Naughty Dog has been one of the most successful first-party game developers for Sony, delivering hit series likeUnchartedand, more recently,The Last of UsandThe Last of Us Part 2. These games have gained praise for their stories, their performances, and the strengths of their sequels.
Despite this, there are some strong reasons that Naughty Dog should leave both Uncharted andThe Last of Usbehind to focus on new IPs. The reasons why lie with some of the things that made both franchises successful to begin with, as well as the fates of other triple-A developers over the past decade.
RELATED:The Last of Us 2’s Abby Face Model Cosplays Her Character for Halloween
Naughty Dog and Closure
The 2010s have seen some major long-running franchises stagnate, even those with a major focus on story like Naughty Dog’s games. BioWare’sMass Effectdamaged its reputation with the clunky animation bug-filledlaunch ofMass Effect: Andromeda. Bethesda hurt its reputation with the similarly problematic release ofFallout 76. If Naughty Dog continues to focus onUnchartedandThe Last of Us, the studio and fans may begin to see diminishing returns.
Naughty Dog games are known for their intense focus on character-driven storytelling, particularlyThe Last of Us.The Last of UsandThe Last of Us Part 2focused almost entirely on developing the stories of just two main characters, Joel and Ellie. Everything throughout the story ties back to these two characters, even afterJoel’s death. The second game ends with Ellie trying to play Joel’s guitar after injuring her hand in the sort of revenge-fueled fight that ultimately caused Joel’s demise.
The post-apocalyptic setting ofThe Last of Usmay be one of its key strengths, but it would be very little withoutJoel and Ellie’s perspective. ALast of Usgame which moves on from these characters to focus on other people in the same setting would likely miss the point of what drew players to the first two games. Similarly, aLast of Us Part 3which continued to focus on Ellie would undermine some of the biggest moments of the second game, as well as the poignant and cinematic note it closed on.
The lastUnchartedgame,Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, skillfully wraps up Nathan Drake’s story as well. Not only does much of the game, including its title, feel like a last hurrah for the famous character, but the game ends with Drake beginning to tell the story ofUnchartedto his daughter Cassie. While this hints at the possibility of anUnchartedgame with a new protagonist, it’s actually a touching ending which would be hard to emulate and likely leaves the series better left alone.
RELATED:The Last of Us 2 is a Long Journey But a Short Road
The Future of Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog’s greatest appeal is its bold, original stories. If the studio continues to develop just a few key franchises likeUnchartedandThe Last of Usthese games risk feeling like soulless cash-cows. Not only that, but the type of stories that the studio can tell will be limited. Nathan Drake is a character designed to complement the world ofUnchartedjust as Joel and Ellie’s story complements the setting ofThe Last of Usgames. If the series march on without them or undo their stories' senses of closure to make them return, it’s likely the new narratives would feel unsatisfying.
Naughty Dog should continue to work on original stories by weaving new narratives in worlds designed to create a synthesis between the setting and the main characters to tell a single, concise story with a clear conclusion. To be satisfying these stories – and the settings that come with them – need closure. Having achieved that in bothThe Last of Us 2andUncharted 4, Naughty Dog should explore new possibilities.
The Last of Us 2is available now on PS4.
MORE:Comparing The Last of Us 2’s Joel to Star Wars' Han Solo
