The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann has discussed what kind of stories he's interested in these days and what that means for Naughty Dog going forward.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Druckmann discussed how his view of storytelling in video games has changed since working in other mediums, like co-directing The Last of Us TV show. "I'm more recently intrigued by stuff like Elden Ring and Inside that doesn't rely as much on traditional narrative to tell its story," the Naughty Dog co-president said.
"Some of the best storytelling in The Last of Us is in the cinematics, but a lot of it is in gameplay, and moving around the space, and understanding the history of a space by just looking at it and examining it," Druckmann continues, "to me, right now, that's some of the best joy I get out of games that trust their audience to figure things out. [Games] that don't hold your hand, that's the stuff I'm really intrigued by going forward."
If you're not familiar, other than being one of the best games in 2022, Elden Ring is an action RPG from Dark Souls developer FromSoftware. As for Inside, this indie puzzle platformer from 2016 has similar vibes to the likes of Little Nightmares - both games a far cry from Naughty Dog's previous work on the Uncharted and The Last of Us series.
Speaking about future Naughty Dog games, Druckmann said he's interested in "trying something a little bit new, a little bit different, that not everybody's going to like." Fans shouldn't worry too much though as the director explains: "That doesn't mean we will never have dialogue or cutscenes, I think those are tools in your toolbox... And I think there's a way to push that stuff forward, at least for the kind of games we make at Naughty Dog."
In terms of what the studio is currently working on, we know so far that a The Last of Us standalone multiplayer game is currently in development, along with a new project that's being co-developed by a new Sony studio. We probably won't be hearing about anything else too soon though as Neil Druckmann has said that Naughty Dog is taking more time over game reveals.
Want to know what we can look forward to playing this year? Find out what's due to be big in 2023.
