Dee

I'm definitely asking for a gift card of some sort for my birthday or Christmas.

The game's got a release date now. Expect to pick this baby up March 18th, 2016. I'm marking my calendar. Source

I make time for gaming because it is a priority in my life, despite being nearly 30 years old and working 2 jobs. I have a friend or two that I hang out with every now and then, but they share the same interests as me and also carve out time in their lives for gaming. Other than that, I don't have a boyfriend or any other obligations. Obviously, my work is a serious responsibility, so it takes precedent over my gaming, but it is the second most important hobby/interest of mine. It's just about priorities. If you feel spending time with a significant other is more important than getting in a few hours of gaming every week, then so be it. If you can squeeze in a few hours because you've got the free time, then that's how it is. My point being, if something--gaming or anything else--is important to you, you'll make time for it.

You level up a hell of a lot faster as your level progresses. After about...oh, maybe 10-11, I was getting EXP for 300, 500, sometimes 1000 points. I'm level 31 right now and nearing the end of the game, but I don't want it to be over.

Ok, so...I have the game. I beat it in two days at around 7-9 hours (could've been longer, I wasn't keeping track), and I got it for about $2.75 out of my own pocket. That being said, it's worth more than the two seventy-five I paid, but probably more like a $40 dollar game tops. I'd rate it around a 6.5-7, but only a 7 for SOME aspects of the game. Overall, I'd say it's worth a 6.5 without getting into any spoilers, but I will say this. It most definitely has potential. The game has done a lot of things right, but it also failed to impress me in many other aspects. The good news is that it did end on a cliffhanger, which could either take it in a good or a bad direction. I really hope Ready At Dawn decides to sequel this and learn from their mistakes. Not all the fans are right about what's wrong with the game, but many have good points and those points are voiced by several people with different subjective views about the game. Honestly, if they put out a sequel, and if it looked good and if they had heeded warnings and taken into consideration what they didn't do right with the first game, it could seriously blow it out of the water with a second release. I wanted to really love this game, but I just don't and that's kind of sad. I do, however, like a lot of things about it, and I am not going to trade it in. For now, I'm keeping it. I may pop it back in again just to play for the atmosphere (good lord, it is gorgeous), but for those who are pissing and moaning about it being too short and mediocre for a $60 price tag, just wait for it to go down in price--simple as that.

I'm glad they didn't have Joel die, not because I liked him a lot as a character for all those reasons you stated above about his development, but because it would have been almost too bitter sweet. They ended the game on a very perfect note and couldn't have done it any better, I feel. Death is so random at times, and not necessarily "expected" in situations such as these; although it would be more expected in a post-apocalyptic world where no one is safe, not even in the safe zones. For instance, you know when someone's going to die in The Walking Dead as they toss in subtle hints (or sometimes painfully obvious ones) throughout either an episode or an entire season. But with this game, I didn't know what was going to happen and that is a rarity for most games. In any case, I think kenshi explained his character perfectly. I don't think Joel wanted to die. That was made apparent by his, "You keep finding something to fight for," speech. He quite obviously was not ready to go yet, but that plot device didn't write out his fate and I think Naughty Dog was smart in sticking to the unexpected in this case as opposed to going for the obvious choice of having Joel die at some point in the game. Now, if they're planning to work on TLoU 2, who fucking knows at this point what they'll pull out of the bag. It seems more likely at this point that Joel might somehow come to meet his end. I also kind of feel like it'd be a bit of a cop-out in some respects. Ellie has lost so many people already, but what would losing Joel to her?

I would be much further along if I wasn't so enthralled with taking photos. T_T It's okay, though. I've already played the game all the way through at least 5 times.

I played it on Survivor a while ago last year and it sucked the first time. However, as much as I thought Survivor sucked, Grounded Mode is even worse. You literally get nothing every single time, and if you happen to come across ammo or any other items, it's usually one bullet or like a third of alcohol and it won't even do anything unless all you've been doing is collecting. This takes being stealthy to the next level. I can't say for certain whether your partner sometimes gives you ammo/health kit on any of the lower levels. Right now, I'm just playing it on normal and I think Ellie once tossed me some bullets, but it was few and far between. I could hardly hear it, though, since we were in combat and the noise died down only after I think she tossed something to me.

Here's a little bit of me tinkering with photo mode:

Well, remember UC3 does have back story as to how Drake and Sully met, as well as why he carries around the ring and who wants it, yadda yadda. It kind of dips into his childhood even more by talking about how he ended up where he did, so if that's something important to you then you probably need to at least watch videos of the third installment. Otherwise, it doesn't matter if you skip UC3 or not.

This pretty much sums it up for me. You guys know I'm a huge, huge, huge Uncharted fan, so I'm going to love it regardless. Even thought the third installment wasn't it's strongest, I still very much enjoyed the "narrative" some of you hate to have to hear about. In fact, it's what drew me in the first time. Naughty Dog knows what they're doing and they're good at it, too. However, this is my opinion, so I'm not going to expect anyone to agree with me. Regardless of how many people Drake has to shoot his way through to get to, there is much more to the video game that has captured my heart. I know they didn't show us much at this E3, but I went a little nuts just hearing Nolan North's voice and hearing Richard McGonagle as Sully. They're two characters I have fallen in love with, and I want more of that duo, of those subtle nuances, the way they bicker back and forth and joke with each other. I also enjoyed seeing how the graphics (albeit a cut scene) have improved vastly, and I look forward to seeing more about what the story will actually be about. This is just what I'm excited for, because I have enjoyed the last three games and because I trust Naughty Dog to put out some quality material. I'm not going to say it's perfect, though. There's always a chance it could bomb or my expectations could be ruined. I don't know yet and I will reserve my judgement for when I put the game in my PS4. But for now, I'm just happy we're getting another game and it doesn't feel as played as some of the other series. There's still a spark left to it for me.

I agree about the neon power. Out of all of them, I kept going back to neon and smoke. I wish there was a way you could easily combine the two, although they're vastly different, but for me: NEON ALL THE WAY.

Josh Brolin.