Story games often divide opinion, but hopefully, we can all agree that these couples virtually belong together.
In this article, I wanted to highlight two love stories, and how they vary, from the same studio. One is a light hearted game focusing on action, adventure and some incredibly smart quips. The other is a story that is quite possibly the darkest video game of all time.
Naughty Dog: Uncharted. The Last Of Us Part II.
Such games are known for their innovative storytelling which has proven to make them one of the most innovative developers of the 21st century. Many studios now desire to follow suit with a similar style of storytelling. However, this desire stems more from the exploration of human emotions like familial love, loss and grief.
The Uncharted series is probably the best-known PlayStation series and is intricately tied into the console’s dynasty and control over a large portion of the gaming industry. The series is incredibly fun and light hearted and never gets too bogged down in exploring what it means to be human. Therefore, it is all the more impressive that the series manages to showcase a relationship, between the protagonist Nathan Drake and his eventual wife Elena. This provides great entertainment to the player, there is the incredibly memorable opener to the first game where Elena is abandoned by Drake and her subsequent punching of noses as consequence. Although, Elena is completely committed and in love with Drake it is his unwavering obsession with seeking out adventure that impacts their relationship.
Whilst the majority of the game may be light hearted and played for laughs, this subplot gives a real-world factor to the game. How far can one continue to be committed to their partner when they are committed to the game they love? It’s a fascinating element of the series, particularly because it showcases, early on in Naughty Dog’s existence, their ability to explore a relationship in games, which is something that was not done en masse in games for the longest time. Whilst The Last Of Us Part II explores this idea of obsession more thoroughly, as discussed below, the reason why this element is impressive in the world of Uncharted is because the games never lose the gameplay as their main focus, whilst The Last Of Us is obviously a story first series. In more recent years, Naughty Dog has moved away from this gameplay-first perspective, and as a result, their games have become more heavy and focused on stories that explore different facets of human living. However, it would be a nice experiment to see if they can still make this sort of Uncharted-style experience. With a potential new Uncharted experience on the horizon from a developer not called Naughty Dog, it will be interesting to see if this sort of dichotomy is continued and what this breeds in terms of new gameplay and whether or not the new game has this same sort of relationship.
With the quiet backdoor shooing of Amy Hennig from Naughty Dog, the studio was forever changed. Her final game Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was not finished by her, taken over halfway through by the new heads of studio Neill Druckmann and Bruce Straley. The game feels disjointed because of this change in leadership and there is a noticeable shift in vision, and even Druckmann himself has admitted that the game was the most difficult experience of his career. Following on, the next game in line was The Last Of Us Part II. Although this is the only game post the Uncharted franchise, it seems incredibly unlikely that the studio would ever go back. Instead, the studio has become the masters of wading through the most difficult topics possible, and in Part II, the studio focuses in on several themes. Among others, familial love, grief, a loss of purpose, and how obsession can harm one’s relationship. Whilst the theme of romantic relationships may be used in back-to-back Naughty Dog games, the result is almost unrecognisable.
The main couple in Part II is our protagonist Ellie and Dina. The serious tone of the game allows for a more serious explanation of relationship elements. The game does not suggest a resolution where it is immediately possible for the protagonist to continue on with their normal life. Instead, the cycle of revenge and violence pulls apart both sides of the ensuing war, leaving no parties untouched. Both Ellie and Abby desire to destroy the other but yet in pursuit of this goal they destroy themselves and everyone around them, most importantly, they destroy the one they love the most. In the case of Abby, her love ends up dead alongside his wife and unborn child as a result of Abby’s pursuit of Ellie. It is implied to us that whilst the other members of Abby’s group were able to find some sort of peaceful resolution, she was not and sought out revenge. Likewise, Ellie seeks out revenge against Abby for killing Joel, in the process Dina and her unborn baby are almost killed. Although they survive, the game ends with the suggestion that a fate worse than this awaits Ellie, she is left all alone. Joel is dead. And Dina, unable to live with Ellie’s undying obsession for revenge, moves on. Whilst The Last Of Us may start with Ellie, Joel, Tess, Dina, Tommy and others. The end of the second game, suggests that The Last Of Us is now just Ellie. Despite all this, the game does hold some poignant and hopeful moments surrounding Dina and Ellie. Most famously, the game features a rendition of Take On Me that Ellie sings to Dina near the start of the game. Despite the game’s dire and bleak tone, moments like this give us genuine hope that this couple could survive. Whilst the ending of Part II may provide a bleak outlook for Ellie, we can still find hope in the possibility of a positive outcome in the potential third game.
This article is a bit more serious than first intended for a Valentine’s Day-themed piece, but my desire was never to talk about the obvious video game couples that everyone talks about - looking at you Miranda and Commander Shepard. Love stories are a criminally underrated aspect of video games and these couples are two of the most underrated in my opinion. Even though there is a certain serious subject matter concerning both of these couples, they both provide something of value to the player, that we don’t often see elsewhere in video games.