The Last of Us 3's story is a mystery, but the game has a lot of heavy lifting to do if it wants to match Part 2's environmental storytelling.
The world doesn't know much about The Last of Us Part III yet, but given the issues, fans have voiced and what few areas the second game left open for improvement, fans should expect at least a few reasonable changes. Wealth of Geeks speculates on some of them with a breakdown of things The Last of Us Part III needs to touch on.
I still would want Ellie’s worldview to reflect Joel in a way that displays his impact and reminds the player where it all started. You can’t just ignore that as if none of it happened. And I know ND being the epic storytellers that they are, would not miss this.
Great point. I agree. It also would be weird just to erase Joel and somehow tie up Tommy's story.
Stop crying
That world is so harsh and Joel as much we all loved him was a shitty person and deserves what was coming by Abby or someone else ...his past was bound to catch up on him
And there is no Hero ending for him or anyone in that world and you should have seen that very clearly from Part 1
Bring back a dead guy who murdered innocent people, then kill a girl who reacted the same way you would if your father was killed. Ok sounds good sure.
@kwiet "murdered innocent people" come off it 😂 Joel didn't want to kill anyone they were going to murder Ellie his second chance of a daughter! for a so called vaccine that might not have worked! What would you do if you had a daughter let them kill your daughter or save her
Come off what? Her death would be an unfortunate outcome of the surgery, but she went with it. That's why Ellie herself was angry with Joel in part 2 for taking that away from her. Did you miss that? And you just said yourself, Joel made the decision to "protect" this girl, who is not his daughter, by taking away the potential cure for civilization all on his own, and then lied to Ellie on top of it. He's literally the reason why the post apocalypse continued on.
Everybody knows what he did was selfish, but because his character is the hero/protagonist, they just let it slide and get mad at Abby. The whole purpose of playing as Abby was to show that there were good people out there who were directly affected by Joel's decision.
Or say Part II was all a dream and then carry on with Joel and Ellie's story :P
*** You can’t just ignore that as if none of it happened.***
Right. But also, there's a whole game about that. Joel is a great character, but we don't need to make TLoU just about him and his actions in a world filled with people and problems.
So in season 2 of the TV show Joel (Pedro pascal) will die straight away then obviously! But somehow I think they will string it out they are not going to kill pascal off on the first 2 episodes haha.. why because it's stupid! Bad writing! watch this space
Killing off primary characters isn't bad writing, even if people are attached to them. Doing it poorly or without reason for moving the story ahead would be bad writing.
It might not be good marketing if the only thing good about your story is that one character. I doubt Pedro Pascal would see it that way. But not just straight up bad writing.
To be fair, I thought Joel was going to die by the end of TLOU Part 1. That near fatal fall at the University, and the buildup of Ellie into the strong fighter during that period. I was happy that Joel survived by the end of TLOU1, but it did not surprise me that they killed him in Part 2. Did I like it? No of course not. We weren't supposed to like it. TLOU was always supposed to be about uncomfortable storytelling.
Now what I didn't like was not the fact that we played as Abby in Part 2..... it's the fact that we played as her for 10 hours. That was waaay too drawn out. I would have been fine w 2-3 hours as her.
I want a story structure to be like The Godfather II.
Modern day play as Ellie with whatever they decide to do.
Flashback levels play as Joel from the day of the outbreak to the time he meets Ellie.
The two stories should reflect and intersect each other at various points
If you’ve seen The Godfather II you know what I mean.
It should let you love and cherish Joel, but also show how brutal he had to be.
To paint him in a light where you still mourn his death but know he totally deserved it and had it coming.
You should feel conflicted playing as him because you will not be doing nice things.
Hes been on both sides remember? You might be killing people that really don’t deserve it.
Epic story tellers?
I think they were doing ok in tlou2 right up until Ellie decided to give up her entire life, wife and kid to go get revenge and then let what's her face go .
Talk about shitting the bed and making a story completely pointless.
Good job ND👍
"Another pervasive criticism of Part II’s story remains the uneven pacing."
I have yet to see anyone count the story beats and compare it to another story which they think has good pacing.
"simplistic transformation"
How was Abby's transformation simplistic?
