When it comes to standing out in the gaming industry, a prime example that comes to mind for different reasons isThe Last of Us 2. Naughty Dog’s endeavor got a lot ofpraise for its LGBTQ+ representation, featuring a lesbian protagonist and a trans man as a major character.The Last of Us 2also did a great job at portraying factions and making the conflict between the main characters compelling and believable, especially thanks to the switch in perspective from Ellie’s point of view to that of Abby. That’s something that the game shares withHalo 5: Guardians.
For starters, one of the similarities thatThe Last of Us 2andHalo 5: Guardiansshare is the fact that the switch in perspective didn’t leave every player satisfied. SomeThe Last of Us 2players were unhappy with how they got to control Abby, the very same character who killed Joel. The other protagonist, Ellie, felt unlikeable to some because her story arc is a negative one. The same holds true forHalo 5: Guardians, as the game primarily focuses on Spartan Locke as the main character, while the series' protagonist is relegated to only be a playable character for a handful of missions.
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Why The Last of Us Part 2 and Halo 5: Guardians are Similar
Both games led their respective communities to discuss what they liked and what they didn’t, and why each of these games was different from previous entries. With Ellie’s arc,The Last of Us 2mirrors Cortana’s path in theHaloseries in a way, where Cortana was a supportive character that fans learned to care about, buther fate inHalo 4was reversed inHalo 5: Guardians. Cortana canonically died at the end ofHalo 4, and she came back in the following game as a fragment who is still attached to Master Chief, but also trying to gain control for herself, only to end up becoming a villain.
This twist was heartbreaking for some players, and others simply hated it, stating that they didn’t like anything aboutHalo 5. This is not too different from what happened withThe Last of Us 2, where those unhappy with the direction of the game ended up posting videos online of them dying over and over again on purpose while controlling Abby. The problem isThe Last of Us 2is trying to make a point that differences between people and factions should be put aside, as all they do is causing vicious cycles of violence, hatred, and emotional trauma.
SomeHalofansdidn’t likeHalo 5because not only had they been betrayed by Cortana, but they also had to play through the story as someone else, someone who is coincidentally hunting their beloved protagonist down. Again,The Last of Us 2does something close to that by letting players control Abby and fight against “team Ellie,” even though the logic of teams is precisely what the game wants to defy. Overall, the two have a lot in common, and this poses the question as to what it takes to make a video game with two protagonists fighting each other, while also consciously straying from the previous installments of the series.
The Last of Us 2is available now on PS4 and PS5.
