I’ve written extensively about The Last of Us, both in its original video game form and in its HBO television adaptation. The Last of Us Part II was particularly important to my understanding of video games, and in some ways it changed the way I view the world and relationships.
However, there’s no denying that the series’ performance was lackluster. It’s filled with horror and tragedy, and while there are beautiful moments of levity, each game explores dark themes that often embody nihilism and pessimism.
Now we know that The Last of Us Part III will eventually be made, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be as dark and downbeat as the two games that came before it. After all, the series is set in a post-apocalyptic world filled with dangerous monsters and even more dangerous humans. Both games explore flawed protagonists who do terrible things that turn them into villains in someone else’s story. These are not happy, easy games, and I’m not sure I’m emotionally ready to play another one in today’s world.
related Why are we still discussing the ending of The Last of Us Part II? The ending of The Last of Us Part II transcends good or bad choices, asking you to feel it rather than understand it.
Because have you looked around lately?everything Too bad. Climate change is more out of control than before and the cost of living is rising while wages remain flat. Companies get richer, CEOs become billionaires, while people currently working in the labor force struggle to pay their rent. My industry faces layoffs every week, and every week I see a new wave of talented, hard-working developers and journalists struggling to find work. There is a growing sense that everything is being done to squeeze as much money as possible from consumers to their detriment. Wars are breaking out and children are dying in wars. No matter where I look, there are reasons to lose hope that the world is starting to get better.
I’ve recently found that switching to more optimistic media can help. I wrote about how Kasuga Ichiban, the protagonist of Yakuza: Riches Unlimited, inspired me to face the world with kindness and optimism, despite my natural tendency toward nihilism, and I thought that was the kind of medium the world needed. Like Haruhi, I always want to find a reason to keep going, even if that reason is as small as petting a cat on the street. How will the world get better if we don’t keep moving forward? Giving up and resigning ourselves to fate will only ensure that we have no chance of making things better.
The Last of Us isn’t an optimistic series, but that’s its strength. It delves into heavy themes and explores what drives people to do bad things, but the potential for darkness is getting harder and harder for me to accept. As everything around me gets worse, I’m less inclined to play more games about how horrible people are.
Director Neil Druckmann said the second game’s themes were inspired by his own anger and revenge after seeing a video of two IDF soldiers, he told The Washington Post Emotionally regretful, his statement makes it more difficult for him to participate in a possible third game. Killed by a mob. The politics of the game itself have also drawn comparisons to Israel and Palestine, with the game criticized for its dehumanizing language on behalf of Palestinians. When the author of a game about ending a cycle of violence implies that violence is justified in such circumstances, it’s hard to believe that any of this means anything. It speaks directly back to the cruelty of the world.
I have no doubt that anything Naughty Dog produces will be at least moving and thought-provoking. After all, that’s what the studio is good at, and it’s proven itself time and time again. From what we know, the game will interpret the moments of hope and levity we’ve seen in previous games, showing us another way to look at an objectively scary world. But if not, I don’t know how much more desolation my spirit can bear. It’ll be a long time before we see the game revealed, and a lot could change by then. Things could be better. Things could be worse. Only time will tell, but I know that if things stay as they are, I’ll have a hard time facing what The Last of Us Part III has to say to me.