"Focus on a smaller cast"
Since there are no emergent NPCs, they need Manny et al. to make the world feel lived in.
"More creative weapons"
This would make the game look stupid.
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The rest I can sign up for.
Not much they can do. I'm actually worried that there's even a 3rd part. How much will Neil destroy the IP before putting it down.
Neil is a solid writer. If it were up to people that hate Part II, the game would be superhero tripe, and this not even an opinion.
I see this argument everywhere....yet nobody but those in favor of part 2 make it.
I guess it's the limitations of the mind at play here. If not a bad vengeance trope then it must only be a hero trope as the alternative.
Neil is such a bad writer that for years he couldn't get his story into a game until Bruce took it and completely changed it to what we love today. Neil is only taking advantage of the amazing dev team at naughty dog...which is creeping into obscurity this generation.
Neil is a solid writer - yes your mind clearly doesn't operate in the realm of reality.
@Crows90
anast is right. The most common suggestion from people who hate TLOU2 is that Joel should have died in a blaze of glory late in the game, protecting Ellie. If that's a limitation of the mind ... then surely you should direct your comment at the people actually making the suggestion rather than shooting the messenger?
Bruce doesn't have any writing credits on anything. He's not a writer. Bruce selected Druckmann and leaned on him to lead the creative side of things (creative director, writer) for a reason. Why do you think that is? And why do you think he did the same for Uncharted 4?
"Neil is such a bad writer that for years he couldn't get his story into a game" Druckmann came up with the concept when he was a college student. lol. Not sure how realistic you're being there. The amount he pulled off at NaughtyDog in a short amount of time afterwards (with a particular large role on Uncharted 2 as well) is hard to mock if you're sticking to the facts.
@lucas
No he is not accurate. Nobody said it needs to be late in the game. Later or in a more meaningful way with sure. Other criticisms included not misleading through trailers but that's irrelevant.
What messenger am I shooting. He replied to my comment. I wasn't talking to anast. What a poor response. You can say that about anything to anyone.
What Neil has pulled off at naughty dog is very simple. If you pay attention to the direction of the studio you can see why he was able to stick around and become head of the dev team. It's pretty obvious but certain people wear shades for stuff like that
@LucasRuinedChildhood
“ Bruce doesn't have any writing credits on anything. He's not a writer “
And yet Neil’s initial idea about TLOU when it was called Mankind was deemed “misogynistic”
Then the idea of Tess being the villain following Joel across America with a huge band of followers to get revenge after he had done something to her was deemed “unbelievable” by Bruce because in the harass landscape of TLOU world, nobody would follow someone for revenge especially having some many people follow her.
There’s plenty of interviews and Reddit “As me Anything” that they both did which basically shows you that Bruce was behind the story aswell for the first game despite not having writing credits.
Neil - “ I think a lot about design and Bruce thinks a lot about story. We wrestle with ideas and make sure story is working with gameplay “
Neil - “There's a lot of overlap in what we do”
In these interviews and the like there’s a lot of “we did this” and “we did that” about a variety of things about the game. It wasn’t one person, it was both of them.
"I think stating "incels" were mad that gay people were in it is a huge oversimplification."
No it isn't. It's the reality of the situation. It doesn't matter who is gay and who isn't.
No he's not. He's an over simplistic writer who believes he has way more to say than he truly does. Neil is just a massive narcissist who ended up floating to the top.
The Naughty Dog development team bailed him out.
His games have stories that are better told through the environment and gameplay than anything told through the immature and unrealistic dialogue. Bruce Straley is the more important creator for The Last of Us and it will show in part 3.
Neil is the definition of the Peter principle.
No one destroyed the IP. They had a story to tell, and it was a grown up one. People were used to the videogame story arc, and wanted everything to turn out rosy. It didn’t. Then a bunch incels got upset that gay people were in it. So people bitched. Basically, people who couldn’t handle it for one reason or another.
Personally, I dont know what else can be done with the IP, but I dont see why the creators have to be limited by what I am able to think of. I just think the zombie genre is a bit tired at the moment, but so is everything else.
Could have said it better. The "Neil is a bad writer crowd" wanted a cartoony hero story, which was cheap and color by numbers.
