Unsurprisingly, The Last of Us Part II seems quite the undertaking. According to Creative Director Neil Druckmann, it’s also the “most ambitious and longest” game in Naughty Dog history. The bit about ambition may not shock many. However, the sequel’s being the studio’s longest title is likely to raise a few eyebrows.
In a post following the release of a new trailer and the announcement of the sequel’s launch date, Druckmann offered a bit of insight about the game’s production. While briefly touching on the theme of TLoU Part II’s revenge tale, the Creative Director made note of its “massive” size. “What we realized pretty early on is that we were putting together Naughty Dog’s most ambitious and longest game in our 35 year history. To tell this kind of story the game needed to be massive,” Druckmann said. With all of the above in mind, it’s no wonder The Last of Us Part II will ship on two discs.
For reference, Uncharted 4 took players an average of 15 hours to complete the main story. The campaign and extras took closer to 18 hours. Meanwhile, completionists only put the controller down after upwards of 28 hours. Comparatively, The Last of Us had similar playtime numbers for the main story and extras. However, completionists spent significantly less time in it compared to Uncharted 4. What this may all entail for Ellie’s and Joel’s next adventure remains to be seen, of course. Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how Naughty Dog has expanded things since its last two outings, barring The Lost Legacy.
The Last of Us Part II will hit store shelves for the PlayStation 4 early next year on February 21, 2020. Alongside a standard version of the game, three special editions will launch as well. They include the pricey Ellie Edition ($230), the Collector’s Edition ($170), and a Special Edition ($80). Each of the three are currently available to preorder online and at brick and mortar retail stores.
[Source: PlayStation Blog]
