It feels like Naughty Dog can't catch a break at the moment when it comes to The Last of Us: Part II. From the unfortunate leak of various story details right the way through to yesterday's claims of stealing musical arrangements for the game's TV advert, the studio must have one big collective headache. It's those spoilers which have quickly become the most controversial part of it all though, with fans reacting to cutscenes devoid of context a month before the PlayStation 4 exclusive is even planned to launch. However, according to vice president Neil Druckmann, there are a lot of fake and incorrect spoilers out in the wild that don't actually tell the full story.
In a new interview with Eurogamer, Druckmann explains how certain storylines have been misconstrued. "There's a lot of the feedback that came out, our take on it is, you don't know. Right? There's so many false things out there. We don't want to go out there and correct anything because that would be spoiling the game in a way - by saying what it isn't, we're kind of saying what it is."
He then goes on to explain how Naughty Dog wanted to explore all the possibilities and situations a 19-year-old woman could encounter, no matter whether that's through sexuality or physical and mental violence. "So if you somehow have a problem with that, well, then that sucks, but the story's gonna win for us. It's ironic or maybe sad - I think that people will benefit the most from this kind of story are the ones that are yelling the loudest right now, but I hope there's enough in the game to draw them in and just normalize stuff that is normal."
Druckmann and his team want the player to reflect on the feelings experienced in The Last of Us: Part II, touching on the fact that this is very much not comfort food. In exactly two weeks time, we'll be able to see what Naughty Dog means. Don't forget to come back to Push Square next week on Friday 12th June for our full review. In the meantime, you can check out three different previews that editor Sammy Barker has scribed.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 51
That's what I've said about these spoilers, you don't have v the context for any of it, so really can't make a judgement of it.
I believe him since multible people with a review copy said that Some "leaks" are false. That includes a 4chan leak and a bunch of other WRITTEN "leaks"
the cutscenes are real ofcourse but the text that Goes with them can be made up by people trying to put them in a wrong context.
I self identify as a 19 girl called Emma fleangii so this game will be right up my street neil.
Hmm... fake outrage, couldn’t have guessed that one. 😑🙄
Some things I think are certain but yes nobody knows how they will piece together. I'll wait until the reviews come out before making a decision but I think I'll be waiting for a sale before picking this up, the general tone of the story and realistic looking violence just aren't something I'm interested in playing at the moment
It seems like Xbox fanboys are trying their hardest to ruining this great game for PlayStation fans by putting spoilers in comments sections and forms.
I cant wait. I've consistently said that i dont hold the same love for TLOU as other franchises, but it is still a brilliant game. This looks to dial it up to 10 and i can't wait to see what the magicians at naughty dog have for us this time around. They have earned their status as a developer i always know i can buy a game from on day one, with no reviews and with zero regrets. There are few dev's i can say that about these days
All i want is a joel gameplay.the leaks is what people make it.so we will definitely see if the leaks is. Or if some of if is acurate.word up son
haha what rubbish, I watched a well respected reviewer of video games explain they had watched the full 1 hour and 35 minutes of cut scenes which accurately conveys the plot, but, whatever. we'll find out soon enough
Exactly what I thought. People saying ND didn't deny are being silly. They cant say anything
@mini_piekarnik That's hardly long enough in a game that's 30 plus hours long without the complete context.
In the interview above he actually adressed concerns about the story been used to score "diversity points".
I think what a lot of people will not like about it is that it holds a mirror up to society which a lot of people in gaming don't like because they still have the mindset that games should just be fun, escapist power fantasies. Despite it making the industry very limited in creativity.
Old and reliable saying....... Don't judge a book by it's cover....... Q,
@playstation1995 They've confirmed several times Joel isn't playable.
I mean ND also said this game would be divisive for Last of Us fans. We'll have to wait and see because they are hardly going to say otherwise. If the basics of the leaks are true, there's nothing that can save it from being horrible treatment of Last of Us as an IP.