The zombies are only there to add urgency, it has to be something, I suppose.
I think stating "incels" were mad that gay people were in it is a huge oversimplification. I have no problem with gay characters and representation in games, but it felt waaay too forced in part II. Everywhere you go it is gay characters, trans characters, pride flags, stories about gay lovers in a notebook, bigoted old white guys, cult that is a stand in for Christianity that hates and kills gays and trans people etc.
Some political messaging in a game is fine but this is getting hit over the head with a 20lb rainbow sledgehammer. All I hope for part III is they tone it down like 75% so it's not so over the top.
Revenge plot is a grownup plot...got it.
@meaty
Yeah he talks about being grownup and responds in the most childish possible manner.
Are you implying that one of the greatest single player story driven games of all time was “destroyed”.?
I thought they delivered one hell of a game the likes of which don’t come around often.
Madness. I just recently finished the remaster of part two for the first time. The story was heavy and I loved it.
Yes the first one was great for sure!
Second one...well...we know something went wrong...otherwise it would've received a similar reception as the first.
@OldMcGroin
Agreed. One of the greatest stories ever told in a video game. With a claim to being the greatest bar none.
@Crows90
Nothing went wrong. The internet happened. Anyone and their uncle has an opinion, and since second game was incoming, they all could opine. The game was amazing, the story was superb, and there was nothing wrong about killing one of the main characters, or having gay people in the story.
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Just because you luck the imagination to tell a story doesn't mean the creator can't tell his own story. The IP is literally doing better than it has ever been, even with the salty and triggered people constantly crying online.
"Neil is such a bad writer that for years he couldn't get his story into a game until Bruce took it and completely changed it to what we love today."
I love that the creative director, Neil, gave one single example of how sometimes he helps out the game design director, Bruce, and vice versa, and this one small example in a brainstorming stage is held up by every sad little Druckmann hater as evidence that Bruce single-handedly made TLOU1's story good. They HATE that Neil wrote part 1 so much that they need to fabricate alternate realities where he didn't and simply stole the credit.
Neil had a very different idea for the 1st game...which is exactly what he implemented for the second part ..if you looked into it then you would know.
Crows90
They don’t want to look it up because it would show them they are wrong
They like to bury their head in the sand and pretend people are hating on it for the sake of it, boiling it down to trolling or homophobia etc. Then the personal attacks start.
@crows90 @foxtrot
The original idea was for Tess to stalk them from one end of the country to the other, like Nemesis from RE3, with a large group of goons. In TLOU2 it picks up with Abby finding where they've lived for years and getting her revenge with a small group of friends.
It's not my fault if you can't tell why one of those is far more believable than the other.
Just hope they try and set the graphical benchmark for the generation like they did with part 2. ND knows story I can't wait to see what narrative they create.
Nope they first need to make savage starlight and have timetravel , let a major timeline crash happen and erase TLOU2's timeline or that one part and make a quarter of 3 a retelling of what really happened to J. Perfect start for 3
From VGC: "Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann has seemingly hinted at plans for a third entry in its The Last of Us series.
While not confirming if The Last of Us Part 3 is coming or not, series director and co-writer Druckmann told The Hollywood Reporter: “I think there’s more story to tell.”"
Maybe it's Kratos all over again. Ellie is now exhausted with revenge and the hate that had overtaken her heart, so she settles down, becomes Eddie. Grows a beard. Reunites with her adoptive son JJ who she fines out is also a cure. Son wants to sacrifice himself to save humanity.Yada yada..
All this because Ellie had a girlfriend? Lol it's not that big of a deal. I don't think it would have changed the game so much if she was into sausage.
@sully
Ellie from the last of us part 1 is not into girls though. It was with left behind dlc that they decided to go that route.
Not to mention its a little gross for a grown man to be thinking of lesbian 12 yr olds. Left behind arguably doesn't prove she is a lesbian either. Ellie kissing a beloved friend doesn't scream lesbian to me. Girls tend to be far more affectionate anyways.
