Yesterday morning the final chord of the fourth PlayStation Experience exhibition was played, which was a meeting with the actors, screenwriter and creative director The Last of Us: Part 2. Discussion of the second part of the best franchise Naughty Dog, previously significantly recognized as the most anticipated game at The Game Awards 2017, lasted almost an hour, while at the same time there was barely enough specific information from the conversation to fill a news article.
What is more interesting is what was said, by whom and under what circumstances. Therefore today on website in the light of the spotlight, they are the faces and quotes from the leading panel of PlayStation Experience 2017, from which we tried to compose a coherent story.
I'm a poor wandering stranger
Wandering through this sorrowful land.
There is no sickness, hard work or danger,
In that bright land to which I am going.
I'm heading there to see my mother.
She said she would meet me when I arrived.
I'm just walking across the Jordan.
I'm just going home.
A performance by Ashley Johnson, who plays Ellie in The Last of Us: Part 2, of the song Wayfaring Stranger, arranged by Johnny Cash.
Hannah Hart, interviewer, YouTuber, “that same drunken girl from the golden days of YouTube, circa 2011”:
Will Ellie really meet her mother?
You can take the song literally or as a metaphor for something else...
Hannah Hart:
So should the song be taken literally or as a metaphor?
Hannah Hart:
Is Joel alive or dead?
We want gamers coming to our games to know how high the stakes are... In The Last of Us, no one is safe from death, not even Joel and Ellie.
Hannah Hart, after routine questions about what it was like to return to the role of Ellie and about the influence of the character’s character on the actor, after which it turned out that Ashley Johnson did take on several traits from the heroine she played and even acquired her own bow (but has not yet acquired the desire kill people):
Holly, I guarantee you will be the scapegoat if The Last of Us: Part 2 sucks, everyone will blame you.
Holly Gross, second screenwriter, a woman “who has a boyfriend and his name is PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds)”:
But I don't write anything, I'm just there for show, so that's normal :)
Hannah Hart to Druckmann:
You just don't let her near the computer, do you?
Neil Druckmann, lead writer, creative director, director of The Last of Us: Part 2:
I remember the first day when we discussed the plot. I was confident in the beginning and ending, but not so sure about the huge chunk of the story in between. We began to come up with ideas, and she already had her own great thoughts, one of which I want to talk about... When Holly came home that day and spoke to her husband, she said, “I think one of my characters is pregnant.”
Hannah Hart, introducing the public to new characters from , and finding out that for Ian Alexander and Victoria Grace this is their first experience in motion capture for video games, which was not easy for them:
Were you fully involved in the motion capture?
Victoria Grace, actress who played the role of sixteen-year-old Yara:
Hannah Hart:
Didn't they use a real hammer?
Victoria Grace:
…it was cool. The whole experience of filming for the game was wonderful.
Laura Bailey, the "Hammer Lady" from the trailer, about her impressions from the filming of the sensational scene where she had to act out with a rope squeezing her neck for a more convincing performance:
On the day of filming, Neil came up to me and asked me “how comfortable do you feel about this whole thing (about working on this segment)”, to which I replied “let me do it”. They hung me up on a harness, put a noose around my neck, and the whole stage they threw me around and pulled me up...
Neil, regarding the characters shown, could you tell us a little about what hopes you associate with these heroes, if this word is even applicable to the world you created?
Neil Druckmann, lead writer, creative director, director of The Last of Us: Part 2:
There is hope here, as well as positive moments, like those from the first The Last of Us... Even with this trailer and the theme of hatred explored... much of the story is about the feeling of "seeking justice", about good, evil and the gray area that includes both of these concepts...
Hannah Hart:
There is a cult aspect in your game, there is a religious motive, I don’t know where the military units are now, what’s happening with the infected... “Fireflies” (aka “Cicadas”), can you tell us about all of them?
All of them are involved in history in one way or another...
Hannah Hart:
What a son of a bitch...
