Blowing up on social media over the last week,The Last of Us: Part 2has made waves with fans like no other game this year, both for positive and negative reasons. It’s safe to say thatthe highly-anticipated sequel has been far more divisive than many expected, with some fans celebrating it as one of Naughty Dog’s biggest achievements and others damning it as one of the studio’s biggest mistakes.
In particular,one major twist that occurs early within the game’s campaignhas rigidly split opinion between fans, causing a number of major debates and discussions between the fanbase. It seems Neil Druckmann had a lot to say about the reaction to this bold decision on Kinda Funny Games' fantastic Last of Us 2 Spoilercast, with the esteemed director telling host Greg Miller than he never anticipated the reaction the story beat received.Be warned, there will be major spoilers ahead forThe Last of Us 2.
RELATED:All the Ways The Last of Us 2 Connects With the First Game
Of course, the decision in question is none other thanformerThe Last of Usprotagonist Joel’s grisly deathat the hands of new co-protagonist Abby during the prologue of the game. Speaking on the reaction to the bold decision, Druckmann claimed “I knew people would get upset at a character they loved dying. I never thought it would reach this kind of hate.” He then struggles to describe exactly what the reception to the decision online has been like, with Greg Miller chiming in that he’d love to “peer into the other multiverse where [Joel’s death] didn’t leak, I think it would be so fascinating to see what happens as it happens in context.”
Interestingly, Druckmann replies: “we’ve never shied away from the fact that we saidthere was going to be fans of the first game that don’t like this game, and this is the reason why, because we killed Joel in this fashion.” He continues, “the thing that was hard to see is then people kind of like dug their heels in the sand and took this position like, I already hate this game, no amount of context is going to change it for me… I can just tell certain people are never coming back.”
Druckmann’s interview about the subject definitely makes for an interesting listen, especially as the famed game director explains the sequel’s creative direction thoroughly and highlights why bold decisions like Joel’s death are imperative to the narrative Naughty Dog was trying to tell. Regardless, the fanbase is currently split overThe Last of Us 2,and it’s undeniably fascinating to see such a landmark release spark such interesting debates.
The Last of Us 2is available now on PlayStation 4.
MORE:Why Some The Last of Us 2 Haters are Comparing it to Star Wars: The Last Jedi
