The Last of Us 2 beats the giraffe scene from the first game

It has been called “powerful”, “emotional” and “iconic”. It could be one of the most famous scenes in a whole generation of video games, often cited in conversations as an example of how the game it came from is “the height of video game storytelling,” as IGN wrote in 2013. I speak of course. of The last of us‘Giraffe Scene, a crucial moment for petting animals that occurs near the end of Naughty Dog’s 2013 post-apocalyptic survival game.

As Peter Field, a former level designer for Naughty Dog, explained in a breakdown of that part of the game, the bus station level, and especially the giraffe scene, helps Joel understand the cost of the trip to Ellie. The level also reinforces that Ellie is determined to catch fireflies regardless of her momentary depression. Both elements continue to inform the spinal column of The last of us part 2, where the tension between these characters reaches a breaking point.

The last of us part 2 It shows that AAA gaming has gone much further than the original giraffe scene could provide. For one thing, The last of us 2 it is full of “giraffe scenes”, meaning scenes with downtime due to perpetual violence from the rest of the game world, often used to provide tender and thoughtful moments for your characters. In these moments of respite, the player character participates in a snowball fight, practices the guitar, and plays fetch for a dog. In this, The last of us 2 It’s not unique if you’ve played Naughty Dog games even before the first Last of Us, you’ve noticed how much effort the studio puts into finding interactive but non-violent ways to drive the narrative without having to completely rely on long, non-interactive scenes. Uncharted 4 had a portion where you just hung out at Nate’s house, and The lost legacy opens with a great level of market in this line. The last of us 2 it’s full of things like that.

There is a specific level in TLOU2However, that highlights how far big-budget games have come since The last of us. Halfway through the sequel, you enter a playable flashback sequence where it’s Ellie’s birthday. Joel wants to surprise her, so he drags her into the desert to an unknown place. Always stupid, Joel pushes Ellie into a body of water. This is where we learn that Ellie has finally learned to swim, which is a good thing, because we are going to have to dive a little to get to our destination. This little detail alone helps establish some intimacy, not just between Joel and Ellie, but also between the game and the player: Ellie has changed and the mechanics reflect that. It is a marked difference from the first game, where complete puzzles were built around her inability to step on water.

Finally, Joel takes Ellie to a museum full of life-size dinosaur exhibits. Tyrant saurian Rex front model. Cold! As you play and click through the level, you can decide to open Ellie’s notebook, where you will find clues of her life and the relationships she has had in the time between the first game and the second game. Finally, you find a hat. You can put your hat on, and that’s pretty silly. But then you find a second hat, which you can place on top of each dinosaur. Tour the museum and learn fun facts about all kinds of extinct creatures you can dress up at the push of a button. If you want, that’s it. Everything is totally optional.

Image: Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

But old Joel hates a little, so of course I feel the duty to upset him. That’s intimacy, when you get down to it: meeting someone well enough to lovingly press their buttons. This continuous interactivity, along with a series of optional conversations you have along the way, helps to differentiate this level from the more static giraffe scene in the first game. But there’s more than that. The museum itself provides little ways for you to interact with it, such as turning a lever to view the revolutions of the planets. Joel impatiently imparts some knowledge to Ellie about what she is seeing.

Near the end of the level, Joel reveals the big surprise. There is a small spaceship in the museum that was once used for a real space operation. Joel asks him to go through the screens and choose one of the helmets. There are three, each with a different type of design and time period. I opted for one of the most elegant and futuristic pieces.

Bound and ready to go, Joel and Ellie get on the ship. Joel gives Ellie a cassette tape on a Walkman, which was apparently very difficult to find. He asks Ellie to close her eyes and press play. The cassette, as it turns out, contains the audio of an actual shuttle launch. Ellie may never get beyond planet Earth, but for a brief moment, he can pretend to leave it all behind. The takeoff sequence reminds me a lot of that viral video in which a father shakes his son in a basket of clothes while she watches some images of a roller coaster, in an effort to make her feel like she really is there. It is sweet.

Image: Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment via Polygon

All these little choices along the way make a big difference, because the player can express himself. The sequence is already touching, but by allowing you to choose your helmet, as well as which dinosaur keeps the hat, the level becomes personal. On the contrary, they all experienced The last of us‘giraffe scene in exactly the same way, and while that was still moving, it’s flat compared to what The last of us part 2 Provides regularly.

But it wouldn’t be a Last of Us game without at least an instinctive bump to enhance the experience. To commemorate the trip, Joel gives you a space pin that you attach to the front of your backpack, which is filled with other decorations. When you skip ahead to more recent events, Ellie has gotten rid of most of those childish things in her backpack, with one important exception. The space pin. Regardless, as Ellie struggles for revenge, and even as she deals with her complex feelings about the man who “saved” her, she still carries that pin. Curse.