The Last of Us Part II confirms a Feb 2020 release date and the return of Joel

Who said Santa doesn't exist? For fans of The Last of Us Part II, Christmas certainly came early courtesy of game developer, Naughty Dog.

In the latest edition of Playstation's State of Play broadcasted earlier today (Sept 25), fans waited with bated breath to lap up whatever scraps of information Naughty Dog deemed fit to toss at us.

After all, the studio has been keeping their cards close to their chest since the first teaser trailer dropped in 2016, only rationing further details at various conventions.

Some of the biggest questions on everyone's minds about the sequel: 

• "Is Joel dead?"
• "When is the release date?"
• "Who are the new characters we saw at the Paris Games Week 2017 trailer?"

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Unfortunately, Naughty Dog's magnanimity has a limit and today they've only answered two of the above — which actually is enough to render fans shook.

Without further ado, Joel isn't dead and the game will be unleashed onto the world on Feb 21, 2020. And no, we still have no idea who the new characters are or who Laura Bailey is portraying.

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The new three-minute trailer offers deeper insight into the plot of TLOU 2, especially Ellie's (played by Ashley Johnson) motivation and the new types of infected monstrosities players will come across. 

Let's break it down. 

Opening with a wide shot of a human settlement set against a backdrop of a snow-capped mountain, the trailer cuts to Dina (Ellie's love interest) asking Ellie to "rate their kiss from last night" — in reference to what happened between them in TLOU 2's E3 2018 trailer. 

The scene then fast forwards to a group, that includes both Ellie and Dina, leaving the settlement for their patrol. In what seems to be the interior of an abandoned building, Ellie suddenly falls through the floor before being ambushed in the dark by a Clicker. A thicker, armoured type from what we faced in the first game, we might add. 

Ellie survives the attack and is next seen searching for Dina, whom she is separated from, when she stumbles upon an occupied wooden lodge in a snowstorm. She infiltrates the house before being disarmed by an unknown assailant, pinned to the floor, and despite her pleas, seemingly forced to watch as (presumably) Dina gets executed. 

Tommy, Joel's brother from The Last of Us, also makes an appearance indicating that he plays a role of sorts in the sequel. Ellie tells Tommy that she "has to finish it" but he cautions her against it and points out that she has no idea what she's walking into, how large "that group" is or how armed.

It was previously revealed that a cult called The Seraphites will play the role of the antagonists in this sequel and that the theme for The Last of Us Part II is revenge, so it's safe to say that Dina's death is the catalyst that triggers Ellie's vengeful voyage.

The trailer then transitions into multiple combat scenes that confirms the return of your regular Runners and Bloaters before finally giving us the big reveal.

Ellie is seen with someone's hand over her mouth as enemy patrols drive past, and we see her face changing as she realises who it is.

She turns around and asks: "What the hell are you doing here?"

It's Joel! In all his silver fox glory, the protagonist from the first title — looking visibly older and a lot more worn down — says: "You think I'm going to let you do this on your own?"

VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE GAME ANNOUNCED

After the broadcast, Neil Druckmann, director of The Last of Us Part II, wrote on Playstation Blog:

"Thank you for being patient with us. Very patient. Even though we’ve been eager to share more about The Last of Us Part II and tell you its release date, we wanted to wait until we were close to wrapping up production and we were confident in the date itself."

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Druckmann detailed how hard it was to craft a follow-up to the first game, especially knowing how much fans love the world and its characters — especially Ellie and Joel. 

"Which is why we spent years crafting a game that we feel will do them justice, telling a nuanced story that deals with the core question: how far would you go to exact justice against the people that hurt the ones you love?

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"It’s a highly emotional story with complex themes that befit the world of The Last of Us. What we realised pretty early on is that we were putting together Naughty Dog’s most ambitious and longest game in our 35 year history. To tell this kind of story the game needed to be massive."

He also announced the various editions of the game that will be available for purchase, including The Last of Us Part II Standard Edition, Special Edition, Digital Deluxe Edition, Collector’s Edition, and Ellie Edition, and more details can be found here. 

Druckmann also revealed that there was a press event in Los Angeles where journalists would be able to get a hands-on demo of "roughly three hours of the game" and their impressions and videos will be going live around 11pm (Singapore Time) on Thursday, Sept 26.

Incidentally, Sept 26 is also the day that Naughty Dog celebrates The Last of Us community and Druckmann promised that there will be "exciting things planned".

Ahh... Naughty Dog, just for this week, you're the gift that keeps on giving.

bryanlim@asiaone.com