When I played the original back on PS3, I would definitely say it's that good. To me, it did feel like it was the game making the generational leap. It's not so noticeable these days now that technology and game design has advanced so much, but my first playthrough was wonderful.

As a note: I haven't played the sequels, the remasters on modern consoles, or watched the TV show.

Yes.

I played it about a year ago. I was pleasantly surprised. It's very well-done for it's time. It's a bit dated now but not in a bad way. I'd recommend it if you like horror and/or adventure games.

I think it depends a lot on how much you like serious stories in your video games. I prefer lighthearted games so I didn't even make it through the first one, but my best friend loves them.

It's good historically. Publishers and developers didn't really care much about story in their games before then (2013). "Video Game story" was often horribly bad, like porn acting; but more often it was just forgettable. Like mandatory lubricant to keep the gameplay going, rather than a feature to make good. Think, Far Cry 3, Borderlands 2, Dishonored, etc. They're ok, but they don't make you really "feel" something. Mostly you just go around killing everything until it's done. Heck, speaking of which, even Doom Eternal (2020) has a coherent storyline and lore.

After The Last of Us, publishers suddenly realised that people actually really like it when their videogames have good stories, that make sense narratively, have twists, low plot holes, emotional investment and climax, etc. Now we have even better stories like Ghost of Tsushima, Expedition 33, Baldur's Gate 3, etc.

It's a bit dated now, but 13 years ago gaming was very different. It's actually expected nowadays for games to have a reasonably good story. Today, I would probably recommend the TV show instead for most people, or maybe a Let's Play.

Edit: I've triggered the gaming circle jerk "all retro games were perfect" rose tinted glasses crowd again. Seems to happen a lot