Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckmann shares that he is more intrigued with games like Elden Ring that do not use traditional narrative to tell a story. Neil Druckmann explains this information in a recent interview about The Last of Us getting an HBO TV series.
Neil Druckmann has been in gaming headlines recently for pushing back against false leaks from Naughty Dog, hinting at a possibility for The Last of Us 3, and teasing concept art for The Last Us Factions 2 Multiplayer. Fans of Naughty Dog are currently excited about any news from the PlayStation studio, and it seems Druckmann is providing more insight on plans for developing the narrative of future games.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Neil Druckmann shares that he is inspired by the storytelling in games like Inside and Elden Ring that do not rely on traditional storytelling methods. He goes on to say that it is "some of the best joy I get out of games that trust their audience to figure things out." In contrast, Druckmann points out that a lot of the best storytelling in The Last of Us is in the cinematic interactions and adds that he does not wish to remove dialogue or cutscenes from future releases but rather to push things forward while trying new, different ideas even if they are not received well by some of the fanbase.
Environmental storytelling is not new to Naughty Dog. In The Last of Us franchise, there are multiple instances of subplots of survivors told through the stories of notes and locations within the world. There is a story about a sailor named Ish in The Last of Us Part 1 that players can piece together if they locate all the previous notes. Likewise, in The Last of Us Part 2 a lot of the history between The Seraphites and WLF is told within the notes scattered around Seattle.
The adoption of From Software's unique approach on storytelling would be a great addition to Naughty Dog games, especially if rumors of The Last of Us 3 are true. The aforementioned use of environmental storytelling is something that Naughty Dog is already familiar with and providing more trust in players to piece together information falls in line with the mature themes explored in the series as well. Currently, Neil Druckmann has not confirmed what projects Naughty Dog is working on but has stated that the team is super excited to share when the time is ready. For now, fans can expect more information about the Factions 2 Multiplayer will be shown this year in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the franchise.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: The Washington Post