With the countdown to Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2 officially underway, the company and its many developers have been sharing lots of details not only about the title, but also about the development process itself.
One of those people is TLOU Part 2’s Narrative Lead and Co-Writer, Halley Gross, who recently spoke with PlayStation Official Magazine (December 2019, issue 168) [via WCCFTech] about her work on the game.
Speaking specifically on Ellie and her character development, Halley explained that ND has really put her through the wringer this time.
“Obviously Ellie experiences this deep trauma, it has an impact on her that’s going to affect how she engages with the world. That’s going to affect her tone as we sort of descend through that. That being said, Ellie is driven by love. It’s love that sends her on this mission for justice. It’s love that she feels for Joel, for Dina – these moments that buoy her,” said Halley.
“What we’re really trying to do is challenge Ellie to see who she can become when she grows up in such a hostile environment.
“And part of writing is, very unfortunately, torturing your characters, putting them in hard situations, and testing their values and testing their drive. So while we love Ellie, and we’re really excited to see her grow up, we’re certainly not going to coddle her.”
From what we’ve seen of the game so far, Ellie definitely has grown up since the first game. Now 19 years old, Ellie is seasoned killer and the second game will follow a revenger mission which is widely believed to be spurred on by the death of her love internet, Dina.
Featuring new enemy types, new gameplay features and being around 50% bigger than the first game, The Last of Us Part 2 is set to be one of the greatest games of all time.
Credit: Naughty Dog