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Gizmodo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
The Best ‘Last of Us' Ever Was a Shocking, Revelatory, Rollercoaster of Emotions
This is the one I've been waiting for. Since HBO announced it was making a Last of Us TV show, my thoughts immediately went to the museum. The scene from The Last of Us Part II where Joel takes Ellie to the Wyoming Museum of Science and History for her birthday is, for my money, one of the best scenes in video game history, and I have been anxiously awaiting its live-action adaptation. Well, it finally came, and not only did it live up to those expectations, it blew them out of the water. The scene, which is an isolated tangent in the game, becomes the centerpiece for an almost completely flashback episode detailing not just some intense ups and downs in Joel and Ellie's relationship, but Joel's upbringing as well. Plus, we finally got to see the moment. The one that the entire first season and second season have been building to. Incredible new actors joined the show for the occasion, and the result is almost certainly the best episode of The Last of Us ever. Let's dig into 'The Price.' I can't be the only one at first confused, and then delighted, when I realized where the episode started, right? Two brothers, one older one younger, are trying to quickly figure out how to handle a situation without getting in trouble. Younger brother is worried his father is going to beat him, and older brother assures him he won't let that happen. The year is 1983, this is Austin, Texas and the brothers are Joel (Andrew Diaz) and Tommy (David Miranda) Miller. Joel tells Tommy to go as their father, played by Tony Dalton from Hawkeye, walks in. He's a police officer and seems very on edge about what's going to happen. Joel lies about the situation, covering up for Tommy, and Dad calls him on it. 'You're not going to hurt him,' Joel says. Dad grabs a couple of Budweisers, gives one to Joel, and tells him a story. A story about how when he was a kid, his father caught him stealing something, and punched him so hard, he broke his jaw. It has to be wired shut for two months, and he was ashamed and embarrassed. 'So if you know what it feels like, then why?' Joel asks his father. Dad breaks down about how he hates that he's hit his kids, but at least it's never been as hard as his dad hit him. He's doing just a little better than his father did and, he hopes, when Joel has kids, he'll do better than him. Dad gets up to leave, puts his hand on Joel's shoulder–revealing the watch that Joel wore until his dying day–and leaves. We don't know it yet but the scene not only tells us so much about Joel's past, but it sets up his future too. The entirety of the episode is about Joel trying to do better than his dad and, for the most part, succeeding. Fast forward decades. We're two months after the finale of season one, roughly four years before the start of season two, and Joel makes a trade with Seth: Legos for a birthday cake. At home, he restores an old guitar and customizes it. He's getting ready for Ellie's 15th birthday. Before that though, Tommy brings a woozy Ellie home in a commotion. Ellie burned her arm on purpose and the painkillers are making her loopy. This is a moment we've heard about in the past, when Ellie burned herself to cover the scar from a zombie bite, but here we see how worried it made both Joel and Tommy. The next morning, Ellie devours her birthday cake and loves the guitar. Joel promises he'll give her lessons on it but, first, she wants to hear something. He plays a few bars of 'Future Days' by Pearl Jam, a sort of deep cut in the realm of Pearl Jam, but a song that was part of the game. It's a song about how a child changes a father, and you can see how it moves both Joel and Ellie. 'Is it a dinosaur?' One year later, it's Ellie's 16th birthday and she is rapidly guessing what surprise Joel is bringing her through the woods for. Shat she really wants is to go on patrol with Jesse and Joel asks if Ellie likes him. 'I've got a keen eye for these things,' Joel says. 'I don't think you do,' Ellie, who is closeted at this time, says. They round the corner to reveal that the surprise does, in fact, include a dinosaur. A life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex stands in the center of the woods and as Ellie excitedly climbs it, she notices there's a museum nearby. Joel has known about it for a while but was saving it for a special day. This day. At 16 years old, and having lived all through during a world-ending apocalypse, Ellie has never seen anything like this. She's beyond excited and Joel has helped that along by coming early and making sure everything is just right. 