The Last of Us Part 2

When Naughty Dog recently revealed the new trailer for The Last of Us Part 2, they unveiled a couple of things that we’d all been asking about for years. One was the release date, of course, but the second thing they finally lifted the lid on was Joel. He’d been noticeably absent in everything we had seen of the game till now, but now Naughty Dog have confirmed that he will indeed be coming back.

Unlike the first game though, this time, we’ll be playing as Ellie, while Joel will be pushed into a supporting role. So does that mean his presence and importance in the game and its story are going to be diminished? Well, no. Creative director and co-writer Neil Druckmann says that the reason we haven’t seen too much of Joel is because of his strained relationship with Ellie, but that he’s still going to be an integral part of the story.

“Their relationship is strained. Some of it is because teenagers will be teenagers, and some of it is because of their history, which is why you haven’t seen them together a lot,” Druckmann said while speaking with IGN. “So much of The Last of Us is about this duo and their dynamic and how they are together, how they play together. I will say Joel plays a major part of this game.”

We’ve learned a lot of new details about The Last of Us Part 2 in recent days, from its improved AI, to how big it’s going to be, to how it’s going to be structured, to why it doesn’t have a multiplayer mode. You can see some of those improvements and changes in action in a gameplay video through here.

The Last of Us Part 2 is out on February 21, 2020.