The Last of Us; An Exemplary Example of Narrative and Game Design Harmony

In the lull of the summer months; whilst waiting for the Phantom Pain to release, I took the time to revisit a few games (whether for the first time, or for a second look). One of these games was The Last of Us (Remastered edition for PS4), which I didn't manage to finish till after I was done with The Phantom Pain. As I'm sure you're aware, The Last of Us is a game set in a post apocalyptic setting; 20 years after an outbreak of Cordyceps, a disease known to the player as "the Infection". It's an Action/ Adventure / Survival Horror game, with a primary focus on Narrative progression between our two protagonists, Joel and Ellie. As this is a narrative appreciation and reflective gameplay comprehension, most game plot points will be discussed. And so it goes without saying; spoilers ahead.

This was not my first playthrough of The Last of Us. In my initial playthrough of the game (roughly 2 years ago); I was slightly underwhelmed by the game; after reading so much of its glowing appraisal. I did play it later on, after the heat had died down. And couldn't help be a bit surprised by the faults I could see, particularly with the AI of both Allies and Enemies, which even on re-release had not improved. As such, my view was slightly soured and whilst I enjoyed the game, I didn't think it was deserving of all the praise it got; particularly in the gameplay department. As somewhat of connoisseur (debatable) of Stealth Games, I was incredibly frustrated with the enemy's inability to detect Ellie, despite her frequent crossing their paths. Obviously, for the player, this would have been incredibly frustrating regardless; but for a game that prided itself so much on its realism and harsh world; these moments sucked me straight out. That was until I played the second time around, just a month or so ago. On this playthrough, I put the difficulty up to max. This time I wanted to experience everything the game could throw at me. I was going to stealth around and pick up every consumable and rely on stealth as opposed to combat. I really wanted to try and gauge what was so incredible and revolutionary about the game. Luckily, the PS4 Remastered edition has been released now, complete with the DLC chapter Left Behind, which I'd never played before. And what I discovered was a game that, through every aspect of its design, had created a synergy between everything in its narrative to everything in the game's ambiance. A Harmony.

The Harmony of a game is something that is clearly overlooked in a lot of games that feel inconsistent. And it's important to revert back to the game's original Harmony, to make sure that any and all future design decisions are congruous with it. In his lecture "Listen", Brian Moriarty explained the importance of Harmony in games:

"Games with harmony emerge from a fundamental note of clear intention. From design decisions based on an ineffable sense of proportion and rightness. Its presense produces an emotional resonance with its audience. A sense of inner unity that has nothing to do with what or how you did something, it has something to do with why. Myst and Gemstone both have harmony. They have it, because their makers had a vision of the experience they were trying to achieve and the confidence to attain it. They laid down a solid, ambient groove that player and their respective markets can relate to emotionally. They resisted the urge to overbuild. They didn't pile on a lot of gratuitous features just so they could boast about them. And they resisted the temptation to employ inappropriate emotional effects. Effects like shock violence, bad language, inside humour."

Now, the last section of that paragraph doesn't necessarily apply to The Last of Us, mainly because the harmony of the Last of Us allows the game to incorporate the bad language and violence, because it is conforming to the world the game creates. It's believable. But this paragraph reiterates what I was saying previously, the world and its inhabitants, the way the player moves are consistent with the themes set in the game. And surely not by luck or accident; Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley; directors at Naughty Dog; had intended and designed these features. Consequently, Brian goes on to say:


"You know, the suspension of disbelief is fragile. It's hard to achieve it, and hard to maintain. One bit of unnecessary gore, one hip colloquialism, one reference to anything outside of the imaginary world you've created is enough to destroy that world. These cheap effects are the most common indictators of a lack of vision or confidence. People who put this stuff into their games are not working hard enough."

This is something I've been guilty of in the past. Tacking on something that I thought was "innovative or interesting", without thinking of the Harmony that it might compromise. Hopefuly, I won't be doing it again, and thankfully, Naughty Dog; as well as limitations could allow, didn't compromise the narrative they tried to deliver by breaking this Harmony either. The Last of Us, delivers this consistent Harmony through every aspect of the game. And the player can feel it all directly through the eyes of Joel and Ellie.

