7. Characters
The Last of Us could have been a fun if hollow experience if not for the superbly-realised characters sitting at the cusp. Joel and Ellie make for a most compelling double act as they traverse this weary world together, and Naughty Dog do a great job of contrasting their various experiences, and therefore, their world viewers. Ellie is young and naive starting out; she knows little of the world before the infection spread precisely because she was born into this toxic landscape, whereas Joel painfully had a life prior to all this, and we can tell throughout that it weighs on him heavily. Over the course of the lengthy story, great time is devoted to our getting to know these two, such that when they encounter danger, we actually give a damn and are more emotionally engaged in their struggle. Many of the game's best moments are its quietest, most simple ones, the downtime when the pair are simply talking about their lives as they head towards the next objective.