‘The Last of Us Part 2’ Setting Might Have Been Worked Out By Fans

Ever since The Last of Us Part 2 was announced in December last year, we’ve heard nothing about the game from Naughty Dog or Sony.

This PS4 exclusive from the storytelling geniuses over at Naughty Dog is continuing the tale of Ellie and Joel in their infected-ridden post-apocalyptic world.

Until we actually get our eager mitts on The Last of Us 2, we’re rounding up all the latest info on the game so you can stay up to date ahead of release.

Did Fans Just Work Out The Last of Us Part 2 Setting?

It looks like fans might have worked out at least one of the locations for The Last of Us 2 setting, way ahead of any official announcement by developer Naughty Dog or publisher Sony. The PS4 exclusive hasn’t even got a release date yet, but that hasn’t stopped fans trying to eke out tidbits of information about the game from the one Last of Us 2 trailer we’ve got.

According to the sleuthing done by fans on Reddit, it looks like the game is at least partly set in Seattle, Washington (as reported by Eurogamer).

The hunt for clues started with reddit user Voldsby, who amazingly noticed that the signs in the trailer are the same as those used in Seattle. It seems a bit farfetched, but then he found a sign in the background of some Last of Us Part 2 concept art which featured a building with the word Driftwood painted on the corner.

Then came another Reddit user by the name of RoganJosho, who miraculously managed to spot a real life Seattle building, this time an underground carpark, in the official concept art.

What makes it even more interesting is that these two locations are just a few blocks from each other, as discovered by Redditor Falconbox, making the Seattle setting from the entire sleuthing expedition much more plausible.

The original game’s opening sequence started with Joel in Austin, Texas. Later in the game, the first major city section was in Boston. The game worked its way through Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania, with the autumn and winter sections in Jackson, Wyoming. The finale took place in Salt Lake City.

The Last of Us Part 2 Release Date – When Is It Coming Out?

Although Sony and Naughty Dog have officially confirmed a Last of Us sequel is happening, there’s been no whiff of when it’s actually coming out.

As of yet then, we’re merely pencilling in a hopeful 2017 The Last of Us Part 2 release date, but that’s merely a guess.

In fact, Game Director Neil Druckmann said in December that we’re still a “way off” from a Last of Us Part 2 release date.

The Last of Us Part 2 PS4 Exclusive – Will It Ever Come to Xbox One or PC?

Sorry to any Xbox One and PC gamers desperate to play The Last of Us Part 2, because the only way to play it is to buy a PS4.

Naughty Dog, the developer behind the game, is a studio owned by Sony Computer Entertainment. We seriously doubt that Sony is going to let a major game like this appear on any other platforms apart from its own.

If you’re swayed, check out our PS4 vs PS4 Slim vs PS4 Pro guide to help you decide.

The Last of Us Part 2 Story – What’s Going to Happen?

From what Naughty Dog has told us so far, The Last of Us Part 2 takes place around five years after the original game. Ellie is older, but also has some sort of grudge.

According to a panel at PlayStation Experience in December, where the game was revealed, Druckmann stated that “this game is about hate”.

While the first game was about the developing love and friendship between Ellie and Joel, Part 2 is very, very different.

You play the entire sequel as Ellie, who is now 19, which is quite the contrast from the first game where you play as Joel for the majority.

Ashley Johnson, who voices Ellie, states that “she’s gone through some s**t”. What exactly that is, we’re still not sure, but we’re incredibly excited to find out.

When asked why Naughty Dog decided to make a sequel, Druckmann explained: “While a sequel may have seemed like a foregone conclusion, that wasn’t the case. We knew that it needed to be a story worth telling… After spending years trying ideas, we have finally created a story worthy of Joel and Ellie.”

The Last of Us Part 2 Trailer – What Did We Learn?

There’s only one The Last of Us Part 2 trailer so far, but there are plenty of clues that you can glean from the footage.

Firstly, there’s the scratch marks on the tree that the trailer focuses on a little too long for them to be from a bear or other large wild animal.

It’s the presence of fungus alongside those scratch marks that make us believe that the infected have evolved somewhat. Perhaps the fungal-based, brain-altering disease that created the infected in the first game has developed, causing more physical alterations to happen to those affected.

Whatever caused those tree scars, we don’t want to be anywhere near it when it next takes a swipe.

Then there are all those dead bodies covered in fresh blood, including the one lying at Ellie’s feet while she plays the guitar.

If the Firefly logo outside the house they’re in is any indication, it seems that the spat started at the end of the original Last of Us is still very much going.

Whether it’s the Fireflies Ellie is referring to when she says, “I’m going to find, and I’m going to kill, every last one of them”, we’re not sure, but it’s certainly a possibility. After all, they may still be looking for her as she’s believed to be key to curing the disease, since she’s immune to the bites.

There’s a fan theory going around that suggests that Ellie has been bitten for a second time, though. There’s a bite-like wound on her neck that you can see in the trailer. We’re wondering whether it’s just a knife wound from the fight she’s evidently just been in, but there are what looks like teeth marks.

If she has been infected with a second bite, it could be taking her longer to turn because of her immunity to the first strain of the disease.

Many believe that this is why she’s so shaky at the start of the trailer and why she killed all those people. Increased aggression is an early symptom of the disease and shaking hands are a sign of neurological degradation too.

In the first game we do find out that there are fungus spores growing in her brain, so she may be showing some serious signs of the disease five years down the line, fresh bite or not.

What’s also interesting is that we never see Joel’s face in the game. He appears first as a shadowy silhouette in the doorway and then has his back to us as he speaks to Ellie.

Another fan theory believes that Joel is, in fact, dead and his appearance here is merely a construct of her degrading mind as it’s affected by the disease.

The theory goes as far as to say that the entire room is a figment of her imagination. We spotted that the windows with nature creeping in and those fluttering curtains are almost identical to those from the title screen from the original game.

It also seems that Ellie is wearing Riley’s shirt from the Left Behind story DLC, which could be another indication of her unravelling mental state.

There’s a third major fan theory that Ellie is actually pregnant and that’s why Joel asks if she “still wants to go through with it”.

We’re not totally convinced by this, but there is an Uncharted 4 Easter Egg in the form of a pregnant lady wearing a gas mask that was thought to be an older version of Ellie. Plus, they argue that she could be using the guitar to hide a pregnancy bump.

It could also be that the baby is the result of a rape and her anger comes from wanting to reap her revenge on her assailants.

The Last of Us Part 2 Song – What Is That Song From the Trailer?

When the first trailer for The Last of Us 2 arrived in December, the song strummed by Ellie on her guitar caused quite a stir.

The song she’s singing is actually ‘Through the Valley’ by Shawn James and you can listen to it on Spotify or via the YouTube video below.

In fact, when fans worked out what the song was, it shot to number one on Spotify’s viral chart in December.

Of course, the song is almost perfect for the game’s themes as the lyrics go something like this:

“I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil because I’m blind to it all.

My mind and my gun they comfort me,

I know I’ll kill my enemies when they come.”

If that’s not The Last of Us all over, we don’t know what is.