The Last of Us Part 2 looks utterly amazing

It’s real.

A sequel to The Last of Us was announced by Naughty Dog during the PlayStation Experience this afternoon.

The original game, released in 2013, was one of the crowning jewels of the PS3 library and is generally regarded as one of the best games of last generation. The story followed the mismatched pair of Joel and Ellie as they traversed through a hostile post-apocalyptic landscape, with Ellie holding the keys to a cure for the destructive parasitic plague. Through the story closes up most loose ends, the characters were so well developed and grew so much during their journey that it became difficult to part ways.

Well, Naughty Dog feels the same way we do as the new game is taking place a few years after the events of the first. The trailer shows an older Ellie, who will be the main playable character in the game according to Gamespot, playing a soulful tune on a guitar. She is surrounded by the aftermath of a bloody struggle, as Joel walks towards her. The small bit of dialogue tells us that she is ready for some revenge.

Sequel worries were heard by director Neil Druckmann, who spoke on the matter in a panel after the show:

“So much thought went into this and I know there’s a lot of people that feel this trepidation about coming back to these characters and revisiting what that ending means and worrying whether that’s going to spoil the first game,” he said.

“You have to understand we feel all those things as well. No one loves these characters more than we do and we would not do this if we didn’t feel like we had the right idea. The ‘Part II’ is really doubling down on that to say we believe in this so much. We’re not trying to avoid it.”

There is no word on a release date for The Last of Us Part 2, but judging from how good the original was, we really hope they take their time and give us and equally emotional experience.