The Last of Us Part II Only Playable Character is Ellie

Naughty Dog suggesting that protagonist Joel of the original game will not be a playable character in the sequel.

Critically acclaimed action-adventure survival horror The Last of Us is getting a sequel, which was announced at PlayStation Experience 2016. By the time we witnessed E3 2018, we got to look at some gameplay footage as promised by game director Neil Druckmann. Developers of Naughty Dog has been hinting for some time that Joel from the original game will not be a playable character in The Last of Us Part II anymore and Ellie will take charge from here in the sequel.

The Last of Us Part II Only Playable Character is Ellie

RELATED: The Last of Us Part II Gameplay Revealed

After some time, Druckmann also confirmed this theory recently during Sony's E3 2018 press conference. Previously, players were able to take control of both Joel and Ellie in a two-part gameplay but it looks like we are not going to experience anything like that. Now, this leads fans to speculate that the studio is probably killing off Joel's character and they have many reasons to believe that. One of them is Ellie being the sole focus of all the trailers released till date.

RELATED: The Last of Us Part II Announced

Ellie is a teenage survivor of a post-apocalyptic world, who grew under the wings of Joel as a strong female protagonist and they both developed a bond. There is a good reason for Naughty Dog being all secretive about what happened to her guardian angel in this PlayStation 4-exclusive. Perhaps, they just don't want to spoil the story for fans in advance as it can diminish the impact of this twist upon release. Probably this is why; Joel actually appears briefly in one of the early trailers and interacted with her.

Joel Isn’t Playable

RELATED: The Last of Us Part II Premiere Trailer

Our best guess is that he died in between the events of these two games and whatever appearances he makes is some sort of cameo in form of flashback from past. The E3 gameplay reveal trailer hints of him still being around when Jesse talks to Ellie about her "Old-Man", which strongly refers to Joel. However, she then embarks a journey for retribution also suggests that she lost someone beloved to her and maybe she lost him as well as her newly introduced love interest Dina.

RELATED: Shannon Woodward Joins The Last of Us 2

Although Druckmann confirmed Ellie being the only playable character, possibilities of Joel appearing in a later DLC is still in hand. Keeping the dark aesthetic of the series in mind and Joel's phrasing to Ellie in the first trailer as “You really going to go through with this?” instead of saying "We" deeply hints that he is just a ghostly apparition that resides in her mind as she seeks revenge against some group of humans we saw her prey on at the gameplay reveal trailer.

The Last of Us Part II Gameplay Revealed

The very first gameplay trailer for The Last of Us Part II is finally revealed at E3 2018, showcasing Ellie to be a deadly fighter.

It's been five years that critically acclaimed action-adventure survival horror game The Last of Us is released and we only learned about a sequel being actually developed titled The Last of Us Part II at PlayStation Experience 2016. After dropping two trailers of the game previously, Neil Druckmann from developer studio Naughty Dog promised lately to show off some more of his game at E3 2018 and he kept his word by releasing a new trailer which focuses on the gameplay.

The Last of Us Part II Gameplay Revealed

RELATED: E3 2018 News and Rumors

Time for dropping everything else and witness what new revelation The Last of Us Part II hold for us in this brand-new gameplay reveal trailer.

Series protagonist Ellie is 19 now and not a little girl anymore. She apparently has found some peace as well as a relationship with a girl named Dina. Ellie is at a gathering, quietly enjoying a drink while watching her love interest dance in a room full of people and a friend of her named Jesse joins her for a talk. Dina comes back to grab Ellie for a dance before they depart from Jesse and they talk about how everyone is awkwardly gawking at them and then starts kissing passionately.

A Peaceful Life

RELATED: The Last of Us Part II Announced

The scene then cuts to a time in future where Ellie was slicing a man's throat afar from his teammates. We do know that the sequel is set five years after the events of the first game but jumping in between timelines, it is really hard to tell whether or not the events from that evening with Dina was from before or after the outbreak. A newly revamped gameplay mechanics introduced in the game actually lets you feel the struggle Ellie goes through as she pushes herself to her limits.

More Dynamic Stealth

RELATED: The Last of Us Part II Premiere Trailer

Her approach to these marauders depicted through her actions is seemingly vengeful and possibly they have messed with her in some major way that she is looking for payback so bad. Stealth is shown to have give player a tactical advantage when surrounded by multiple enemies and health is running low during combat. Though no infected swarm of Clickers were to be seen anywhere, the human enemies are seem to appear more ruthless and resourceful because of an entirely rebuilt game engine.