So to start, let's begin exactly there; with our main characters, Joel and Ellie. Joel is a man, through the loss of his daughter, is worn and withered. He's a survivalist as are most in the world now, and he is a smuggler in, a long since thriving, Boston. As Joel, the player learns of a doublecross in which the items he has risked his life for, are now gone. But he can retrieve them, on successful delivery of a girl called Ellie. Ellie is a 14 year old girl who has only known the world she lives in now. As such, much of her mannerisms and dialogue, are that of someone carefree and somewhat aggressive towards Joel, this man who she suddenly must obey in absolute. This initial setup is met with trepidation from both Joel and Ellie. Joel doesn't want to be babysitting and Ellie doesn't want to be tied to someone she doesn't trust. This is reflected brilliantly in the opening sequences, as the gameplay features a lot of handholding of Ellie and the player (as Joel) relying on themselves to do a lot of the work. Over the course of the game, this dynamic relationship grows as the bleak but also uplifting moments help them to bond, this is also reflected brilliantly in the games design; as many of the puzzles and combat utilize Ellie; as a means to progress or distract enemies. This dynamic eventually culminates in the final chapter where they are finally a team. Something that was lost on me in my initial playthrough was that, in this late section of the game; Joel refers to Ellie as "Kiddo"; which was his nickname for his daughter, Sarah.

What we learn as the story develops is that Ellie has been infected, but not mutated. It is possible that her lack of transformation means that her genes could very well be a cure for the mutation. This leads Marlene, head of an underground rebel operation called the fireflies; to enlist the help of Joel in order to deliver her to a secret laboratory base across the country. This inner resistance to the mutation is special in a number of ways, not just through the story but also the art direction as well. The game features many cities that are overgrown with plantation, due to the lack of populous. But this is also much like what the mutation causes to the infected themselves, like the people as well as the cities are returning to the earth. But the level design in these cities, depite being urban, is surprisingly quite natural and organic like the world that grows on it. Most set pieces create obstacles through this torn down environment, quite literally. Many of the game's navigational puzzles focus on the player's inability to simply climb the stairs (usually by blocked paths or simply crumbled away). As such, the player will look for ladders which can be placed anywhere against a wall. The sections with water limit the player's ability to progress with Ellie as she can't swim. Thus require the player to find an object that can float, and carry Ellie across the body of water. Most secrets are hidden behind locked doors which require the player to use a shiv; a valuable weapon used to dispatch most enemies in a single hit. These limitations (and maybe even irritations for Joel), are an exact opposite to the hope that Ellie brings to a hopeful conclusion.

Over the course of the game, the player will primarily play as Joel. As Joel, the player can almost feel the enormous weight that has been placed on his shoulders; all of his movement is very slow and heavy. It reflects his aging body, but also the world around him; that feels inches from giving up. Throughout the early section of the game, it feels like this heaviness; is a reflection that Joel could quite easily give up and turn around. As many in the world no doubt have already. But once certain moments are reached, you get the sense that Joel is really thinking "Well, it can't be for naught", these moments also work quite well as the difficulty of the task begins to ramp up. And as the difficulty escalates, so to does Joel's interpretation of the situation; he's now doing this for Ellie. Despite this weight of movement on Joel only really changing when the danger appears to have lifted; the combat keeps a consistency to this heavy nature of the world. Every encounter feels even more dramatic than the last; as the stakes rise with it. The combat itself is brutal and emotional for both characters. Joel utilizes many blunt objects throughout their journey. Once an enemy takes a few hits, the player will be able to finish them a breathtaking blow; which rarely doesn't feel impactful. What is satisfying, is that the game (unlike so many others), doesn't take the time to slow it down as you bask in the brutality. It takes a quick zoom, so you know exactly what you did. And it is horrific. Almost like the game is saying "You're doing this, but at what cost?". This is something that I'll revisit later on.

