I know Last of Us drama is not relevant anymore, but nevertheless i decided its worth posting just to shut up the last haters of the game. Here's an interesting look at how the ideas behind this unquestionable Schindler's List of games came to be. Having watched it i have no doubt Neil Druckmann will be recognised as one of the best writers of out time
So much wrong with the argument in the video, just gonna list the biggest problems out in order of what I think are the most egregious mistakes.
1. A strong directorial voice is crucial on big projects. Decision by committee is paralyzing, and tends to result in mediocrity because if everyone isn't on the same page the process gets bogged down by endless meetings and revisions to "completed" work.
2. Conflating crunch due to the studio's need to maintain technical and artistic quality (ND's reputation as Sony's prestige studio, basically) with that due to creative mismanagement/lackadaisy is unfair and unreasonable. Every project at ND has involved heavy crunch irrespective of who was leading it, and that's a historical fact.
3. Staff attrition due to creative direction is a myth. Not everyone has involvement at that level and most are focused upon filling their allotted role as well as they can, many in fact will tolerate extreme workloads if the end-result gets them a stellar entry on their resumes, increasing their career market value. The idea that an artist, a coder, a level designer etc. Will decide to quit because they don't like story or character elements is laughable.
4. Don't overestimate the value of fan feedback to an employee/worker. All that matters is sales and critical reception, noone is going to get denied a job because they worked on a game that annoyed fanboys because it killed off a "beloved" character.
5. Same deal with the whole topic of "divisiveness". Its not a bad thing because divisive titles tend to be memorable, whereas little is more forgettable than bland competence. More to the point cowardice is not a virtue, and that's precisely what kowtowing to expectations is.