Lol @SullysCigar sorry, it was just a harmless joke about all of the people so vocal about their Last of Us 2 hate. ((You should be used to my dumb, playful jokes on this site by now!) I simply stated that she grew a beard bc that's what is trendy these days! I can respect the story the creators want to tell, whether we like it or not, it's their story to tell. The overall story was (mostly) well done, w maybe some dragged out parts and shoehorned moments that didn't feel organic.
You can go back through my posting history if you want and see that I was one of the ones who actually really enjoyed the game. The Abby part is TOO long IMO, but I found that dynamic of facing off against Ellie pretty intriguing.
Yea, I hated that they killed Joel so fast, but the series was always about unpleasant, uncomfortable stories. I can hate his death, but enjoy the emotional rollercoaster I endured w it. Again in the theater scene, I almost had to put the controller down, it was killin' me having to beat Ellie to a pulp as Abby. That part was brilliant and heart wretching.
And yet...he only thinks there is....shows how incapable this guy is when it comes to storytelling.
Disagree. The world is pretty pedestrian cliche zombie land stuff. The strength was in the characters and part 2 robbed us of half of that. They'll probably kill Ellie and make us play as the coyote that gave her rabies or something...
This is such a great point. How will they ever create more characters? Impossible!
Yep I was right. Well the rumor was right. Of course I got downvoted for it but the truth is the the truth. I actually ok with more Last Of Us.
Didn’t they just announce their next project will be more like a TV series or something along those lines? I think that might be a new IP… though I could be wrong and they’re taking an existing one and making it episodic.
No it means he's forming a writing team like tv rather than the games being episodic, which wouldn't be good imo
Same Tbh
I don't mind TLOU 3 as i more of it whatever it's the same characters or different characters but leave that to the end of this gen give us new IP instead
Same. The world is awesome, but with the TV series and the multiplayer coming soon, we need a break before a sequel. That will make it all the more enjoyable.
Playing a game as Ellie where she kills more after that ending would be like Batman not killing joker but killing henchmen. Would kind of undermine the point of the ending to me. But hope people enjoy it
This illogical narrative is adopted in many films/shows/games .. all those side character are just disposable assets to give more excitement till you reach the ending point where the main character, the hero, turns into a saint.
This is my issue with the "franchise" obsession, narratives should not continue indefinitely.
Imagine a song that just never ended.
Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part 3 will probably be the final chapter in Ellie and Joel's epic story. Here's what we hope to see.
After she lost everything she loved in TLOU2, I would like to see a healing process for her in TLOU3. I would like to see Ellie grudgingly taking care of a pupil and warming up to it (mirroring Joel). In the end become the source of a vaccine/antidote she was destined for since the beginning, like to save said pupil in exchange for her life.
Also I don't care if people come and say "bUt YoU cAn'T mAkE A vAcCiNe AgAiNsT sPoReS!!!1111", it's a post-apocalyptic science fiction videogame, not a scientific thesis.
I agree, I mean what else can be left? How it happens exactly remains to be seen but I'm pretty It's all coming down to whether Ellie dies or doesn't die. It would make sense if she has a reason to live, making her decision that much harder.
I have honestly lost interest in the franchise thanks to the direction of the sequel. Not my cup of tea at all. I'll stick to the original and just continue to pretend it was a one and done game.
I think Ellie sacrificing herself for a vaccine at the end would not only invalidate the first game's ending, but a huge part of TLOU 2 as well. Ellie's character arc deals with her learning that she doesn't have to be stuck with survivor's guilt forever, that her own life matters more than just being sacrificed to save mankind. Once she understood Joel's actions at the end of Part 2, she was finally able to let go of revenge and start anew.
If the next part ends with her sacrificing her life for a vaccine then the entirety of her character arc in the series would've been rendered meaningless.
@goldwyncq
TLOU 1 ending was not her decision, Joel quite literally called the shots there against her wishes. Joel never worked through his trauma of loosing Sara, which highly influenced his decision when Ellie starts to grow on him and is about to die (see Joel reactions to Ellie in the final act of Tess vs. Joel reaction in the final act of the game).
In TLOU 2 Ellie made it very clear in that she will never forgive him for that, but since she loves him she wants to try. It's an emancipation process from Joel in many ways. Joel still tried to make decisions for her behind her back, and he still was on her mind during her violent revenge she had to break out from.
