The Outbreak of The Last of Us: Part II’s Promotion

When Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment first revealed The Last of Us: Part II, they said it was a long way off. They weren’t kidding.

The game was originally revealed at PlayStation Experience in December 2016, where it was made clear it was in an early stage, though it didn’t look that way from the cutscene shown. But it’s taking longer to release than even pessimists expected at the time. Several expected a 2018 release, which clearly didn’t happen, and the game has only been shown sporadically by Sony at certain press events since the aforementioned reveal. The appearance at the newest State of Play (totally not a Nintendo Direct-style program) stream was the first time it was shown since E3 2018 last June.

The new trailer previews several scenes, though some are intentionally devoid of context to avoid spoiling too much. It’s centered around a 19-year-old Ellie, the then-young girl who accompanied Joel in the first game who’s now become the protagonist. Ellie will interact with several new characters, including love interest Dina, but the game’s themes and tone will be identical to the previous title. There’s already a hint at tragedy in the trailer, and the quick looks at core gameplay show how it will once again rely on psychological fear and isolation to generate its horror themes. It’s also going to be pretty violent, to no surprise given the content of the predecessor and last bunch of previews.

Speaking of Joel: One of the most discussed moments of the trailer was his appearance at the end. It’s the first time he’s been shown since the 2016 reveal trailer, which shut down most of the insane theories about him only appearing in the game as a ghost. That’s “most,” since some people will cling to these theories no matter what.

The trailer’s presentation showed how Naughty Dog has been listening to feedback from fans and critics after previous trailers. This preview was violent, but not overbearingly so, similar to the E3 2018 preview. The newest previews were stark contrasts to the Paris Games Show 2017 one, which seemed violent and cruel for the sake of it. The kind of shock value was at odds with the original The Last of Us’ tone, which featured good context for its violence. Recent previews are enough to suggest the second game will inherit that tone.

Note how the characters showcased in that particular 2017 trailer haven’t been seen since. The new faces from that preview seemed like they’d also be main characters, led by one muscular woman, but it’s evident Ellie will be the main focus. There are, to no surprise, several theories about who they could be, though time will tell whether they’re as bunk as Joel being dead all along.

Another interesting point is how the animation in the newest previews looks just as good as in the E3 2018 preview, despite the number of fans who somewhat-justifiably thought they might be downgraded for the final game. Let’s hope all this visual fidelity doesn’t affect the overall performance, especially for those of us still on base PS4. Fortunately, signs that they’re also prioritizing non-Pro owners are good.

Director Neil Druckmann claimed that TLOU Part II will be the longest and most ambitious game in the company’s history, hints of which can be seen from the video previews and descriptions uploaded today. The game’s progression looks about as open as it was in the previous game, which was linear but not constrained. The environments are even more open this time around, with locations unrelated to the main quest that can be explored for bonuses and leisure. They’re, of course, crawling with enemies, including new types more attuned to their surroundings.

For instance, dogs will be enemies this time. No, not mutated dogs like in the Resident Evil games and other horror works, but normal dogs that will absolutely be unsettling to kill. They’ll be able to smell Ellie if she’s sneaking around, meaning it’s no longer possible to be extremely patient during some stealth sections. More tragically, they’ll mourn for their human owners if they’re killed first. The human enemies will also yell for their friends by name if they see something or someone out of the ordinary, since the game has such meticulous attention to detail that everyone is named. Basically, they want to make you feel like shit while playing. Whether this will be effective for the entire duration remains to be seen, to avoid the mistake from the 2017 trailer.

Ellie has more maneuvers to help her through the new dangers. In addition to old tricks like throwing a brick at an enemy and using a melee attack for a kill (yes, I know this sounds deranged), she can also craft a silencer to kill enemies from a distance silently, along with her bow. She can also jump, unlike Joel in the previous game. Dina is a more useful partner than Ellie in the last game, sounding more reminiscent of partners from Naughty Dog’s other recent games: Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy. All of this certainly sounds good, and it would be a surprise if the game ended up unfulfilling given what Naughty Dog is capable of.

The biggest announcement in the trailer was the release date: February 21st. This confirmed rumors about the release month that swirled around, and that Ellie actress Ashley Johnson’s hilarious partial slip-up during an interview was legitimate. The game will also, interestingly, arrive only 11 days before another highly anticipated PS4 exclusive: Final Fantasy VII Remake. Like any modern AAA game, TLOU Part II will arrive with a dizzying array of editions, including three special editions — one of which is $230. That one, the Ellie Edition, is mostly sold out at retailers, but the others remain available. The game will also ship on two discs, which would confirm Druckmann’s comments about it being a big one, but there’s no confirmation of this from Sony themselves.

Expect a constant number of previews between now and the release day next year, though here’s hoping they don’t spoil anything big.