Naughty Dog takes a very nuanced approach to its games, and apparently, none of their work will show this off more thanThe Last of Us Part 2. The studio has gone out of its way to make the look and personalities of the game’s characters and environment feel as real as possible.
The latest episode of Sony’s “Inside” mini-documentary forThe Last of Us Part 2describes what Naughty Dog does to achieve this. In it, game director Neil Druckmann talks about how the studio puts its best effort into making the game feel alive through attention to detail.
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In pursuit of this,Naughty Dog has developed technology to significantly improve the game’s graphics, allowing players to see even the most minuscule of details on characters. Whenever someone gets angry, natural things will happen, like, their veins popping or their eyes turning red. Their skin will bruise and change depending on their physical treatment as well.
These characteristics aren’t just limited to Joel and Ellie, either. Theenemies withinThe Last of Us Part 2will show these physical nuances, too, among other humanizing traits. They’ll talk to each other about personal matters when on patrol. They’ll display anguish when one of their comrades goes down, and they’ll make primal, animalistic expressions of anger when attacking Ellie.
Naughty Dog even extended this realism tothe world and environment ofThe Last of Us Part 2. It did extensive research into things like foliage and architecture. It went so far as to physically walk the Seattle trail that Ellie travels across three different times to make sure it implemented it as faithfully as possible.
The goal was to make the situations ofThe Last of Us Part2 feel realistic. To that end, Naughty Dog extensively researched the game’s theme through movies, shows, books, interviews, etc. Only after this did the studio sit down and start developingThe Last of Us Part 2’s story.
Players can see all of these details in action inThe Last of Us Part 2State of Play that Playstationreleased yesterday. It has eight minutes of never before seen gameplay that shows off everything mentioned here. Naughty Dog also talks about the game in length for over 20 minutes, divulging many other things that went into the game’s overall development.
The Last of Us Part 2launches for the PlayStation 4 on June 19, 2025.
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