The Last of Us Part II has been out for a month now and most players have already reached the ending. However, if you sat back and wondered why those specific turn of events took place, you are not alone. In a recent interview with GameInformer, game director Niel Druckmann revealed The Last of Us Part II originally had a very different ending.
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ALERT – The Last of Us Part II end-game spoilers follow.
In the interview with GameInformer, Niel sat down with narrative lead Halley Gross to discuss the game’s ending. According to Niel, right up to the mid-way point of development, the game had a different ending. Originally, Ellie would have killed Abby at the end of the game.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#A2F500″ class=”” size=”21″]”When I signed on a lot of it was very similar. We did a lot of iterations on what that last act looked like, but the final beat was that Ellie would kill Abby. About halfway through production, we changed that and had Ellie let go at the last second to illustrate that some little part of the old Ellie, the Ellie with humanity, the Ellie that is impacted by Joel, still exists within this character who has been so overtaken by her quest for revenge.”[/perfectpullquote]
Niel also explained how originally both Lev and Yara were killed in the early drafts of the story. However, it was decided to let Lev live after much consideration. This led the team to the decision where Ellie did not actually kill Abby at the end of the game and complete her story of revenge.
Gross claims that this route allowed Ellie to hold on to some of her humanity and avoid being lost completely.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#A2F500″ class=”” size=”21″]”Letting Abby live felt wrong thematically initially. But at the end of the day, it felt more honest for the character. The theme and what we’re trying to say shifted a little bit, but our top priority always is are we being honest to the character? There are certain things we are trying to hit but they can only work if we’re consistent with the character we’re writing.”[/perfectpullquote]
The Last of Us Part II was a great game. Sure, I thought its story held it back a bit and its gameplay was tedious but it is still one of the best PS4 exclusives you can play this generation. You can read my review here and watch it down below.
