For many gamers who aren’t as well versed in other mediums, The Last of Us was their first real exposure to the type of post-society fiction with a more sober and grounded tone. It helped to make that game something of a sensation, along with its great production values. The sequel will, no doubt, be just as loved for those same reasons (especially from technical standpoint, where Naughty Dog is nearly unbeatable). It also will have a lot of echoes from that game.
Many eagle-eyed fans have found pieces of the footage we’ve seen of Part 2 that matches up pretty similarly to big scenes from the original game. The game’s Director, Neil Druckmann, commented on those parallels, meaning they definitely aren’t a coincidence and said there’s more between the two games though doesn’t get specific.
It’s an interesting approach. While it’s not an uncommon framing device, usually that’s something that artists utilize at the end of a trilogy or long running saga, and not the second entry. Of course, it may not be as deep as that in the end product. The game unfortunately got pushed back to May of 2020, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out how it all plays out in the narrative.