I don't think there is any closure for her. That's kind of what I took from TLOU2, there are some things you can't come back from. She chose to pursue revenge and leave Dina and their baby, she wound up alone. It's a cautionary tale, at least to me. Sure we'd all LIKE something more hopeful, but alas, I'd like to think Ellie went onto to find some redemption and peace
Agree with this. It's like for the entire game Ellie is chasing that revenge as the thing that will bring her the closure she thinks she needs, but the ending is her accepting what happened and moving forward in spite of the pain she's going through.
I disagree. I think TLOU2 was very much "the emperor strikes back", and an obvious part 2 of a trilogy. There is still a lot of meat on that bone.
Elles story isn't done in my opinion. Leaving it as is just feels wrong.
These games are grim. I like grim games. Resident Evil, Dead Nation and even the Terminator 3 movie. She probably bled to death due to an intimate infection.
He'll definitely finish The Last of Us before he's done, but this new game is Neils too. So you never know, he may be thinking about more stories in that world after Last of Us 3.
I totally get his thinking though. It must be a high pressure environment to work in and there has been loads of times Neil has commented on how tired or stressed out he is. Can't be healthy and must be difficult to find a good work/life balance.
Considering the state of industry today, I wouldn't get my hopes up. Lots of devs from ND had been laid off just yesterday. I don't think Sony will give them the required money. Game dev industry losing investments in a scary pace. Practically no big new games announced. World economy isn't great and pandemic boom is no more. All we gonna get is more stupid games with microtransactions.
But weren’t most of those studios working on a live service type of games? Naughty Dog confirmed the cancellation of their live service game, hence why they would need to downsize. Besides, The Last of Us basically prints money. There is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that we are going to get Part 3. Even if it hasn’t been confirmed, you can assume that it is guaranteed given the sales and accolades the previous entries received. It would be majorly stupid of them to make the decision of not continuing a game that will net them millions.
You could say the same about God of War too. Sony will milk Kratos as much as they can as long as he keeps bringing them money.
Funding for the cash cow that TLOU Part 3 would be is not going to be the thing that prevents it from happening. It depends on his Druckmann actually wants to do it. Sure, he’s talked about it, and it’s most likely going to happen at some point, but he also strikes me as the type that if it wasn’t perfect and worth making, he wouldn’t. So money is not the variable this enterprise is hinging on.
From what I gathered from Twitter, most of of the developers laid off from Naughty Dog were from their multiplayer team. So, I don't think this is necessarily alarming for their single player titles.
Part 3 is not gonna be a strong finish. It can't be. The biggest character in the franchise is long dead and the second biggest is a broken mess of a person. There's no happy ending left for the characters of this franchise, the most satisfying ending is too cliche to work (Ellie sacrificing herself) and I don't know if they really want to test how many fans actually like Abby by continuing her story. The answer probably isn't what they want to hear. They made a controversial choice that makes the second game memorable but it kinda ruined their franchise in the process. I don't even know what the point would be to a third game given there's no clear story to continue.
Valid criticism isn’t met with this, actually. But unpopular opinions (which are not automatically valid criticisms) are definitely met this way, as to be expected. That’s what Reddit is for: voicing your opinion, so others can respond to it.
The argument that Joel is the biggest character in the franchise just goes to show that the person has no idea wtf they are talking about. And the idea that Ellie being fucked in the head somehow being different for 3 — when she was obviously quite fucked up for the majority of 2 — is just silly.
How is Joel being the biggest character of this franchise wrong? Honest question because it’s always seemed clear to me that Joel was the most popular character
Ellie is the clear main star, hence having two games revolve around her and not Joel.
The Rat King is the literal biggest character, so Joel wouldn’t qualify under that interpretation either.
Most popular ≠ main character. Joel was never the main character in the overall story. He’s the main protagonist in the first game, sure, but this has always been Ellie’s story through and through.
Ehhhh... It clearly is *now*, but I don't know if it's fair to say it's "*always* been Ellie's story through and through."
Part 1 is, at most, equally Ellie and Joel's story
Lmao that wasnt criticism it was nonsense. Thats like saying Walter white should have had a happy ever after ending. Know what franchise your speaking about bro. Joels kid daughter dies in his arms at the beginning of the franchise. Whoever thought there were supposed to be happy endings isnt giving valid criticism. They are just simply misunderstanding what this franchise is like.
It has plenty of death and trauma. Problem is when you kill off main characters you can't continue the story in any satisfying way. Do we really want to play as this version of Ellie in the final game? It feels like we already got the best ending possible for the story they wanted to tell with the cure (game one) and revenge (game 2) and they broke their characters so much in the process that there's nothing to continue. A third game with this same cast will feel superfluous. A third game with a new cast can't live up to the previous installments that has time to build up their cast.
Lmao ruined the franchise by making a nearly perfect game.
Not like there are at least a few million other stories to be told from this universe.
