The Last Of Us Developer Commentary Has Too Many Voices

Developer commentary always seemed like the most interesting part of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered. The most 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Naughty Dog, perhaps - certainly the most suited to Druckmann’s comparison that this would be a Criterion Collection-style release. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:No Return, the roguelike mode with several playable characters, is a nice distillation of the game's intensity, but lacks the narrative bite we know the series and studio prizes so highly.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Lost Levels are off the other end - the typically secretive manner of game design being broken by Naughty Dog, one of the most protective of how its award-winning sausages are made, seems out of character too. Developer commentary is Naughty Dog all the way down. Unfortunately, it's a little too Naughty Dog when all is said and done.

The commentary flickers in and out over the cinematics, with actual gameplay free from any voiceover. The Lost Levels have specific marker🀅s you can activate during gameplay for a description of the design choices in that present moment (as well as why the scenes were ultimately cut), but the main game has no such explanation. Instead, it feels more like a bunch of friends all rewatching their favourite movie together while laughing at a bunch of in-jokes.

The Last of Us Part 2 Ellie with her bow and arrow

The commentary is crowded in the extreme. We have creator and writer Neil Druckmann, fellow writer Halley Gross, and actors Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, and Shannon Woodward, who play Joel, Ellie, Abby, and Dina respectively. That's six voices, including four actors who, by their nature, are not particularly shy creatures. That makes the commentary warm and engaging, never feeling like an obligation accepted with an eye-roll to fulfil terms of a contract. But it also devalues the process a little.

There are some glimmers of what a great dev commentary can offer - we learn, for example, that the map of Seattle we wander around is based on Sucker Punch's work for InFamous, the map for which the Sony cousins shared across the development process. That's an interesting titbit that you only learn in a commentary, as it only becomes interesting enough to the speaker when the scene is right in front of them. We know Ed Norton punching Brad Pitt in the ear in Fight Club was ad-libbed, and that Viggo Mortensen broke his toe in The Lord of the Rings, through commentary too.

Grounded, the upcoming Naughty Dog documentary, probably offers closer to what this dev commentary could have been, bu♈t will also lose the interactivity this version could have offered.

Most of the time though it's just six people (or often five minus a naturally shy Druckmann) laughing at what a good time was had by all and talking over each others' stories. It's never mean spirited, but actors have a natural inclination to make the most of their camera (or mic) time, while the in and out nature of the voiceover means it's all very fragmented and never gets to wander to the end of a story, as everyone tries to cut in before time runs out. Frankly, it's a bit much and impossible to tell who is speaking when, even with such iconic voices in your ear.

Everyone involved did a good job with what they were tasked with, but having so many voices at once, having it so freeform, and having it only tied to cinematics all devalues what it offers. Despite being most interested in the commentary, I left having enjoyed my time with No Return and learning a lot from The Lost Levels, but being thoroughly bored by the dev commentary. Bored and, selfishly, a little annoyed. I wanted more from this, and it feels like an inside joke I'm on the outside of - it's a little like when you meet up with your partner's friends for drinks and they all talk about work and also most of them are loud and obnoxious.

To my wife's friends reading this, not you. You're the cool ones.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered offers a lot of new features to the overall experience, but with No Return's lack of narrative and the commentary's empty calories, not too much depth is added to the game. It's less like, as Druckmann claimed, a Criterion Collection release, and more like a sitcom box set with the cast goofing around and recounting things they remember from filming. It’s a fun listen, but the tone, style, and addition of jokes you don’t understand can make you feel disconnected. Thankfully, a lot of people like hearing the cast goof around, but it's not quite what it could be.