Druckmann once said in an interview in terms of TLOU1 how far will go for love and for TLOU2 how far will you go to bring justice for those you love. So selfishness was not the message of the games, it was the cause.
@ ED-E
The entire series is about love. Ellie being saved by Joel was first and foremost an act of love. It might seem selfish if you're looking at it from the perspective of the greater good, but the games have always been about Joel and Ellie, not saving the world. Ellie exists more than just to provide a cure for the world, and that's something she had realized and made peace with by the end of the second game, giving her the strength to abandon revenge and start life anew again, just like what Joel wanted for her. She's not going to throw all of that away just because of a savior complex she already grew out of.
"If somehow the Lord gave me a second chance at that moment... I would do it all over again."
I want to see Ellie and Abby in a relationship for research purposes only.
Really though with how 2 played and ended I'd like to see a different story with different people.
I would like to see this franchise end. Tbh it should have never been a sequel to begin with
I'm just hoping for more best-in-class storytelling and gameplay, really. These guys are masters at their craft, so I've no doubt they'll bring some awesome new characters and ramp up the emotions all over again.
Actually, a PSVR2 option would be nice too. Clickers in VR... 'O'
You're crazy... Abby and Lev yeah. But Ellie? She's is The Last of Us. If you're going to remove her, then why even bother making the game.
I’d love to see Abby and Lev again, but if they aren’t in Part 3, I won’t be disappointed either, I loved the time with them that we were given. Ellie on the other hand, yes, I agree, She’s The Last of Us (at least as of now) I can’t imagine them doing a Part 3 and coming up with some random new character to try and bring in fans of the game for the 3rd game, that’d be rather ridiculous. I want to know what happened with Dina, the baby, Tommy, what Ellie decided to do with herself etc.
@ClayRules2012
My point isn't so much about Abby or Lev. Though I can see Abby being in it since she's probably working with the fireflies now. Remember her dad was a doctor for the fireflies and she was on her way to regroup with them before she was ambushed. I just hope her role in the game is small.
My real point is that Ellie "is" The Last of Us... Without her there's no point in making the game. That's why I think Foxtrot's opinion here is pretty crazy.
Yeah, I do get remember that, now that you mention it, and that makes total sense. I hope her role is smaller in the 3rd game (if she’s in fact in it) and Ellie takes center focus.
Ellie can’t get infected, as we know, but she’s also important to Tommy, Dina, the baby, and just others. I want to know where she’ll fit in in the world, her purpose and place for the 3rd game, what that’ll focus on, I’m intrigued to know. Without her, you don’t have a story to tell.
I would like to see Abby and Lev. Abby was such a badass to control and I would love to see what direction their lives take. Perhaps Naughty Dog could include Ellie in Jackson as the area gets over run with infected?
I actually found Abby’s part of the story way more interesting than Ellie’s straight revenge plot.
@IGiveHugs
What a difference name…that picture of Ronald too, goodness lol. It gave me a much needed laugh haha.
But yeah, I would like to see Abby and Lev again, great characters. But I wouldn’t be upset if we didn’t again. I do wonder where they’ve gone, what’s happened to them since Ellie spared Abby tho.
And I couldn’t agree more, Abby was badass to control, powerful, quick, regardless of her size, and her moves felt brutal, unforgiving, and oh so satisfying with each encounter. Did you prefer controlling her or Ellie, in terms of just the general combat overall?
I'd like to see abby atleast helping out Ellie in time of need, she owes her that atleast. Maybe fight together against a common enemy. Maybe even sacrifice her life for Ellie (sounds cliche i know)
She was the Last of Us, they both were and NaughtyDog decided to just ruin her in Part II
She was immune, a great story to explore but they just pushed it aside like was nothing and left her with nothing in the end
Another “ReVeNgE iS bAd” ending where she lets it go despite everyone she killed getting to her
@Clay
I preferred playing the Abby segments. Her story really shows how some people tried to work together to rebuild civilization. If they had a better leader they probably could have with all that military training at their disposal. Abby's combat fits the moment and is really, really immersive. She knows she's a badass and she also knows she's not invincible and it comes across in her actions and the story.
