Ellie will have a new NPC companion in Last of Us: Part II, we just don’t know who it is yet. Sony Santa Monica is keeping very tight-lipped about the whole thing it seems. We do know that you’ll only control Ellie throughout the game, so no switching perspectives like in the first game.
Now, speaking with BuzzFeed, The Last of Us: Part II director Neil Druckmann has revealed that Ellie won’t be on her lonesome for at least part of the game.
‘Well, so, Ellie used to be an NPC, but she’s the protagonist in this story, so the player is controlling Ellie. It’s safe to say with the game that we made in the past that there will be some NPC with you in this story, even though we’re not showing [the NPC] in this demo,’ said Druckmann.
In the 2013 original, players controlled Ellie’s father-figure Joel for the majority of the game with Ellie serving as an NPC companion. For one extended segment, however, the roles reverse with Ellie becoming the playable character and Joel an NPC. But we don’t know how that dynamic will play out in the sequel.
We gamers did get a peek at Joel in the teaser trailer, but his role in the sequel has not been confirmed at all yet. We have no idea if he’ll feature as a supporting character or just relegated to flashbacks. So we’ll get to find out if Joel is busy still fighting infected, or if he’s just an old man who retired and spends his days in a garden from now on.
The Last of Us: Part II does not have a firm release date yet.