Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part 3 will likely be the final chapter in Ellie and Joel's epic story. But what can we expect from the sequel to the PlayStation game?
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The American game The Last of Us Part I has been a real hit for Sony PlayStation gamers since its release in 2013. With its intense combat, brilliant voice acting from Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, stunning emotional storytelling and the incredible visual details, there was no doubt that the little brother of the Uncharted series had become a beloved game.
So when the next game came out in 2020 and players flocked to get their hands on it and continue Joel and Ellie's story, no one was surprised. Even new players who had never heard of the game went crazy for it, and The Last of Us Part II ended up winning Game of the Year.
With players having become emotionally attached to the characters in the previous game and knowing the world much better this time around, the writers had the opportunity to do more with their original story and had a bit of trouble making it work. the new game and the plans they had for it in a way that wouldn't cause players to absolutely hate the decisions they had made. Fortunately, they managed to create a game that caused players and characters the perfect amount of grief without taking away from the game's original story or vision.
The Last of Us Part II having such an open ending, Part 3 became the most anticipated game, even though it wasn't even in the works yet. Luckily for fans, in April 2021, Oops Leaks reported that Neil Druckmann (co-president of Naughty Dog and creative director of The Last of Us Part II) had confirmed that he and his co-writer Halley Gross had already started working on the story and the outline of the storyline for Part 3, but that the game itself would not be developed until Naughty Dog had completed the projects they were already working on at the time.
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Based on the time between Parts 1 and 2, players can assume that it will be a long time before they get The Last of Us Part 3 on the PlayStation 5, especially with all the new features coming to the game future. At this point, the earliest and most likely release date for the game is probably after 2026. While this situation is frustrating for fans, we're more than happy to wait for Naughty Dog to finish their new game, because the time, effort and love that goes into every element of their games is very clear to players who decide to travel through the different worlds they have created.
While we wait for the official announcement of Naughty Dog's third game, why not dive into the previous two games and take a look at some elements that we hope will make a reappearance and some storylines that should be wrapped up to give players a satisfying ending to a game they have grown to love.
Warning: Spoilers for the first two games. Proceed with caution. Unless you're here for the spoilers, then go ahead, my friend.
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A deep dive into what happened in the previous two games.
In the first game, we meet two new characters, Joel, a ruthless and cynical survivor in a post-apocalyptic world, and Ellie, a 14-year-old girl (whom he later learns is immune to the virus) which he is responsible for protecting and smuggling across the country. In The Last of Us Part I, they face a constant struggle for survival, dodging people and the infected in the ravaged civilization.
Ellie begins to bring out a softer, more compassionate side in Joel, as he teaches her how to use a weapon properly. They have a few clashes, but Joel quickly realizes that he cannot leave the teenager and begins to consider her his daughter, even going so far as to use the same pet name that he used for his daughter Sarah before losing her the day of the epidemic.
The bond he formed during the game becomes a problem for the Fireflies when Joel learns that they want to use him to create a vaccine so that humanity has a chance to fight off the infection. Although he knows this is something Ellie would have wanted to do, in a moment of selfishness, Joel refuses to let her sacrifice herself and lies to her about what happened at the lab, telling her that they stopped looking for a cure.
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This situation will backfire on Joel in the second game, when Ellie finally learns the truth about what happened at the hospital. In her anger, she cuts Joel out of her life, leaving the man broken. Despite this, he still does what he can to make sure she is safe and let her know that he supports her no matter what. Unfortunately, for players and characters alike, in The Last of Us Part II, Joel doesn't make it to the end to redeem himself.
Players then continue to follow Ellie and Abby, switching between points of view throughout the game, as they deal with their loss at different stages, albeit in very similar ways. Ellie is on a path to revenge and seeks out Abby and anyone who stands in her way, losing some of the compassion that was part of her in Part 1. Abby has already taken revenge and now must deal with the consequences about his revenge and trying to become a better person.