Neil Druckmann, confirming the interviewer's suggestion that justice in The Last of Us is a category that varies depending on point of view:
I think we can say this, a significant part of the game will take place in Seattle, as the detectives on Reddit have already unearthed.
Hannah Hart:
When creating the second part of such a massive entertainment product, are you worried about the response you will get (from fans)?..
When I found out what kind of ending the story would be, I realized that people would be divided into two camps, and they would discuss what they saw, love it or hate it, but we definitely didn’t want people to remain indifferent... We just have to keep telling the truth, it worked in the past once, and I think it will work now.
Hannah Hart:
When you make a sequel to something so loved by so many, you will always have people who just want to repeat that very first experience (of playing the game), but this is not growth, not (qualitative) change, there is no life in it.
We are again doing something that we really believe in, there is a fear and a challenge in this, we are trying to do something really difficult... I feel that we are creating something innovative, including in terms of telling the story, we cannot talk about this until release... There will be fans of the first game who will not like the sequel, and we have to accept that... This (development approach) has always been characteristic of Naughty Dog, we will continue to make single-player games with a strong story component.
Holly Gross, second writer of The Last of Us: Part 2:
In addition to trying to make users happy, the priority was to properly present Joel, Ellie and other characters, provide them with an appropriate story arc, and present them with a complex conflict. And watch them grow and change under these circumstances.
To put it bluntly, The Last of Us was the first game I played... thereby setting my own quality bar for video games incredibly high... now as I play through other games I wonder "where's the comprehensive character development, why should I care about fate these people, where is the history, where is the moral confusion..."
Troy Baker, the actor responsible for bringing to life Joel, one of the two main characters in the franchise:
They just didn't drop out of your loot boxes. No?.. That's how Troy's career ended.
Neil Druckmann, lead writer, creative director, director of The Last of Us: Part 2:
We have completed many levels, there is still a lot to work on, this is somewhere, I don’t know, 50-60% of the game, I can’t say exactly how far we have come... This is one of the most difficult stages of production, we have one element completed, the other, now we're putting all of these together and seeing how they interact with each other. But you still go by feel and hope that the final result will turn into an outstanding experience. And the game turns out great, (addressing Holly) you wrote a great game...
I had the unparalleled privilege of looking at a game in development, and it blew my mind, somehow simultaneously exceeding my expectations and creating new ones. And I hope we find out the day and hour when everyone will be allowed to see it, right?
In this article you will learn:
Ellie Williams– a girl with immunity from the game “The Last of Us”.
Childhood in military school:
Ellie was born in Boston in late 2018, six years after a yeast infection spread throughout the world. She grew up in a quarantine zone in Boston, so her knowledge of the outside world was very limited. The girl's mother, Anna, died, writing in a posthumous note that she trusted her to a certain Marlene, whom she had never seen.
When the girl turned 13, she was sent to a military preparatory school, like all teenagers her age.
At that time, the heroine was smart, witty, impulsive, temperamental and constantly used profane language. She did not know how to swim and had never even seen a boat; she knew how to use a bow, firearms and explosives. When Ellie was nervous, she rubbed her nose vigorously. Williams had brown hair, fair skin with freckles, green eyes, a scar on her right eyebrow and a thin waist. Her height is 160 cm.
One of the soldiers who looked after her for a long time refused to take the girl with him, choosing to take care of his own family, instead of caring also about the hooligan girl. Ellie said she could take care of herself.
Death of a friend:
At school, the girl met and became friends with. With her, they often went beyond the school grounds, wandering around the destroyed shopping center.
The girls even helped the terrorist group “Cicadas” escape from the military. They were soon captured by them. The leader of the “Cicadas” turned out to be the one to whom Ellie’s mother entrusted the girl, so the girlfriends were released. Marlene also gave Williams an envelope - a letter from her mother and a knife.
Five weeks later, the girl’s best friend, Riley, disappeared from school and the heroine thought that she had died, but soon she appeared saying that she had become one of the “Cicadas”. Riley led Ellie beyond the quarantine zone, where they were bitten by the infected. Riley died from the infection, but Ellie surprisingly survived despite her bites.