'Would you like to go to space?' Joel asks. Ellie turns a corner and sees an actual space capsule from Apollo 15. The excitement is building but, before she can go in, Joel tells her she needs a helmet and hands her a rock. She's to pick a helmet from the displays, throw a rock through the glass, and take one. Which, honestly, sounds like the coolest freaking thing in the world. Or, maybe, the second coolest. Because once Ellie puts on the helmet and she and Joel get inside the capsule, he's got one more surprise. He hands her a cassette tape, something he says 'took a mighty effort' to find. She pops it into her Walkman, puts on her headphones and Joel tells her to close her eyes. It'll be worth it. Joel was right. In a tight close-up on Ellie's face, reality changes. We go from a museum in Wyoming to an actual space shuttle launch in Ellie's imagination. The lighting changes and the capsule shakes as Ellie listens to the recording of an actual launch that Joel got for her. We watch this kid who has faced so much pain and suffering experiencing maybe the most joy she's felt in her entire life, and we see it all from inside her imagination. Ellie is in heaven or, at least, as close as you can get. 'Did I do okay?' Joel asks as the recording ends and she takes out the headphones. 'Are you kidding me?' she replies, as tears stream down Joel's face. The game version of the scene is a little different, a little longer, but just as heartwarming and beautiful. I'd been waiting years to see how The Last of Us show would adapt my favorite scene in the games and it did so wonderfully. As they leave the museum on Ellie's best birthday ever, something catches her eye. She tells Joel it's nothing, but we see what it is. Fireflies. One year later, it's Ellie's 17th birthday and Joel gets her another cake. He tries to sneak it up to her room but hears giggling from behind the door. He goes in and sees Ellie in bed with Kat, which Dina referenced a few episodes back. Joel is shocked, not just to find Ellie in bed with a woman, but also the drugs and tattoo gun in the room. 'So just all the teenage shit at once,' he says as Kat rushes out. Joel puts 'experimenting with girls' alongside 'drugs, tattoos, and sex' but Ellie makes it clear she was not experimenting. Joel doesn't take it well. Later that night, any angry Ellie is trying to move into the garage. Joel stops her, not because he's against it, but because he wants to fix it up for her first. They're calmer now and he inquires about her tattoo of a moth. She really likes moths, Joel notices, and tries to connect with her about it. There's a guarded understanding between them, even if it's awkward. In an attempt to understand, Joel finds Gail in town the next day who tells him that moths don't mean an interest in rebirth, they mean an interest in death. Why is Ellie interested in death? We get our answer in the next time jump. Two years pass. It's Ellie's 19th birthday, which almost catches us up to the current timeline. She's alone in the garage she's presumably been living in now for about two years and is talking to no one. She practicing a conversation she wants to have with Joel about what happened in Salt Lake City all those years ago. She's got some very logical questions about Joel's version of the story but is interrupted by Joel himself. After three years, he's finally giving her the present she's always wanted. He's letting her go on patrols outside of Jackson. And yet, Ellie's questions about their past still linger between them. Patrol is going well. Joel starts to reminisce about the old times and suggests he and Ellie spend more time together. Except, she's still on edge about everything. He can sense it too but that's interrupted when he gets a call that another group needs help. He tells Ellie to go home but she yells at him and the pair set off. Tensions rise dramatically as they don't know what they're going to find. What they do find is Eugene, played by Joe Pantoliano. We've heard about Eugeue a lot this season but this is the first (and, potentially, last) time we're going to see him. Because, as we know from previous episodes, Gail resents Joel for killing Eugene. Which is Joel's first instinct when he realizes Eugene has been bitten. Those are their rules. If you've been infected, you have to be killed, but Eugene begs for them to bring him back to Jackson just so he can say goodbye to Gail. After doing a little test, Ellie begs Joel as well and Joel agrees. Ellie even makes him promise because she's skeptical he's not going to kill him the second she leaves to get their horses. That's exactly what happens. Joel takes Eugene to a beautiful lake and tells him not to turn around. Eugene begs and pleads, telling Joel he just wants to hear and see Gail one more time. It doesn't matter. Joel offers some very unhelpful advice before shooting him in the back of the head. Ellie arrives, and she's in shock. He apologizes and, as they drag the body back, he tells her he's going to lie to Gail about it. 