Yeah, but Abby doesn’t see it that way. She sees her dad as a doctor who could have saved humanity and who was killed by Joel, who by doing so doomed all of humanity.

Also, Joel didn’t have the moral high ground in saving Ellie at the expense of all of the Fireflies and Doctors. We swallow that pill as the audience/players because we feel connected to him and Ellie. That’s why I think playing as Abby first would make the player feel connected first, and then conflicted later, rather than hatred first, and empathy and understanding later.