Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II has gathered a lot of attention over the last month over the way the developers handled Ellie’s narrative. The game’s overall tone and bleak nature received a lot of criticism from players, but TLOU2’s creative director has revealed that the sequel’s ending was originally going to be much darker.
It is strongly advised to not read on if you have not completed The Last of Us Part II, as there are major spoilers up ahead.
Speaking to Game Informer, creative director Neil Druckmann and narrative lead Halley Gross revealed some inside information about how the game’s ending was originally going to conclude. Gross started by explaining how the team produced a lot of mind mapping in order to get a feel of how the last act would play out. She revealed that many endings were proposed within the creative team, but the ending that resonated more with Ellie’s character was the one where she inevitably kills Abby.
Gross continued by revealing how, halfway through production, the team changed this ending to Ellie releasing Abby to show the humane part of her that Joel came to care about. They wanted Ellie to return to her roots before she was overruled with her determination to seek revenge.
Ellie’s dramatic narrative shift came about when the team was brainstorming over what lay in front of Lev and Yara. After deciding that Lev would live, Druckmann felt the urge to relieve Ellie of having to kill Abby. Gross was apparently taken aback by Druckmann’s sudden change of heart, as she didn’t even consider the possibility of changing the ending they had so firmly decided upon before. Druckmann explained that at that point in time, during the creative process, he felt that letting Abby live would be detrimental to the game’s theme. He felt it was necessary for the team to be true to the character regardless of whatever action they wanted to showcase within that narrative.
Druckmann concluded that his objective when writing a character is to keep the subject’s motivation consistent throughout the game, instead of writing a protagonist that may be more likeable to the audience. He added that in the gaming industry there would always be “haters” who wouldn’t be happy with the ending regardless, but he felt that the team’s decisions were right by the characters.
The decision to kill Abby would have undoubtedly added to the weight of Ellie’s other atrocious acts throughout the game, and could have weighed heavier on the already troubled minds of players.
Source: GameSpot
