There’s been a mixed reception towards the latest The Last of Us Part 2 trailer to say the least. While controversy has simmered around the tone of the trailer, let’s take a look at what plot details we can glean amongst the brutality.

Is that Ellie’s mom?

She certainly bears a passing resemblance to Ellie. The mystery woman (voiced by Laura Bailey) has been the focus of the recent marketing, although Naughty Dog have elected to keep her identity a mystery. They did release a short quote to go with the trailer that adds to the puzzle.

“At its core, The Last of Us Part II is still very much about Ellie and Joel, but for this reveal, we wanted to showcase several new characters that are integral to their next journey… For now we’re keeping mum, but we’re excited to see what y’all make of this piece of the puzzle.”

We’re sure that ‘keeping mum’ is just a turn of phrase but it’s a cheeky nod if the woman shown above is indeed Anna, Ellie’s mother. Anna was absent from the original game, believed to have died shortly after giving birth to Ellie. The only part of her that remains is a letter and a switchblade, both of which Ellie keep close as a memento. It’s clear she’s a big part of Ellie’s story and with the new game focusing more on her as a character, it’s reasonable that we’ll explore their relationship.

One other clue is also present in a recent tweet by Naughty Dog.

And finally, Laura Bailey is ████. #TheLastofUsPartII pic.twitter.com/9ATCz6RELk

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) October 30, 2017

Four black squares. Anna?

Who is everyone else?

As the trailer progresses, several other key players emerge. Naughty Dog has all but confirmed they’re main characters after they revealed the voice acting talent. Emily, voiced by Emily Swallow, is the leader of the kidnappers and apparently punishing those ‘nested in sin’. Yara (voiced by Victoria Grace) is the woman who suffers from the brutal hammer attack and Lev is the male with the shaved head, voiced by Ian Alexander.

What’s interesting is within the dialogue and how these characters react to each other.

Emily’s motivations

A good place to start is Emily. Let’s go back to that ‘nested in sin’ line. It has all sorts of religious connotations and is delivered as she holds a knife to the woman’s stomach. One theory is that this scene is a punishment for Anna falling pregnant with Ellie. If Anna had sex with someone outside of their particular tribe (or cult, which would be backed up by the use of ‘apostate’ later on), it’d make sense to use the ‘nested with sin’ line.

Another interesting take from Reddit is that Anna has had sex with a recently infected human, which could result in Ellie’s immunity to the virus. This would also fit with the ‘nested in sin’ line, with Emily viewing Anna as carrying ‘sin’ that causes people to become these monsters.

This could all be overthinking, as early on in the trailer we see other corpses similarly hung and disembowled. This could just be an elaborate show of force to people who are thinking about leaving ‘the group’.

Are we seeing an early form of the Fireflies?

Talking of ‘the group’, are we seeing a form of the Fireflies? In The Last of Us, the Fireflies are a revolutionary group fighting against military oppression. During the trailer, when we’re introduced to Yara, Emily tells her fellow captors to ‘clip her wings’, which could fit in with the Firefly motif. Perhaps Emily is part of a cult at odds with the Fireflies.

This theory is backed up by Lev asking if Yara really wants to cut the woman down as she’s ‘one of them’. Could it be we’re seeing the Fireflies (Lev and Yara) at war with Emily’s group? Is Emily a former Firefly, hence why she seems to instantly recognise Yara?

It could be that everyone has connections with the Fireflies and this is just a civil war of sorts. When Emily greets Yara, she asks her about the ‘other apostates’. An apostate is someone that denounces a belief or principle so maybe Yara and Lev have splintered. Without context it’s obviously all theoretical but it does seem as though Emily is a leader and is hunting down those that have left her charge. Her dialogue also seems to have particularly religiously zealous overtones, a trait which doesn’t fit with the overall impression of the Fireflies we have so far.

When does this trailer take place?

Now obviously, all of these theories so far are accounting for this being a flashback. Neil Druckmann, creative director for Naughty Dog, emphasised in an interview that we don’t know when this scene takes place. It could be that following the events of The Last of Us, the Fireflies have collapsed into several smaller groups and the mystery woman is just a ripped woman that’s handy with a hammer. This would obviously go against any theories regarding Ellie’s parentage but at this stage, anything could be correct.

Have you had a chance to watch The Last Of Us Part 2 trailer yet? If so, what are your thoughts on what’s going on?

