Top 10 Things We Wanna See in The Last of Us II

We’re starting off by addressing the elephant in the room. “The Last of Us” was an incredible experience, but it wasn’t flawless. For starters, what was with the puzzles? Yeah, we’re looking at you, rafts! There were many times in this game where the sight of a raft just made us groan. Yep, you knew it was going to be another one of these puzzles! They just felt uninspired and pointless. Finding ways for Ellie to cross water was not exactly the best way of keeping the game’s pacing even. Naughty Dog, give Ellie the power of swimming. That’s all we ask.

While we’re on the subject of “gameplay improvements”, can we address the combat? Shooting segments can only be intense up until the whole thing starts getting dragged out too long. Stealth segments, on the other hand, felt incredibly limiting. It’d be nice to see “Part 2” give us a little more freedom in sneaking around and keep the gunfights short and sweet.

“Photo Mode” is something that Naughty Dog previously utilized in Uncharted 4, though it’s since gained wider recognition in 2017, thanks to recent titles such as “Horizon Zero Dawn” and “Super Mario Odyssey”. As a gateway for gamers who have a passion for photography, the inclusion of a “Photo Mode” allows players to snapshot in-game moments and share their works with others. Given the impressive visuals in “The Last of Us”, this a feature Naughty Dog should not leave out.

Speaking of impressive technology, how about this weather, huh? We loved the atmosphere of the first game, but for “Part 2”, would it be too much to ask for some dynamic weather? We aren’t asking this just so the game looks prettier; that shouldn’t be a problem for Naughty Dog. Dynamic weather could breathe a little more life into the world…even if a good chunk of the inhabitants of said world are now undead fungus monsters. An occasional rain storm or intensely cloudy day could add more dread and anxiety in certain scenarios. This isn’t a must-have on our list, but that’s also why it's not higher on the list.

As great as it was, “The Last of Us” was kind of lacking in the enemy diversity department. Got someone shooting at you? Shoot em’ in the head! Infected running towards you? Shoot em’ in the head! Cannibal coming for your kidneys? You get the idea. Now that a lot of time has passed between the first game and “Part 2”, it's safe to assume the Infected have evolved somewhat, right? The large time gap would give Naughty Dog a good opportunity to create more unique enemies, some that might require specific methods of dealing with them that are unique and challenging.

We realize this might be asking a little too much, but hear us out. While we appreciate “The Last of Us” and how its story was structured, it would be interesting to see “Part 2” take a less linear approach. Instead of having certain events happen a specific way, making situations diverse in ways to approach them could give the players more freedom. This, in turn, will make “Part 2” a more personal experience and demand a little more creative thinking. Maybe certain actions could trigger special events in the story or result in multiple endings? It's just a thought, but the addition would give the game some replay value.

Confirmed by Naughty Dog after its reveal, players will assume the role of Ellie in “Part 2”. After the drop of the first trailer, we have many, many questions that need answers. Who is she going after? What’s with the tattoo? Did she pick up any survival skills from Joel? What’s made her so angry and vengeful? Writer Neil Druckmann has said that unlike the first game’s theme around “love”, “Part 2” will be surrounded on the theme of “hate”. After seeing the first trailer, it's clear something traumatic has happened to Ellie, and she won’t rest until she finds “them.”

Joel may be confirmed to be a part of the upcoming sequel, but that doesn’t mean he’s alive. This claim has divided many fans in the community, but, for now, this is only a theory. The question of Joel’s fate all comes from the first trailer. Aside from not seeing his face at all, he says very few, ambiguous words. Could this be him acting as her conscience? Could Ellie’s hatred be towards a potential group of people who killed Joel? If Joel really is dead, how is Ellie handling his lie from the end of the first game? It looks like 2018 already has its million-dollar question: “What’s happened to Joel?”

Remember the scene where Ellie asks Joel what he wanted to be? Touching, really… If you were lucky enough to see “The Last of Us: One Night LIVE” in person, you got to see an alternate ending where Ellie hears Joel sing. Don’t bother looking up footage because THERE IS NONE. Once the stream of this production ended, Neil Druckmann asked everyone to refrain from recording. There is a chance this scene has become canon, as Joel mentions in the scene that he would teach Ellie how to play guitar.

If the second trailer told us anything, it's that Naughty Dog does not plan to hold back, nor do we want them to. So far, “Part 2” is looking brutal, vicious, and frightening. However, our concern comes from a common mistake found in many sequels. Plot threads are revisited, or new ones are created, but the story ends with the characters unchanged and resetting everything back to square one. The worst case scenario is if this turns out to be nothing but setup for a third game - not that we wouldn’t play it, but wh. We won’t wallow in this doubt, though. For now, “In Druckmann We Trust”. Godspeed, Neil. Godspeed.