And to clarify I'm well aware there are things that were gained directly from the cutscenes and things that were guessed. I'm talking about stuff gained directly from them. And you'll note Naughty Dog mentions context a lot, but never denied that the leaks had some accurate info, just that it was taken out of the story. In other words, we also know some of it's true.
I've unfortunately had the bits spoiled and won't be commenting at all about that (it was a random YouTube video of all things that ruined it for me)
That said, Naughty Dog is absolutely correct. Context and playing the game is so important to the point that when previous things were spoiled for me (Avenger's Endgame) I was so carried away with the film I forgot the spoiler when watching and still felt the impact. Here's hoping Last of Us 2 does the same. The studio deserves a hit in all honesty, don't think I've ever seen such a large backlash pre release for a game in a long long time. Play the game first people.
I think a few people were running with plot points that were never confirmed, but a lot of the bigger issues are almost certainly in the game.
Personally I'm a little disappointed in the direction the story is taking, and that's not even talking about the spoilers. They've already given away a lot of the games themes themselves in marketing material.
I would've liked to see them move away from this whole "cycle of violence" nonsense.
That said, it's their story and they can do what they want with it obviously.
@roe But TLOU's is a world about violence because it's world without laws and the consequences of the actions people take in order to survive. I honestly don't know what story you could tell in that world tbh.
@jaz007 I've heard a fair few times that it treats the IP badly, but from what I know on the spoilers I don't quite understand where people are coming is because of a certain event that happens (which from the sounds of it the seeds were sown in the first game).
@AdamNovice I just think it's a bit too cliche with the whole "humans are the real threat" angle.
I think there are many different directions they could've taken to the one they have
@jmac1686. If its not that sucks.you mean to tell me he cant play at least 20 minutes in a 25 hrs 30 hrs gameplay.thats dissapointed.word up son
@roe But isn't it cliche for a reason though? Because that what we as humans would end up doing in such situations.
@playstation1995 but joel is a old man (looks it anyway) do you really think hes still physically capable of taking on whole factions? He would get a bad back or pull a muscle trying to run from them guard dogs haha.
I had it spoiled for me so i'm aware of certain things, i'm going in with an open mind though and i know i lack the hours of context and stuff behind said stuff. Of course naturally a certain portion have gone wanting to hate it because they can't deal with the fact Ellie's a lesbian, i've noticed the biggest hate seems to come from that crowd. Me i'm very excited, pre-ordered the digital version today actually.
@AdamNovice the cut scenes literally are the context, if you have cut scenes equal to the length of a movie and the game doesn't make any sense from those cut scenes then your game has some serious problems, also, if your game takes 30 hours to complete then 1 hour 35 is more than adequate to explain the plot in much detail, you don't need a 60 hour movie to explain the plot of lord of the rings trilogy
@mini_piekarnik Except TLOU told quite a bit of it's story through the environment, collectibles and optional dialogue moments, crucial details of Ellie's backstory can be missed entirely in the first game which all added up to make a broader picture.
You mention that 1 and a half hours is enough context except it's not even close, you only need to look at how long an "all cutscenes" YouTube video of Uncharted 4 takes. It's anywhere between 5 to 7 hours long and that's a game that's both shorter and tells a more straightforward story then TLOU2's. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the entirety of TLOU's cutscenes approach close to ten hours in total. That's why I think people are judging it like a jigsaw with loads of critical pieces missing.
@mini_piekarnik The 90 mins your talking about was a mixture of gameplay and cutscenes. The cutscenes roughly totalled about 15-20mins and there was a hell of a lot missing so people made up their own story’s to fit the few scenes that were there.
So far I haven't seen any spoilers BUT I'd still buy and play the game if I had.
I was sent several spoilers for RDR2 after only having had the game for a few days but I still enjoyed the hell out of that game.
Some people just want to ruin other people's enjoyment of things. It's sad but just a reflection of the times.
