Naughty Dog’s polarizing creative direction has long been a point of contention among the gaming community.
Following the PC launch of The Last of Us Part II Remastered, tech-savvy enthusiasts have gained unprecedented access to the game’s internal files, allowing them to unearth a wealth of scrapped content and abandoned concepts.
A prominent modder known as Speclizer recently highlighted some of these cut mechanics. For example, the developers once toyed with a “Peek Mode” that would have allowed Ellie to lean around obstacles or crouch low to scout beneath vehicles, giving players a tactical advantage by tracking enemy movement via their silhouettes.
Furthermore, Speclizer showcased a potential alternate ending for The Last of Us Part II that would have granted players the choice to execute Abby. While some within the development team explored the idea of player agency, the narrative arc had already been finalized, making such a deviation impossible:
In the final confrontation with Abby, there was originally a plan to display a contextual prompt to ‘drown her’ through button mashing. However, the game wouldn’t actually allow her to die; this was a deliberate design intended to force players to internalize the decision to show mercy. But when some playtesters continued to mash the button relentlessly in an attempt to finish the job, it became clear the emotional beat wasn’t landing as intended. One Naughty Dog programmer suggested offering a genuine choice, but knew the idea wouldn’t be sanctioned since the established finale—where Ellie spares Abby—was vital to the game’s message. This footage illustrates what that binary choice between vengeance and forgiveness might have looked like…
One viewer, @HowNOTtoUNALIVEyourself, was so captivated by the possibility of this alternate path that they commented, “I’d honestly reinstall the whole game just for a chance to play through this version.”
Source: iXBT.games