In a leaked “Executive Portfolio Update” from August, Xbox conducted a full review of The Last of Us Part II, and much like other critical reviews, Xbox was very impressed. In the same portfolio update, it was revealed that the upcoming S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will be an Xbox Exclusive for its first three months. This all comes to light as part of the ongoing legal battle between Epic Games and Apple.
The Last of Us Part II made great leaps and bounds in the industry in terms of narrative design and graphical prowess. It broke records for sales and awards in 2020, and the game continues to inspire nearly a year after its release. However, while critics almost unanimously praised the game, many others had complaints about Naughty Dog’s decision to force players to play as the main antagonist throughout half of the game. There was also a lot of backlash regarding the game’s uncertain ending. The game remains a topic of debate, dividing most players into two extremes: hate or love for the game. Regardless of gripes with the narrative or switch in protagonists, it’s hard to deny The Last of Us Part II’s technical and artistic achievements.
This is definitely Xbox’s position on the subject. Their August portfolio update called The Last of Us Part II “absolutely best-in-class in basically every area… significantly ahead of anything that other teams have been producing on console and PC,” as reported by MP1st. Those who reviewed the game at Xbox also continually exalted Naughty Dog for their ability to deliver a narrative in a unique way that perfectly matched the vision for the game as a whole. The biggest issues the review took were with the gameplay, which they were less than impressed with. While they acknowledge the improvements from the first game, “Naughty Dog still can’t seem to make decent gun combat,” and “The inputs for weapon switching are all located on the d-pad… which was notably frustrating…”
The August 2020 portfolio update became public after its inclusion in the Epic Game vs. Apple case. The case began when Epic Games took a stab at new implementations of microtransactions and in-game purchases in Fortnite. These changes aimed to undercut Apple and Google Play by offering a way to directly pay Epic Games instead of going through either of the platform providers. Apple banned Fortnite from the app store after claiming that these changes were not approved. Ever since then, Epic Games and Apple have been in a lawsuit/countersuit. On Monday, the in-person trial began for the case, a trial that sees both CEOs speaking on behalf of their respective companies.
With all of the information being gathered for the case, new headlines are being created in addition to news about the lawsuit. Xbox’s review of The Last of Us Part II is the most recent example. More are likely to come as well. It’s become easy to pit PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo against each other in the never-ending “console wars,” marking this as a potential way to definitively prove that PlayStation is superior to Xbox. However, it actually shows how the gaming industry is one big whole rather than many factions – a singular community with a singular goal of entertaining and educating players. Xbox doesn’t hold back from praising The Last of Us Part II because, in the grand scheme of the industry, Xbox and PlayStation are both peers and competitors.