While we're still reeling from the latest The Last of Us 2 delay, the actor who performed as Joel in both games has given us some new perspective on the game's story - and the one thing he's sure about how people are going to respond to it.
Troy Baker spoke with Fandom ahead of this year's BAFTA awards ceremony, where his performance in Death Stranding secured him his fourth ever nomination (though he still hasn't won any). Baker didn't confirm any specific gameplay details for The Last of Us 2 - such as whether you'll directly control Joel at any point - but he did talk about how it will "peel back layers" to let us learn even more about the character than we did in the first game.
The Last of Us 2 has had something to prove from its first announcement, opening the story back up after one of the most poignant and well-executed endings in video game history. Baker was impressed when series director Neil Druckmann first told Baker his complete idea for the story, but he isn't any more sure now about fans will react to it now than he was then.
“And so here we are now - I think three or four years from that moment of him first having an idea - to now being literally days away from it being released," Baker said - this interview was conducted before the delay was announced. “And again we find ourselves in that same position of: I don’t know whether people are going to like it or they’re going to hate it, but they definitely will not be ambivalent about it.”
Most of all, Baker wants The Last of Us fans to approach this new story with an open mind: “I think they will have a completely different experience than if they go in close-minded.”