'I'll tell her what she needs to know and nothing more,' Joel says. 'It's the right thing to do.' Ellie doesn't answer. They get back to Jackson, where Gail and Tommy are waiting. Joel tells Gail that Eugene was bitten and that he bravely ended things himself. Gail seems okay with it but Ellie, channelling a fear and frustration with Joel that's been bubbling for years, speaks out. 'That's not what happened,' she says, before telling Gail the truth. Eugene wanted to come back, Joel agreed, but then he killed him anyway. Gail is furious, as is Joel at what he views as a betrayal. 'You swore,' Ellie sneers, making him realize he's not the one who was betrayed. And so, another jump forward. It's nine months after Eugene's death, and we're back in the first episode of the season. We watch the events of the New Year's party–Dina kissing Ellie, Seth being homophobic, Joel retaliating, Ellie yelling–from Joel's point of view. After their exchange, he goes home and is playing the guitar on the porch. Ellie arrives, sees him, and walks by. That's what we saw on the show. And, if you remember back to the third episode, Ellie told Gail that was the last time she saw Joel. She was lying. A rustling on the side of the house alerts Joel that Ellie isn't going to bed. She's coming back to talk to him. Why did Ellie lie to Gail? Why didn't she tell her she saw Joel one more time before his death? Well, because they were about to have the moment of moments. One no one else could know about. After a few pleasantries, Ellie locks in. She explains that when Joel lied to Gail about Eugene, it was the same look he gave her when she asked about Salt Lake City. And so, for the last time ever, she gives him a chance to come clean. Ellie asks Joel a series of questions. Questions so painful to answer, Joel can't even speak. He just shakes his head. 'Were there other immune people?' No. 'Were there raiders?' No. 'Could they have made a cure?' Yes, he nods through building tears. 'So did you…' Ellie trails off, unable to finish by saying, 'kill all those people?' Yes, he nods. 'Marlene?' Another yes. This is Ellie's every nightmare coming true at the same moment. Finally, after coming clean, Joel speaks. He explains the very important fact that making a cure would have required Ellie to die. And so, Ellie says, maybe that was her fate. It would've given her life purpose. But Joel took that from not just her, but everyone. 'Yes,' Joel says, 'And I'll pay the price because you're going to turn away from me.' He then reiterates, if he could do it again, he would. But not because he's selfish as Ellie suggests and the audience believes. But because 'I love you in a way you can't understand and maybe never will,' he says. 'But if that day should come, if you have one of your own, I hope you do a little better than me.' And there it is. Bringing it all the way back to the very beginning of the episode. Joel's dad was violent and flawed, but he did better than his dad. Joel is also violent and flawed and, well, besides the serial killer tendencies, has definitely been more loving and understanding than his dad. Ultimately though, it's up to us to decide if he's actually done better, because Ellie never got to meet Joel's dad. And it's a thought that kind of rebuilds Joel's entire persona. He gave Ellie a life. He saved her. But is that enough to say you did the best you could? 'I don't think I can forgive you for this,' Ellie replies after considering Joel's admissions. 'But I would like to try.' Joel is stunned, as are we. She forgave him. She loved him. And even though Joel died the next day, they were at peace with one another. Which is why, when the story cuts back to Seattle as Ellie heads back to the theater, we're left with a few important thoughts. We just watched Ellie brutally torture and beat one of Joel's killers. Is she doing better than he did? What will she do next? And what is Joel's legacy? All in all, 'The Price' was just the most powerful, thoughtful, and fascinating episode of The Last of Us to date. It explored moments and emotions that didn't just give us a better understanding of our main characters, but the world itself. And with one more episode to go, we're left wondering, can Ellie be better?