@jmac1686 they confirmed Ellie isn't playable before the first released
I am sceptical about what people say especially nowadays, I had a feeling the leaks where some what false or misleading (have not seen them). The game is 100GB that's twice as big as the original file size wise, so it's safe to say the game is bigger open world wise like Uncharted 4 and probably longer than 15-20 hours too. Not only that it's how the game sets up the story, context matters. Looking forwards to PushSquare review, but i already know it's a 10/10 game, it's Naughty Dog.
Regardless of everything I'm looking forward to discussing the plot with others on these forums because I know they'll be a great group of people who will have opinions but will not resort to name calling.
@darksoul77 and you should be allowed to do that without judgment.
@mini_piekarnik
You have to realise the leak was meant to hurt the game. Like, obviously it shows a negative perspective.
Im going too skip every the Last of Us news im so close so im over.
@Collette Its The beard
@DavLFC haha yeah I think Joel's time as a playable character has passed. I love the character, and I don't need to play as him to be satisfied. I'm just glad he is still a major character, and hope he gets some kind of arc in the game.
I think I will unfollow you guys on facebook for time being, everytime these posts come up there the comment that shows at the bottom of the post has spoilers... D:
Why has PushSquare turned into a total shill for this game ? It's like every other story now.
@JJ2 not sure how all the cut scenes being released equates to being negative, I'm sure everyone can make their own minds up
@jdv95 Its been obvious since the leaks that ALOT of the incels are lying about ALOT of the leaks....Its hilarious how many low IQ idiots believe all the garbage, when literally there was only 1 thing that actually had some video behind it even without there being context to said video....The other thing which is the thing that those morons keep crying about the most, has literally ZERO evidence, its hilarious that idiots believe the playing as "other" character thing from people who claim to have the whole game yet provided ZERO video of that....But there are alot of low IQ people who believe everything they hear on the internet must be true because they read it...
@AdamNovice nope, you are talking about additional details to the story and not the overall main plot, the total cut scenes for uncharted 4 are 3 hours not 7, we have no idea how many hours there will be for tlou 2 but 95 minutes is plenty to get a fairly accurate idea of the plot
Unrelated, but those Outer Worlds Switch ads are annoying as hell!
@Fuzzymonkeyfunk we don't really know how much hasn't been shown and that's why I said we'll find out soon enough, I'll just be waiting for reviews before making any decision on the game, I ain't hopeful but if I don't buy it it'll still end up on PS Plus at some point.
@Powerpellet they're not total shills. This is one of the most anticipated games of the year that is coming out in 2 weeks. Review copies are out and it constantly has videos and other things being posted as it gets closer to release. Not to menion that the first game is considered to be one of the best games of all time and there has been a large amount of controversy due to leaks with this one
@mini_piekarnik waiting for reviews is never a bad idea if your on the fence.
@mini_piekarnik
'All the cutscenes'... 🙄
Really? What makes you think that?
It looks like a very much controlled leak (by the leaker)
Anyone deciding not to buy this game, based on a script leak, is a fool.
Since when is 4chan a legit media outlet?
''...but I hope there's enough in the game to draw them in and just normalize stuff that is normal.''
Yea, that is a nice way to ignore people that have actual problems with game story direction and it has nothing to do with someones sexuality or gender.
Will be quite interesting to see how people will react soon. Trolls will continue concern trolling, fanboys will stick to the ''ND can't do no wrong'' mantra...however the average consumers and the fans of the original TLOU is what will determine how well the game performs.
@DominatorV93 Depends on what you mean by "performs" cos if you mean sales then it's selling in the millions regardless.
@AdamNovice It was plain obvious by the first part of the sentence. Reception is what i'm talking about.
@mini_piekarnik Did this ass leak the story? That makes a reviewer kind off jackoff.
@Collette Thats why i take most of the comments not seriously. I could not care less who he is as a person i loved the first game so im going in.
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