Neil Druckmann, the director and co-lead writer of the game, says Naughty Dog will change a few things in the sequel that the fans held sacred in the first game.
„The first game is so sacred. The ending is so sacred. People are always like, ‘Do another one but focus on all-new characters.’ Or like, ‘Do it in, like, Europe. Or do it in Japan. Do something different. That felt like a coward’s way out. To me, at that point, you might as well just do a new IP versus saying: no, we’re gonna double down and we’re gonna expose what this ending means in The Last of Us Part II. To take some of the things that people hold sacred and just… dismantle it,” Druckmann told GQ Magazine.
Druckmann revealed a possible reason why The Last of Us Part II will be partially a revenge story: „I don’t want to go into specifics about it, but I saw a video of lynching when I was much younger. It was like an actual… like a news thing. And then, feeling intense hatred for the people that committed the lynching and thinking, like, ‘Oh, man if I could hurt these people in some horrible ways then I could.’ I was like, ‘Oh, we can make the player feel that.’ We can make you experience this thirst for revenge. This thirst for retribution and having you, like, commit the acts of finding it and then showing you the other side to make you regret it. To make you feel dirty for everything you’ve done in the game, making you realise ‘I’m the villain of the story.’”
Recently, The Last of Us Part II used a song in a trailer without crediting the artist. This is why Druckmann wrote an apology on Twitter: „Ellie’s rendition of “True Faith” was inspired by Lotte Kestner’s haunting cover of the song. Due to an oversight on our end, she wasn’t credited as intended. Our deep apologies — we are rectifying this ASAP. We hope that she receives the recognition she deserves.” Kestner responded: „So proud this music has found a home in such an amazing project. Thanks to Neil, Naughty Dog and everyone at Sony.” Looks like a win-win situation.
We also heard a hint at what Naughty Dog might do next, as Druckmann told the following to GQ: „As you start wrapping things up, creatively there are fewer and fewer responsibilities and my mind can’t help but think about the next thing. So yeah, the next thing could be a Part 3, the next thing could be some new IP.” So no new Uncharted, it seems.
The Last of Us Part II launches on June 19, exclusively on PlayStation 4.
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