The Spreading of The Last of Us’ DNA Among Sony’s Titles

It’s been about a week since E3 concluded, but as you’d expect, there are still plenty of discussions pertaining to titles shown during its conferences and on the show floor. That especially goes for Sony, since the PS4 is the most popular current platform among English-speaking countries, and it’s largely agreed that they had the best conference and variety of software at E3 — despite some games being left out. But after further analyzing the titles they presented, it’s tough to ignore the similarities among some of them.

Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is still well known for beating expectations all around, especially in terms of its critical reception and sales. Its popularity was a remarkable achievement for a new IP released at the end of a console generation, despite it being released by a big first-party publisher. Its popularity can perhaps be attributed to more focus being placed on Sony as a whole during that period, which, at the time of its release, was also in the middle of promoting the then-upcoming PS4. They happened to see TLOU in tandem with those presentations, and the combination of that and its high critical reception led to it eventually selling over seven million copies — though that number also includes the Remastered PS4 version.

Now that it’s been a few years since that game’s release, we’re seeing an arbitrary effect: games clearly inspired by that title. Interestingly, its DNA seems to be spreading among Sony’s first-party titles, evinced through both the new God of War and Days Gone.

From the gameplay demo, the TLOU DNA represented in God of War amounts to some light-though-clear inspiration. If you’ve played or read about previous God of War games, you’ll know they were brutally violent action games that took place in a fantasized version of Greek mythology. You’re also likely aware that their star, Kratos, was one of the most revenge-crazed “heroes” to ever grace a video game franchise. That’s “heroes” because of his clear shift into a more villainous status as the series progressed, a character arc that left the audience split on his possible future. Some wanted him back for more games, while others who tired of him or weren’t fans of his progression were hoping his saga had concluded — unless he was returning as the main villain.

That’s what brings us to this new semi-reboot, which promises to have a more humanized Kratos. In addition to the beard, he’s living in the fables of Norse mythology this time around. But the E3 demo also introduced us to an equally important character in the form of his son, the figure he’s keeping his anger in check for. Upon watching their interactions while hunting and eventually battling small and large enemies, it’s tough not to see the parallels to TLOU’s Joel and Ellie. And since developers from Sony Santa Monica have confirmed how his son will stick with him throughout most of the game, those similarities seem much closer. Though I’ve seen some expressing how they’re interested in playing a GoW game for the first time, some longtime fans think it might be too much of a departure, especially gameplay wise.

The media released from here on will provide the chance to see how close this comparison is over the next year or so, though the game should retain elements endemic to the GoW franchise along with its adjusted theme.

Meanwhile, the TLOU comparisons are much closer with Days Gone, evident in its aesthetics and theme. It takes place in the Midwestern part of the US, in a time where most of the human race has been wiped out by a pandemic virus, which has turned many of them into zombies Clickers Freakers. Yeah. The plot setup is eerily identical to its inspiration, to the point that some (not just me!) have said it almost looks like a direct-to-video TLOU sequel. It’s fairly blatant, but Days Gone should contain elements that make it stand out and become its own unique project.

Unlike TLOU, though, this title is fully open world, with protagonist Deacon St. John primarily using his motorcycle to get around; fitting, considering he was previously the leader of a biker gang. There’s also no partner to be seen the current media, though they could be unveiled when more characters are introduced. It also appears that Freakers will attack the main character in large hordes, which could make encounters far more dramatic if they’re not scripted.

Some skeptics were ready to write it off after its E3 demo, as it looked incredibly generic for the zombie survival genre — me included. Zombie games have become a popular go-to in the last few years, thanks to popular works like The Walking Dead, and this appeared to be yet another me-too stab at the formula. But the vibe Sony Bend is going for is better reflected in descriptions of its world, characters, and gameplay that have been posted online after its announcement.

It’s still a while off, so hopefully the final product won’t be too generic. Bend has been working on this title for around four years, and they surely have a better experience planned than what this seems to be ostensibly.

It’s fine if games take inspiration from The Last of Us, but the developers behind them will have a tough time trying to hit notes that title reached, and make them stand out. This could get even hairier if rumors of Naughty Dog working on a TLOU sequel are true. But if these titles have good writers behind them, they could also do the job of tiding us off in addition to being memorable experiences.

Anyway, I don’t think I’ll need to post about these titles being left out of future conferences, so look forward to Sony heavily publicizing more info in the near future.