I think it’s getting a lot of hate because Druckmann did put in an amount of LGBT and female dominant content that gamers aren’t used to seeing. Both protagonists being female, the lesbian relationship being the center of the story, the surprise FTM trans character appearance. The few important male characters all getting killed. The focus put on pregnancies, a definitive female-only experience.

Or maybe people were a bit unhappy that the protagonists they enjoyed from the first game end up either dead or mutilated, with the player required to play the character responsible for this? I could imagine similar annoyance if Geralt were to be killed early in Witcher 3, with the rest of the game spent playing as the character who killed him. Upping the gay probably only further soured the experience.

It was a lot of progressive storytelling for one game and by the time we got to the trans character part I just audibly laughed because it did feel a bit like they were trying too hard to be woke. Ultimately though I didn’t mind, because there’s no reason why women and LGBT people can’t get a game or two that focuses on their stories from time to time. It was nice to get to play a game where my gender and sexual orientation didn’t take a backseat.

If survival in a brutal post apocalyptic world is representative of the stories of women or LGBT people then they probably need to consider moving to somewhere less dangerous.

I think all the hating was primarily from younger men in their teens to 30’s upset that a game didn’t revolve around them for once. I know guys, it can be threatening when something isn’t all about you. You just got a taste of what we’ve had to experience our whole lives. Women and non-heterosexual characters have always taken a backseat in media, especially video games. We’re used to having to play games or watch movies through your perspective but you clearly aren’t yet used to experiencing media through our perspective.

Sure, let's go with the fragile masculinity thing. Nothing at all to do with what happened to the original characters and the player then having to take the unconventional role of controlling the character responsible for their demise. It's not as if a large number of the negative comments made, in fact a majority of them, mention unhappiness at how Joel and Ellie were treated.

Gay characters 'take a backseat' because they're a tiny minority in the general population (~5% for the entire LGBT pantheon). In films and TV they are overrepresented to the point where the average person, when asked, thinks they are way more common (typically upwards of 20%). Women don't take a backseat. It just happens that males are by far the largest customer for certain types of games, and male characters are a more natural fit for action games. There are also fewer rules to observe when using male characters.

White male characters are more flexible. Feminists and other identitarians have frequently complained when these characters, viewed by them as representatives of the collective identity, are not treated as they would demand. This is why it's safer to stick with white males, in video games and film. This is why female characters so often end up being flawless, safe, and dull. This won't go away until people can stop seeing their genitals or skin colour as membership in a collective identity, where any individual representation of the identity is an avatar of them. If you really need to see yourself on screen then switch on a webcam and look at your preview.

Don't get me wrong, perspectives are good. Threats and motivations are gendered in a post-apocalyptic world, and good storytelling can use this. Women are unlikely to be going toe-to-toe with men or playing much of a combative role. In terms of men, we'd see varying forms of protection for women, rape, and exploitation. The problem with identitarianism is that vaguely realistic portrayals of these themes will be considered problematic. Rather than the more realistic set-up of a man trying to protect a woman, we get a roided-up woman who don't need no man. Instead of a character with flaws, setbacks, and development, we get characters who are the best at everything and whose only 'character development' is centred on becoming even more powerful.

You're not acknowledging the valid criticisms people have off this game. You don't once mention the main complaint people express in their reviews. I don't see how you can credibly assert a cause for this 'hate' while ignoring that reason and instead devoting most of your comments to identitarian concerns.