For reason I do not understand, after posting here about the game constantly crashing, it stopped doing that. I kept the framerate capped at 60 fps and my computer's fan still worked at top speed to keep the processors cool, but it wouldn't crash like before, even when opening the crafting menu (formerly the kiss of death). With that annoyance out of the way, I started to enjoy the game more - I might even go so far as to say that I liked it. It's a lot better when you're not screaming in frustration at the screen every hour.
Even though the story's basically a cross-country road trip, it's far from an open-world game. You're constantly working your way through gauntlets of alleys or hallways or some paramilitary base, which brings up a ludonarrative anomaly - if you're in a zombie apocalypse and you know those zombies don't like direct sunlight, why in the world would you crawl through sewers, basements, and abandoned hospitals? If I were in that situation, I'd be outside all the damn time, and would only venture indoors if there were absolutely no other choice.
But in the game, Joel and Ellie are constantly deciding things like, "Hey, let's cut through that boarded-up factory," or "That subway tunnel should make a good short-cut." It's necessary for gameplay, but it's ridiculous to think people would make those decisions in that situation. If it were me, I'd travel outdoors, I'd sleep outdoors, I'd piss and shit outdoors, and if you found me indoors, don't blink because I'd be back outside again before your eyes opened back up.
Spoiler alert: stop reading now if you haven't played the game or seen the HBO series. There are two key moments near the end of the game where Joel has to make some major decisions, things that would have profound implications on the plot if they didn't come up near the very end of the game.
First, after getting Ellie to the researchers looking for a cure to the zombie apocalypse, Joel has to decide whether to allow them to "harvest" her brain and save humanity, or to rescue Ellie and save her, but possibly doom the rest of humanity to the infection. In a role-playing game, you'd get to choose one course or the other, even if only a monster would agree to harvesting her brain (the scientists make a pretty good case for making the sacrifice for the good of humanity, though). But the game decides for you to rescue her, leading up to the final boss fight against a whole base of militants.
Second, after successfully rescuing her, Joel lies to Ellie about what the scientists wanted to do. He doesn't tell her that he rescued her to save her life, even though her death could have saved the rest of the world. Later, she stops him and makes him look her in the eye and swear he told her the truth, and he maintains the lie. That would have been the player's choice in most other games, too. Both decisions don't really matter in The Last of Us, Part 1 because right after he repeats the lie, the end credits start rolling on the screen. But in a perfect world, Part 2 would have at least two different paths depending on the choices made by the player.
So that's that. After a couple days off, I've moved on to my next game, Assassin's Creed: Mirage. It's the fourth "historical" entry in the franchise after Origins (set in ancient Egypt), Odyssey (set in classical Greece), and Valhalla (set in Viking times), and this one is set in 9th Century A.D. Baghdad. I understand it's a shorter game than the last three, which is welcome as Valhalla definitely suffered from overbloating. I'm only 4 hours in, so it's too early to judge, but so far it seems like good, if slightly mindless, fun.
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