The highly acclaimed PlayStation studio Naughty Dog, known for the likes of Crash Bandicoot and Uncharted, took a far darker route with its other big IP, The Last of Us. Set in a post-apocalyptic universe full of deadly enemy factions and zombie-like creatures, The Last of Us depicts the shockingly humane journey of Joel and Ellie as they endure and survive in this brutal world.
The Last of Us 2 takes place three years after the events of the original and depicts an unrelenting cycle of violence that Ellie and Abby are endlessly pursuing. While The Last of Us and The Last of Us 2 are largely different experiences, both these games can be unashamedly depressing at times. With that said, here are the most depressing moments from The Last of Us series.
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The Last of Us doesn't take long to show its true colors. In the opening segment, players have to sit through the harrowing death of Joel's daughter Sarah. This deeply disturbing moment is brought to life vividly by actors Troy Baker and Hana Hayes, making this one of gaming's most intense moments. Sarah's death sets the expectations for The Last of Us universe, where death is waiting around every corner.
The conversation between Ellie and Joel in the farmhouse is one of The Last of Us' most heart-wrenching moments. Ashley Johnson as Ellie delivers one of her finest monologues here. Right before Ellie and Joel were supposed to part ways, Ellie opens up about her insecurities and also provokes Joel by comparing herself with Sarah. Joel gets right back at her by saying that she's "not his daughter" and that they are "going their separate ways." This powerful moment is painful for the fans who had started to admire Ellie and Joel's growing reliance on each other.
After the events of the hospital, a confused and dejected Ellie walks alongside a lively Joel who promises to teach her guitar someday. It's uncomfortable to see a depressed Ellie, knowing that things won't ever be the same. Ellie then speaks to Joel about her survivor's guilt and asks him about the Fireflies. While it's somewhat easy to digest Joel's lie to Ellie from a third-person perspective, seeing things from her perspective makes this moment unbearably sad and helpless.
In her relentless pursuit of Abby and her friends, Ellie winds up in a WLF hospital to find Nora. Here, after finally catching Nora, Ellie brutally torturers her to reveal Abby's current location. The entire segment takes place in a spore-infested lower-level room of the hospital, where Nora is infected and on the verge of dying. Players not only have to sit through this lengthy torture scene in a room soaked in red but also engage rapidly to beat Nora to the pulp. The entire section is distressing, even more, as the camera focuses on Ellie instead of Nora.
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In the world of The Last of Us, death comes unexpectedly, but the game rarely focuses on its immediate aftermath. After Sarah died in The Last of Us, the story jumps 20 years ahead, easing players off the immediate sorrow that came with her death. It's the same with Henry and Sam's death which comes unexpectedly, but mourning fans are immediately shoved into a completely different scenario with Ellie and Joel, thus diminishing the heaviness that came with their death.
The Last of Us 2, on the other hand, depicts all the facets of death. Joel's death is the most important of them all, as it triggers the chain of events that follows Ellie and Abby in The Last of Us 2. While his death is a traumatizing experience on its own, what's perhaps more traumatizing and depressing is the morning after with Ellie. Joel's death is analogous to Sarah in many ways, but unlike Joel, Ellie's arc doesn't get a 20 years timeline jump. Fans have to watch a devastated Ellie as she wakes up the next day to a reality in which Joel doesn't exist anymore. Exploring Joel's empty house is like taking a painful walk down the memory lane, something that would linger in every player's mind for the foreseeable future.
Although intense, Alice, Mel, and Owen's deaths aren't impactful when witnessed in Ellie's playthrough. At this point in time, they are just a gateway to Abby, who killed Joel. Fast forward a few hours after playing through Abby's arc, however, and the gravity of Ellie's actions starts to sink in. By this time, it's clear that The Last of Us 2 is Ellie's journey but Abby's story, and characters like Mel and Owen are more than just people involved in Joel's death. Owen was the first to realize and eventually break the cycle of violence when he didn't let anyone kill Ellie and Tommy in Jackson.
Reality bites back when Abby narrowly escapes the Seraphite island to find the last remaining group of people she loved brutally murdered in her comfort place. It's a numbing moment seeing Abby at her breaking point as players realize that Ellie took more from Abby than vice versa.
There is nothing as excruciating as the final battle between Ellie and Abby in The Last of Us 2. After tracking down Abby and Lev in Santa Barbara, Ellie forces Abby to fight her despite the latter initially refusing. It's a helpless situation where players feel disoriented from their actions. Every stab at Abby comes with heavy remorse and disgust that's hard to shake. The entirety of the segment is utterly chaotic, and it feels like it would never end, just like an actual depression.
The Last of Us series is filled with many disturbing and depressing moments, and these are some that stand out among the rest. With The Last of Us HBO series now in production, fans should prepare themselves to experience these scenes and presumably more like them very soon.
The Last of Us is now available on PS3 and PS4.