The Last of Us 2is nearly two years old and is still highly regarded as one of modern gaming’s best narrative-driven titles.Naughty Dog’s sequel toThe Last of Usmade controversial choicesthat fans either accepted or rejected, but it was impactful nonetheless, and its prestigious accolades are a testament to how positively it was received. Naughty Dogreportedly has now moved ahead with new, rumored projects within the IP, but there is one particular piece of content thatThe Last of Us 2never received and now sorely lacks in comparison to the original game.
The Last of Us 2lacked DLC that offered players more context or experiences with characters.The Last of Us’ single-player DLCLeft Behindoffers that context and experience to players with a depiction of Ellie’s life before and during the events ofThe Last of Us, and arguably tells the story that is most seminal and paramount to her character development.The Last of Us 2may have missed the opportunity to include a proper DLC, even though there are many character developments that should have been visited.
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Left Behind Offered Emotional Context to Ellie’s Journey in The Last of Us
The Last of Usfeatures a gap in time that transitions seasons from fall to winter, and the last thing players see is Joel nearly bleeding out from impalement as he collapses from Callus. Then, Naughty Dog’s surprise of Ellie being playable is thrust upon players as she hunts a deer in the snow. This character transition seemingly implies that Joel has died and Ellie is left to fend for herself, but this is fortunately not the case as it is later learned.
However, there is still a significant lapse in time thatThe Last of Usdoes not explain, such as how Ellie was able to keep Joel and herself alive. That is part of whyThe Last of Us’Left Behindis remarkable.Left Behindexplains and illustrates this lapse of time on its surface with a present day exploration of an abandoned mall in Colorado. In flashbacks,Left Behindtells the story of Ellie and Riley Abel, who enjoy a final night together at an abandoned mall in Boston while the former is in quarantine and the latter isleaving to joinThe Last of Us' Fireflies.
There is levity and simplicity in Ellie and Riley’s interactions as they are uninitiated with the trivial comforts of pre-apocalypse society in 2013, when the outbreak began. It is also poignant and devastating in its conclusion, which aptly depicts why Ellie is so adamant about getting to the Fireflies and making sure that her immunity, as well as Riley’s death, was not for nothing.
Ellie also experiences a lot of harrowing and tragic circumstances withinThe Last of Us’ base game, butLeft Behindis a chapter that feels inseparable from her character development and is interwoven eloquently into the game’s present day events in winter.IfThe Last of Us 2had DLCs of its own, it would have been interesting to see more seemingly trivial gaps in the narrative explored to illustrate significant events, such as those that occur inLeft Behind.
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DLC for The Last of Us 2 Could Have Explored Ellie and Joel’s Lives in Jackson
One of the clearest examples of a lapse in time thatThe Last of Us 2could have explored in DLC was the start of their lives at Tommy and Maria’s community in Jackson. Some of these moments are established in playable flashbacks with a younger Ellie and Joel, such aswhen Joel takes Ellie to a museum for her birthday.
These are some of the mostemotionally impactful moments inThe Last of Us 2, chiefly due to Joel’s presence as an NPC following his fateful demise in the present day, but also due to the context ofThe Last of Us’ final flashback and the last conversation he and Ellie share together. In this case, different patrols could be explored with other Jackson residents tagging along as NPCs, and where gameplay had players encounter unique infected swarms and leaned more toward combat as a result.
Otherwise, there is also a past relationship Ellie has thatThe Last of Us 2mentions multiple times. Ellie had dated a girl named Cat, and she is not seen throughout the game. Although it would run the risk of feeling like it was repeatingLeft Behind’s story of Ellie and a love interest,The Last of Us 2could have featured her more in a DLC. There are countless instances of events and characters that could have been explored more while Ellie and Joel lived in Jackson, and it is a shame that players were not able to have those experiences be playable in DLC.
However,The Last of Us 2’s deuteragonist Abby Andersondeserved her own story to be explored more. Because players are less familiar with Abby’s character, it may have been even more important for her to receive a single-player DLC chapter than Ellie.
Abby Deserved to Have Her Own Stories Shared in DLC for The Last of Us 2
If it had been announced post-launch thatThe Last of Us 2was receiving a single-player DLC expansion starring Abby in any capacity, it would have likely been received contentiously. In the months after the gamehad been released, and even to some degree almost two years later now, Abby’s character was reviled for her actions throughoutThe Last of Us 2.
Still, it will always be unfortunate thatThe Last of Us 2never featured a DLC that centered on Abby. Players know a lot about Ellie’s life, for example, and have gotten to empathize with her because of how much time is spent either playing as her or playing alongside her while she is an NPC.
That is an experience that Abby’s character sorely needed and deserved in order for players to better understand or empathize with her, but it would have also just been fun to explore her brutal, pugilistic combat further and see more about what her life was like with the Washington Liberation Front following her father’s death. Any significant time gap that occurs in the narrative such as the span of time it takes Abby and Lev to reach Santa Barbara in the game’s third act, could have been explored.
The Last of Us 2features many gaps in perspective and story that would have been perfect for DLC, regardless of which character or characters were playable. It is unfortunate that players may not get to see those moments, but there is an opportunity forthe rumored remake ofThe Last of Usto compensate for these lapses in time and fans may see new paths or developments branch out from the changes made in it.
The Last of Us 2is available now on PS4.
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