Quote Originally Posted by TriggerWarning View Post
You can't believe the user reviews on this game.
I actually agree. And I wasn't just talking about the game's user reviews.

I am talking about the fact that Naughty Dog the game's publisher are outright trying to chill criticism of the game even ones that come from more neutral corners. As that Polygon article mentioned:

That protective shield around The Last of Us Part 2 can be seen any time the creatives or talent behind the game jump into critical conversations about it. It’s made talking about the game exhausting. On the one hand, we have bigots trying their hardest to tear the game down for its inclusion of queer characters. On the other hand, we’ve got the people who actually made the game putting their figurative fists up. On the third hand (go with it), we’ve got fans and professional critics trying to share their own takes on the game, good and bad and everything in between.
There are neutral criticisms of the game, and ND isn't dealing with that very well which suggests some very thin skin, and I suspect, a guilty conscience about how they overworked their staff.

Its very obvious that this game got review bombed by homophobes, transphobes, and people scared of Abby's muscles (aka she isn't fappable for them) for being unrealistic yet are undoubtedly silent on other video game females like Quiet from Metal Gear Solid or any waifu looking girl from most any Japanese game.
Again I agree. I will add that Metal Gear Solid V Phantom Pain is another example of a really superhyped and overpraised-at-launch sequel ultimately becoming diminished over time.

In any case, just because a media product becomes an object of hate by the "wrong crowd" doesn't mean that the game in question is validated. Right wing types and obnoxious types are irrational by nature (remember how Rush Limbaugh went after Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises for being anti-Romney because the villain resembled Romney's company Bain Capital?). And some people in the LGBTQ community have issues with the game, with the way it portrays Lev.

Eventually the game will face further backlash for the fact that after promising and building up Ellie as the biggest lesbian character in gaming, she's not allowed to headline her own full game the way Joel got to in The Last of Us. Put together TLoU, Left Behind, TLoU-2, and in playtime, Joel is still the biggest campaign and protagonist of the series, while Ellie gets second place with a small lead. The subtext of TLoU-2, with the lesbian girl condemned for (accidentally) killing a (highly irresponsible and idiotic) hetero woman, her girlfriend being bisexual (and so available in the narrative to become a baby carrier) and ultimately leaving her, does come off as glorified queerbaiting.