For the past couple of months, voice actors Troy Baker and Nolan North have been documenting their playthrough of The Last of Us on the Retro Replay YouTube channel. It has to be said that the duo has been doing fairly well across 11 episodes so far, but for their latest video, they brought Ashley Johnson along for the ride. As the voice actor and motion capture artist of The Last of Us: Part II protagonist Ellie, she had some interesting stories to share about a new skill she picked up while shooting the sequel to Naughty Dog's PlayStation 3 classic.
As the three discuss the game amongst friendly banter, Ashley Johnson gets onto the topic of Archery as Troy Baker disposes of a couple of enemies using the bow and arrow. It's a skill Johnson says she has been working on recently, stating: "That came from wanting to get better at that skill for, I don't know if I can say this. I wanted to get better at it for the second game."
How much of an impact this will have on the final game remains to be seen, but it is definitely neat to see a motion capture artist to go as far as picking up a new skill so that the game they're working on is better for it. Could this mean that the player will have more options when it comes to using a bow and arrow in The Last of Us: Part II? Will Ellie have a better understanding of how to use the weapon in the sequel with more realistic reactions when the bow's tension is relieved? Maybe we'll be able to hold it in a variety of ways? These questions won't be answered until that May 2020 release date rolls around, but we think this is a cool little commitment made by Ashley Johnson all the same.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 21
Hmm, something tells me they won’t be motion capturing Link (or should I say training an actor as an archer) to improve the next Zelda game. Just make a movie if this is your jam, no? I guess it’d just be another average zombie flick if they did that though.
I’m not massive on ND games, can you tell? 😂 totally getting it to play twice so I can preface all of my future posts accordingly before I slag it off for years to come 😚
@kyleforrester87 Nintendo does use motion capture for Zelda games: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/jobs/introduction/design/img/work2/create_movie.jpg
@Octane yeah sorry, smacked an edit on that just before you posted. I’m on a bus trying not to get coronavirus give me a break man.
can't wait! crown jewel for this gen (with GOT following soon after hopefully)
remember that we would have been playing part 2 in a couple of weeks if all went right...
@kyleforrester87 Well, make up your mind next time!
Being a fickle is one of the first signs you've caught the virus. So I'd see a doctor if I were you.
They’re really pushing it to make this game really lifelike and that’s cool. But if one is going through all this trouble, why not just make a movie instead?
I love these playthroughs. It's a fascinating commentary into the art of making these games.
I remember at the end of the Uncharted playthrough, they brought in Amy Hennig to talk about making the game.
It's fascinating stuff.
@Akurusu Because it's fun to play?
@Akurusu Maybe because it will still be predominantly gameplay? After all, this article is talking about looking more realistic while using the bow and arrow, which is a weapon used in game.
I don’t see the connection between making gameplay look as realistic as possible, to making a movie with no gameplay.
@Akurusu movies are too short tbh. You couldn’t condense TLOU 1 down to 2-2.5 hours and have it be just as impactful.
@kyleforrester87 I thought I was the only one! Great cutscenes, gameplay is as average as it gets. Have at me!
@Ichiban yeah I agree, still it’s horses for courses isn’t it, plenty of people are loving em
@KahnArtizt07 I never found The Last of Us impactful to begin with.
@Akurusu That’s just your opinion. Most people who played it loved it, hence why it was voted by the people as the game of the decade. What I’m saying is that you couldn’t condense TLOU down to movie length and have it be nearly as good as the game. I think video games could one day surpass movies simply because there is no limit to how long a game can be.
Eh, you like it or you hate it. Don’t get why people who don’t like it have to shout it from the rooftops. Don’t understand why people who do like it have to defend it against those who don’t.
@KahnArtizt07 The Last of Us? Game of the decade? Ho, ho. Let’s save that for another day. The story that The Last of Us tries to tell isn’t really emotional or impactful. It’s not bad, but it’s serviceable.
@AhmadSumadi I think it’s very cool that they’re trying to make it more life-like because that’s one of the things I liked about Red Dead Redemption 2. However, I think games like these would be better off as Hollywood productions because that’s how they feel.
@AhmadSumadi, because some people need to repeat the same thing about why the didn't like the last of us how is not a good game or generic story, etc. It kinda gets annoying, so i understand those defending it. If you look at some other articles about last of us you will find most of the same people here saying almost the same. This happens in every article about last of us 1 or 2.
If you never felt anything during that scene of Sarah in the beginning of the game then you have no soul.
@Akurusu I don’t know how you could go through the intro of the game and say it wasn’t emotional or impactful. I literally can’t watch Sarah die without tearing up big time.
@KahnArtizt07 Lol Yeah. I mean it was sad sure, but I only said “Poor kid. On to the next.” Didn’t make me sad or tear up. The show goes on. The only video game moments that were impactful were Arthur Morgan’s death on high honor. And when Geralt found Ciri and thought she was dead
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