5ec]

This is a really good video. Well done.

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Thank you! I really appreciate all the kind words from people and love to see that folks are enjoying it. Did this just get posted somewhere new? Just been getting a bunch of views out of nowhere.

[@bilong92]

great video essay

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Thanks friend!

[@alancaldwell5875]

Max, very detailed, insightful, and interesting! While I am not a gamer, this video gets me thinking! Thanks.

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Thank you for watching!

[@chombul]

Max...I have not played this game BUT very thoughtful analysis of your game play and great historical perspective. Thank you.

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Thank you, Ben!

[@eccforsythia]

This made me want to play the game ... thanks for the insight!

[@Barcadelft]

How do you only have 56 subs with such a great quality video?

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Thank you for the kind words! I think it's because I've tried to make long videos like this before and learned a bunch about video editing without actually finishing them (and also learned a lot by watching a TON of KZbin video essays). So, I got the skills without building an audience. I lost my job when Covid happened, so I've been taking some time to focus on remedying that. I really appreciate your feedback, it's nice to know my work is resulting in peoples' enjoyment.

[@Barcadelft]

@@MoxyCaldwell you definetely got the skills, now its time to build that audience. Keep up the work and im sure it will come. Sucks to hear about your job.. covid is a bitch

[@MoxyCaldwell]

@@Barcadelft Haha certainly is! Hope you're hanging in there too!

[@sophiawarren5050]

As a lifelong non-gamer (I am a girl, therefore legally not allowed to play them online # Zoe Quinn # Gamers Rise Up # Justice), I can say with certainty this ranks highly within a collection of KZbin videos I love... where the subject is a video game (I am so sorry, but could not care less about)... but the topic is a moral, philosophical, political discussion that gives me a deeper and greater empathy on the human condition... exactly as art has such a unique power to do. Thank you for sharing your talent and your skill with the world. (subscribes, clicks bell)

[@MoxyCaldwell]

I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised to hear that a lot of the videos I watched in preparation for this did not paint a flattering picture of male gamers. You could make a drinking game out of people bringing up Abby's arms. I hope to provide a bit of a less toxic alternative, though I fear I may have been a little counter-productive in including an Anita Sarkeesian clip to intentionally piss people off.

[@johnathonhand8570]

One criticism: please make more videos.

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Aw, you're so kind. I'll keep that criticism in mind and see if I can find some way to address it.

[@vallraffs]

Really great video. Although I think one aspect that may be flawed is that it tries to deconstruct arguments that people who dislike the game might have with a focus on the emotions the game tries to instill in the player. This is a reasonable approach and gives a very good review of the game as a narrative, but I don't think it will be one that people who really hate this game will really be receptive to. Folks who badly hate this game often don't offer their arguments in similar terms of these are the emotions evoked by the game here, this is what it attempts to convey, etc. They voice their criticism of the game instead by pointing to "bad writing" or "*objectively* bad writing", in a pretty nebulous sense. If pressed they'll talk about the scenes with dogs you mention as manipulative, or say the whole game is all about making the player feel guilty. But for the really staunch people who vocally hold TLOU2 up as the worst game of the year and such, making arguments going into any kind of alternate interpretations of the game isn't really something they engage in. They have a very objective and predetermined view of the game, where they are correct, the interpretation on the game and it's story that sprung up after the original leak months before the game came out is the undisputably correct one, Joel's death was an inherrently objectively bad plot element and the game is disrespectful to "the fans". In other words, I think the people who make the most inaccurate critiques of the events in the story won't accept anything to do with hating Abby. They would probably just say she is a bad character and that's what makes the game bad, nothing about any kind of emotional impact being relevant to their analysis, which is based more in "facts don't care about your feelings" (and their opinions of the games are the closest thing to facts).

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Thank you for the kind words and for the feedback! I got to a point where I had like an hour-long draft of this video and realized I was trying to do so many different things and doing better with some than others. I ultimately decided to be done quicker with the video and have something that fulfills being a thorough analysis of the game and an explanation of how people often justify awful things and maybe less good tool of convincing people. That is something I want to get better at in the future though, so I appreciate you bringing it up!

[@braydenisstillhere]

One of my friends and I were talking about THAT scene between Abby and Owen, and just how jarring and unpleasant it is to watch. Compared to Ellie and Dina’s scene early on in the game after they smoke, this scene feels very desperate and just wrong to watch. But we think that the Abby and Owen scene is that way because Abby is still holding onto her past and Owen is someone she loves from her past, yet in a toxic way. I mean, they don’t even look at each other 😳 With Dina and Ellie, their scene is very pure and that reflects how real their emotions are for each other. Just a thought! Great video analysis!

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Thank you for that, I really love that interpretation and am always happy to have more ways to think about this game. That makes sense about them not facing eachother. Hadn't thought about it that way. I think the scene would have no problems if it were in something live action I just dont quite think video games are to a point where it scenes with that detail aren't a bit offputting. But it also didn't bother me that much. Just wasn't the hill I chose to die on.

[@andybagles4156]

The Shot of Joel grabbing Abby isn't the First Time we see him though? There's the whole Opening Sequence with Tommy, the Horse Ride, visit Ellie and playing the Guitar?

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Yeah, I just meant after the jump in time! Since we stay with Ellie as we flash forward four years, but only hear Joel referenced in conversation until we see him from Abby's perspective.

[@andybagles4156]

@@MoxyCaldwell Ahhh sorry my bad. In terms of Joel I always kind of forget it takes place basically a few Weeks after the First Game.

[@MoxyCaldwell]

@@andybagles4156 No worries! I just have the timeline of the game forever seered into my cortex forever now after making this .

[@andybagles4156]

@@MoxyCaldwell Playing this Game for the 4th Time and your analysis still brought subtle Story Neuances to light that I hadn't thought about before.

[@MoxyCaldwell]

@@andybagles4156 Awww. I'm so glad to hear it. One of the reasons I made it was because I felt like my framing allowed me to enjoy it, so I hoped I could bring some enjoyment to a lot of the folks who were disappointed with the game. Any new stuff you discovered with each successive playthrough.

[@PowersOfDarkness]

WLF are the good guys Viet Minh were the good guys Palestinians are the good guys

[@MoxyCaldwell]

Meant more to highlight how people feel justified in doing bad things in the specific way this game was interested in, but yeah, fighting colonialism is good. www.vice.com/en/article/bv8da4/the-not-so-hidden-israeli-politics-of-the-last-of-us-part-ii Thought this was a interesting article that I wished I'd included or otherwise addressed.

[@lego7817]

Well, you still choose to stear clear of the biggest flaw in the story. Theres a huge difference between Ellie and Abby... how they kill and what pleasure they get out of it and yet the game asks of us to put them at the same level. The failure of this goal leads the game to feel like a cheap pointless emotional mindfuck. Its a tired anti war/circle of violence message done by a storyteller with a lack of experience. Theres no art here, only "wouldnt it bee cool ifs" which you can (almost) get away with in a videogame.

[@MoxyCaldwell]

I know my argument isn't bulletproof, but the first part is more-or-less what I was trying to address with the segment at 26:00. I legitimately don't find a huge difference between the two ways they commit violence. Would love to hear stuff to the contrary though.

[@SR-og5ec]

Oh Lego, Lego Lego... This was a brilliant piece of art and is the best game of this year if not the best game of this generation. Your criticism is ridiculous and as accurate as a Trump rant.

[@lockekappa500]

Yeah, he 100% addresses this, probably in more detail than most things. Constantly we're coming back to how similar Ellie and Abby are on so many levels. I'd recommend watching the video again...or for the first time. ;)