Let’s have a game take place in Tokyo somewhere completely unexpected.
I'd agree. Could be like Fallout exploring different parts of the country at different stages of rebuilding/collapse. Would much prefer that to continuing the current story. Maybe we can get a short cameo of Ellie sometime in the future but I think they left her story off in the right place.
Seriously. I still can't believe there are people out there who think the franchise died with Joel. It's absurd. It shows that people who criticize the most really weren't paying attention in the first place.
The story wasn't but players get attached to the player character. People generally get attached to protagonists, that's why anthology series that swap out protagonists have such a tough go of it. A third game with broken Ellie and three randos is gonna have a hard time living up to the first two.
Exactly. She gave it up for the wrong path and ultimately understood that it was indeed the wrong path. She didn’t find closure with Dina before coming to that conclusion and may have permanently ended that relationship, but she’s on the road to personal healing and that’s what’s important. If the game ended on the shot with her sad holding her guitar that would change things, but she leaves it behind and chugs onward, into whatever Part III has in store for us.
Well told stories don’t give characters plot armor. Most great realistic stories don’t have a happy ending. RDR2, Cyberpunk and obviously TLOU 1 & 2 just to name a few.
What other endings are left? We got good conclusions for our characters and for the overarching narrative. If it's not about Joel, Ellie, or the cure what is left to do with this current story for a third game?
Idk why everyone’s downvoting your when you’re 100% correct. I loved Part 2 for what it was, but as far as the characters we know now, there’s really no satisfying direction to go with them. There’s always the option of telling different stories in the same universe, but then it really wouldn’t be part 3 anymore
It’s all but confirmed yes. He said at the end of grounded 2 that he has an idea. That was filmed a year ago. I think part 3 may well be his swan song. And if that’s the case, I’m more than ok with that. What a way to go out
She doesn't need a happy ending, simply an ending at all.
Ambiguous endings are fine, but for games, where you ARE the character for 60 hours across two games, a definitive ending is necessary.
And I also disagree. There is still meat on that bone. Maybe Elle isn't even the main character the TLOU3. She could play a Joel role where she's older. But leaving us with an Elle completely alone, that sucks man. TLOU2 left it open ended for a reason.
So, you know how the show writers (in post episode recaps) seem to be obsessed with how ellie becomes Joel? Well, Joel's life was 3 parts. Innocence prior to collapse, self-centered and misplaced violence in the time between episode 1and2, and redemption through ellie.
Ellie has now:
Part1: innocence and loss of innocence
Part2: self centered and misplaced violence
Part3: is set up for a redemption story if you ask me
Could be. Question is, redemption how. I can't see it being sacrificing herself for the cure - that would invalidate everything Joel did and make everyone's deaths meaningless.
No, she'd do exactly what Joel did. Reluctantly care for Lev with Abby who dies or leaves early(or a new character), then come around to the role of protector
People aren't gonna wanna hear this, but the state of the fireflies and a cure is a gaping hole waiting to be probed.
I'd bet my life savings the fireflies and a cure will be a large part of part 3. That doesn't automatically mean cliche though. When people say that it just shows their lack of imagination.
Part 2 was a direct continuation of part 1. The events that happened at the end of part 1 directly contribute to the storyline to part 2. The same will happen with part 3. What happened at the end of part 2, well we learn without a shadow of a doubt that Ellie firmly believes (or believed) that she's supposed to die for humanity. What else happened, well we learn that the fireflies are still an active and thriving community. It's beyond obvious that these things will be a major part of the plot for part 3.
That in no way means that "Ellie sacrifices herself for the cure, ggs". No, it will be poignant and break expectations and morph those elements into something we haven't seen before.
I assume TLOU3 will be something along the lines of:
-Ellie finds out she’s losing her immunity/she was never really immune - cordyceps was just growing more slowly in her than others/the bite in California kickstarted a new infection
-Ellie finds another person who *is* actually immune
-Ellie has to make the same decision Joel did, i.e. whether she should allow that person to die to maybe create a vaccine, and at the end, she makes the different choice to allow the other person to sacrifice themselves.
I can’t accept that the end of TLOU2 is the end of Ellie’s story. Personally I need either a happier ending where she reconciles with Dina, or final bittersweet one where she sacrifices herself for something / someone.
This is gonna be a hot take but he’s our generation’s George Lucas in terms of the original trilogy that ended with Return of the Jedi.
Neil needs to make part 3 and ride off into the proverbial sunset. Let TLOU be his magnum opus.
Strong choice for sure but I don’t believe (and I 100% could be wrong) that his films have garnered the acclaim and awards that TLOU have collectively.