–Let's just wait! We'll go crazy together! It is so romantic!
The beginning of the way:
Having learned about this, Marlene, whom Ellie considered her friend, wanted to create a cure with the help of the girl and went to the Capitol. Ellie agreed to this in honor of her friend Riley, knowing that she might die as a result.
Three weeks after the bite, Marlene hired mercenaries and Tess to take her out of Boston and bring her to the Capitol, since the military was hunting for the “Cicadas”, and Marlene was wounded.
Arriving at the Capitol, the trio found only the bodies of the Cicadas. Trapped by the military, Tess was infected and sacrificed herself so that Joel and Ellie could escape and find Joel's brother Tommy, who once worked for the Cicadas and knows where their base is.
Together with the mercenary, Ellie went through a difficult path. Joel replaced her father, and Ellie became a replacement for her daughter, who died many years ago.
Henry and Sam:
During the fight with the thugs, the mercenary and the girl met the Henry brothers and the boy Sam. With them they continued their journey, breaking through the enemy ring.
Ellie admitted to Sam that the only thing she was afraid of was being left alone.
One morning Sam woke up infected and attacked Ellie. Henry killed his brother, and in a moment of despair, committed suicide.
Tommy Miller:
Joel brought Ellie to Jackson County, where his brother Tommy lived in a small community.
Ellie was eager to find the Cicada base, and when she found out that Joel had asked his brother to finish the job for him, she got on her horse and rode away. Joel didn't go her in the house, reading a book, wanting to finally put an end to their relationship.
– You're right! You are not my daughter! And I'm not your daddy! This is where our paths diverge!
Having calmed down, the mercenary decided to take Ellie himself, having found out where the “Cicadas” were located - the University of Colorado.
Joel's injury:
Upon arrival, Joel and Ellie learned that the Cicadas had moved to Salt Lake City.
At the university, the mercenary and Ellie were attacked by bandits and Joel was seriously wounded. The girl pulled him out of trouble and took care of the wounded man for a long time, hunting rabbits and deer.
While hunting, Ellie met David and James, with whom she wanted to exchange meat for antibiotics. She was captured by them after learning that they were cannibals. They wanted to chop the girl into pieces, but she managed to kill their leader David before Joel came to her rescue.
“Cicadas”:
In the spring, after a long and difficult journey, Joel led Ellie to the Cicada base in Salt Lake City.
Marlene was going to make a cure, extract it from Ellie's brain, kill it. But Joel couldn't let that happen. During the journey, she became like a daughter to him, and Ellie treated the mercenary like a father. She was unconscious when Joel saved her from death.
Ellie woke up only in a car that was heading away from the city. lied and even swore that there were a lot of children like her with immunity and they were of no use.
Together they returned to Tommy, trying to return to normal life.
Quotes:
(Ellie takes out an adult magazine)
– There is nothing to read, but the pictures are entertaining.
- Ellie, this is not for children.
- Wow! How... how does he even walk with such a thing between his legs?!
- Throw it away now. I…
- No, wait. I'm wondering what all the fuss is about. Oops, the pages are stuck together...
- Uh...
- Yes, I’m making fun of you.
(They look at the model girl on the poster)
–How skinny she is!
- There used to be a lot of food.
- Well, yes. But some tried not to eat.
- Why?
- For beauty.
- Pf-f. Idiocy.
. CVG has prepared a selection of quotes from reviews from the most famous publications.–Yes, you are a young genius! How come I didn’t realize that these machines could be repaired?
- Come on. Don't be a jerk.
CVG: 10 out of 10
The Last of Us is an impressive achievement, and one of those rare cases where you won't want to stop playing until you see the ending. The dynamically developing story will leave food for thought even after the final credits, but the creators do not forget that they are making a video game, not a film. This is a wonderful marriage of writing and gameplay, and is Naughty Dog's best game yet.
