I’m about to say something that is going to piss off a lot of people… The Last of Us Part II is NOT worthy of winning any Game of the Year award from anyone.
If you’re a website, YouTuber, or video games award show host by a “big name” in the industry, then stop right now and put down that Game of the Year award before you do something that is fundamentally stupid and only serves to promote a game that doesn’t deserve any praise at all.
Now, why am I saying that The Last of Us Part II is not worthy of all the awards that it already has and will have thrown at it during these final months in 2020? It’s all simple, really: There are better games and reason out there rather than a game that only gets headlines and website clicks by being “controversial.” Think about it for a moment. The only times you hear about The Last of Us Part II is when:
- Blind praise is heaped upon it.
- The character Abby is mentioned/Used as a defense.
- Someone is upset that others have a lesser opinion about it.
Those are the only times you hear about this game. Not to mention that the game has lost all popularity over time. When was the last time, outside of the launch window, did you see The Last of Us Part II being played on Twitch? Never! At the time of writing, The Last of Us Part II has a total of just over 350 viewers on the streaming platform. Most of those are people who are on there “celebrating” that the game won Game of the Year on the recent The Game Awards show in 7 out of the 8 categories it was nominated in, one of which it was nominated TWICE.
Look, I know there are people out there who love this game to death and want to see it become one of the must-play titles ever, but once you strip away Abby and what including her into the story does on a social culture level, The Last of Us Part II was trash. Just about every review I saw, including our own, that the story was badly paced, characters were stripped away of any personality that they once had, the gameplay was rubbish, and that the sudden shift in tone and characters was a “slap in the face to fans of the original.” Yet somehow, The Last of Us Part II keeps getting praised as the best game ever for some reason (Something that is happening again with Cyberpunk 2077, a technically bad game getting perfect scores despite what is said in reviews).
I’m not going to get too far into the whats and why The Last of Us Part II is not the perfect game the sheep claim it to be, as that would mean getting into some socially unacceptable hot water. I’m just saying that a game that was given a perfection-style score has slipped off the radar till someone comes along to either defend the game or promote it when it’s time to heap more praise on games. I know 2020 has not been the best year for games, but it doesn’t mean we should be throwing terms like “Game of the Year” and “Game of a Generation” to it like a dog begging for treats. There are other games out there that have better graphics, gameplay, stories, and everything else that makes a great game this year.
If there is any game out there that actually EARNS a “Game of the Year” label this year, it is Animal Crossing: New Horizons… Yes, I said it.
Unlike The Last of Us Part II, which was a dark, depressing, horrid story, and was designed to create division and controversy, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a game that actually did some good in the world during one of the worst downturns in the world history, and is still played to this day, unlike The Last of Us Part II.
The thing we need to remember more than something that was created to be this social commentary on modern diversity inclusionism is that games are meant to be fun. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was that fun game. I know the game is nothing more than a life simulator mixed in with a mini city builder. Still, there was a point this year where more people were playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons than people were playing anything else on the planet. Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the game that saved millions of people from depression and boredom during a time when we were facing one of the worst pandemics in recent history, complete with a worldwide lockdown in many countries around the world. Animal Crossing: New Horizons became the game that you played to feel like you were going outside. You could invite your friends over to your island (or visit them) and be social from the comfort of your own home since you weren’t allowed out. The game was so popular that it took months to obtain a copy if you didn’t preorder the game. It created a run on Nintendo Switch consoles, selling so much that stock was impossible to get, something that hasn’t been seen since the release of Nintendo Wii (and more recently PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X/S consoles).
But how is it that a game like Animal Crossing: New Horizons that practically saved people get completely ignored and snubbed during awards season? Simple. Because those who love The Last of Us Part II, and the companies who want to stick their noses up Sony’s ass, need The Last of Us Part II to keep getting pushed into the spotlight so that they can get clicks, sales, and everything else. The Game Awards, which we recently saw via streaming platforms, is bought and paid for by Sony, Naughty Dog and is judged by nothing but gaming websites who gave The Last of Us Part II a perfect score and love to keep pushing the game on their sites to create controversy and call gamers “ists” and “phobes” from the comfort of their offices, remaining out of touch with the common gamer who might actually say something different about their beloved shill of a game. Remember, as former World Championship Wrestling President Eric Bischoff said, “Controversy creates cash.”
So when you go to do that Game of the Year list this year, think about the last time you even heard about The Last of Us Part II and what context you heard it in. Was it a positive mention? A random push of blind praise? Was it a comparison to another game? Or was it to create angry people to talk about The Last of Us Part II so that the site could call gamers “ists” and “phobes” all over again. Because when it comes to giving something Game of the Year, it should be about the game that was the most fun, enjoyable, and popular, not the game that gets its praise from being upsetting and anger-inducing to your community.
