10 Video Games That Wanted The Player To Feel Terrible
2. The Last Of Us Part II
The Last of Us Part II may be an incredible achievement, but it's also one of the most bleak and relentlessly upsetting games ever made.
Creative director Neil Druckmann commits to an almost unwaveringly grim and self-serious tone throughout the post-apocalyptic survival horror game, ensuring that as intuitive as the combat mechanics might be, most of the encounters - especially those against humans - are ugly and unpleasant.
Killing even the most anonymous NPC feels genuinely gut-wrenching because you'll so often be forced to listen to them gurgle their final blood-drenched breaths, and you might even hear one of their pals worriedly call out their name. There is nothing flippant here about taking a human life, necessary though it often is.
In terms of its story, the obvious message is "revenge is really, really bad," hammered home by how futile Ellie's mission to avenge Joel's murder at the hands of Abby is ultimately shown to be.
Ingeniously - and divisively, it must be said - Druckmann has the player to spend almost half of the game as Abby, forcing them to learn her motives and even face off against Ellie as a stalker-type boss near the end of the game.
Though most players were initially itching to take Abby down, by game's end it was a bloodlust that felt totally empty, brilliantly envisioned by Ellie's own refusal to kill her, and the price she pays by losing some of her precious, guitar-playing digits.
Despite its insane level of polish and generally jaw-dropping production values, The Last of Us Part II is a fascinating riposte to sexy, sleek action games in which killing is a mere minor inconvenience.
Making it through all of this game's 20-plus hours is an anxiety-inducing, emotionally exhausting exercise, and nobody could blame you for not wanting to revist this bleak world for a good while.