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It’s an unfortunate time for fans of The Last of Us, with Sony choosing to delay the Sequel indefinitely earlier this month, despite the game’s original release date being only a couple months away. While recent leaks from an Amazon listing stated that the game has been reschedule for a June release date, this is yet to be confirmed by developers Naughty Dog.

Despite the uncertainty of the games release, hype and excitement for The Last of Us 2 is still as prevalent as ever. With that being said, here are my top 5 things I want to see from The Last of Us Part 2.

1. Genuine moments of happiness

While so much of the essence of the original game is gritty and unapologetic violence, this in juxtaposition with the lighter moments of the games narrative is what made it such a winning formula. This is proven by the fact that one of the most talked about scenes from The Last of Us is the beautiful cinematic where Ellie pats the giraffe (surely I wasn’t the only person that got emotional in that moment). Given the footage we have seen so far, the next instalment is going to be even darker than its predecessor. While I am all for this, I hope that this isn’t at the expense of some moments of happiness. After all, it would be brutal of Neil Druckmann, the game’s developer, to take away all happiness from the game. It was the combination of these moments with the extreme horror that created
such a winning combination after all.
2. Smooth and evolved gameplay

Arguably the biggest downfall of the first game is its shooting mechanics. The stealth component of the game is heavily focused and is quite inventive and intuitive, but whenever I ran into a firefight I always found myself frustrated at how clunky the mechanics were. The second time around, I hope Naughty Dog focus more on making the attacking system more fluid and maybe expand upon the upgrading system to add some special effects to the weapons (please tell me I’m not the only one who wants to see Ellie kill the infected with flaming arrows). Given it seems we are playing as a battle-hardened Ellie this time around, her weapons arsenal and abilities with said items should mirror her character progression from the first game.
3. Joel and Ellie

While Naughty Dog has been very tight lipped about the role Joel will play in this sequel, we do know he will be a presence in some way, shape or form. At the crux of the first game was the relationship between Joel and Ellie and so the sequel must continue to explore their complexities as both individual survivors but also as a co-dependent force. The ramifications of Joel’s decision to take Ellie away from the Fireflies at the end of the first game will hopefully be addressed and to see how this has strengthened or damaged their relationship will provide another layer to their already complex dynamic. Honestly don’t we all want to see one of our favourite father/daughter gaming duo’s reunited and showing all those clickers who’s boss?

4. A Love Story for Ellie

I know that the major narrative of The Last of Us will be harrowing and violent, and that Ellie will probably have a very traumatising time throughout the game. In saying that, we’ve seen a budding romance play out between her and fellow survivor Dina from the footage that has been released. While one of these trailers heavily implies Dina dies early in the narrative, I hope this doesn’t stop the Developers from including as much of their relationship as possible. What was so great about the DLC for the first game, The Last of Us: Left Behind, was the beautiful relationship between Riley and Ellie. Given all she’s been through it would be nice to see Ellie smile for a change and a complex and hopeful romance could be just the thing to reveal the softer sides of Ellie’s personality.

5. Even better Enemy AI

The Last of Us 1 revolutionised enemy AI, delivering in ways we hadn’t seen in previous games. The Enemies were smart and quick and there was a great sense of urgency in any and every combat scenario because of this. In the sequel, I would love this to be even more enhanced. With The Last of us 2 being released on the PS4, a stronger console than the PS3, I hope that Naughty Dog utilise the abilities of the PS4 to create some extremely intuitive and unforgiving AI. Judging by the footage we have seen of the game, I believe Naughty Dog will deliver on this, setting another new standard of in game enemy AI.

Final Thoughts:

We may not know when The Last of Us Part 2 is going to be released, but we all have our own hopes and desires for what the game is going to be like. Here’s hoping when it eventually released, it can live up to its predecessor and deliver us an unforgettable experience.

Words by Player One Contributor Eleni Thomas