Naughty Dog have released a new mode for The Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered that lets you play out the events of the story in chronological order. Nobody who has ever read a single book can understand why.
“Those who have already played will know its story is told non-linearly, as Ellie and Abby’s motivations, realizations, and emotional stakes unfold across myriad flashbacks and present-day storylines,” say the studio in a post introducing the new mode. “While this structure is very intentional and core to how our studio wanted Part II’s themes and narrative beats to impact players, we always wondered what it would be like to experience this story chronologically. And now finally, we can answer that question.”
That important question which nobody asked. But who knows. Maybe this is great news to all those fans of The Last Of Us who dislike it when those UGH annoying storytellers at Naughty Dog do not adhere to the laws of temporal physics, telling another one of their bloody stories, but in the wrong direction.
“Through the new Chronological mode,” say Naughty Dog, “we believe players will gain even deeper insight into Part II’s narrative. Players will be able to see how Ellie being gifted a guitar flows so neatly into her learning to play, for example, while the journey through Seattle will showcase the fascinating parallels between Ellie and Abby’s crisscrossing journeys. You’ll see just how close they come into running into each other, how their actions impact each other, and more.”
This is ominous behaviour and I do not agree with it, even if I am morbidly curious to see how batshittedly unhinged this makes the story of the game feel. Even the PlayStation’s marketing spiel says that “Part II’s story is so meticulously put together” and they don’t recommend this mode to new players. It might be an almost apologetic tone, were it not immediately followed by the other feature of this update: the ability to have Joel and Tommy cosplay as the Drake brothers from Uncharted.
Naughty Dog call their new chronological mode “a fascinating new way to enjoy this chapter.” And I suppose that might be true. Imagine if Christopher Nolan released Dunkirk: The Chronological Cut. Imagine if Memento went forwards. Imagine Casablanca, but with Paris right at the start. Imagine 100 Years Of Solitude but cut up into strips of paper and sellotaped back into “proper” order. Are you drunk, Naughty Dog? You already made this game twice. Get back to work on your Akira-inspired space game, and stop upsetting the entire internet.