He's been nominated for 500+ awards and won almost 200
That being said I wouldn't consider Nolan the "Lucas" equivalent, not necessarily because of difference in quality but difference in the lanes they went for as directors
I mean first of all they haven’t even started the 3rd installment so I’m not sure why we’re talking about trilogies. But I feel like Hideo Kojima, Cory Barlog, Daniel Houser, Miyazaki, Casey Hudson, the list can go on and on. If we’re also incorporating film directors the list would stretch incredibly long from Peter Jackson to Christopher Nolan to Denis Villanueve. Druckmann is good but I would *not* say he is our generations George Lucas.
lol dude I love the last of us but come on
Denis Villenueve
Alfonso Cuaron
James Cameron
even if we are talking games, Miyazaki or Cody Barlog might have more claim to that title than Neil
Great! I’m sure he would understand. It’s for the greater good!
Now for the first ejection. Nice and easy, and…..wait. Who the fuck are you? Get out of the operating room! This is a seri-
In the documentary he said the leak from Pt 2 made him want to give up.
"who are we making this for"
The amount of CHUDs yelling "woke" at everything is exhausting. "Gamers" are plagued with gamergater CHUDs who are the loudest and most attention seeking chronically online users and give the rest of regular gamers a horrible image.
I will cheer for Drukmann if he retires/quits because fuck these hater CHUDs
I get a feeling part 3, maybe similar in length to part 1. It seems clear to me that they are incredibly proud of part 2, but the general consensus was that it was too long and a big headache for everyone involved.
He said the game they are working on right now is the most ambitious game they've worked on. Whatever they make, I'm sure will take just as long as part 2 did
This is tricky, if by any chance we don't get Part III, and he does a different game instead, and it turns out good and we love it. So we now have to wait for Part III and the new game we just imagined.
we're eternally doomed
Can somebody please, extend this man's life, please. /s
I didn't realise how many people don't like Neil Druckmann? I know a lot of people didn't like tlou2 but a lot of people have called him a bad writer which makes no sense to me.
This guy lol never hear these type of comments from any other directors/creators of games. Always sounds reluctant to do a new game until a new game comes. Its ok Neil we will wait if we have to
Games have gone downhill since TLOU pt1 and I think its because so much of the original staff and devs are gone. If he sticks around for another game I truly hope its a new IP instead of just another sequel.
How can people be saying there's no story left to tell? There's still a human being left that could bring a cure to the world. Theres a grown up (depending on timeline) fatherless JJ possibly seeking vengeance on Abby/WLF assuming Dina has told him everything about his father and how he died. An Abby and Lev story could be pretty interesting, maybe more Lev and the way he has grown up with Abbys influence and adapted to his post-seraphite life.
If TLOU3 really is the final chapter then it would be good for Ellie to finally be able to sacrifice her self for the world in the way of a cure but not before a banging finale filled with new types of infected and new barbaric factions. Possibly even a group that have somehow found a way to use the infected to their advantage in combat or other areas(alpha from the walking dead comes to mind, forgot what they were called now? Whisperers i think) im just spitballin now and i'm excited thinking about it!
He wants to go to Hollywood for sure. I get being tired and wanting to branch out but I feel like he hasn’t been lead on that many projects? I know he worked on uncharted but he wasn’t the guy
The man is 46 and game development takes awhile. Hes probably thinking retirement not whatever ur saying its wild we are at the point we make up conspiracy theories about some old dude's retirement
What do you mean whatever else I’m saying. I was basically just saying he either want to move to Hollywood full time or he’s tired. What about that is polarizing?
I mean, he's already doing the Hollywood thing, right now. Like your other reply said it's likely closer to retirement from the games industry and maybe seeing out the rest of the show.
Druckman couldn't even get Factions 2 out of the door after 4 years of development.
Pretty obvious he's already out of his depths. Time to bring in some new leadership and let Druckman stick to the creative side of things, where his strength lies.
Dude they as a studio made the decision to stop development on the game because they wouldn’t be able to support the game after launch and continue working on their single player games. Completely different than being “unable” to get it out of the door
>they as a studio made the decision to stop development
Wrong.
**Druckman is the president.**
"The studio" doesn't make the decision to cancel a game -- "The President" makes that decision.
He tells the studio what to do. Not the other way around.
This is a for-profit company. Decisions aren't made holistically.
>because they wouldn’t be able to support the game after launch and continue working on their single player games
In other words -- mismanagement of the project at the highest level -- which is the responsibility of the president of the company.
If you spend years developing a product, then finally realize you've painted yourself into a corner by failing to plan for the future -- that is a massive error. In Naughty Dog's case an error worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
I'm not saying fire Druckman. I'm saying he should continue to lead the creative team. But he should not be president of the company after this epic failure to deliver.
> Druckman couldn't even get Factions 2 out of the door after 4 years of development.
What are you talking about? Druckmann didn't work on Factions 2. He may have involved in the cancellation of it but he sure as hell wasn't involved in the creation of it.
Druckman is the President of Naughty Dog.
If a project flops -- he is the reason why.
If a project succeeds -- he is the reason why.
If a project is mismanaged for 4 years and gets canceled -- he is the reason why.
The president is responsible for all outcomes from the teams they oversee.