He has a vendetta over the tlou2. I can recall dozens, possibly hundreds, of comments from him whining about how much he hated the game.
@Vermin
How the f*** is that trolling 😂
I just want new characters and a new location
What the hell is wrong with that
Jesus this site man, honestly
Yeah I disliked 2 but adore the original, so the third game is a fresh start to get the fans back who were put off after Part II
Neil has said without Joel or Ellie there is no TLOU. Now that Joel is gone TLOU IS ELLIE
It has always been about those two. The rest is just a setting
Oh ok, that makes sense. I remember he’s replied to me before about The Last of Us Part 2 in the past, and I’ve seen him express his dislike on here in different articles.
But yeah, TLoU is Joel and Ellie’s story, and now Ellie’s taken it, and I can’t imagine anyone doing it, although a prequel with Joel and Tommy I’d personally love, in some way, that way you still play Joel, before the outbreak, younger, with Marlene, how her relationship with Tommy was, Joel’s friendship with Bill, just more of good ole Bill haha.
Lmao
Yeah he said that and it was bullshit
Remember the 7 years before Part II
“We love these characters”
“Part II is a Joel and Ellie story”
“They are the Last of Us”
“We are going to respect these characters”
And the second games story was basically everything against what he said
People expected Joel to die but like in the first 10 minutes in the most stupidest and out of character way. Then makes you play an unlikable character rather than just Ellie? Yeah really backs Neil up huh.
Playing devil’s advocate, but what if it’s still a shared universe, but with an expanded cast? Like Resident Evil, The Walking Dead. Protagonist paths may cross, but they don’t have to.
That would be perfect tlof part 2 game play with you character and no lgbt agenda would be a dream
The hilarious thing is if they do new characters and a new location you’d eat it the f*** up and it’ll be the best thing ever
So…yeah “hard pass”
I doubt it
Replies(7)By the way, here is a list of my top 10 most anticipated games. This is just my personal list, not saying this is how anyone else should think.
1. Final Fantasy VII: Remake Part 3
2. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
3. The Last of Us Part III
4. Final Fantasy XVI
5. Stellar Blade
6. The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie
7. The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki
8. The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki II
9. Dead Island 2
10. Persona 6
As much as I'm looking forward to FF7 Rebirth, I have to think that the 3rd part will be even more important since it will be the finale. That's why it's #1 on my list. You can see I have The Last of Us Part 3 third on my list, even though it hasn't been announced, I had already assumed it's happening at some point.
Stellar Blade is at #5, I'm taking a chance there since it's a new IP and unproven but like I've said before, the game has made that big of an impression on me. I'm also talking a huge chance with Dead Island 2, it's because I really like zombies but I was also really hyped for Back 4 Blood and Dying Light 2 and neither of those games were that good. So I hope Dead Island 2 will be different.
What else can I say? I'm a huge fan of The Legend of Heroes, very underrated series in my opinion. And Persona 6 I'm sure is coming eventually. I'm a big JRPG fan obviously.
Nah, I couldn't think of a better place to share this than on a Last of Us 3 thread. It's on my list and it's an unannounced game itself, Last of Us 3 hasn't been announced so it's not like we're not all thinking forward.
Plus it's the Last of US 3, my biggest franchise, only the Final Fantasy 7 Remake is ahead of it right now.
I was hoping that by sharing this I would find people will similar interests, since I assume we're Last of Us fans. But oh well...
Some great games there! I personally hope there is never a TLoU Part 3, I always hoped the original would stay a one off. Final Fantasy I agree with you though 💯
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I'm so hyped for this.
Idk why folks even bother bringing up this, Rex dead 3 and the next God of War title we are years away from each one lol, I'm sure they'll be dope tho. I did enjoy Last of us 2 more than I thought, after I got over the whole joel thing. Start to finish, exploration is done so well, post apocalyptic genre needs more in depth titles like these, metro series, dying light and others.
TLoU part 2 is awesome! I am sure part 3 will be Epic!
Last of Us Part 3 needs to let us kill Abby using the environment and create a story with the environment.