After a massive roar from this morning’s keynote announcement. Naughty Dog talked more about The Last of Us Part II. On the panel are Neil Druckmann (Creative Director), Ashley Johnson (Ellie), and Troy Baker (Joel). Once again the audience was treated to that stunning cinematic trailer for The Last of Us II. The game looks to pick up a bit later from where we left these characters. Elle has a tattoo and new found guitar prowess and it’s Johnson singing in the trailer (Through The Valley).
Ellie is on a mission of revenge. Neil Druckmann began by talking about the core of the first game being the love between these characters and how this story is about the opposite, hate. You’ll play as Ellie through the game!
Ashley and Troy reminisced on what these characters meant to them. You could tell these actors genuinely love these parts. Today’s reveal was emotional for everyone on the stage, according to Baker, these aren’t just roles; they’re real people to them.
The “Part 2” of the title is very telling. It’s not just a sequel game, but part of a larger story when combined with the first one. Some of the other interesting tidbits; Ellie is now 19 years old and playing as her will have differences in gameplay from playing as Joel in the first one. Think about how Ashley Johnson was Crissy Seaver on Growing Pains and now she’s a machete wielding badass. A gameplay reveal will come down the road.
We almost didn’t get Troy Baker playing Joel. Baker told a story about auditioning for the role years ago and seeing people who looked more the part to him and it nearly made him leave.
Another video was shown with the actors doing a new motion capture session. This has an incredible fidelity to it and according to Druckmann is the most advanced use of a gaming engine. Part II will be composed again by Gustavo Santillia. His new theme for the game played along with a short video of the game’s concept art. The theme is just as fitting as the first game’s theme.
As far as release dates go, Neil and Naughty Dog want to hold off on any announcements in order to avoid the disappointment of delays that coming with making video games.
We’ll talk more about this and PSX overall on Monday.
It’s Gustavo Santaolalla
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