The Last of Us 2 Was Originally an Open-World Soulslike Before Finding Its Linear Narrative Focus
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The Last of Us 2 was originally designed as an open-world, Bloodborne-inspired game with a focus on melee combat.
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Naughty Dog wanted the sequel to be as different from the first game as possible early in development.
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After 4-5 months, they moved away from the open-world as it didn't fit the story they wanted to tell.
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The final linear, narrative-driven format is much closer to the original The Last of Us.
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It's hard to imagine The Last of Us 2 as anything other than the game we got, rather than an open-world Soulslike.