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The Last Of Us fans left in tears over Pedro Pascal's shock return as major question is finally answered
HBO 's The Last Of Us answered possibly the show's biggest and most burning question during Sunday night's penultimate Season 2 episode. The new episode marked the return of Pedro Pascal 's beloved character Joel Miller, who was brutally killed by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) in the season's second episode. The death of Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) beloved father figure has driven her to a vengeful journey to track down Abby in Seattle and kill her. After she found Abby's associate Nora (Tati Gabrielle) - who held down Ellie as Abby beat Joel to death with a golf club - last week's episode ended with Ellie waking up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, greeting Joel, hinting next week's episode was a flashback episode. Sunday's new episode was full of flashbacks, even one showing a young Joel confronting his own father about his abusive ways, telling Joel about how abusive his own father was, adding that he hoped, when Joel had kids, he would, 'do a little better than me.' The episode also showed moments from the five-year gap between the first and second season, revealing that Joel finally told Ellie the truth about the Fireflies. Season 1 ended with Joel learning that the Fireflies were going to essentially kill her to try and find a cure for the fungal infection that spread around the world, which Ellie is somehow immune to. Joel lied to Ellie and told her the Fireflies had found other immune people and they couldn't make a cure, even as she asked him in the season's final moments to swear that everything he told her was the truth. Season 2 picks up five years later, as we see Joel and Ellie's relationship has cooled considerably, with tonight's episode filling in some of those gaps. The new episode reveals how Joel celebrated Ellie's birthday for the last five years, including him fixing up an entire museum just to entertain her. But as the years went on, Ellie started growing up and distancing herself from Joel, as he caught her on her 17th birthday kissing a girl, smoking weed and working on a tattoo. They also showed him crafting her custom guitar for one birthday, and him taking her out on her first patrol, which included a pivotal moment. They find Eugene (Joe Pantoliano), who had been bitten, asking Joel to say goodbye to his wife Gail (Catherine O'Hara) before he turns. He promises to take him back to Jackson Hole, but he ultimately lies, killing him after Ellie went back, and then lying to Gail about how he ended it himself, but Ellie tells her the truth. Ellie ultimately realizes how this scenario mirrored the lie Joel told her five years earlier, and she finally asked him one last time if he was telling the truth about the fireflies... and he ultimately admitted that he lied. He realizes that Ellie will turn from him, revealing that if he had to do it all over again, he'd do the same thing, saying he loved her before repeating the words from his father years earlier: 'If you should ever have one of your own... well, then, I hope you do a little better than me.' Ellie revealed that she didn't know if she could forgive him for this, adding, 'but I'd like to try,' as the episode cut back to the present day with Ellie in Seattle, closing in on Abby, as the penultimate Season 2 episode came to a close. Fans were fraught with emotion after watching tonight's episode, including Kira (@KiraYamato44), who said, 'The way I rolled on the floor crying hearing Joel say because I love you… HBO pay my damn trauma bill. #TheLastOfUs.' Brendon Smith (@bigdogXVI) said, '#TheLastOfUs 'If you should ever have one of your own…well..I hope you do a little better than me.' Joel is finally taking his father's advice to heart and sharing that to Elle after all these years.' Soph (@sophifieds) shared a crying GIF, while quoting Ellie, "i don't think i can forgive you but id like to try. #TheLastofUs' Others felt that Pascal and Ramsey's performances were worthy of Emmy awards, including Nora Dominick (@noradominick). 'Pedro pascal, i will hand carve an emmy for you for the porch scene alone if i have to #thelastofus,' Nora tweeted. Brendon Smith (@bigdogXVI) said, '#TheLastOfUs 'If you should ever have one of your own…well..I hope you do a little better than me.' Joel is finally taking his father's advice to heart and sharing that to Elle after all these years.' Others felt that Pascal and Ramsey's performances were worthy of Emmy awards, including Nora Dominick (@noradominick). Sara (@isee_dayl1ght) tweeted, 'i feel like i just got shot #TheLastOfUs' in reference to the dark episode. Another X user - @lady_ak27 - said, 'What an amazingly heavy episode #TheLastOfUs.' Trish (@D1LFMILLER) added, ''because i love you.... in a way you can't understand. maybe you never will.' JUST F***ING K¡LL ME NEXT TIME #TheLastOfUs. The Last of Us returns next week with the highly-anticipated Season 2 finale on Sunday, May 25 at 9 PM ET only on HBO.
