The Last of Us Part 3 is in the headlines once again, but it seems fans are misconstruing the potential sequel with leaked details regarding the upcoming 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Factions 2. It both feels too soon for a sequel to break cover and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Naughty Dog has stressed it is still working hard try🍒ing to get the online experience ready for release. Which, if you’re not caught up, was recently subject to an internal delay due to creative difficulties and not being where the studio wanted it to be.
A fully-fledged single player sequel probably isn’t on the cards right now, or at least won’t be coming until after Factions 2 and official word on the rumoureꩵd new fantasy IP. That’s not a bad thing, and will ensure Naughty Dog has all the time and resources it needs to tackle a sequel whether it desires to or not. I’m of the opinion that it isn’t necessary, with the tale of revenge and family explored in the second game coming to a definitive yet ambiguous end.
Ellie and Abby finally confront one another in a battle to the death fueled by misunderstood revenge, with the player forced to take part in a fruitless conflict that sees both girls beat one another within an inch of their lives. Bones are broken, fingers are severed, and nothing is ever achieved as, on the brink of death, the duo go their separate ways. At times, I wanted to stop playing, refusing to accept a conclusion where either of these characters perished. That was the entire purpose though, for the game to push us to a point where we felt visibly disgusted by the actions unfolding on screen while knowin🦩g there was nothing we could do to stop it.
The epilogue has Ellie returning to her farmhouse in the faint hope that Dina remained with their child, despite being told that if she dared embark on this twisted mission one more time that it would all be over. Dina kept her word, and I still remember shouting at the screen as I looked around the empty house in search of some sign of life. There was nothing left to see but dust and memories. A guitar lingers in a once bustling storage room, but is left behind as꧟ our heroine no longer has the means to play it. One of the few remaining connections she had to Joel was taken away after she learned all the wrong lessons from his upbringing. It isn’t a happy ending, but it’s absolutely a necessary one. Abby and Lev’s fate is shrouded in more ambiguity, although the changing title screen seems to suggest they reached their new destination and started a new life away from past trauma. Knowi🧔ng this, what happens next?
The Last of Us can’t get rid of Ellie. She’s too beloved by the fandom and the backlash of her death or deliberate removal from the narrative would cause an outrage equalling Abby’s first appearance. I don’t think she needs to be the focus however, nor would I want her to be with how much Part 2 twisted my perception of a character I used to love. I’ll be honest, my heart wanted her to lose in the game&rsq🌟uo;s final moments, for Abby to gather enough strength to grasp the upper hand and live to fight another day. That wouldn’t have been right either though, so a potential solution is to acknowledge Ellie’s existence while robbing her of the spotlight. It’s like how Joel became a passive observer until his death, only ever appearing in flashbacks to help flesh out his and Ellie’s relationship with additional layers of tragedy. Having learned all the wrong lessons from her father figure, perhaps Ellie steps into that eventual role too.
Placing Ellie on the backburner would allow the focus to shift onto Abby and Lev, or even a new character. The palpable sense of found family that defines these characters is awfully touching in how it presents two souls willing to grow and mature amidst an apocalypse which otherwise takes everything from them. Abby loses all the frꦛiends and family she ever had thanks to the morally unjust actions of Joel and Ellie, while Lev’s desire to embrace his true identity is met with a bigotry you’d hope a post-apocalyptic world would abandon. Yet past prejudices remain, and our dual protags are doing everything they can. To see those wounds heal would be quite beautiful.
Neil Druckm𝓀ann has said in the past that The Last of Us is a game about love, with Part 2 focusing on the hate that comes from that being taken away. So it stands to reason that a third instalment would focus on forgiveness, or at least reanalysing the animosity that once consumed us as we seek to make amends and figure out what life even means now we’re no longer spurred onward by an endless path of vengenace. Ellie would need to repair the relationships she ruined thanks to her own ignorance as Abby learns about how it feels to love again and take care of someone who potentially couldn’t su💯rvive without her. It’s the inverse of Joel and Ellie, a new generation who went through the same ordeal, but now it’s all over, and they are refusing to make the same mistakes.