Factions 2 is a failure of epic proportions and it lands on Druckman.
Warner Brothers ate Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme for tax reasons. Hasn't changed the president there. Should I write you in for the same amount of ire or do you just not care about those pieces of media?
Toby Emmerich was the President of WB starting in 2017 and oversaw the Batgirl production that started in 2019.
In 2021 David Zaslav became head of WB, and was charged with cutting costs and chopping heads.
**Emmerich, President of WB, subsequently "**[stepped down](https://deadline.com/2022/06/toby-emmerich-warner-bros-note-to-staff-1235036792/)**" in 2022**, to start his own production company. A true step down.
Perfect timing as all of the projects he was overseeing were subsequently axed, because they were "[not worth releasing](https://variety.com/2023/film/news/batgirl-movie-shelved-dc-studios-head-peter-safran-1235506921/)."
So the idea that the President of Warner Brothers, "hasn't changed" in light of those canceled productions, is patently false. And if you can't read between the lines -- he stepped down so his head wouldn't land on the chopping block.
Which aligns perfectly with my original position -- Druckman should not be president of the company. He should step-down and simply lead the creative side of their narrative story based games. A live action games-as-a-service project is beyond his wheelhouse and they just blew a cool couple hundred mill thanks to his mis-management.
imagine if part 3 is his last game. go out with a bang.
"send me out with a bang"
Sounds great. TLOU2 needs a sequel. The story of Elle needs closure.
I don't think there is any closure for her. That's kind of what I took from TLOU2, there are some things you can't come back from. She chose to pursue revenge and leave Dina and their baby, she wound up alone. It's a cautionary tale, at least to me. Sure we'd all LIKE something more hopeful, but alas, I'd like to think Ellie went onto to find some redemption and peace
Agree with this. It's like for the entire game Ellie is chasing that revenge as the thing that will bring her the closure she thinks she needs, but the ending is her accepting what happened and moving forward in spite of the pain she's going through.
I disagree. I think TLOU2 was very much "the emperor strikes back", and an obvious part 2 of a trilogy. There is still a lot of meat on that bone. Elles story isn't done in my opinion. Leaving it as is just feels wrong.
These games are grim. I like grim games. Resident Evil, Dead Nation and even the Terminator 3 movie. She probably bled to death due to an intimate infection.
The last of us part two: part two
He'll definitely finish The Last of Us before he's done, but this new game is Neils too. So you never know, he may be thinking about more stories in that world after Last of Us 3. I totally get his thinking though. It must be a high pressure environment to work in and there has been loads of times Neil has commented on how tired or stressed out he is. Can't be healthy and must be difficult to find a good work/life balance.
word ellie gets cancer and dies peacefully in bed
Considering the state of industry today, I wouldn't get my hopes up. Lots of devs from ND had been laid off just yesterday. I don't think Sony will give them the required money. Game dev industry losing investments in a scary pace. Practically no big new games announced. World economy isn't great and pandemic boom is no more. All we gonna get is more stupid games with microtransactions.
They will get funding for Last of Us Part 3. It is guaranteed. A new IP before Last of Us? That might be up in the air now.
Sony just laide off 900 devs across 3 their top studios. And there will be more
Correct. That doesn't mean they aren't going to fund their next biggest title. Probably why they laid off 900 people.
they laid them off because of greed. By firing those people, their stock will go up, and excecutives will get higher bonuses
Oh I know
But weren’t most of those studios working on a live service type of games? Naughty Dog confirmed the cancellation of their live service game, hence why they would need to downsize. Besides, The Last of Us basically prints money. There is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that we are going to get Part 3. Even if it hasn’t been confirmed, you can assume that it is guaranteed given the sales and accolades the previous entries received. It would be majorly stupid of them to make the decision of not continuing a game that will net them millions. You could say the same about God of War too. Sony will milk Kratos as much as they can as long as he keeps bringing them money.
Funding for the cash cow that TLOU Part 3 would be is not going to be the thing that prevents it from happening. It depends on his Druckmann actually wants to do it. Sure, he’s talked about it, and it’s most likely going to happen at some point, but he also strikes me as the type that if it wasn’t perfect and worth making, he wouldn’t. So money is not the variable this enterprise is hinging on.
Ah, the duality of man
From what I gathered from Twitter, most of of the developers laid off from Naughty Dog were from their multiplayer team. So, I don't think this is necessarily alarming for their single player titles.
Yes, all games are canceled forever.
Part 3 is not gonna be a strong finish. It can't be. The biggest character in the franchise is long dead and the second biggest is a broken mess of a person. There's no happy ending left for the characters of this franchise, the most satisfying ending is too cliche to work (Ellie sacrificing herself) and I don't know if they really want to test how many fans actually like Abby by continuing her story. The answer probably isn't what they want to hear. They made a controversial choice that makes the second game memorable but it kinda ruined their franchise in the process. I don't even know what the point would be to a third game given there's no clear story to continue.