The Independent
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
This is Pedro Pascal's exact $200 jacket from The Last of Us
Who knew Joel Miller, from Naughty Dog's The Last of Us, would become such a style icon? Adapt the award-hoarding video game into an HBO TV show, dress Pedro Pascal in a trucker jacket, and shout 'Clicker' – you've got yourself a trendsetter. The HBO TV show is a hit among audiences and critics alike, receiving a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and impressing die-hard fans of the acclaimed PlayStation video game. And now, it's back for the hotly-anticipated season two. Pedro Pascal is magnetic as Joel, but while we were captivated by the vistas, blooming fungi, and abandoned cityscapes, it seems fans were mesmerized by something else – Pedro Pascal's jacket. That's because the trucker design isn't a custom-made piece for the show, it's US brand Huckberry's most popular item – the Flint and Tinder flannel-lined waxed trucker jacket. It became so coveted that it sold out when season one aired. Now, with Joel wearing the jacket again in the latest season, plenty of viewers are looking for a second chance to own it. While it doesn't come cheap, here, we've outlined exactly where you can buy Joel's jacket before it sells out (again). Not only has Flint and Tinder's trucker jacket turned Joel into a style icon, but it's also a piece perfect for transitional dressing. The men's canvas jacket is constructed using a waxed and weather-resistant Martexin sailcloth, which, according to Huckberry, only gets better with age, as the waxed fabric creases and bends to create the wearer's own unique wear patterns, like leather or denim. Both the body and sleeves are lined fully with a soft blanket lining, keeping you warm as the temperature drops. Plus, if it can see Joel through attacks from the infected, it's sure to see you through many years to come.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The Last Of Us fans react to shocking final scenes as Ellie unleashes her rage
Fans of HBO 's The Last Of Us are still mourning the death of Pedro Pascal 's Joel Miller back in the second episode of Season 2, but now he's finally coming back. The hit series is adapted from the 2013 Naughty Dog video game of the same name and its 2020 sequel, the latter of which this season is adapted from. Season 2 is set five years after the events of Season 1, where Joel liked to the immune Ellie (Bella Ramsey), telling her there is no cure and that the group then known as the Fireflies found other immune people and they couldn't make a cure. In reality, the Fireflies were preparing to operate on Ellie, killing her to find a cure, before Joel stepped in and killed many soldiers and the doctor planning on operating on her... who turned out to be the father of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). Season 2 finds Abby finally tracking Joel down and killing him in front of Ellie, revenge for him killing her father, right in front of Ellie, which sets her down a vengeful path for revenge. Sunday night's new episode ends with two shocking scenes - the first being Ellie catching up with a member of Abby's crew - Nora (Tati Gabrielle) - and the second being what is seemingly a flashback shot of Joel and Ellie in happier times, both of which fans had strong reactions to online. Shortly after Joel's death, Ellie and Dina (Isabela Merced) snuck out of Jackson Hole on a journey to Seattle to find Abby and her crew. This week's episode finds Ellie tracking down Nora, chasing her into a basement area infected with the spores and fungus that caused the global pandemic that destroyed the world. Nora ultimately finds out that Ellie is immune, stating that she didn't think 'the immune girl' she had heard about was actually real. Ellie keeps asking for Abby, as Nora reveals Joel killed everyone in the hospital, and the doctor Joel killed was Abby's father... but Ellie revealed she already knew that, seemingly seeing through the big lie he told at some point in the intervening five years. After Nora refuses to give up Abby's whereabouts, Ellie grabs a pipe and tries beating the information out of