 

Sony has kicked off Paris Games Week 2017 with a bunch of announcements for Playstation 4 and Playstation VR. With big budget trailers for The Last of Us 2 and Detroit: Become Human as well as new IPs like Ghost of Tsushima, there’s plenty to look over.

Although the live stream is now finished, there’s going to be plenty more coming from the developers in question. We’ll be going through some of the big announcements and taking a look at these announcements in more detail. This is our hub for all things PGW 2017 so don’t forget to check back here throughout the week for updates.

The Last of Us: Part II

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdkmWigbq9Y

One of the big flagship titles for Playstation has another cryptic cinematic trailer. It’s pretty grim and features a bunch of new characters. There’s no sign of Ellie but there’s plenty going on, with an unnamed woman being captured and tortured before being rescued by newbies Yara (Victoria Grace) and Lev (Ian Alexander). Whether or not this scene is a flashback is unknown but we’re sure some of these key players will pop up in the sequel.

The Last of Us: Part II is the next title for the vastly successful IP that first appeared on PS3. Developers Naughty Dog has confirmed that Ellie, not Joel, will be the main playable character. Unfortunately, no release date has been confirmed.

You can read our thoughts and theories about the trailer here.

Detroit: Become Human

Detroit: Become Human finally has a launch window of Spring 2018. The hotly anticipated title from French studio Quantic Dream is shaping up to be another dramatic experience, following previous titles Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. Director David Cage has described Detroit: Become Human as his most complex work, a narrative that revolves around three androids exploring their newfound sentience.

The lengthy gameplay trailer above showcases a scene from the game, with the player controlling android Kara during some particularly nasty family drama.

Ghosts of Tsushima

This completely new IP comes from developers Sucker Punch Productions, best known for the Infamous series. Set during the First Mongol Invasion of Japan, you play as a lone samurai hell-bent on revenge for the atrocities committed during the invasion. At this point in history, the traditional samurai code began to change and the game seems to follow that, focusing more on hit-and-run tactics as well as advanced tech like gunpowder bombs.

Ghost of Tsushima has been teased as an open-world action stealth game, with little details beyond that.

Spelunky 2

Yep, one of the most acclaimed indie games ever made is getting a sequel. Following on from Spelunky released in 2008, Spelunky 2 will continue the cave diving adventures of the original. The official description describes how ‘the story deepens as more randomly-generated adventures beckon’ but there’s not much more beyond that. Expect lots of rogue-like platforming and (hopefully) angry shopkeepers when this drops.

Guacamelee 2

Another unexpected announcement was that Luchador ‘Metroidvania’ Guacamelee is getting a sequel. The original released in 2013 and offered a quirky side-scrolling adventure that quickly became a cult hit. Co-op multiplayer seems to be one of the big new additions, alongside “new levels, visuals, enemies, bosses, mechanics and much more emphasis on the chicken form”.

Guacamelee 2 will release on Playstation 4 ‘soon-ish’. Expect it to hit other platforms not long after.

Megalith

Megalith is described as an ‘action-packed hero shooter’ all played out in virtual reality. You take control of a ‘titan’, a huge creature that has immense size and firepower. With customisable abilities, destructible environments and free locomotion, you must team up to fight for supremacy over the enemy team.

While the only gameplay footage is a monster looking at his own hands in confusion, the concept does seem good. The hero shooter market however is saturated so hopefully virtual reality will help it stand out from the crowd.

Blood & Truth

Another PSVR exclusive, Blood & Truth puts you in the shoes of a cockney John Wick and demands you ask questions later. As an expanded version of The Heist, an early selection of PSVR action sequences, Blood & Truth offers a larger experience and proper narrative. There’s no current release date but you can check the announcement trailer above.

The Hong Kong Massacre

If you couldn’t get enough of Hotline Miami or recent cyberpunk madness Ruiner, The Hong Kong Massacre wants to scratch that itch. A top-down shooter that’s drenched in gunfire and neon lights, expect bullet hell and probably a great soundtrack.

What else to expect from Paris Games Week 2017

Although the livestream is over, we’re sure that plenty of developers will be talking about their games over the week. If you’re looking for more info on Detroit: Become Human or The Last of Us: Part II, make sure to check back and we’ll give you all the latest.

We’ll also be adding more extensive news surrounding the announcements as they’re written so if you want a bit more insight, you can get that too.