The Last of Us 2: Naughty Dog‘s long anticipated sequel to their critically acclaimed 2013 survival-horror title has been a subject of speculation pretty much since the time fans fell in love with the original game. But while many of the sequels we wildly beg for from their respective developers do not come to fruition, The Last of Us 2 is a certainty (“Let’s cut to the chase: the sequel to The Last of Us is happening, and it’s called The Last of Us Part II,” says Neil Druckmann on the PS Blog), and we now have a trailer to vouch for it.
In the reveal trailer showcased at this year’s PlayStation Experience held over the weekend, we get to meet the protagonists of the new game, and it is a surprise to many of us. One of the most widely praised aspects in The Last of Us was its detailed characterisation, and fans were expecting nothing less for the next title. But while many speculated that the new game would come with a new set of protagonists (driven by Druckmann’s statement of wanting to come up with a new story that does not feel repetitive), the person that we meet in the trailer is none other than Ellie, albeit an older version to reflect the time that has passed by in between. And Joel does a guest appearance too, towards the end. From the looks of it, Ellie will be the new main protagonist of The Last of Us Part 2, and she vows revenge at the end of the unnerving song that she sings by saying: “I’m gonna find and I’m gonna kill every last one of them.” Watch it for yourself below.
Besides the trailer, there hasn’t been a whole lot of revelation about The Last of Us Part 2 from Naughty Dog. But Druckmann wrote on the PlayStation blog that fans can expect to hear about the upcoming game in the coming months even though the title is in its early stages of development. Talking about how the new game came into being, the director wrote: “I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to finally be able to say that Ellie and Joel are back for another intense, harrowing, and emotional adventure. Like many of you, we have a deep love for the world of The Last of Us and its characters, and while a sequel may have seemed like a foregone conclusion, that wasn’t the case. We knew that it needed to be a story worth telling and, perhaps more importantly, a story worthy of Joel and Ellie. After spending years on different ideas (and almost giving up), we finally uncovered a story that felt special—a story that evolved into an epic journey.”
Quite obviously, the game we’re about to get is a direct sequel to the original, and that means the story of The Last of Us Part 2 will be a continuation of the previous game. So if you haven’t played the original, you may want to pick up the remastered PS4 version to get in on the hype. Another thing to be noted is that we were way off in our speculations about when the new game might come out (and we’re mighty glad about that). However, don’t expect The Last of Us Part 2 to surface anytime soon.