The Last of Us 2 was released to immensely positive reviews and has become the highest awarded video game of all time. At launch, however, the game was riddled with a lot of controversies. The plethora of pre-launch leaks that surfaced on the internet spoiled the game for many, and it also led to some serious backlash from the ones who were disappointed with the game’s direction.
At first glance, it is easy to assume that The Last of Us 2 is structurally different from the first game. However, it has much more in common with the first game than it meets the eye. In The Last of Us, the player’s journey begins with Joel, yet it is the fourteen-year-old Ellie that drives the narrative forward. It starts up with Ellie’s free-spirited self that is just excited to go out in the wild.
As the journey progresses, players discover Ellie’s wild secret, they learn about her survivor guilt, and they come to understand how she’s afraid to be left alone. Players witness Ellie’s growth from being an impulsive teen who has never shot a real gun to a dependable introspective woman who knows what it takes to survive in this world.
Ellie’s transition shapes up the game’s story and the people around her, especially Joel, in The Last of Us. However, it never delves too deeply into Joel’s nature, his back story, and how he became the way he is. Joel’s arc was dependent on that of Ellie’s. In short, The Last of Us was Joel’s journey but Ellie’s story. Here is where The Last of Us 2 comes in.
The Last of Us 2 portrays the vicious cycle of violence in which Ellie and Abby are trapped. The early hours of the game indicate that it is Ellie’s story of vengeance. And while players go on this journey with Ellie, Abby’s actions drive the narrative forward. Like Ellie was in The Last of Us, Abby is the catalyst in The Last of Us 2, and everything revolves around her.
Ellie’s part of the story is relatively straightforward. She’s out to kill Abby and her friends. The first half of the game takes players through the outskirts of Seattle to WLF’s bases to Seraphite filled parks and the flooded metropolis of a crumbling Seattle, as Ellie discovers the ongoing war between the two factions. With Dina and Jesse by her side, Ellie ends up killing most of Abby’s friends.
While there are subtle moments in between that give a glimmer of Ellie’s long-lost witty nature, and some interesting conversations with Dina and Jesse, a massive portion of Ellie’s journey focuses on getting the job done. It is similar to Joel’s character arc in The Last of Us, where all he wanted for a significant half of the journey was to deliver Ellie to the fireflies.
The second half of The Last of Us 2, however, is where all the surprising turns of events and the rollercoaster moments happen that one would expect from a narrative-driven game such as this. Abby’s story isn’t here just to justify her actions at the beginning of the game; it’s also a stark indication of what could be Ellie’s future if she drives down the same path. Abby’s redemption doesn’t start after Joel’s death, as her recurring nightmares persist even after she had avenged her father.
The three days that players get to spend with Abby and her friends delve deep into her insecurities, her vulnerabilities, her weaknesses, her deteriorating relationship with Owen, and her guilt-driven actions. Although Abby’s path to redemption doesn’t begin until she meets Lev and Yara, her prior conversations with Manny and Mel and her decision to find Owen set the stages for her character. Abby’s decisions throughout the game push the narrative forward. She decides to leave Ellie and Tommy in the prologue, whereas others like Mel thought it was too risky to leave loose ends. Later on, wherever Abby moved, Ellie followed. Whether it’s the WLF hospital or the aquarium, Ellie followed Abby’s footsteps both literally and figuratively.
Joel doesn’t have much role in The Last of Us 2 in the literal sense. He appears in Ellie’s memories and in a few flashback segments that comprise some of the most beautiful and fulfilling moments of the game. But Joel’s complexity that remains untouched in the first game is brought to life to some extent, ironically, in Abby’s arc. Abby’s character is analogous to Joel in many ways, and her journey does a fine job of explaining both of these character’s motives.
There are plenty of story and gameplay cues that indicate that Abby is a manifestation of Joel. For instance, both Abby and Joel carry a similar backpack. Like Joel in The Last of Us, Abby has to craft a shiv to kill clickers. Big story moments such as when Abby carries Yara through the woods as a hoard of infected comes after them is similar to the opening sequence of The Last of Us where Joel carries her daughter Sarah away from the infected.
Abby and Lev’s relationship is semblance to Joel and Ellie’s too. Abby’s willingness to protect Lev at any cost is a stark indication of who Joel was. It all comes full circle. For Ellie to understand Abby’s action at the start of The Last of Us 2, she first has to understand Joel’s decision at the end of the first game.
The Last of Us 2 is as much as Abby’s story as it is a reflection of Joel’s side that fans didn’t get to see in The Last of Us. The narrative functions from Ellie’s point of view, and it ends once Ellie has learned to empathize and ultimately forgive both Abby and Joel. “Just take him,” she says in the final moments of the game. Metaphorically, “him” here is none other than Joel.
Although Abby has a personality of her own, her semblance to Joel is there for players and Ellie to understand their beloved father figure, who is no more. Just like players went alongside Joel on a journey to experience Ellie’s story in The Last of Us, Ellie and the players go on to live Abby’s story in The Last of Us 2, and through it understand Joel as well.
The Last of Us 2 is available on the PS4.
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