Naughty Dog’s stock has jumped into the stratosphere over the past decade, and looking at their output of games in that time, it’s easy to see why. Soon, they’ll be looking to recreate their incredible past successes – maybe even surpass them – with the upcoming The Last of Us Part 2, a game that’s got a lot of people very excited for various reasons.
The one reason that tops that list, however, it the studio’s knack for impactful storytelling with its excellent written characters, and according to The Last of Us Part 2 co-writer Halley Gross, it’s an area where Naughty Dog is continuing to show its magical touch. Speaking recently in an interview with the Official PlayStation Magazine in their December 2019 issue (Issue 168), Gross talked about the work that Naughty Dog is going to “make the most complex, nuanced character in a video game”, before calling them “wizards.”
“This is the longest job I’ve ever had in my life,” she said. “Every day I’m working, I get the opportunity to work with designers, and animators, and sound guys and character artists, and we’re all working toward a vision about how do you make the most complex, nuanced character in a video game?
“Everybody’s putting their particular smarts toward that, and you get to just watch these incredibly brilliant people and go, ‘How the **** does your brain work?’ Wizards. They’re wizards.”
Based on all that we’ve heard about the game from the developers so far, it definitely looks like the stakes are going to be high. If Naughty Dog can tell the story they want to tell a successfully as they have done in the past, we could be in for something special.
The Last of Us Part 2 is out on February 21, 2020 for the PS4. For a rundown on all the things we’ve learned about the game in recent weeks, head on over here.