If someone actually stuck to the aesthetic, narrative, and moral choices of The Last of Us, I think it’d be far more popular and rewarding than TWD. At least I played that game and left thinking, wow this is what a zombie apocalypse narrative should be.
I don’t think that’s quite accurate. I like The Walking Dead when it says something interesting or moves the plot forward. The first half of the season did neither. It was more a flawed rumination on despair, without anything to really say for itself after 8 episodes other than "Negan is bad." Finally we’re seeing some progress.