The girls finally face off, and Abby comes out on top, but warns Ellie not to come back to her again, saying, “Don't ever let me see you again.” For 18 months, neither woman saw the other.
We get a glimpse of the life Ellie leads with Dina, but the tranquility of that life is quickly ruined by the post-traumatic stress disorder she experiences, caused by Joel's death and the news that Tommy (the brother of Joel) brings up the subject of Abby's last known whereabouts. In an attempt to turn the page, she goes to California, determined to end her quest for revenge whatever the cost, even if her choice upset Dina. Things don't go quite as planned.
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She finds Abby in a sorry state, far from what she was when they first met, hanged and left for dead. In a moment of compassion, Ellie frees her, but she cannot forget the images of Joel that haunt her and forces Abby to fight a duel. Both women are broken and desperate, trying to survive, and Ellie takes over.
As she is about to take revenge on the person who stole her father figure, she is confronted with a memory of him that reminds her of who she is. She remembers that she is capable of pity and forgiveness and manages to overcome her need for revenge to let Abby live. They split up, Abby escaping by boat with Lev and Ellie returning to Dina, who is nowhere to be found when she returns.
After struggling to play a song, thanks to the fingers she lost in the fight with Abby, she puts down the guitar, and we see her return to the wilderness.
Players then find themselves staring at their screen, with a feeling of melancholy setting in as they wonder what they will do next. Although the ending of The Last of Us Part II is a bit more definitive than the much more violent ending of the first part, it is much more open-ended and leaves fans with many more questions.
As a result, speculation about how Naughty Dog was going to take Ellie and the continuation of her story in The Last of Us Part 3 began to circulate.
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Where did Dina go?
When Ellie returns to her farm at the end of The Last of Us Part II, she finds that her house has been completely emptied, except for their studio. No Dina or JJ (the baby they raised together and named after Joel and Jesse) in sight, no goodbye note to explain where they had gone, just an empty house with some souvenirs inside.
Looking at the last scene of the game, we can assume two things:
First, Ellie has accepted Joel's death and is moving away from the anger she let consume her. She forgave him for what he did and moved on.
Second, she will definitely go looking for Dina and JJ in order to repair the relationship she broke after making the decision to go after Abby.
The question we should really ask ourselves is whether she will truly recover from the trauma of this game and whether Dina will truly forgive Ellie for what she put her through. It may take a while, but we hope Naughty Dog changes its mind on what seems to have become a theme of tragic endings and gives its main character the happy ending she deserves in The Last of Us Part 3, especially after all the nonsense she suffered.
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Why the sudden introduction of a group of brutal mercenaries?
Naughty Dog has always gone to great lengths to flesh out and color each of its characters and factions in The Last of Us, going beyond details outside of the main story. Each of them has some sort of code or set of moral beliefs that they follow, and this allows us to connect and have sympathy for the groups as we play and helps players understand why the different factions do what they do. This puts us more in Ellie's headspace and makes us feel guilty when dealing with the various members, which is why it's a bit strange to suddenly be confronted by the Rattlers towards the end of The Last of Us Part 2.
The reason for including this group of ruthless mercenaries is likely to present them as the main antagonist group in The Last of Us Part 3. We get a glimpse of how they operate, but there doesn't seem to be any good things about them. subject. Instead, we're dealing with a group of people who seem to have completely lost their humanity and will do anything and everything to discourage the survivors they've captured from opposing them.
This means that players feel much less guilty when dealing with a Rattlers mercenary than they would with a member of the Seraphites or WLF. The Rattlers are sure to pose new ethical, physical, and emotional challenges for Ellie in The Last of Us Part 3, and I'm very excited to see how Naughty Dog goes about it. It will be interesting to see how Ellie's newfound compassion holds up against people who have no compassion for her and probably view her as little more than a worker.
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Did Abby and Lev manage to join the Fireflies?
According to some theories, changing the menu screen after finishing the game gives us a small clue as to what happened to Abby and Leb. If we look closely at the scene that serves as the background of the menu screen, we can easily see the Catalina Casino in the background, indicating that the coastline we see is not random, but that rather it belongs to the island of Santa Cataline.
