The Last Of Us 2: 10 Things Fans DON'T Want To See

This is something that The Last Of Us came way too close to crossing over into the first time around. What we mean by "misery porn" is essentially hurting, tormenting, and traumatizing the characters - not to prove a narrative point or give way to character development - but to artificially generate sympathy from the audience by having the characters undergo intense emotional trauma and being trapped in their own misery.

In other words, think anything Final Fantasy VII related that ISN'T the original game.

And from what we've seen from the trailer (which, admittedly, is very little), The Last Of Us 2 is gonna skirt the line between harrowing narrative and misery porn even harder than last time. Good stories know that sadness is important to make a character sympathetic, but only if that misery actually adds something to the story and characters to which it happens. And, of course, if the character eventually finds some kind of conclusive idea in their sadness.

Not every story has to be uplifting, certainly not something as bleak as The Last Of Us. But that misery, like with every other part of the story, needs to build towards something conclusive, and moreover, something with an actual point BEYOND sadness itself.

Bottom line, letting a character feel something is one thing, but no one likes a moper.