Throughout the game, the player might receive a lot of damage. Thankfully, as Joel is a survivor he can craft first aid kits from the items he finds in the world. This is a stark contrast to Naughty Dogs previous work, as in Uncharted, the player's health will revive gradually over time. In this game, the player is expected to feel the panic of trying to heal themselves in the midst of battle, to once again mirror the harsh world around them. It comes as no surprise then; that the moment when Joel finally shows some vulnerability; is upon incapacitation via a stray piece of rebar to the abdomen. Up until this point, Joel has taken hits, and through the suspension of disbelief, we've learned to accept that he'll be ok, as long as he patches himself up afterwards. But in the moment he falls, we as the player also fall and there's a definite realization that this time; it's probably not going to be ok. This moment is preceded with a QTE, where the player thinks they've a choice in what happens next. Even knowing what happens, I still smashed that button desperately in vain to save him. Falling off the balcony; the camera falls with him and in this dramatic moment; we see what lies in wait, but are powerless to stop it. Suddenly, the game quickly cuts to a shot of Joel getting impaled.

It occurs to me, that this moment, is so the player can get to play as Ellie. This might seem obvious, but the intention is not to just change the scenario. But is once again to reflect the harsh reality of the world around them. It is also a reflection of the opening moments, when the player plays as Sarah, and suddenly the unknown of what's going to happen next, is seen through a child's eyes. From this moment on; the game is ultimately raising the emotional stakes for the final act. But in playing as Ellie, we get to experience a different play style. As she is young and small in stature; many obstacles that might have restricted Joel are no longer present. She has an attitude of determination and thus feels a little more lightfooted. Nearly all of the combat in this section is fought with guns; as Ellie doesn't carry the large blunt weapons Joel does. She does however carry a knife, which is vital to dispatching unaware enemies without making noises and not using valuable ammo. Despite these obvious advantages, it once again seems like the stakes are raised; due to the player playing as the character they've been protecting the entire game. Not to mention that she is alone. It's no surprise that in this section of the game, it is Winter. In congruence with the narrative, the seasons also change over the course of the Journey. This cold chapter for a lone Ellie, is reflected not just in the storyline, but the very weather around her. It breathes the desperation that the entire game has conveyed, as she now has to trust a man she doesn't know. Which once again is a mirror of that she was so unwilling to do earlier for Joel, but now must in order to save him.

**Major Spoilers for the finale of the game**

... But at what cost? In the final section of the game, Joel and Ellie are set to complete their journey. There's a complication in which both are put in peril at the final hurdle; once again raising the emotional stakes. In the following scene, we discover that Ellie is currently prepped for surgery. A surgery which will end her life, but potentially find a cure. And it is in this moment that the whole game has been building to. Her immunity is her death and Joel can't stand to see another daughter die. He does the unthinkable and takes on the people hes tried so hard to reach. This dramatic turn of events is possibly way the game has received such high acclaim. And it is on my lack of appreciation, that the first time around; I wasn't quite attached to Ellie to make this finale the event it needed to be. Indeed, I probably would have sacrificed her in the same situation. But on my second playthrough, for whatever reason, I'd grown more attached. As mentioned, the emotional stakes of my journey were more impactful and as Joel, it's not good enough that "they might find the cure". In Joel's desperation, just as the entire game has felt desperate; he kills so many fireflies. The player kills so many fireflies. It climaxes with the player needing to shoot the surgeon, to step away from Ellie. The game waits for the player to do so. There's no backing out now. The Moment where Joel carries Ellie away from the lab, is a mirror moment from the opening of the game where Joel carries Sarah from the Infected. This not only reinforces the father-daughter bond shared between Joel and Ellie; but also shows how much Joel has changed over (not just the course of the game) but from opening moment of the game. As in this moment, we also see Joel not even hesitate to shoot Marlene. A dark and climatic moment, which is under such similar scenarios to the opening but obviously, Joel now has not waited for an outcome but has instead created it. Stating, "You'd just come after her." Its a moment so desperate and shocking, yet completely believable from the narrative perspective; and the arc that Joel makes. It's also a very fitting conclusion to the similarly desperate and tragic acts that have taken place before it.

It's a moment which completely changes the entire narrative, the gameplay which the player has experienced and redefines the title of the game itself. As one man's jealously potentially ends the world; and asks the question: What about the Last of Us?