Add to that the image of the boat sitting on the beach, I think players can assume that not only have Abby and Lev managed to reach the Fireflies' new base of operations, but that there is also there's a good chance we'll see them again in the third act. It will be very interesting to see what will happen between the two women if they cross paths again and how they will interact with each other.
In The Last of Us Part 3, both women will have to overcome many traumas and unresolved issues. It will be especially difficult for the two of them if, at any point, they are forced to work together, but it will be a great time for the writers to explore how the characters have evolved, grown, and healed since their last interaction.
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Will the search for a vaccine come back to the forefront in The Last of Us Part 3?
Unlike its predecessor, The Last of Us Part II is much less focused on the Cordyceps pandemic. The infected play a much less important role, becoming more of a secondary enemy than the main enemy to fight. They still appear and are just as difficult to escape from as in the previous game, but finding a way to cure them is no longer a priority for the characters.
While Ellie seeks revenge on Abby for taking Joel from her, Abby instead seeks to become a better person after taking her own revenge and returning to the light after Owen (the boy, then the man, that she had loved) pointed out to her that she had stopped looking for her.
With the story focusing more on the two women overcoming their grief, there is no chance that the question of the cure will be addressed again in The Last of Us Part 3. It is, however, a possibility , as Abby could take up her father's cause by developing a cure, and Ellie's blood still contains the antibody for the Cordyceps fungus.
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Complete the love story satisfactorily
We hope that The Last of Us Part 3 will come full circle and bring us back to the original goal and reason why Joel was tasked with taking Ellie across the country: to try to find a cure for the mess humanity is in. managed to get in. With Abby returning to the Fireflies, perhaps it's time for her to take up her father's legacy and try to develop the cure that will save the world, or what's left of it at this point.
The third episode of the game offers many opportunities to solve new problems. Will Ellie still be willing to sacrifice herself for the good of humanity, or will she have developed new priorities now that she has found her soul mate?
It's possible that problems will arise outside of the main characters this time around, and rather than a father who doesn't want his adopted daughter to sacrifice herself for the greater good, it will be the Rattlers who don't want a remedy be found as they try to establish their new order and reign of terror. Why would they want to save the world from what got them to the top? How would this benefit them? They might decide that Ellie is too big a potential threat and send hunters after her.
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There are so many places and areas where potential conflicts can arise and so many ways for things to go wrong, as is often the case in Naughty Dog's games. With much of the story still up in the air and everything that happened in the last two games, Neil Druckmann has plenty to work on, and we can't wait to see how he concludes Ellie's story in The Last of Us Part 3.
Unfortunately, some rumors suggest that the third game may not see the light of day. In several interviews and podcasts, Neil Druckmann has mentioned that the decision to make another game was entirely up to them and that they thought a lot about what could happen. Apparently, he and co-writer Halley Gross have already sketched out a possible story for the sequel, but they're not sure it will ever come to fruition.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Druckmann mentioned that there is a lot more story they want to share and suggested that Naughty Dog might be planning a third game, but he quickly recanted.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Druckmann mentioned: “I know there are a lot of people wondering about The Last of Us Part 3 and wondering whether or not it will happen. It is up to us to decide whether we want to continue or not. We're doing it the same way as the second game: if we can find a compelling story that conveys a universal message about love – like the first and second games did – then we'll tell that story. If we fail to find something, we have a very strong ending with the second part and that will be the end.
In the meantime, with HBO's TV adaptation in full swing, we at least have some The Last of Us content to enjoy, and there are rumors that Naughty Dog is working on a standalone The Last of Us multiplayer game which will be free. If they have their hands full with this, it could be years before a third installment of the series sees the light of day.
Luckily for us, according to a leak from popular and reliable leaker @ViewerAnon, there could be a third game in the series that is in active production right now, but we'll have to wait and see.
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