Not every painting has narrative content (see most of mid 20th-century Modernism, which functions more like your ‘cloud’ analogy in some respects), but that doesn’t preclude it from having narrative content. Just like games.
The vast majority of figurative works in (Western) art history were narrative works - images which explicitly depicted Biblical, historical, or allegorical narratives. Lack of prose does not equal lack of narrative content. Sequential art from throughout history, from Egyptian wall art to Trajan’s column to contemporary graphic novels have used images, including painting, to convey narrative.
I disagree. It was essentially a zombie film in a game format, and acting/plot/character development-wise it certainly did pretty well compared to others in the zombie genre. With the exception of 28 Days Later I can’t think of another zombie flick/series made in the last 15 years I’d like to watch as much as The Last of Us It certainly shits all over The Walking Dead!
The zombie genre is irrelevant. I’ll agree with you though that it was essentially a film in a game format. As a film, it’s pretty awful. If you are 13, and just starting to think about storytelling critically, you might like it. As a 40-something guy, it was far too predictable and formulaic. There was no surprise, no tension, and the characters were likable, but uninteresting.
Just to provide some context - I say the same thing about 95% of the movies I see. If it isn’t at least a 6 episode series on television or Netflix, then I’m probably not going to be interested in it.
