What do we want from The Last Of Us 2?

The Last Of Us is one of the best story games of all time, but what do we want in its sequel?

This article contains major spoilers for The Last Of Us. DO NOT READ if you have not played the game.

The Last Of Us

Whether Naughty Dog 'should' make a sequel to their hit game 'The Last Of Us' is a widely discussed subject. Some players would like a sequel with the original characters returning whereas other players would like a new set of characters as they believe that Joel and Ellie's story is finished. Some players don't want Naughty Dog to make a sequel as they believe it will ruin the originality and effectiveness that the first game had.

The first game received outstanding reviews with many critics admiring the story and gameplay elements. Personally, The Last Of Us is my favorite game of all time due to the emotional affect the story had on me and how well designed the characters are. I could go on about how much I like The last Of Us for ages but this article is about what I would like to see in The Last Of Us 2.

Will there be a The Last Of Us 2?

Yes. The first game was a major success and Naughty Dog received amazing reviews and got praised for the game. Naughty Dog will not ditch the franchise after the major success and the fan base the first game has built.

There have been around three times when Naughty Dog or ex Naughty Dog employees have mentioned the game (usually accidentally) and this has caused massive hype. There is enough evidence that the company will create another game in their post apocalyptic franchise.

Characters

The first game had two main characters with lots of supporting characters throughout the game. Of the players who would like to see a second game, some want to see new characters and the others would like to see the original characters returning.

Ellie on left and Joel on right


The argument for wanting new characters is that they believe that Joel and Ellie's story is finished and that adding another chapter in their story would ruin the emotional impact that the end of the first game put on them.

The argument for wanting the original characters to return is that we (as in the players) have developed an attachment to Joel and Ellie and have seen their relationship build up throughout the whole of the first game to the point where Joel thinks of Ellie as his own daughter. The end of the first game leaves on a cliff hanger, with Joel lying to protect Ellie. These players would like to see the consequence of this lie and what happens next to the characters.

Some players would also like the game to take place in the twenty years between the prologue and the main part of the game, showing how Joel and his brother Tommy survive before Tommy leaves to join a militia group. They would also like to see how Joel meets Tess and Bill and what happens between them.

Personally, I would like to see the original characters return because I believe that their story is not finished due to the cliff hanger at the end of the first game. I have also developed an attachment to the characters and would like to see what happens to the characters next. I think that the game should start with Joel dying at the end of the prologue in order to protect Ellie and then she has to survive on her own. This will create an emotional start to the game that will make the player want to play on. Joel is also getting old and it can seem slow to play as him in contrast to when we played as Ellie.

I think that if Naughty Dog want to fill the twenty years time gap in the first game, then it would be better to do this as DLC like they did with Ellie and Left Behind.

Joel hugging his dying daughter



Gameplay


The first game had good gameplay but it can be improved.

Firstly, the crafting system seems outdated and basic compared to newer games. It can be improved by adding more functionality instead of just holding a button when you have the right materials.

Melee combat can be improved as it also seems basic. There is no way to block enemy attacks and the only thing you can do in melee combat is press the square button repeatable. This can get repetitive. A sequel would need to add at least a way to counter enemy hits such as the counter system seen in Uncharted 3.

The AI (artificial intelligence) is a major flaw in the first game. The game, when first released, had to make use of a ten year old system (the Playstation 3) and so couldn't run as good AI as the PS4 can. The AI had a big downgrade from when the game was showcased at E3. A sequel should re-add the AI features that were present in the E3 build of the first game while also improving upon it. In The Last Of Us, the AI often went wrong and enemies aimlessly ran round the area even though they saw where the player went. These AI hiccups need to be fixed in a sequel.

Another feature to add that would improve upon the stealth system seen in the first game, would be the ability to move and hide bodies. This would improve the stealth system and make the player take more risks.

Multiplayer


The first game featured a multiplayer mode called 'Factions MP'. When playing multiplayer, you would have to combine stealth, teamwork and skill to win the match. There was a total of three gamemodes; each having different objectives.

The gamemodes in the first game were fun and well designed. They kept me playing the multiplayer for hours as there was always variety in every match.  However, after a while, the multiplayer gets a little tiresome as you are always playing the same gamemodes. It would be nice to see a couple of extra gamemodes in a sequel to keep players entertained for longer.

Factions MP also had peer to peer matchmaking. There was usually no problem with this but every few matches you would come across a game with major lag/connections issues or the host will quit causing the game to end. This is frustrating and dedicated servers would be a better way to go in a sequel. However, I am not expecting there to be dedicated servers as Sony (the publishers of the game) keep defending peer to peer servers in Naughty Dog's upcoming game Uncharted 4.

At times, the multiplayer felt pay to win as many of the most powerful weapons you had to buy DLC for, and their was no way to use the guns on your custom classes without buying the DLC. This would be alright if the game was free to play, but for a paid game, pay to win is greedy. The Last Of Us 2 needs to have every gun being able to buy without paying real money; maybe having optional micro-transactions if you would like to get the weapons faster.



Thank you for reading this article. Feel free to comment with your opinion on the subject and what you would like to see in a sequel (or if you don't want a sequel). You can stay up to date with news on The Last Of Us here at Keengamer.

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