Now thatThe Last of Us 2is out and Naughty Dog has said it doesn’t plan on making anyTLOU2DLC, fans will no doubt be turning their thoughts toThe Last of Us 3. While it may be nearly a decade away from release,The Last of Us 2’s resounding sales success means thatThe Last of Us 3is an inevitability. The question is, though, what exactly the game will be about, and which characters will it feature.
The Last of Us 3could really go in a number of very interesting directions, either expanding on characters established in the first two games, or following a brand new group of survivors trying to survive in the post-apocalyptic United States. However, it’s safe to say that many fans will want to see what happens next to the various characters fromThe Last of Us 2, and so one would hope that the next game will follow up on some ofTLOU2’s loose ends.
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Here are just some of the different storylines that could be featured inThe Last of Us 3.Please note that this post will have MAJOR SPOILERS forThe Last of UsandThe Last of Us 2.
Abby, Lev, and the Fireflies
Abby and Lev bond through shared trauma and horror throughout the course ofThe Last of Us 2, becoming a great team in the process. Abby takes Lev under her wing after Yara’s death, and protects her as they travel across the country in search of theFireflies. Abby and Lev are captured by the Rattlers and nearly killed at the end ofThe Last of Us 2, but Ellie ends up saving them and lets them escape.The Last of Us 3could show players what happens next with Abby and Lev, though the severely negative fan reaction to Abby may mean that Naughty Dog would be reluctant to make her a central character in the next game. That would be unfortunate, though, because it would be interesting to find out if Abby and Lev manage to reunite with the Fireflies.
Brand New Characters
Half ofThe Last of Us 2is spent playing as Abby instead of Joel or Ellie, so Naughty Dog clearly isn’t shy about exploring completely brand new characters in this franchise. WhileThe Last of Us 3will almost certainly feature Ellie, and maybe Abby and Lev as well, fans may not complain if the new game is set elsewhere in the United States with a focus on completely brand new characters. This could be one way for Naughty Dog to continue its popular survival-horror franchise and shrug off some of the baggage now associated with it thanks to themixed fan reception toThe Last of Us 2.
Ellie and Dina
At the end ofThe Last of Us 2, Ellie at first retires to a farmhouse withher girlfriend Dina, where they start raising Dina and Jesse’s child together. However, Tommy reveals Abby’s whereabouts to Ellie, and she can’t resist heading back out to hunt her down to avenge Joel’s death. Ellie returns from her trip to Santa Barbara, California without having killed Abby, but finds that the farmhouse is empty, save for her art room. Ellie attempts to play the guitar that Joel gave her as a gift, only to find that she is unable to play it properly now that she lost two fingers in her latest fight with Abby.
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Perhaps one of the most obvious directionsThe Last of Us 3could go would be focusing on Ellie attempting to repair her damaged relationship with Dina. How exactly that would result in a violent, post-apocalyptic adventure remains to be seen. Presumably, Dina returned to Jackson, but maybe she traveled somewhere else, and Ellie goes out in search of her. There’s a lot of different directions thatNaughty Dogcould go with Ellie and Dina’s relationship, but it would be nice for the couple to have a happy ending of some kind.
Isaac’s Revenge
A great manyLast of Us 2characters dieduring the course of the game, and many of their deaths are definitive. However, there is one character who may not actually be dead. Unlike the other deaths in the game, Isaac isn’t actually shown to be dead. He is shot in the back by Yara, but the camera quickly pans away to follow Abby and Lev as they flee from the Wolves. While it’s more likely that Isaac is dead, the off-chance that he survived could result in some unique storytelling forThe Last of Us 3.
Isaac was built up to be an imposing, dangerous leader inThe Last of Us 2but didn’t get a ton of screen time, so perhapsThe Last of Us 3could see him realize his full potential. Similarly to how Ellie and Abby were on quests for revenge inLast of Us 2, maybe Isaac decides to take the WLF and hunt downAbby and Levin the third game. Plus, there is a precedent inThe Last of Usfor characters appearing to be dead only to actually be alive, with Joel’s brother Tommy being the perfect example. If nothing else, this would also be a great excuse to bring actor Jeffrey Wright back into the mix.
Joel Prequel
It’s safe to say that manyLast of Usfans were devastated to seeAbby kill Joel at the beginning ofThe Last of Us 2, and so perhaps a prequel focusing on the character would be the best course of action for Naughty Dog to continue the franchise. There are huge swaths of Joel’s life that have yet to be explored, and it could tell some interesting stories while filling in some gaps. Joel is clearly a hugely popular character, and so there is potential to expand his story and give fans more time with him in a future game.
The Last of Us 3is not currently announced.
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