I've finished the game 4 times, just because the story in it is so good, and the character build up is fantastic.

What the game does is settle you in its world. From overgrown cities, through its midwestern setting, it grounds you, enhancing nostalgia for the pre-pandemic world and the bleakness of its current one with Santaolalla's score strumming your emotional chords.

The series tries its best to stay faithful to the story of the game, but it's clear that the budget isn't there to guarantee that feat. Many episodes are devoid of infected, while they are a main fixture in the game. For instance in the last episode I've just seen that introduced David, the game has Ellie and David fight off infected while they wait for his buddy to come back with the medicine. It creates a little bonding experience between the two, that enforces the wolf in sheep's clothing David is. (Good to see Troy Baker in the series though!)

It's however not just the absence of the infected that brings the series down somewhat, but mainly its pacing. The game's story is told in seasonal chapters (summer, fall, winter, spring), and you spend 3 to 6 hours in every chapter, giving the story time to elaborate on the events and its characters. Combatting infected in the game, which you do a lot, also enhances your understanding of what they are, how they react and how to effectively combat them.

The series seems to sprint through the events, because it needs to tell the whole story in a single 10 episode season.

It suffers from having not enough episodes. The David episode should've at least spanned two, but then also included the infected ambush, and the chase through the diner at the end should've been longer and could've used a little better directing, because in the game it's a truly intense sequence. You know those intense scenes from horror movies where the monster is chasing the main character...well, this one should've been more like that.

There's still a lot that needs to happen before the end, but there's only one episode left, which again seems to mean it will rush through the story.

I understand that sooner or later the overwhelming success of this game would end up in a cinematic adaptation, and a series was the right choice. However, the budget is not there to do the game the justice it deserves, not in length nor production value.

Watch the series to wet your beak, but know that it is but a diminished version of the true masterpiece that remains the game.