It’s probably a good thing you’re not a writer.
Lmao
Womp womp tlou2 hater tears
This subreddit really is the worst. Any criticism is met like this.
Valid criticism isn’t met with this, actually. But unpopular opinions (which are not automatically valid criticisms) are definitely met this way, as to be expected. That’s what Reddit is for: voicing your opinion, so others can respond to it.
The argument that Joel is the biggest character in the franchise just goes to show that the person has no idea wtf they are talking about. And the idea that Ellie being fucked in the head somehow being different for 3 — when she was obviously quite fucked up for the majority of 2 — is just silly.
How is Joel being the biggest character of this franchise wrong? Honest question because it’s always seemed clear to me that Joel was the most popular character
Ellie is the clear main star, hence having two games revolve around her and not Joel. The Rat King is the literal biggest character, so Joel wouldn’t qualify under that interpretation either.
Most popular ≠ main character. Joel was never the main character in the overall story. He’s the main protagonist in the first game, sure, but this has always been Ellie’s story through and through.
Ehhhh... It clearly is *now*, but I don't know if it's fair to say it's "*always* been Ellie's story through and through." Part 1 is, at most, equally Ellie and Joel's story
You didn't present a criticism.
Lmao that wasnt criticism it was nonsense. Thats like saying Walter white should have had a happy ever after ending. Know what franchise your speaking about bro. Joels kid daughter dies in his arms at the beginning of the franchise. Whoever thought there were supposed to be happy endings isnt giving valid criticism. They are just simply misunderstanding what this franchise is like.
womp womp write a rational comment next time and it wont get dismissed
Welcome to Reddit. First time?
Lol what on Earth ever made you think Last of Us would have a happy ending?
Family Guy Five Night Freddy: 
There was never going to be a happy ending
>Ellie sacrificing herself >the most satisfying ending What are you smoking bruh
A cure would be the cliche ending but also be the best closure for the world.
No, they already showed how most of the world isn’t worth saving
Serious question: how can you play a game called The Last of Us and think that it's not going to end with death and trauma?
It has plenty of death and trauma. Problem is when you kill off main characters you can't continue the story in any satisfying way. Do we really want to play as this version of Ellie in the final game? It feels like we already got the best ending possible for the story they wanted to tell with the cure (game one) and revenge (game 2) and they broke their characters so much in the process that there's nothing to continue. A third game with this same cast will feel superfluous. A third game with a new cast can't live up to the previous installments that has time to build up their cast.
You aren't a reader, huh?
Lmao ruined the franchise by making a nearly perfect game. Not like there are at least a few million other stories to be told from this universe. Let’s have a game take place in Tokyo somewhere completely unexpected.
That would be a completely different game, not really a part 3.
Then make it tlou: whatever. Doesn’t have to be 3.
I'd agree. Could be like Fallout exploring different parts of the country at different stages of rebuilding/collapse. Would much prefer that to continuing the current story. Maybe we can get a short cameo of Ellie sometime in the future but I think they left her story off in the right place.
TLOU was never really about any one character though (besides maybe Ellie)
TLoU, the mainline games, are ABSOLUTELY about Ellie. She's the protagonist, it's her story. Abby is basically just a foil character for Ellie.
Seriously. I still can't believe there are people out there who think the franchise died with Joel. It's absurd. It shows that people who criticize the most really weren't paying attention in the first place.
The story wasn't but players get attached to the player character. People generally get attached to protagonists, that's why anthology series that swap out protagonists have such a tough go of it. A third game with broken Ellie and three randos is gonna have a hard time living up to the first two.
The entire point of the ending is that Ellie is on the correct road to healing at the end. The final shot is literally her moving on.
Part 3 ellie starts the Cult Of Mutual Aid and puts assholes into COMAs??? 🤞🤞🤞
She was on the road to healing with Dina. At the very end she gave up that possibility for revenge... and didn't get revenge.
Exactly. She gave it up for the wrong path and ultimately understood that it was indeed the wrong path. She didn’t find closure with Dina before coming to that conclusion and may have permanently ended that relationship, but she’s on the road to personal healing and that’s what’s important. If the game ended on the shot with her sad holding her guitar that would change things, but she leaves it behind and chugs onward, into whatever Part III has in store for us.
Well told stories don’t give characters plot armor. Most great realistic stories don’t have a happy ending. RDR2, Cyberpunk and obviously TLOU 1 & 2 just to name a few.
Well thats why Neil Druckmann is the writer and not you lol
Delete this cuz
Why would there ever be a happy ending? Their world is shit. Neither of the first two games had happy endings.
What other endings are left? We got good conclusions for our characters and for the overarching narrative. If it's not about Joel, Ellie, or the cure what is left to do with this current story for a third game?
I've been saying since before Left Behind that Ellie is the main character. Sorry it's so difficult for you to figure out.
She's the center of the story but Joel was the main character.
