The Legacy of The Last of Us, a Landmark in Story Mode

The Last of Us was a seminal moment in gaming that carved the way forward for cinematic storytelling

- Shouvik Das

In 2009, California-based game developer Naughty Dog was basking in the glory of a critically acclaimed Sony PlayStation-exclusive game—Uncharted 2. It is at this time that the developer outfit started building out an end-of-the-world story-driven game—The Last of Us. Nearly 16 years later, Joel Miller and Ellie Williams, the protagonists of the seminal game, are etched into pop culture folklore thanks to a highly appreciated adaptation of the game into a TV series.

While The Last of Us, set in a post-apocalyptic US in which the world has been taken over by a mutated fungus that can infect humans and turn them into murderous zombies, was not the absolute first of its kind, the title delivered a story that took gaming well beyond the realm of niche, hardcore gaming enthusiasts into Saturday evening living rooms. In turn, the game's story-based development cemented its status as a seminal moment in the world's best story-based gameplays.

What took The Last of Us to such great heights is in the way the game operated. The developers envisioned each element to revolve around the protagonists before the rest of the game was developed. The character arcs were written like a movie's storyboard before the rest of the game was put in place and as a result, there is significant emphasis on letting combat take a backseat while the story is what drives the game forward. Combat here is only a factor of the overall game experience.

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