Video of the Week: The Last of Us Part II – PlayStation Experience 2016: Reveal Trailer | PS4

At the very beginning of this month, Naughty Dog revealed that they were officially working on the sequel to The Last of Us. I didn’t know that it had dropped because I will ill, and so when I booted up my computer one morning at the beginning of this week, and I saw that people were talking about this, my very first thought was that they were just rumours. As I delved deeper, and I found the reveal trailer, and subsequently watched it, I surprised myself by having mixed feelings.

The Last of Us is my all-time favourite game. The story is so rich with emotions, strong characters and how they developed throughout the game, small details hidden around the world, allowing the world and the characters to grow. The day I started playing the game was also the day I finished the game. I played through the entire story from beginning to end in one day, because I was drawn into the world unlike any other game before. The beginning hit me with such strong emotions, I had to know what was going to happen next. After the loss of his daughter, twenty years on, in an apocalyptic world, he still has that immense strength to keep going no matter what, not caring what consequences came from his actions, because the world didn’t care about the consequences twenty years before. Ellie, at fourteen years old, who was born and grew up in the new world, only understanding a ruined world; she was an unstoppable force that knew she had to do what is necessary to survive. Seeing Joel and Ellie clash at the start of their adventure, and end up growing and caring for each other; blossoming into a father-daughter-like relationship is one of the best story telling in games. The ending had me in tears. You knew how much they’ve changed together, but the real kicker was the very last moment before the credits.

Joel lied to Ellie to save her from being killed by the Fireflies in an attempt to create a cure for the world, but Ellie was actually waiting her turn considered her immunity as a curse because she lost the person she fell in love with so many years ago. Never truly knowing if Ellie believes Joel stuck with me, and was the perfect ending to a perfect game. It was made even better when Naughty Dog released the DLC. The Last of Us: Left Behind, a small prequel story revolving around Ellie and Riley, who go off to explore an abandoned shopping centre, to discuss and catch up and to spend time together. Near the end, they are suddenly ambushed by a load of the infected, which they are able to defend off, but only to discover that they had both been bitten. With nothing left they can do, they decide to just wait it out to the end. Riley dies, but Ellie’s immune.

That small DLC added so much more to the main storyline, because after replaying it again, I knew and understood so much more about Ellie’s characteristics when we first meet her. She’s angry that she’s still alive. As well as improving and emphasising the experience of the main game, it also increased the impact the ending the main game had. The perfect ending just got better.

It had been a while since I had played the first game, but when I watched the reveal trailer for the Last of Us: Part 2, all the emotions came flooding back and it felt as if I had just played The Last of Us yesterday. I don’t think I’ve experienced so much emotion in four minutes than I had done during that trailer. In four minutes, Naughty Dog left me speechless because there was so much going through my head, and that’s where the mixed feelings started to develop.

The first game couldn’t be any better, and ended so perfectly, it didn’t seem necessary to make another game, but on the other hand, they are still moving forward and so there’s so many stories that can be told. When one chapter ends, another begins, and seeing what happens next makes total sense, but the one thing that keeps flying around my head is, I really don’t want them to ruin the ending. Keeping it ambiguous increased the impact, and seeing a conclusion to that would decrease its own strength.

I do trust Naughty Dog. They put effort, passion, and love into making their games, and it shows wonderfully. I do trust that they will make a game just as good as the first, and I will be one of the first to pick up a copy when it hits the market. It was refreshing to see a game trailer that doesn’t have a date of any nature. It’s expected to be a couple of years in the future before the complete game is released, allowing us to relax. We don’t have to be paranoid that it’s going to be rushed, or forced back for various reasons; they are going to take their time with it, and make the game the best it can possibly be – that’s what I like about Naughty Dog.

I don’t want to get too excited. I want to remain as neutral as I possibly can be, so I can experience the story and the characters without being disappointed because I hoped or expected more. Whatever they do story wise, character wise, I trust that it will be brilliant, emotional, but that doesn’t stop me from being nervous about what’s to come, because the last thing any of us want is a bad sequel.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)