Official Playstation Magazine (UK): 10
A work of art in which every detail is designed to evoke an emotional response, to convey a sense of adventure in a world on the brink of the end. Naughty Dog has finally squeezed all the juice out of the PS3. It's your turn, PS4.
Edge: 10
Naughty Dog has created one of the most exciting, intense and emotional adventures of the outgoing generation of consoles. Sometimes we think that expensive blockbusters have too much at stake to experiment with risky ideas, but sometimes games like The Last of Us still sprout through cracks in the asphalt, like timid shoots of grapes - green as a cut emerald.
SFX: 5 out of 5
Sometimes you just have to admit the obvious: The Last of Us is the pinnacle of traditional storytelling in any interactive art form, and one of the best games mankind has ever created.
Kotaku: gotta get it
On the one hand, The Last of Us is subject to all the limitations of a linear game made according to the rules of cinema - for a number of reasons, the gaming industry is not yet ready for a high-budget game about emotions without any violence. Because of this, developers resort to various tricks, adding zombies and shooting to the written characters. Naughty Dog has been remarkably successful in this: they have managed to create a game that has become a step forward, a game not relying entirely based on genre principles.
They say that art is not what what was created and how . The Last of Us, not least thanks to its spectacular ending, reflects the seriousness of the creators' intentions. What we have here is an incredible combination of history, design, style and execution. As it turns out, good games are able to stand out from the usual clichés, even using them to the fullest.
Next Gen Gaming Blog: 10 out of 10
Few games can deliver both story and gameplay, but The Last of Us excels at both with ease. Some scenes will remain in your memory even after completion - they are so strong in their emotional effect. The game not only revives a genre whose reputation was tarnished by banal crafts, the main advantage of which is “the zombie in the name”; she redefines it and sets the gold standard. As a game, The Last of Us is both an excellent example of entertaining content and another masterpiece from Naughty Dog.
ShopTo: no rating
The Last of Us from Naughty Dog is a work of art, a classic that awaits your attention. Don't miss this game: people will be talking about it for a long time.
God is a Geek: 10 out of 10
The Last of Us is great in every aspect. Ellie and Joel are great characters, and few competing projects can create such intense moments while playing in undertones and maintaining almost complete silence.
Polygon: 7.5 out of 10
There are traces of a clear message from the writers in The Last of Us, but they make too many compromises for their message to stand out enough. Naughty Dog has a distinct narrative tone that makes every detail in the game both better and worse. The studio achieves incredible emotional involvement, which, however, is not constantly maintained due to banal plot devices that do not fit into the world of the game. Survival in a post-apocalyptic world requires sacrifice, but The Last of Us sacrificed too much.
TheSixthAxis: 10 out of 10
The Last of Us has an impressive and compelling storyline, as well as well-developed characters that will remain in your memory even after the end credits roll.
IGN: 10 out of 10
The unparalleled level of execution raises the bar set by the Uncharted trilogy to new, unattainable levels. The script, acting and gameplay allow the project to become one of the main contenders for the title of game of the year.
GameSpot: 8 out of 10
One unforgettable character proves to players that all humanity deserves to be saved in the cruel and dark world of The Last of Us.
Forbes: 9.5 out of 10
The Last of Us showcases Naughty Dog's talents in unexpected ways. The studio had made beautiful games before, but they weren't this beautiful. Their characters have made players happy before, but they didn't have the same emotional depth. Their games were fun to play, but The Last of Us' combat was a breath of fresh air. It's gratifying to see that the last important PS3 exclusive was not another part of God of War or Uncharted, but something truly new and breakthrough. Try it yourself and see if I'm right.
Eurogamer: 10 out of 10
While blockbusters suffer from tight development deadlines, banal gameplay and broken narrative logic, The Last of Us demonstrates what a modern game should really look like. Starting with health, the authors do not end with peace at all - each element is precisely adjusted to each other, ultimately giving birth to something amazing. An elegy for a dying world becomes hope for an entire newborn genre.