'The Last Of Us 2' Spoilers: Where All The Hate Is Coming From

The release of “The Last of Us Part II” last week saw the game draw record numbers. Why then do so many people seem to hate it?

First of all, as the title of this story says, SPOILER ALERT. If you haven’t played “The Last of Us Part II,” don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Anticipation for “The Last of Us Part II” was unlike many other video games perhaps mainly due to the success of the first game from 2013. With its top-notch graphics, the plot of a zombie apocalypse, and the relatable and endearing characters, it was a PlayStation 3 game almost universally loved.

Set five years after the events of “The Last of Us,” the sequel has Ellie as the playable character whereas before, both Joel and Ellie were playable. With the early death of fan-favorite Joel, many were immediately turned off by this development, Essentially Sports says.

Joel’s murderer, Abby, is the daughter of the Firefly surgeon whom Joel had killed to rescue Ellie so that element in the narrative was attacked by fans of the game. Though Joel was shown to be cautious and vigilant in the first game, he’s shown to be careless in this sequel.

In the game’s trailer, Ellie is grabbed from behind by a character that was revealed to be Joel. However, in the actual game, the character was instead Ellie’s friend Jesse. Fans then called out Naughty Dog for posting a video game version of the dreaded “fake news.” Joel’s death was already devastating but new protagonist Abby ends up killing Jesse as well.

With Abby also becoming a playable character, fans of Joel weren’t happy with that twist. Even after Abby causes Ellie a lot of pain, she spares her life in the end. That illogical ending rubbed some fans the wrong way for sure.'

Yet another complaint thrown against the game was how the transgender boy Lev was presented, PinkNews notes. In the game, trans teenager Lev escapes from a religious cult after he shaves his head and risks being killed by his family. Throughout “The Last of Us Part II,” Lev experiences physical, emotional, and religious violence and is deadnamed on more than one occasion.

That caused a stir on Twitter, with some condemning what was done to Lev as “trauma porn” while others crying out that harming a trans child “just for drama,” is wrong as so many trans people are dying in real life.

To be sure, many fans are still singing the praises of “The Last of Us Part II” and its director, Neil Druckmann. Whereas some fans couldn’t stomach the changes in characterization of their favorites, still others have stated that the story is flawless though quite depressing, says Essentially Sports.

Opinions about “The Last of Us Part II” are many, and articles about its gameplay, graphics, and themes are only increasing. In the end,

though, it is the individual user who has to make the decision whether to purchase and/or play this game.