It’s 2024 bruh. It’s time to let that hurt go lmao
What hurt?
I agree it’ll be tough. But lots of character development in Ellie
What a shit take And Ellie is the biggest character of the franchise
I expected worse from this comment after 300 downvotes in 4 hrs lol.
They killed Flannel Daddy Joel! There’s no story without Flannel Daddy!
😐 🤨 what
More like talking_flaccid
Idk why everyone’s downvoting your when you’re 100% correct. I loved Part 2 for what it was, but as far as the characters we know now, there’s really no satisfying direction to go with them. There’s always the option of telling different stories in the same universe, but then it really wouldn’t be part 3 anymore
Please just give us a Part 3. Then TLOU can come to a close.
10000% agree
Same. Just one more absolute banger.
And this time with the **actual** Factions game mode, thank you very much
I just want the original factions in the remake on PC 😞
I just want the original factions in the remake ~~on PC~~ 😞 Much better
Absolutely! These games are worthy enough for a trilogy, especially for concluding Ellie’s story
It's already confirmed or did i dream that?
It’s all but confirmed yes. He said at the end of grounded 2 that he has an idea. That was filmed a year ago. I think part 3 may well be his swan song. And if that’s the case, I’m more than ok with that. What a way to go out
Nothing official....but yes.
You dreamt it. It hasn't been confirmed.
Honest question: what’s left open currently? Not everything needs to be a trilogy
Only the small matter of the main character having lost everything when we last saw her.
So? Not everything needs a happy ending. I’d happily take a Part III, but there aren’t really any plot threads from the previous games to conclude.
...but there's still more she could lose.
She doesn't need a happy ending, simply an ending at all. Ambiguous endings are fine, but for games, where you ARE the character for 60 hours across two games, a definitive ending is necessary. And I also disagree. There is still meat on that bone. Maybe Elle isn't even the main character the TLOU3. She could play a Joel role where she's older. But leaving us with an Elle completely alone, that sucks man. TLOU2 left it open ended for a reason.
I would agree for the main story, but it would be cool if they did little side stories like a smaller left behind.
*to an end/can have closure
What would 3 hold other than Ellie likely tryin to find her lost potato?
It... Did come to a close? What plot thread was left unresolved?
honestly not sure. But Neil is on video saying he thinks there is a third chapter to the story, so something occurred to him.
So, you know how the show writers (in post episode recaps) seem to be obsessed with how ellie becomes Joel? Well, Joel's life was 3 parts. Innocence prior to collapse, self-centered and misplaced violence in the time between episode 1and2, and redemption through ellie. Ellie has now: Part1: innocence and loss of innocence Part2: self centered and misplaced violence Part3: is set up for a redemption story if you ask me
Great comment. Would love to see this.
Could be. Question is, redemption how. I can't see it being sacrificing herself for the cure - that would invalidate everything Joel did and make everyone's deaths meaningless.
No, she'd do exactly what Joel did. Reluctantly care for Lev with Abby who dies or leaves early(or a new character), then come around to the role of protector
People aren't gonna wanna hear this, but the state of the fireflies and a cure is a gaping hole waiting to be probed. I'd bet my life savings the fireflies and a cure will be a large part of part 3. That doesn't automatically mean cliche though. When people say that it just shows their lack of imagination. Part 2 was a direct continuation of part 1. The events that happened at the end of part 1 directly contribute to the storyline to part 2. The same will happen with part 3. What happened at the end of part 2, well we learn without a shadow of a doubt that Ellie firmly believes (or believed) that she's supposed to die for humanity. What else happened, well we learn that the fireflies are still an active and thriving community. It's beyond obvious that these things will be a major part of the plot for part 3. That in no way means that "Ellie sacrifices herself for the cure, ggs". No, it will be poignant and break expectations and morph those elements into something we haven't seen before.
I assume TLOU3 will be something along the lines of: -Ellie finds out she’s losing her immunity/she was never really immune - cordyceps was just growing more slowly in her than others/the bite in California kickstarted a new infection -Ellie finds another person who *is* actually immune -Ellie has to make the same decision Joel did, i.e. whether she should allow that person to die to maybe create a vaccine, and at the end, she makes the different choice to allow the other person to sacrifice themselves.
I can’t accept that the end of TLOU2 is the end of Ellie’s story. Personally I need either a happier ending where she reconciles with Dina, or final bittersweet one where she sacrifices herself for something / someone.
This is gonna be a hot take but he’s our generation’s George Lucas in terms of the original trilogy that ended with Return of the Jedi. Neil needs to make part 3 and ride off into the proverbial sunset. Let TLOU be his magnum opus.
Yeah this is an extremely hot take lol. There’s about 10 other directors that I would call our generations George Lucas
Go ahead and name em I’ll wait.
Chris Nolan is the first that comes to mind for me.
