As Naughty Dog are moving forward with their work on “The Last of Us 2” and they’ve already brought in actress Ashley Johnson for some of her recordings, the studio is reluctant to share any details about the current state of things behind the scenes. We still don’t know how the plot is going to evolve, and what fans can expect from the gameplay of the new installment.
The situation makes sense though, considering the iconic status of the original “The Last of Us”. The game managed to build a lot of hype before it was even officially released, and the final release only solidified those already great impressions. In the end, it was remembered as one of the best releases for the PlayStation, and it even drove many people to purchase the console just so they can try the game.
There was a lot of talk and speculation about “The Last of Us 2” before it was announced, and now that the project is out in the open, there is a huge amount of attention focused on Naughty Dog and their work. The studio is under a lot of pressure to put out something worthwhile, and we can understand their reluctance to make any details about the game public yet.
On the other hand, fans will want to get at least some details to keep their curiosity satisfied, so hopefully Naughty Dog are preparing an adequate marketing campaign leading up to the official revelation of the game’s plot and other important parts.
What we know so far is that Ellie is coming back for sure, although there hasn’t been any confirmation of her exact role in the plot. Looking at how the original game ended, there are many possibilities for how the plot is going to evolve, including some rather grim ones. It’s possible that we’re going to see Joel and Ellie separated this time, or at least for a large part of the game if not during the whole plot.
That would make things quite strange for fans of the original “The Last of Us”, as the connection between Joel and Ellie was one of the most crucial parts of its plot. Of course, it’s possible that the writers could introduce another relationship to fill that gap, but fans will probably raise a few eyebrows at that development.
It’s also worth pointing out that while Ashley Johnson, the actress behind Ellie’s voice, has been sharing some news about her involvement with the sequel, the same can’t be said for Troy Baker, who voiced Joel. We haven’t heard anything new about the actor recently, and some fans have even started to suspect that the sequel might exclude him from the plot entirely.
However, we don’t believe that Naughty Dog will go that far, as it would change the focus of the story far too much, and will be a very risky move for the studio. Of course, Naughty Dog are no strangers to risk in the first place, but even that studio has its limits and they know when they should play things safe.
Which is probably why it’s not very reasonable to expect any significant details to be revealed about the game at the moment, and it will probably take a while before we find out how the story will evolve. This includes the possibility that Joel has been excluded from the story, something which we actually wouldn’t expect the developers to reveal until very late.