her, unleashing a vengeful rage upon Nora. The final shot of the episode really had fans talking, though, as it cuts to Ellie waking up in her bed in Jackson Hole, as Joel walks into the room, telling her, 'Hey kiddo.' The shot is most certainly a flashback - with the credits ironically set to Pearl Jam's Present Tense - as the preview for next week's episode hints that it is, at least in part, set sometime between the end of Season 1 and Joel's death, following suit from the game that had flashback scenes with Joel and Ellie after Joel's death. Many fans were thrilled to see Pedro Pascal as Joel, with some like @serenaspeers_ seemingly moved to tears. After Nora refuses to give up Abby's whereabouts, Ellie grabs a pipe and tries beating the information out of her, unleashing a vengeful rage upon Nora 'Literally started crying when I saw this btw.. Next week is going to rock my s**t,' she said, adding hashtags #TLOU #TLOU2 #TheLastOfUsSeason2 #TLOUS2. Gabriella Orlita (@GabrielleOrlita) tweeted, 'I miss #JoelMiller aka #PedroPascal as well… tears running down the cheeks…If I could get my hands on #Abby…' Others like Debra Palmermo (@debrapalermo) raved about Bella Ramsey's performance, adding, 'I've said it before and I'll say it again… Bella, Bella, Bella, BELLA RAMSEY for all the awards!' Others like @jobin_theman added, 'Ellie was finally truly badass and did a Joel thing. Hell yeah.' Another fan dubbed, @keshasbixch, said, 'Ellie you hace our permission,, she deserves it,' along with a GIF that read, 'Kill her, kill her now.' X user @SinatraGeoffrey raved, 'This scene was flawlessly executed, vividly revealing Ellie's mindset and her gradual descent as it consumes her entirely. Bella's performance was phenomenal. What do you think?' Mitchie (@imsureimissyou) added, 'give bella ramsey all the awards for this episode. they were so good in just this scene alone #bellaramsey #tlou.' Laura Camilla (@laura_c92) admitted, 'Bella Ramsey portraying Ellie tonight was terrifying. I got chills, and I know Ellie won't be the same one after doing what she did.' 'Literally started crying when I saw this btw.. Next week is going to rock my s**t,' she said, adding hashtags #TLOU #TLOU2 #TheLastOfUsSeason2 #TLOUS2. Chris (@chrisdadeviant) said, 'Bella killed that interrogation scene with Nora no notes 10/10 #TheLastOfUs.' Ryan (@critical_droid) said, 'by far the most stressful ep of tlou, between the stalkers and seraphites, the stress of it translated v v well #TheLastOfUs.' Sofia (@starkcanarie) said the basement scene was, 'masterclass acting... Nora's slow realization of who Ellie is and how she's the only one getting infected, Ellie's calm revelation of her immunity and knowledge of what happened. There's nothing but resignation and pure rage AMAZING SCENE #TheLastOfUs Chris (@chrisdadeviant) said, 'Bella killed that interrogation scene with Nora no notes 10/10 #TheLastOfUs.' The Last Of Us
Mint
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
The legacy of ‘The Last of Us', a landmark in story mode
In 2009, California-based game developer Naughty Dog was basking in the glory of a critically acclaimed Sony PlayStation-exclusive game, Uncharted 2. It is at this time that the developer outfit started building out an end-of-the-world story-driven game—The Last of Us. Nearly 16 years later, Joel Miller and Ellie Williams, the protagonists of the seminal game, are etched into pop culture folklore thanks to a highly appreciated adaptation of the game into a TV series. While The Last of Us, set in a post-apocalyptic US in which the world has been taken over by a mutated fungus that can infect humans and turn them into murderous zombies, was not the absolute first of its kind, the title delivered a story that took gaming well beyond the realm of niche, hardcore gaming enthusiasts into Saturday evening living rooms. In turn, the game's story-based development cemented its status as a seminal moment in the world's best story-based gameplays. What took The Last of Us to such great heights is in the way the game operated. The developers envisioned each element to revolve around the protagonists before the rest of the game was developed. The character arcs were written like a movie's storyboard before the rest of the game was put in place and as a result, there is significant emphasis on letting combat take a backseat while the story is what drives the game forward. Combat here is only a factor of the overall game experience. 