The video Game publisher Naughty Dog released a free update to The Last of Us Part II today that adds a new chronological story mode. The mode effectively replaces the game’s nonlinear structure that bounced players between two separate characters. Otherwise, the update keeps the gameplay the same.
Game owners will get the new mode automatically as part of the latest patch download.
In the original version of The Last of Us Part II, players switch between dual protagonists Ellie and Abby, whose stories are told through a mix of flashbacks and present-day events. The shifting narrative structure supports the game’s story of revenge and regret, as Abby grows from a villain to a sympathetic character whose motivations are rooted in loss.
“While this structure is very intentional and core to how our studio wanted Part II’s themes and narrative beats to impact players, we always wondered what it would be like to experience this story chronologically,” writes Jonathon Dornbush, the editorial content manager at Naughty Dog, on the game’s website.
As part of this new mode, Dornbush says that players will gain deeper insight into the game’s story, like the parallels between Ellie and Abby’s journeys. “You’ll see just how close they come into running into each other, how their actions impact each other,” he writes.
The chronological mode is aimed at players who’ve already played through the original version of the game. Naughty Dog says that new players should still try it “as was originally developed.” Players who complete the game chronological order will get two new skins for No Return mode that give The Last of Us’ brothers Joel and Tommy outfits worn by Nathan and Sam Drake from the Uncharted series.
Online, fans have been largely positive about the update. “Honestly these sort of things are really neat,” wrote Reddit user thautmatric. “It doesn’t replace the original experience and it gives the audience another way to engage with material of the text—potentially highlighting aspects and motivations the original creatives didn’t even realize at the time.”
“The part that I disliked the most about The Last of Us 2 was the story pacing, how it's stitched together, so this might be something I enjoy a lot,” wrote user MissingInputJ.
Parallel Paths
The HBO adaptation of The Last of Us wrapped its second season in May. The show has been largely faithful to the series’ narrative; the first season focused solely on The Last of Us, while season two tackled some of the events that happen in Part II. Season 3 of the show will focus on the character of Abby, played by Kaitlyn Dever. Neil Druckmann, who cocreated the Last of Us video game franchise and co-ran the show with Craig Mazin, announced that he would be exiting the show after its second season in order to focus on Naughty Dog.
It’s rare, though not unheard of, for games with non-linear stories to eventually offer a chronological version. In 2015, Quantic Dream released a remaster of Beyond: Two Souls that included a mode that gave players the option to play the game in order; the original story moved through different ages of its heroine’s life with every sequence. For players who want to experience a game’s story without time jumps, the choice to move chronologically offers a more straightforward experience.
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