Naughty Dog has been lauded for its games throughout the years, with acclaim surrounding The Last of Us reaching new heights following the title's recent HBO adaptation. As the development studio nears forty years since its founding, its approach to game design has gone through multiple iterations, culminating in its present day approach. In some cases this has been through mechanics and style, and in others it's been about genre and tone. Steadily, Naughty Dog has been concerning itself with darker themes amidst photo-realistic depictions, though rumors surrounding its newest IP could see a return to form, diverging from this pattern.

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Naughty Dog's Next IP May Dial Back Dark Tones Following The Last of Us Part 2

The Last of Us Part 2 Poster
The Last of Us Part 2 Poster

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune debuted three years after Jak and Daxter's conclusion, beginning Naughty Dog's story of Nate, Sully, and Elena in their search for treasure. The series was quick to grow acclaim, spanning four mainline installments and a few spin-offs over the years that gradually built up their cinematic set-pieces and graphical fidelity. While the games maintained a mix between platforming, third-person exploration, and shooting, their feature of the latter brought up discrepancies over the games' approach to murder. Nathan Drake racked up quite the kill count, but his charismatic and witty nature helped to lighten the overall tone.

Naughty Dog's foray into the world of The Last of Us marked an increase in the company's pursuit of photo-realism and mature themes; the first game released in 2013, its gritty and solemn nature was quite harrowing in comparison to Uncharted. The game's gorgeously realized settings coupled with its brutal and unrelenting depictions of violence made it strongly received by audiences, though its graphic content landed it a mature ESRB rating. The atrocities of a post-apocalyptic world were portrayed with high-intensity, paving the way for the series' second installment, which was met with more divisive reception.

The Last of Us Part 2 took its dark tone to the extreme, involving a lot of murder. The installment showed off Naughty Dog's realistic character models, which aided in the intense brutality of the title's death depictions. With a number of ways to kill and be killed, the characters and circumstances of The Last of Us Part 2 showed the company pushing the limits of its subject matter. However, Naughty Dog might dial back its approach through its next IP, rumored to take on the sci-fi genre.

A sci-fi game by Naughty Dog could be a return to form, taking on a more fantastical approach. Though it's likely that the company won't abandon its hyper-realism, given how integral it has become to the company's brand, the opportunity for new non-human combatants or a plot more focused on exploration could break the pattern of increasingly mature titles. While the next IP could certainly deal with dark themes, a narrative focus that deviates from the level of grittiness seen in The Last of Part 2 may break the pattern set by the company's recent years, offering an alternate change of pace.

The Last of Us Part 2 is available now for the PS4.

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