Naughty Canine’s The Final of Us Half 2 just lately acquired an all-singing all-dancing remaster for PlayStation 5, which was each one thing of a shock (the sport was solely launched in 2020) and managed to over-deliver with a slew of latest modes, reduce content material, creator commentary, and naturally native 4K. Sony hasn’t but introduced whether or not the sport will make its option to PC, however the remaster of the primary recreation arrived on Steam simply seven months after its console launch.
As a part of the TLOU2 Remastered celebrations, Naughty Canine has now launched the documentary Grounded 2: Making The Final of Us Half 2. The total factor is above and, truthful warning, it is two hours lengthy and clearly comprises each narrative spoiler going. In direction of the top, sequence co-creator and co-director on each entries Neil Druckmann casually mentions the prospect of a 3rd entry within the sequence.
To be clear Druckmann doesn’t say The Final of Us Half 3 is in growth, however that he has a “idea” for the place it will go in relation to the primary two video games.
“The primary recreation had such a clear idea of like, the unconditional love a mother or father feels for his or her little one,” says Druckmann. “The second, as soon as we landed on this concept of the pursuit of justice at any value, justice for those you’re keen on, we felt like ‘there is a clear idea right here and there is a throughline from the primary recreation, about love.’ If we by no means get to do it once more, it is a high quality ending level. Final chew of the apple, the story’s performed.”
Druckmann says the benefit of being at a studio like Naughty Canine is that “we do not have to” make one other entry within the sequence except there’s the will to take action.
“I have been simply enthusiastic about it, ‘is there an idea there?’ And for years I have never been capable of finding that idea, says Druckmann. “However just lately, that is modified, and I haven’t got a narrative, however I do have that idea that to me is as thrilling as [TLOU 1], as thrilling as [TLOU 2], is its personal factor, and but has this throughline for all three. So it does really feel like there’s most likely yet another chapter to this story.”
In the identical documentary Druckmann additionally addresses some confusion over earlier remarks he’d made concerning the character Tommy, Joel’s brother, and a possible spinoff recreation post-TLOU2 starring him.
“The headlines throughout the business have been like ‘Naughty Canine has outlined The Final of Us Half 3’ and that is truly mistaken,” says Druckmann. “It was all the time a small story, it was by no means a full title. On the time, we had greater priorities at Naughty Canine to repair our pipeline, to repair work-life steadiness points. Simply based mostly on the place we have been, I did not wish to prioritize the story, in order that story was shelved. And I nonetheless consider sooner or later, it will see the sunshine of day. I do not know if it will be a recreation or a present.”
Maybe notable on this context is that The Final of Us acquired one main DLC, Left Behind, however TLOU 2 by no means did, and launched amid a wider context of accusations and controversy about crunch and the working expectations at Naughty Canine. The documentary is pretty candid about this time, and the studio’s key figures appear honest concerning the modifications made to keep away from one other TLOU 2-style crunch interval. So the Tommy story might effectively have been a casualty of this era of retrenchment, the place getting the studio working in a more healthy manner was extra essential than getting one other growth out the door.
That does not imply it will by no means occur. Druckmann finishes on the Tommy stuff by saying “I hope sometime we get to make it.” As for TLOU 3, the query appears much less an “if” than a “when”, however given business lead instances I would not begin reserving break day work but.
Properly, I suppose every little thing’s a trilogy today. Extra prosaically The Final Of Us has change into one in all PlayStation’s nice status hits, the kind of video games we used to name system sellers, alongside a vastly profitable TV present which is presently submitting its second season (and diverging from the sport’s tales). That is now a juggernaut and, regardless of the current cancellation of a multiplayer spin-off, it could nearly be extra shocking if Naughty Canine did not return to this world.
