A brand new video from Naughty Dog and Sony has revealed a couple of new details about The Last Of Us Part 2. While most of these details are issues that the developer faced in shifting the game to focus on Ellie rather than Joel, one point in particular has stood out for me, and many others. You could miss pieces of the story just by wandering in the wrong direction.
The video dives deep into what it means to be Ellie, but it also sees some of the development team talk about the story as a whole. Apparently a direction has been explored that will see players miss out on parts of the story if they don’t explore certain areas. This is really interesting, because it shows a choice to offer players freedom over forcing them to see every idea that has been put into the game. It must be so hard for a developer to make this choice, but overall I think it’s a good thing.
Many games today take the players hand and hold it throughout the story. Sometimes that guiding hand is unseen, and players don’t notice it, but in other games it’s very obvious that players are on a ride, rather than experiencing something.
In the first game, there were optional areas to explore around most of the locations. Usually these simply hid collectibles, but they also featured optional conversations that Joel could have with other characters. In a way, these were essential to the world building of the game, but really they were far from necessary for someone to have a good time.
I think that in The Last Of Us Part 2, we could miss entire characters if we don’t explore the right path. I like this idea because it gives you a reason to return, and play through it in a new difficulty, making new choices. Not many games make you want to dive right back in once you’re done, but I have a feeling that because of that unknown factor of there possibly being more story to find, players will dive in deeper and deeper with this game.
There isn’t long to wait until The Last Of Us Part 2 releases now. Let us know what you think of it in the comments.