'The Last of Us is one of the few games that actually made me cry. The sound design of Gustavo Santaolalla, the character arcs, the way the story unfolds hit differently. Even now, I still go back to replay it from time to time due to the character design. Watching the live-action show was a different kind of fun—not so much for the suspense, but just to see it all come to life,' says Jatin Sharma, filmmaker and co-founder of Delhi-based movie production studio Daawat-e-Hind. It is this narrative design that helped build The Last of Us' legacy, in turn cementing its place as a definitive game that eventually pulled gamers into buying gaming consoles. Shrey Pacheco, an avid gamer and corporate professional, says it was a key factor that pushed him to buy a Sony PlayStation eventually. 'If you look at the Sony platform, you see story-driven games starting right from the crime noir of Max Payne in 2001, to stories and characters driving games such as Kratos in God of War (2005), Uncharted, and The Witcher (2007). In many ways, while these titles came well before The Last of Us, they primed us to enjoy games for the storylines,' he says. Pacheco and Sharma agree that the true legacy of The Last of Us lies in bringing story-driven games to the fore. 'They show that being a gamer is not just a geek's pastime, and you can actually savour an excellent piece of filmmaking and storytelling through games,' Pacheco adds. One of the key things that endeared The Last of Us to a widespread audience is the emphatic and empathetic character of Joel, who (spoiler alert for those who have not seen TLOU: Part I) prioritizes saving Ellie's life over finding a cure for the apocalyptic Cordyceps infection. Such a character arc is what lets not just Joel but future game protagonists stand out as iconic characters who are relatable to a wider audience. Finnish game-maker Remedy's iconic 2019 flagship game, Control, showcases the near-psychotropic journey of Jesse Faden, her fight against an evil organization named Federal Bureau of Control, and her struggle to free her brother, Dylan, from their clutches. In What Remains of Edith Finch (2017), now ranked as one of the most fascinating video game storylines out there, the lead character is a 17-year-old who returns to her ancestral home and uncovers her family's mysterious past, learning about the series of deaths that eventually caused its complete collapse. In each of these games, what stands out is that they are playable without needing to go through major, large-scale combat as the key point of a game's experience. Fans of the genre also point to Red Dead Redemption 2, a Western-inspired game set in an alternative, late 19th century American Wild West with a complicated storyline involving rival gangs and government agents. The blurring of lines between a game and a film is being seen in smaller, independent titles, too. American developer Campo Santo's 2016 game Firewatch is a landmark story-driven game—featuring no combat and only tasks that lead to the unravelling of a protagonist and his psyche, as he navigates the strife of losing his wife to cancer and dementia. Danish game developer Playdead's iconic storylines in Limbo (2010) and Inside (2016) also find mentions as games that deliver a cinematic experience over just the technicalities of the game. Annapurna Interactive's Cocoon (2023) is another recent showcase of what independent developers can do by capitalizing on storytelling within games. Through all of this, most mainstream, non-gaming entertainment consumers see The Last of Us as a revelation of sorts—a title made popular by actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who portray Joel and Ellie. Going forward, game adaptations are like to go well beyond just translating a game's technicalities and unpredictability on film, but also showcasing their gripping narratives.
