January Talking Meme Day 5: Uncharted 4

[jaggedwolf]

Talking Meme Index

In retrospect, perhaps I should have chosen the 4th for the 4th Uncharted game? No matter. I picked up the Uncharted series on a whim, where I'd enjoyed the TLOU games greatly and wanted to check out Naughty Dog's other work. It's a fun series, with none of the games outstaying their welcomes of treasure-hunting adventures, character banter, and entertaining gameplay. (Okay, the gameplay in Uncharted 1 is a bit jank. I can forgive it for that.)

Uncharted 4 was a really nice capstone on the Nathan Drake story. Whatever my quibbles with the game, I much prefer this as Nate's final ending to Uncharted 3, despite finding Uncharted 3's ending wholly unobjectionable. Also, I'd forgotten this came out between the two TLOU games, so I spent a lot of time marveling at the graphics, especially the faces.

I spent a lot of time going, am I playing divorce simulator 2k16? The lie is so bad. Nate knows it's so, so bad. He only lies at the beginning because of the shock and desperation of seeing his big bro alive and wanting him to stay that way, and keeps lying because he gets so into the thrill of the hunt.

Which, uh, makes it very hard to forgive Sam or be completely on-board with the forgiveness at the end. His life was never in danger, he never tried contacting Nate over those two years, he pretended he'd go it alone just to guilt-trip Nate, and then even after it's all exposed he runs straight into danger knowing that Nate has to follow him. Gah. Nate's had that very last flaw before, but Nate never played on guilt like that. IMO Sam doesn't deserve Elena hugs or being Sully's partner, grr.

Obviously, I get it, if Sam's alive at the end there's no world in which Nate doesn't forgive him, Elena and Sully following his lead. But even though Uncharted is the happier series, I think the game would've been so much stronger if Sam had died in that ship, if Nate had seen someone he loved died for that obsession and not just the villains.

Other than that, I basically loved everything else about this game. Especially Nate and Elena's marriage, which I would not have expected to be so attached to back when I was playing in Uncharted 1. They both love the adventure, and are dissatisfied with their normal life back in the US, and Nate's betrayal of a lie is fundamentally because he feels like even wanting the adventure again is a betrayal. "For Better or For Worse" is an excellent chapter for them, as is the moment where Nate gets caught up in rambling about how the pirates died and Elena watches him with that look in her eyes. The Uncharted games are not particularly complex stories, but their relationship benefits a lot from having the history of the games besides them.

As does Nathan and Sully's of course, where Sully might feel a sense of obligation towards Elena (his little "I'm sorry" in the motel room scene!) that never supersedes his eternal obligation to Nate. Whenever he mentions Elena to Nate you get the sense he's thinking "If the kid dies, I'm the one who has to tell her."

I can see how the epilogue might feel too indulgent to some, but I thought it was a nice finish. It cuts off the possibility of more Uncharted games, while letting you know these crazy kids figured it out, got to nerd out over archaeological finds without getting shot at. And I am suppose I am a bit of a sucker for a game that starts with Nate as a kid, alone in an orphanage with no adults he really trusts, ends with Cassie, in a home she's comfortable and happy in. Speaking of Cassandras, I did like it being the Drake boys' mother who was history-obsessed and gave them the bug.

All the pirate lore and puzzles worked for me too, even if I giggled at the pirate kings running off with their treasure...to the other side of this one island. Adored the burning ship as the background of Nate's final boss battle with Rafe - that felt soooo satisfying, especially after how unsatisfying the bosses in UC3 were. Nadine getting to scurry off and live another day was a change for Uncharted villains I was okay with, given her mercenary attitude.

Gameplay was super fluid, of course, as were the puzzles. The addition of the grappling hook was a mechanic that added a lot of energy to encounters, and I wish I'd taken more advantage of the helter-skelter swinging through the air from point to point shooting option that's available.

Comments

[glassesofjustice]

I should watch a play through. As much as I think about playing games, I am absolutely not a gamer and I always fail to actually do the thing, partially because I'm not good at them and I get frustrated. I really loved TLOU show, so that's also on my list to watch a play through of. I've seen a few clips with mirrored dialogue which was cool.

I'm glad 4 was a better ending for you than 3!

[jaggedwolf]

Oh yeah, Uncharted and TLOU are great for watching playthroughs of, you're not gonna miss much of the story that way, would recommend'em all.