The Last of Us 2 wins Best Storytelling at this year's Golden Joystick Awards

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Naughty Dog's sequel scoops the first gong

Golden Joystick winner
(Image credit: Sony)

The Last of Us 2 has won the very first Golden Joystick Award of 2020, by taking home the Best Storytelling award.

Following on from 2013's The Last of Us was never going to be an easy task, but the controversial story has undoubtedly won over players in this reader-voted award. Ellie's blockbuster sequel went up against several acclaimed indie titles, including Hades and Paradise Killer, with the full list of nominations below. 

  • The Last of Us Part II (winner)
  • Ghost of Tsushima
  • Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
  • Necrobarista
  • Paradise Killer
  • Hades
  • Signs of the Sojourner
  • If Found...

Naughty Dog's storytelling has been a strength of the studio for quite some time, as they also won this award in 2013 and 2014 for The Last of Us and its DLC, Left Behind, respectively. Since then the studio has also released two Uncharted games, A Thief's End and The Lost Legacy. 

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In his The Last of Us 2 review Alex Avard writes: "The resulting 25-hour campaign is as full of controller-dropping 'holy crap' moments as it is the quiet, contemplative scenes of immense poignancy that the studio is known for, many of which are enough to leave a lump in the throat, if not render you a bawling wreck on the couch. As a contemplation of the thin line between justice and vengeance, and an uncomfortable plunge into the darker shades of the human psyche, The Last of Us Part 2 is unforgiving in its depiction of violence, nihilism, and the nebulousness of morality in a world without laws."

Be sure to check out the rest of the award show by visiting our how to watch the Golden Joystick Awards page.  

Ben Tyrer
Ben Tyrer
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Ben Tyrer is a freelance games journalist with over ten years experience of writing about games. After graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in multimedia journalism he's worked for Official PlayStation Magazine as a staff writer and games editor, as well as GamesRadar+ (hey, that's this website!) as a news editor. He's also contributed to Official Xbox Magazine, Edge, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, PC Games N, and more. His game of the year - no matter the year - is Rocket League.