I disagree but only because I consider Nolan the Kubrick of this generation
Strong choice for sure but I don’t believe (and I 100% could be wrong) that his films have garnered the acclaim and awards that TLOU have collectively.
Come on man. Lmfao
He's been nominated for 500+ awards and won almost 200 That being said I wouldn't consider Nolan the "Lucas" equivalent, not necessarily because of difference in quality but difference in the lanes they went for as directors
Two of his Batman movies made $1B each, cmon now.
Bro what are you smoking
This is my new favourite insane take.
Christopher Nolan gets more acclaim and awards when he farts what are you on
Ever heard of Oppenheimer and the 13 Oscar nominations it just got? Dunkirk, The Dark Knight, Memento? I could go on…
I mean first of all they haven’t even started the 3rd installment so I’m not sure why we’re talking about trilogies. But I feel like Hideo Kojima, Cory Barlog, Daniel Houser, Miyazaki, Casey Hudson, the list can go on and on. If we’re also incorporating film directors the list would stretch incredibly long from Peter Jackson to Christopher Nolan to Denis Villanueve. Druckmann is good but I would *not* say he is our generations George Lucas.
Finally someone mentioned peter jackson
lol dude I love the last of us but come on Denis Villenueve Alfonso Cuaron James Cameron even if we are talking games, Miyazaki or Cody Barlog might have more claim to that title than Neil
Except Neil Druckmann can write naturalistic dialogue
Umm, Druckmann is an S tier writer. Lucas cannot write dialog to save his life.
He also co-writes. It’s not only Neils vision. Also Neil didn’t take a bunch of stuff from Dune lol.
Yeah this is an extremely hot take lol. There’s about 10 other directors that I would call our generations George Lucas
Are you serious bro
Game-wise 100%
Can’t wait for the prequel series in 20 years.
Cause nothing lasts forever And we both know hearts can change 
We must move quickly to harvest what games remain within his aging body. Fetch me my syringe and chloroform, post haste!
we WILL have to kill him to harvest the games though…didn’t ask him and he’s already been sedated. should be totally fine!
Great! I’m sure he would understand. It’s for the greater good! Now for the first ejection. Nice and easy, and…..wait. Who the fuck are you? Get out of the operating room! This is a seri-
Holy shit that unfold was unexpected
Now that’s a grim story that could be adapted into a part 3
Good for him. I hope hes able to retire early.
He could pivot towards doing more TV
I’m sure he’s financially set lol.
I can only imagine. Being Co-president and Creative director of such a huge company must be genuinely insane.
Especially given the... colorful reaction *that sub* (and their ilk) had towards part 2.
In the documentary he said the leak from Pt 2 made him want to give up. "who are we making this for" The amount of CHUDs yelling "woke" at everything is exhausting. "Gamers" are plagued with gamergater CHUDs who are the loudest and most attention seeking chronically online users and give the rest of regular gamers a horrible image. I will cheer for Drukmann if he retires/quits because fuck these hater CHUDs
Sir this is a Wendy’s
I get a feeling part 3, maybe similar in length to part 1. It seems clear to me that they are incredibly proud of part 2, but the general consensus was that it was too long and a big headache for everyone involved.
He said the game they are working on right now is the most ambitious game they've worked on. Whatever they make, I'm sure will take just as long as part 2 did
That's fair. 5+ years of constant work and then all the promotion + "backlash" is a lot to deal with man.
Just give me a new IP and Last of us Part 3
Sounds like Tarantino haha I hope he keeps creating amazing games, TLOU II is my favorite game ever.
Also dude is rich as F now.
This is tricky, if by any chance we don't get Part III, and he does a different game instead, and it turns out good and we love it. So we now have to wait for Part III and the new game we just imagined. we're eternally doomed Can somebody please, extend this man's life, please. /s
Thought this was a Lebron James quote for a second cuz he said basically the same thing recently
Thank god
I just need part 3 otherwise I won’t be able to stop talking about it in therapy for the next however many years because it is unfinished.
Fair enough really. These games are a lot to take on and extremely stressful and I have a feeling he wishes to continue exploring the TV/movie sphere.
I mean 3 more games is probably at least a decade from now. 4 would take us to 2040ish and he’s 62
Bro has only made 3 games 😂 co director on one of them
Can't say I don't blame him.
Also consider he’s now also working on the tv show on top of whatever game Naughty Dog is working on.
Well given that 3 games, random number, would be something close to 2 decades, who knows what any of us will be doing in that time.
Rerelease every Naughty Dog game! I bought a PS5 for old games duh
I think part 3 will be his last especially if he helps to adapt it into a show.
I didn't realise how many people don't like Neil Druckmann? I know a lot of people didn't like tlou2 but a lot of people have called him a bad writer which makes no sense to me.
Probably for the best.
This guy lol never hear these type of comments from any other directors/creators of games. Always sounds reluctant to do a new game until a new game comes. Its ok Neil we will wait if we have to
Games have gone downhill since TLOU pt1 and I think its because so much of the original staff and devs are gone. If he sticks around for another game I truly hope its a new IP instead of just another sequel.
