Summary
- Lost cut content from The Last of Us Part 2 may have offered new experiences but could have impacted pacing and urgency.
- Unfinished scenes, such as a boar hunt and a party in Jackson, were cut to prioritize narrative flow and character development.
- Deliberate marketing misdirection used Joel's character to attract fans, leading some to be disappointed with the final game.
It's always interesting to look back at what might have been. That's definitely the case with The Last of Us Part 2. One of the biggest game releases of recent years, the post-apocalyptic sequel came with tremendous expectations from fans. Sadly, many players were dissatisfied with the final result due to the narrative and lack of innovation in gameplay. Perhaps the developers at Naughty Dog could have mitigated the backlash.
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Over the years, fans have learned about several pieces of content that were cut from the final release. These range from brief scenes to entire levels. If they had been present, they might have provided a more complete experience. Then again, The Last of Us 2 is already quite big. Throwing in more levels would probably amplify that issue. It's ultimately impossible to know the potential outcome of bygone content, but fans can still speculate.
5 Boar Hunt
A Callback To The First Game Lets Ellie Blow Off Steam
After Ellie leaves Seattle, the tale jumps to sometime later. The original version sends Ellie on a boar hunt. It's a prolonged sequence of tracking the quarry. Players follow the bloodstains through the wilderness and into a patch of ruined buildings. The chase culminates in an aggressive kill. The episode echoes the deer hunt from the first game, right down to how it follows a traumatic scene and time jump. The difference is that Ellie appears more bloodthirsty. It doesn't matter, though, as the sequence is gone.
Instead, TLOU2 jumps to Ellie preparing to embark on her revenge mission. The boar chase was an interesting concept, but it would have killed any sense of urgency. In the process, it'd exacerbate the game's pacing problems. On the upside, it pops up as a brief excerpt in Ellie's journal.
4 Party In Jackson
An Oddly-Placed Flashback Would Mean Some Downtime In Jackson
At the start of the story, Joel and Ellie are part of a peaceful community in Jackson. Fans take a guided walk through this town during the early hours of the story, but a lost level takes this approach further. Here, players explore the place during a festival. They could partake in activities like carnival games, snowball fights, drinking, and dancing. The celebration would have aided in worldbuilding, leading fans to wonder why the developers cut it. Well, it might have had something to do with the placement.
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Naughty Dog actually placed this part late in the game. It's a flashback during Ellie and Dina's time at the farm. Like the boar hunt, it would have slowed the narrative to a crawl. Any character moments are already established and solidified by this point. As such, the sequence might have worked better at the beginning.
3 A Sewer Level
An Underground Tunnel Beefs Up Ellie's Travel Time
One of the set pieces in TLOU2 involves Ellie getting attacked by Stalker zombies, falling into a river, and getting swept up in the current. The developers originally had this current carry her into a sewer network. From here, she traverses the tunnels, solves puzzles, and avoids the rapids. The previous title had levels like this. Players even had to navigate around the water since Ellie couldn't swim. However, they serve little purpose here.
This maze has nothing to do with the narrative. It didn't even have any other characters for Ellie to bounce off; she was all alone. Granted, some players might have enjoyed the additional gameplay on offer. It is a video game, after all. However, TLOU2 makes it clear that the story is the main attraction. From that perspective, the sewer sequence was yet another example of the narrative stopping in its tracks.
2 Joel's Girlfriend
A Small-Town Romance May Have Given Joel A Light In The Darkness
Considering how much he's lost, Joel keeps a small circle of friends. The closest thing he had to a love interest was Tess, and even that was more platonic than romantic. They worked well together, but their bond never overtly progressed past friendship. The sequel nearly changed that pattern, though.
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TLOU2 almost gave Joel a girlfriend named Esther. She was a fellow resident in Jackson. As such, Joel's brother would have set them up between games, and Ellie would have visited her later. However, this affair was not to be. The developers cut Esther out entirely. They probably wanted to focus on the plethora of other new faces instead. After all, Joel meets his untimely death in the early stages of the story. For better or worse, his limited presence only serves to motivate Ellie. Introducing an old flame would have felt pointless to that end.
1 More Joel
The Developers Created Entire Scenes Just To Trick Fans
In this case, the omission was most likely deliberate. TLOU2's marketing made it look like Joel had a large role in the story. The trailers showcased several scenes of his older version aiding Ellie in her quest. Unfortunately, this ad campaign resulted in a bait-and-switch.
The final product revealed the trailers to be full of misdirections. Some of the scenes were flashbacks with a younger Joel; the developers simply swapped him with the older model. The trickery extended to other characters, too. The trailers replaced them with Joel and even had him recite their lines to fill in the context. In essence, Naughty Dog built these assets and presented them in this manner just to cut them from the finished game. As a result of this decision, it should come as no surprise why many fans were upset. The developers could have saved some time and patience by not bothering with this charade. Of course, then people might not have bought the game.
The Last of Us Part 2
- Released
- June 19, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Naughty Dog
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
