7 Times Video Game Companions Were Better Than Real Friends

2. Ellie - The Last Of Us

The heart-wrenching introduction to Joel and the subsequent setup of his post-apocalyptic survival is so masterfully delivered that, whilst we judge the terrible characters in Naughty Dog's “The Last Of Us” and the awful things they do, we continuously sympathise with Joel as we view the world through his eyes.

We understand why he doesn’t trust, embrace, or even smile. His world got taken from him. We even understand why he doesn’t want to get involved with Ellie. She’s infected. She reminds him of his daughter – and she gives us a heart attack every time we’re in full on stealth mode, holding our breath as we very carefully sneak past a lethal clicker, then little Miss Thunderboots comes stomping up behind us.

But then you teach her how to whistle.

It’s not even a cutscene, it’s a background conversation whilst wondering through the gang-infested streets of Pittsburgh. Don’t get me wrong, Ellie had been winning us round from the start; from her refreshing competence at keeping herself out of harm’s way, to her love of stealing Bill’s gay porn, her charm had been growing throughout our time with her. But it wasn’t until the whistle that we realised she had us hook, line and sinker. Joel was asked to smuggle Ellie to the Fireflies so they could fashion a cure for mankind.

What they didn’t count on, was Ellie being the cure for Joel’s broken soul. The true genius behind her character is that she is so loveable a companion, when Joel sacrifices the future of the human race for Ellie’s life, we’re all just… okay with it. In fact, some of us may even have shot those damned surgeons for good measure, as well.