*Spoiler alert: if you haven’t played either part of The Last of Us and hate spoilers, DO NOT read this.

I think we can all agree—The Last of Us, by Naughty Dog, is one of the best video games of all time. Yes, it’s set in a post-apocalyptic world, like so many other titles and films, but TLoU stands apart for several reasons.

From the very first minutes of the game, it’s clear this isn’t your typical action-adventure experience. The emotional weight is way more than you bargained for, and it hits immediately when Joel’s daughter, Sarah, dies. It’s absolutely gut-wrenching. Honestly, I never imagined a video game—or fictional characters, for that matter—could make me feel so much all at once.

Twenty years later, we meet a hardened, cynical Joel, now a smuggler who seems to care about nothing and no one. And yet… he still wears the broken watch Sarah gave him. That tiny detail? Painful. Brilliant script, just perfect.

What makes The Last of Us so different is how deeply it lets you into one man’s grief—someone who’s lost everything, and yet somehow, slowly, begins to reconnect with his emotions. So much so, that by the end, Joel doesn’t just protect Ellie—he chooses her over the rest of the world. LITERALLY.

In The Last of Us Part II, it’s impossible not to connect with Joel’s human side, and feel his heartbreak of Ellie pushing him away. No matter how much he’s done for her, no matter the hell he went through to keep her safe throughout the years, Ellie tells him that she doesn’t see him as a father. Ouch.

So when Abigail (ugh, I hate calling her “Abby,” because I honestly feel zero empathy for her) gets her revenge and brutally kills Joel… nothing, nothing, could console me. Watching Joel’s arc—from a broken shell of a man to a protective, loving, patient father figure, and his obvious deep love for Ellie—only to see him die in the most violent, cruel way imaginable? It sent me over the edge. UN-fucking-BEARABLE!!

That said, the team behind this masterpiece absolutely nailed it. It’s perfect. A master piece. The Sistine Chapel of games! It hurt. I cried (a lot). I got genuinely depressed. And even though the developers tried really hard to make us empathise with Abigail’s pain, I never got past the hatred. Maybe that’s part of what makes The Last of Us so unforgettable—not just the music, the gameplay, the visuals, and the everything—but the emotional (deep) scars it leaves behind, making it a very difficult game to surpass.

So tell me—did you manage to “forgive” bloody Abigail after seeing her side of the story? Maybe I’m the problem, maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t know how to let things go, and should address it in therapy. Who knows. What did you think of Ellie’s behaviour before and after Joel’s death? I’d love to hear your thoughts.