The Last of Us 2 Remastered - COMMENTARY | Neil Druckmann, Ashley Johnson, Troy Baker, Laura Bailey

To this day, I am filled with such sorrow and anger over the fact that not only did Laura Bailey get death threats for portraying Abby, but her son, Ronin, who was a toddler at the time, his life was also threatened. Death threats. Over an actress who played a complex character so brilliantly. It hurts my heart at what she had to endure because she's just so incredible.

I think dev commentary is one of the most beautiful things in gaming. I wish more studios were able to do this regularly. I love hearing the cast and directors talking about dev intentions and, the past few years, reactions, everything. Loved every minute of this in game, and I cant wait to revisit these moments over the next few years.

I don't think they mentioned this, but ellie also lost her knife that her mother gave her in the water fighting Abby.

It's really nice hearing Neil say how everything is intentional.. Something that some players miss, is that you're meant to be angry/anxious/sad/frustraited/not want to do certain things.. The more I see of this game even after beating it 4 times, the better it becomes. Such a fine crafted piece of art.

some of the outfit changes in the footage are hilarious

17:22 I can't believe they actually referenced that silly rumor that Neil self inserted himself as Manny just so he could spit on Joel's corpse. That's pretty funny.

I'm glad Neal clarified a bit. I know a lot of people think Ellie is going back to Jackson at the end. But I never took it that way personally. I took it as shes Joel now in a way. She learned she needs to sever ties and never get close to anybody again. In her mind thats the only way to not feel the pain anymore I'm sure. She sees the world now in the dark way Joel did. So she leaves the guitar , leaving the last connection she had with Joel behind and is heading out to a new place.. Where ever that may be. I think Jackson would just be too much of a reminder of things. Tommy and Maria are not the same people she knew anymore. Jesse is gone. Dina and The Baby have just been hurt by her actions of leaving them. She couldnt go back and just live in that garage again or Joel's house.. Its bittersweet and sad really. But it came full circle. By Joel refusing to face the grief and pain of losing someone again... he inadvertently put Ellie into that position in the long run and now she has become him.

52:48 this is such a cool fact. I looooooove hearing how studios work together. There's so many cool details you could NEVER know in a million years.

Shout out to Cascina Caradonna and Jocelyn Mettler for providing Abbey and Dina's faces

My one gripe is that Ellie never knew Abby’s motivations. I wish they had a dialogue.

I feel really bad for the developers and especially for Laura and Neil for how the leadup and release of this game turned out, the way they talk about it during the credits, covid isolation was in full so they couldn't celebrate together and then just this torrent of vitriol before the game even came out and almost even more afterwards... This game got its own back though, there are so many people like me who love it so much and I do hope they are able to consistently take comfort in knowing this counterbalancing positivity and love people have for what they created, not just the awards, but the people who love it, who connected with it, were emotionally moved by it. When you pour your heart and soul into something like this, you deserve to feel great about it and I hope I get to experience that when I start my career in game design.

1:10:23 I love that Neil acknowledges the Jesse/joel swap here. While i love the game that part always kills me when I play it because I remember how excited I was when I saw Joel there

It never occurred to me that Dina making Jesse turn around was for Ellie.

The commentary was acctually really interesting, and gives the idea of what was going through the minds of Neil Druckmann and Ashley Johnson and other actors and creators. Makes me appreciate the game and its story even more. Also what everyone had to go through to create this game, from just hate to death threats, is really sad to hear.

Dina's face model, Cascina Caradonna, did a play through of the game on YouTube. Since Cascina was only the face model, they didn't know what Dina did in the game. This was such a jarring scene for them to watch because they were seeing themself in situations they didn't remember.

I wish that people who hated this game would watch behind the scenes commentary like this because I really think it would at least help them appreciate/understand it more

The Last of Us is my favorite story ever told. And when I say that, I mean both parts, because they are just that: two parts of one story, and now even the HBO series. No story has ever affected me to the point this story has, and the love I have for it is so deep that it's legitimately hard to quantify. I love it.

Thank you so much for recording and uploading this.

15:54 Ashley saying “That was YURI?!” was so sweet because they worked together for years and Ben and Gwen Tennyson on “Ben 10: Alien Force”

Been waiting for stuff like this. Love the breakdowns of the scenes. Just waiting on the documentary now.