When The Last of Us 2 (TLOU 2) was first displayed in a trailer back during 2016, many fans had one question on their mind: where is Joel? That question still remained during Sony’s E3 conference last Monday, getting to the point that the question appeared more than a few times and briefly trended on social media.
However, now that question has been officially answered thanks creative director Neil Druckmann, who confirmed to IGN that Ellie would be the only playable character in TLOU 2.
This may disappoint some, though we have to admit we’re not surprised by the answer at all. It was obvious that Ellie would be the star of TLOU 2, we just didn’t know if she was going to be the only star. The expectation to play as Joel as well as Ellie stems from the fact that during the previous The Last of Us, where the majority of the time you played as Joel and only swapped to Ellie during parts near the end of the game.
While Joel’s absence may be for the best due to him obviously being a lot older in this new game, it does raise some questions on where Joel has gone and why Ellie isn’t with him anymore. Is he dead, or simply missing and we, playing Ellie, will have to scout our way out into the wilderness to find him? The possibilities are endless and until we play the game? Pure speculation.
Of course, there is also the possibility that Naughty Dog is pulling our leg here and that Joel, as well as other characters, may become playable as they continue to work on the game. If Joel is still alive by the end of TLOU 2 that is…
What do you think? Are you happy to be playing just as Ellie, or do you wish you could play as Joel too?
