The Last Of Us 2: Everything We Know So Far

9. Ellie Is The Main Playable Character

The Last of Us
Sony

The most immediate difference between the first game and the sequel is the change up in who fans will be playing as. The original obviously put players in charge of Joel, but even throughout that title, the focus slowly transitioned over to Ellie, beginning the passing of the torch which was cemented in the Left Behind DLC.

While she was only payable for sections of the original release though, now that the protagonist has been aged up for the sequel, she's capable of carrying an entire game without sacrificing the control players expect to have over a main character. Once again attempting to flip the dynamic that players are used to, this time around Joel will be a supporting character (but still may be playable in certain sections), with Ellie taking over as the lead.

Though that's all that's confirmed so far, the developers have stated that the switch in characters will impact the gameplay, with Ellie controlling substantially different to Joel both in and out of combat.

Advertisement
Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.