The Last of Us It is one of the most beloved franchises within the video game industry, and it is not for less, since its characters and its unique story manage to hook us in the journey of the characters to survive in the United States in a post-apocalyptic condition and devastated by creatures. cannibals infected by a mutated fungus of the genus Cordyceps.
Something that seems quite striking to us is that The Last of Us is a game that made history, whose narrative is indelible for fans. Every event is memorable and no one would dare to make any changes to it. However, one of the most important parts was going to be different. Thanks to the announcements, one would expect The Last of Us to start with Joel as a playable character, but instead Sarah is the first character the player controls.
This was going to be different, since during development, the game was planned to start with Joel as a playable character. That’s not all, but the introduction would be shown from Joel’s perspective. This means that practically the entire introductory part was going to be different, since it would not have Sarah waking up at dawn and find out what was happening, but it would be possible to see Joel checking why there was so much commotion in a neighbor’s house (not seen in-game) and then return for Sarah just like in the first game.
That being said, it’s very likely that the player originally would never have had a chance to control Sarah. However, the team decided to scrap this intro because it felt like something they had already seen and wanted something that would set it apart in the genre. Interestingly, the opening sequence ironically was the last to complete its development and the idea of playing Sarah came from a brainstorm.
“It felt like a really unique version [de esta historia]. The fact that you’re seeing it through a very innocent little girl made it all the creepier, scarier and that was our north star. Having that defined perspective affected the entire team’s approach to making that introduction a reality,” Druckmann said.
Thus, the team decided to show Sarah’s vulnerability in this segment to build empathy for her at the beginning that she shares with Joel and her fear of not finding him home at dawn and during the chaos that ensued moments later. And there is no doubt that this last change was beneficial to generate a greater impact on players after the introduction.
In the HBO series, this relationship was emphasized and, as in the game, Sarah stars in a good part of the first chapter to not only give depth to her character, but also provide more context to the relationship she had with Joel, her uncle Tommy. and the world before the catastrophe.
