TLOU2 was originally inspired by Bloodborne

[Evilnemesis8]

To be honest I don't see the resemblance. Like, at all.

That's why this article says "Originally".

To do this, Naughty Dog apparently took a lot of inspiration from Bloodborne, especially the game's meaty melee combat and constantly expanding world. According to these devs, for the first four to five months of development, The Last of Us Part 2 was a Bloodborne-inspired open world title with a pure focus on melee combat.

They go on to explain that th layout structure of Bloodborne was also a very big influence on early development, as developers at Naughty Dog admired the "mastery over the world" and that feeling of familiarity you get when playing. Obviously, a lot of these ideas were dialed back, and the open world design didn't "work with the story" of The Last of Us Part 2, though you can still see elements of the initial design in the finished product.

They were exploring this earlier on, probably during the conceptual phase and/or pre-production before changing their minds. They were looking at alternative narrative and level design than they usual do, but chose not to do so in any big obvious way.

This is a similar idea that what Neil said about Elden Ring/Inside some time ago in an interview:

Druckmann recently appeared on an interview with The Washington Post in which he discussed his recent interests in video game narrative. It was there that he pointed to games like Inside and Elden Ring, praising them for how they almost wordlessly guide players into the story and narrative of their world without outright saying it.

“I’m more recently intrigued by stuff like Elden Ring and Inside, that don’t rely as much on traditional narrative to tell a story,” Druckmann said.

Druckmann goes on to share that he feels The Last of Us has some level of similar DNA in environmental storyline, but he’d like the studio to explore that aspect further.

“I think some of the best storytelling in The Last of Us – yes, a lot of it is in the cinematics – but a lot of it is in the gameplay, and moving around a space, and understanding a history of a space by just looking at it and examining it,” Druckmann continued. “I think there’s a way to push that stuff forward, at least, for the kind of games we make at Naughty Dog. I’m really intrigued – again, [we’re] never resting on our laurels, and trying something a little bit new, a little bit different, that not everyone’s going to like, but that’s okay. And again, it’s stuff that we’re working on now – I can tell you that the teams are very excited by the different projects we have at Naughty Dog.”

I don't know if this will materialize itself in ND's next game(s), but I do tend to agree with the thought they it's something to look into. Naughty Dog has world class environmental artists across the board, if they can use those visuals to tell even more environmental storytelling, it would only be a good thing.

 

[Remember_Spinal]

That's why this article says "Originally".





They were exploring this earlier on, probably during the conceptual phase and/or pre-production before changing their minds. They were looking at alternative narrative and level design than they usual do, but chose not to do so in any big obvious way.

This is a similar idea that what Neil said about Elden Ring/Inside some time ago in an interview:






I don't know if this will materialize itself in ND's next game(s), but I do tend to agree with the thought they it's something to look into. Naughty Dog has world class environmental artists across the board, if they can use those visuals to tell even more environmental storytelling, it would only be a good thing.

It seems like they want to do it but The Last of Us wasn’t really the franchise to spread their wings with.

I think thats why Druckmann recently said the game they were currently working on is really exciting for him and the studio. It gives them room to experiment more with gameplay and narrative

 

[Evilnemesis8]

It seems like they want to do it but The Last of Us wasn’t really the franchise to spread their wings with.

I think thats why Druckmann recently said the game they were currently working on is really exciting for him and the studio. It gives them room to experiment more with gameplay and narrative

It's possible. I will say that I think they can pull something more open and unstructured.
If you look at the trajectory of their games, they've got a lot of incremental steps towards that.

Uncharted 4 had bigger environments than anything else before it.
Then you had Uncharted:Lost Legacy, one particular open large area.
TLoU Part II also had a open big area and it was better designed, with more impactful and varied environmental storytelling through locations and/or loot.
Then you look at Factions 2. Sure it's cancelled, but the production experience remains. I'm sure the map(s) were quite large. This would also be the game where they tested the most gameplay in bigger locations with potentially a bigger enemy/NPC count and see how that all interacts with one another.

This new IP might just be the one where they take the full plunge so to speak.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

Uncharted 4 had bigger environments than anything else before it.

I wanted that volcano to erupt so much!

 

[Yobo]

After playing Uncharted 4 / Lost Legacy I feel like Naughty Dog finally perfected their craft and honestly I'd never wanna see them step away from TPS.

Then TLOU 2 just shows why they should never step away.

Naughty Dog should be managing two IP at the same time. TLOU will most likely conclude with Part 3. They need to establish a new successful IP before TLOU ends - then another one after that

Ideally they'd have the TPS franchise and the action/RPG franchise

 

[Danja]

Naughty Dog should be managing two IP at the same time. TLOU will most likely conclude with Part 3. They need to establish a new successful IP before TLOU ends - then another one after that

Ideally they'd have the TPS franchise and the action/RPG franchise

I take it you didn't watch Grounded documentary, this is what they're gonna do. Well I dunno about RPG, I think ND is all about adrenaline in their games but lets see