Clamouring for Joel to make his triumphant return at some point as a playable character in The Last of Us: Part 2? Don’t count on it. Naughty Dog held a behind-closed-doors extended version of its E3 2018 demo and confirmed to IGN that Ellie is the only playable character in the game.
Interestingly, the answer first started with co-lead game designer Richard Cambier stating “We aren’t saying anything about that yet.” Later, creative director Neil Druckmann would chime in to confirm that Ellie is indeed the only character that players will control.
Not only is this interesting because we know Joel is in the game but also because the first game did offer control to both characters. Joel was the main character in the first game but Ellie would be playable during some portions. It’s highly likely that there may be playable sequence with Joel in the sequel but Naughty Dog could be keeping it under wraps for now.
The Last of Us: Part 2 is currently in development for PlayStation 4 with no release date.