The Last of Us Part II’s release date trailer gave us our first proper look at the first game’s protagonist, Joel, as he appears in the upcoming sequel. And given Joel’s relative absence in footage so far, as well as in the more than two hours I played of The Last of Us Part II, I was curious if that implied a downsized role or importance in the sequel.
So while speaking to Neil Druckmann, Naughty Dog Vice President and Creative Director of The Last of Us Part 2, I asked whether we should take Joel’s smaller role so far as indicative of his importance to Ellie in the sequel. Watch the video above to see his full response, plus some new gameplay from the sequel.
“Their relationship is strained. Some of it is because teenagers will be teenagers, and some of it is because of their history, which is why you haven’t seen them together a lot,” he said. “So much of The Last of Us is about this duo and their dynamic and how they are together, how they play together. I will say Joel plays a major part of this game.”
Source: IGN.com The Last of Us Part 2 Creative Director on Joel's Role in the Sequel