Journey of Retribution

RELATED: Neil Druckmann Talks The Last of Us Inspiration

The trailer clearly shows that game director Druckmann knows how to keep fans hooked and yearning for more. It starts with a slow, calm opening seemingly with an intent of telling a compelling story and then smoothly dives into gameplay footage to display the in-game lengths it will let you reach before coming back to the ongoing story for a complete cinematic experience. From graphics to fluid animation of the characters fleshing out every little details was truly amazing.

A Romantic Interest

RELATED: Shannon Woodward Joins The Last of Us 2

Stealth-based action-adventure game The Last of Us Part II from developer Naughty Dog is set to release on Sony’s platform PlayStation 4 but a release date is still to be announced. Recently, games like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn has already elevated fan-expectation of PS4 to sky high. So, it's very important for this project to live up to anticipation where single-player-focused narrative gameplay has a vital part to play. Actor Ashley Johnson has returned to reprise Ellie's character as Shannon Woodward and Stephen Chang play the role of Dina and Jesse respectively.

Neil Druckmann Talks The Last of Us Inspiration

As creative game director at Naughty Dog, Neil Druckmann can surely take pride for his contribution to The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Among these, the former is a critically acclaimed and commercially successful game with a sequel in works. At the 21st DICE Awards, he opened up about his source of inspiration for The Last of Us and its strong narrative in an interview with director Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane, Black Mirror).

Neil Druckmann Talks The Last of Us Inspiration

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Druckmann says that how much he was fond of Monkey Island and the Sierra games. He revealed that as a story-centric game, Half-Life truly blew him away. His time at Naughty Dog started off as a programming intern working on Jak 3 and Jak X: Combat Racing. These eventually led him to work with adventurer Nathan Drake for the action-adventure genre of Uncharted game series.

RELATED: The Last of Us Part II Premiere Trailer

While working on these projects, Druckmann was always seeking answer for better ways of telling stories throughout the gameplay and with that mindset, his goal was to create characters who can tell stories without wearing any fancy costumes. So, when he got the chance to shape the world of The Last of Us for Naughty Dog in 2013, his long-time dream actually came true at long last.

RELATED: Shannon Woodward Joins The Last of Us 2

In the game, the protagonist tries to protect a girl from the hazards of a post-apocalyptic world while constantly fighting ravaging infected populace of their surroundings. The perfect blend of story-telling through the elements of survival horror was created in the process and it left a deep impact on gamers and pop culture. With a record-breaking game taking the gaming world by storm, the developers focused on a sequel.

The End of the F***ing World

RELATED: The Last of Us Part II Announced

Currently, The Last of Us Part 2 II is in works for PlayStation 4 and already two breathtaking trailers are dropped. As he was talking about it, Druckmann reveals that the game took major inspiration from the dark comedy original Netflix series The End of the F***ing World and the emphasis were mainly focused on the dialogue of the sequel. According to him, the story of the series is well written and acted, which you would agree too if you have already watched the show or the trailer.

"There’s a show on Netflix called End of the F***ing World – which is so well written, acted, and quirky – has been totally inspiring the stuff we’re doing in [The Last of Us 2]. Again, more on the dialogue stuff."

Though the show, The End of the F***ing World is worth a binge watch if you are all game for a good time, the black comedic tones of the series hardly matches with a post-apocalyptic game setting of The Last of Us filled with cannibals and hostile humans everywhere. The edgy dialogues of it however, go along fine with the messed up atmosphere of the game. Neil Druckmann was probably referring to laughing at the darker side of things in Naughty Dog's crown jewel.

The Last of Us Part II Premiere Trailer

A PlayStation 3 exclusive by developer Naughty Dog's creative director Neil Druckmann, The Last of Us literally took over the hive minds of the fans, who didn't only loved this new dig at action-adventure survival horror but also sort of developed a bond with Joel and Ellie. Needless to say that this masterpiece truly deserved a sequel and we got confirmation from the creators of the game for one too. But even that was almost a year ago.

The Last of Us Part II Paris Games Week 2017 Premiere Trailer

Now, what we're here to tell you about is that, The Last of Us Part II has kept you in the dark enough with any details of the game up until this point and now that wait is over as Naughty Dog has just released a premiere trailer for The Last of Us Part II. The trailer is down below for you to take a good look on what you are about to get into.

The footage that we see is derived from the Naughty Dog engine, running the game on PlayStation 4 Pro. Yeah, you could probably tell by the high-def quality.

We are almost pretty accustomed to the idea that The Last of Us is a story about Joel and Ellie. To some extent, it is. Probably, no one will argue on that. However, the developers decided to go on a different track with the trailer and they started with a bunch of new characters we never knew of.

