The Last of Us Part II

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About

The Last of Us Part II is an action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and is a sequel for the 2013 video game The Last of Us. The game follows the story of 19-year-old Ellie, the deuteragonist of the first game, and is set five years after the original events. The game was released on June 19th, 2020.

History

On December 3rd, 2016, action-adventure video game The Last of Us Part II was officially announced at the PlayStation Experience 2016 event in Anaheim, California.^[1]^[2] On the same day, the trailer for the game was released^[3] (shown below, left). On October 30th, 2017, the second trailer for the game was released^[4] (shown below, right).

On December 10th, 2017, a panel featuring Naughty Dog employees and the cast of the game took place during the PlayStation Experience 2017 event (shown below, left).^[5] On June 11th, 2018, the gameplay reveal trailer was made available (shown below, right).^[6]

The release date of the game was moved twice, first from February 21st, 2020, to May 29th, 2020,^[7] and then to June 19th, 2020.^[8]

The game was released on June 19th to universal critical acclaim and negative user reviews.

April 2020 Leaks

On April 6th, 2020, an anonymous 4chan user posted and then deleted major plot details of the game, claiming that he was "the immediate family member of someone working at Naugthy Dog." On the same day, the post was reposted in /v/^[9] and /vg/^[10] boards, with the /v/ thread accumulating over 510 replies.

On April 26th at approximately 2:00 PM EST an unknown YouTube^[11] user leaked key cutscenes from the game, revealing major plot details, with the leak also containing gameplay and developer menus. On the same day, links to the original video and its reuploads were posted on ResetEra,^[12] 4chan's /v/^[13] and other gaming forums. On the same day, multiple gaming news websites reported on the spread of the leaks, including articles by PushSquare^[13] and IGN.^[14]

Starting on April 26th, 2020, numerous users^[15]^[16] and gaming news websites^[17]^[18] reported the on a rumor that the game might have been leaked by a "disgruntled employee" over a "payment dispute with Naughty Dog," although the veracity of this rumor has not been confirmed.

On April 27th, 2020, Naughty Dog tweeted^[19] an official response to the leak.

Reception

Starting on June 12th, the critic reviews for The Last of Us Part II could be published. On Metacritic,^[20] the game received a 93 average critic score with 121 reviews submitted, including top scores from IGN,^[21] VG247^[22] and GamesRadar.^[23]

Jonathon Dornbush of IGN wrote:

The Last of Us Part 2 is a masterpiece that evolves the gameplay, cinematic storytelling, and rich world design of the original in nearly every way.

Laurene Mozafari^[24] of Digital Spy wrote:

The Last of Us 2 is going to be divisive. Naughty Dog has made brave narrative choices for its difficult second album, which we massively respect. We would just have liked to have seen the same applied to the gameplay. It's still solid and thrilling, and if you loved the first game, this is a must-play. It's not as groundbreaking, but equally as heartbreaking.

At the same time, the game had generally negative user reviews,^[20] maintaining an average score of 3.4 with over 8,600 submitted reviews as of June 19th. The score rose to 3.9 with over 54,100 reviews as of June 22nd and to 4.9 with over 104,400 ratings as of July 1st. As of May 20th, 2021, the game had a 5.7 user score with over 153,700 ratings.

Abby

Abby is the antagonist and one of the playable characters of the 2020 video game The Last of Us Part II. Following a major leak The Last of Us Part II cutscenes in late April 2020, memes about Abby and a major plot element involving her gained popularity online, with Abby being mockingly compared to muscular and manly characters such as Senator Steven Armstrong.

Abby Choke Edits

Abby Choke Edits or Chokeposting refers to a series of memes in which characters from various franchises are edited as if they are getting choked, with the meme format based on a still image of Abby choking Ellie. The format originated on 4chan's /v/ board in early May 2020, gaining a major spread on the board and on Twitter.

Abby Bite Edits

Abby Bite Edits or Biteposting refers to a series of memes in which characters from various franchises are edited as if their fingers are getting bite off, with the meme format based on a still image of Abby biting Ellie's fingers. The format originated on 4chan's /v/ board on June 17th, 2020, gaining a major spread on the board.

Abby Buttsex Edits

Abby Buttsex Edits refers to a series of memes in which characters from various franchises are edited as if they are having sex from behind, with the format based on a leaked scene of Abby engaging in intercourse. The format originated on 4chan's /v/ board in mid-June 2020 following the similar Abby choke edits and bite edits.