Joel playable in The Last of Us Part 2, it’s anything but clickbait since a modder by the name of Smasher248 has just made the playable character available throughout the adventure. Of course, those who have finished the game know that Joel is playable at the very beginning of the story, it is even the first character that we discover at the launch of the game. However, we remember that the scene is not was intended to make us enjoy one last time the hero of the first The Last of Us, with a sequence focused on contemplation and exploration, in the company of his brother Tommy. The sequence of events being what they are, many people disagree with the direction taken by Neil Druckmann, and many miss this emotional character.
It is from this premise that Smasher248 decided to take Joel’s 3D model and integrate it directly into the adventure, instead of Ellie. Obviously, since it is a mod, the whole is not perfect, knowing that in addition, the character will have the dialogues of Ellie’s character, no dubbing having been done by Troy Baker, the actor who plays Joel. But that doesn’t prevent the result from working pretty well, and finding Joel in a role that we loved before is heartwarming. Moreover, the modder took care to make integrations with the two skins of the character, when he is older and when he appears with a few years less, the beard less thick and less grisoning as well. All of these integrations are still in the testing phase, but at least the early feedback is pretty funny, especially when Joel takes over the guitar sequence from A-ha’s Take on me, a great laugh.