We see two hooded person dragging a semi-unconscious young female character while it is heavily pouring, through a place in the woods where many are already left hanging. Now, this young girl looks a lot like Ellie but got a muscular physique. They dropped their torch on a burning car nearby and attempts to hang the girl. After setting her on a noose prop, the girl was about to be interrogated when another hostage is brought in.

The Last of Us Part II PGW 2017 Screenshot 01

The Last of Us Part II PGW 2017 Screenshot 02

The Last of Us Part II PGW 2017 Screenshot 03

The Last of Us Part II PGW 2017 Screenshot 04

Upon refusing to answer, they brutally broke the elbow of the hostage using a hammer. A character from shadows help these two get free of their captors by killing them with arrows, only to be faced by a horde of infected afterwards. The young female protagonist stands strong against the oncoming wave with the hammer in her hand now.

There is no apparent release date for The Last of Us Part II and we still got no sight of Joel either. Since, Ellie will be the primary character of the game that is not too surprising though. At this point, we know nothing about what the game is about to unleash upon us and how we would react then. So, till we get more to go on with this one, I say we wait.

Shannon Woodward Joins The Last of Us 2

Because of her role as Elsie Hughes in HBO sci-fi drama Westworld, actor Shannon Woodward is quite a familiar face among all. Before that she also starred in crime drama The Riches and family comedy series Raising Hope. Today, this actress made an announcement of her joining the cast of the upcoming The Last of Us: Part 2, much anticipated sequel of action-adventure survival horror game The Last of Us (2013) from developer Naughty Dog.

Shannon Woodward Joins The Last of Us 2

Here at her Tweet, she posted a picture of her with Naughty Dog's game director Neil Druckmann expressing her excitement.

I am embarrassingly over-excited here because I'm peaking. @Neil_Druckmann is letting me act in The Last Of Us:Part II . ❤️ pic.twitter.com/XJUXxSlue7

— shannonwoodward (@shannonwoodward) April 7, 2017

Developer studio Naughty Dog is mostly known for creating hugely successful video games that also win hearts and their use of motion capturing performance in games like The Last of Us and Uncharted. Shannon Woodward appeared to be wearing a motion capture suit in her posted photo. Aside from this single photo, nothing about the character Woodward playing is revealed by either her or Neil Druckmann so far. Naughty Dog and Sony haven't said anything on that yet.

However, Druckmann later re-tweeted the photo stating, “Doesn’t look like anything to me” and his followers are quick to figure out that reference from the first season of Westworld. Previously playing Ellie and Joel, voice actor Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker will reprise their role in The Last of Us: Part 2, with Shannon Woodward now joining them for her yet to be confirmed role.

The Last of Us Part II Announced

Do you remember Ellie and Joel from the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us video game from developer Naughty Dog? Well, if you have already played the game then either the names of the character, title of the game or the studio behind it will remind you of what we are talking about here. The Last of Us was a PlayStation 3 exclusive release that has changed our idea of survival horror in an open world with series protagonist Joel and Ellie.

The Last of Us Part II Announced

It's been a few years that game was released and players were anticipating on some news regarding a sequel. If you belong to that group, then you are in luck as Sony just announced The Last of Us Part II at the opening ceremony of PlayStation Experience with the reveal trailer.

The trailer subtly opens with a scene in the woods with no apparent life-forms around but the mild noise of birds chirping in the distance. For those, who are new to the series, it portrays a pretty good visual to give them the feel of a post-apocalyptic setup the story is build upon with abandoned cars and barren locality.

Then we cut to a scene where we see a bruised hand of a person who is trying to get it together to play a guitar. As the fingers slowly stabilize enough, it starts playing and we discover that it is Ellie. She plays a tune and sings a song that clearly reflects the pain and suffering she's been through in this hellish world. While she is singing, blood starts dripping from her forehead with the focus of the camera remains on her face but right on her mouth. Her neck also shows an injury, possibly a scratch or a bite from a recent struggle.

Ellie and Joel Returns!

As Ellie continues expressing her emotions about regret and revenge through the tune, a shadowy figure arrives at the doorstep of the house she is in. The person, Joel slowly walks in sliding through the corpses on the floor with a gun in his hand and stops where Ellie is. He asks if she is thinking about going ahead with her plan, to which she replies, she's gonna find and kill every last one of them. The trailer ends here with leaving us in a world full of questions and unresolved mystery.

The Last of Us Part II has yet not has a certain release date but we know that it would be a PlayStation 4 exclusive. Sony is still working on the game and the sequel is built on an upgraded version of their previous engine. However, it's really nice knowing that we will finally get the chance to tag along with the Joel and Ellie duo once again, which makes survival in a devastated world interesting.