The original ending to The Last of Us Part 2 was much darker

After more than six years of development, Naughty Dog’s The last of us, part II finally released on PlayStation 4 last month. Critical reception for the game has been largely strong, and one thing that most critics seem to agree on is that the game’s story is remarkably dark. However, according to a new interview conducted by Game Informer, that story was supposed to go in an even darker direction. In the interview, director Neil Druckmann and narrative leader Halley Gross revealed how the story was originally intended to end, and it would have been a little different! Warning: main spoilers at the end of the game!

“When I signed a lot, it was very similar,” Gross told Game Informer. “We did a lot of iterations on what that last act looked like, but the bottom line was that Ellie would kill Abby. About halfway through production, we changed that and made Ellie let it go at the last second to [illustrate] that a small part of the old Ellie, the Ellie with humanity, the Ellie impacted by Joel, still exists within this character who has been so far overcome by his quest for revenge. “

While some fans would have been happy to see Ellie kill Abby after Joel’s murder, it would have been a sad ending for Ellie’s character. The last part of us IIThe narrative focuses on the consequences of violence; If Ellie had killed Abby for revenge, the character would have lost even more than she had already lost. At the end of the game, Ellie not only lost the figure of her father and the family she had built, but killing Abby would have cost her soul.

“Letting Abby live felt bad thematically initially,” Druckmann told Game Informer. “But at the end of the day, he felt more honest for the character. The theme [and] What we’re trying to say changed a bit, but our top priority is always to be honest with the character. There are certain things we are trying to achieve, but they can only work if we are consistent with the character we are writing. “

During production in The last of us, part II, It seems that several things were changed! At one point, the game would have been an open world title. Readers can find more information on the decision to drop that idea right here.