9 Awesome Video Game Moments That Didn’t Need To Happen
7. Take On Me - The Last of Us Part 2
The Last of Us Part 2 takes us on a much grittier, angrier journey of vengeance with Ellie (or as The Bride in Kill Bill would describe it – “a roaring rampage of revenge!”)
The mood is incredibly bleak and sombre throughout the majority of the game; however, this allows for the smaller lighter moments to really shine among those darker tones.
One such infamous moment occurs during the early hours of the game as you ride on horseback with Dina through the post-apocalyptic Seattle.
Clearing out infected from the dilapidated buildings leads you to an old music store. If you take the time to fully explore the location, you will find a pristine acoustic guitar in a case.
Ellie will take the time to tune it and play some chords on the guitar before performing a cover of the classic A-Ha song Take On Me, with Dina watching on.
This moment is special in its multi-layered representation. Firstly, in a video game that can be incredibly bombastic and loud with harsh sounds of guns, death and destruction, juxtaposing that with the quieting calm of Ellie playing and singing gives a moment of emotional tenderness amongst the gloom.
But also, and most importantly, this moment highlights the emotional bonds which Ellie has built with the two most important people to her – Joel and Dina. Joel bonded with Ellie by playing the guitar and teaching her how to play.
After Ellie
plays to Dina, they reflect on the history of their relationship together and
when their feelings began to develop for each other. 
The crazy part is that this moment can be missed altogether! It is completely optional to explore this location and can only be discovered by actively choosing to do so. The game carries on as normal if you do miss this and there are, of course, plenty of moments throughout both games which shine in their character development.
But finding this moment is joyous and further demonstrates Naughty Dog’s ability to explore the emotional depts of their characters in a manner which shows and doesn’t tell.