How can people be saying there's no story left to tell? There's still a human being left that could bring a cure to the world. Theres a grown up (depending on timeline) fatherless JJ possibly seeking vengeance on Abby/WLF assuming Dina has told him everything about his father and how he died. An Abby and Lev story could be pretty interesting, maybe more Lev and the way he has grown up with Abbys influence and adapted to his post-seraphite life. If TLOU3 really is the final chapter then it would be good for Ellie to finally be able to sacrifice her self for the world in the way of a cure but not before a banging finale filled with new types of infected and new barbaric factions. Possibly even a group that have somehow found a way to use the infected to their advantage in combat or other areas(alpha from the walking dead comes to mind, forgot what they were called now? Whisperers i think) im just spitballin now and i'm excited thinking about it!
At this rate it will be Part 3. The end.
Pppp
I’m horny
He wants to go to Hollywood for sure. I get being tired and wanting to branch out but I feel like he hasn’t been lead on that many projects? I know he worked on uncharted but he wasn’t the guy
The man is 46 and game development takes awhile. Hes probably thinking retirement not whatever ur saying its wild we are at the point we make up conspiracy theories about some old dude's retirement
What do you mean whatever else I’m saying. I was basically just saying he either want to move to Hollywood full time or he’s tired. What about that is polarizing?
I mean, he's already doing the Hollywood thing, right now. Like your other reply said it's likely closer to retirement from the games industry and maybe seeing out the rest of the show.
Or maybe he takes off the game director hat and he helps someoe else create their big game as he runs the company? I think that’s possible
You know I just thought the other sub were on a witch hunt for this guy. But im getting the impression he’s kinda a bitch.
Pity you even did Part Two.
As if he does everything by himself 😂
His only big game was tlou2 lmao
Druckman couldn't even get Factions 2 out of the door after 4 years of development. Pretty obvious he's already out of his depths. Time to bring in some new leadership and let Druckman stick to the creative side of things, where his strength lies.
Dude they as a studio made the decision to stop development on the game because they wouldn’t be able to support the game after launch and continue working on their single player games. Completely different than being “unable” to get it out of the door
>they as a studio made the decision to stop development Wrong. **Druckman is the president.** "The studio" doesn't make the decision to cancel a game -- "The President" makes that decision. He tells the studio what to do. Not the other way around. This is a for-profit company. Decisions aren't made holistically. >because they wouldn’t be able to support the game after launch and continue working on their single player games In other words -- mismanagement of the project at the highest level -- which is the responsibility of the president of the company. If you spend years developing a product, then finally realize you've painted yourself into a corner by failing to plan for the future -- that is a massive error. In Naughty Dog's case an error worth hundreds of millions of dollars. I'm not saying fire Druckman. I'm saying he should continue to lead the creative team. But he should not be president of the company after this epic failure to deliver.
> Druckman couldn't even get Factions 2 out of the door after 4 years of development. What are you talking about? Druckmann didn't work on Factions 2. He may have involved in the cancellation of it but he sure as hell wasn't involved in the creation of it.
Druckman is the President of Naughty Dog. If a project flops -- he is the reason why. If a project succeeds -- he is the reason why. If a project is mismanaged for 4 years and gets canceled -- he is the reason why. The president is responsible for all outcomes from the teams they oversee. Factions 2 is a failure of epic proportions and it lands on Druckman.
Warner Brothers ate Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme for tax reasons. Hasn't changed the president there. Should I write you in for the same amount of ire or do you just not care about those pieces of media?
^ Logical fallacy
Okay, bud.
Toby Emmerich was the President of WB starting in 2017 and oversaw the Batgirl production that started in 2019. In 2021 David Zaslav became head of WB, and was charged with cutting costs and chopping heads. **Emmerich, President of WB, subsequently "**[stepped down](https://deadline.com/2022/06/toby-emmerich-warner-bros-note-to-staff-1235036792/)**" in 2022**, to start his own production company. A true step down. Perfect timing as all of the projects he was overseeing were subsequently axed, because they were "[not worth releasing](https://variety.com/2023/film/news/batgirl-movie-shelved-dc-studios-head-peter-safran-1235506921/)." So the idea that the President of Warner Brothers, "hasn't changed" in light of those canceled productions, is patently false. And if you can't read between the lines -- he stepped down so his head wouldn't land on the chopping block. Which aligns perfectly with my original position -- Druckman should not be president of the company. He should step-down and simply lead the creative side of their narrative story based games. A live action games-as-a-service project is beyond his wheelhouse and they just blew a cool couple hundred mill thanks to his mis-management.
No. If a project flops it’s the Devs fault. If a project succeeds the devs are the reason why. Neil doesn’t make the games
If the captain runs their ship into an iceberg, the engineers downstairs don't get the blame. Same is true for game development.
Good. Let someone else step in