The diversity of characters in The Last of Us Part 2 was after the leaks – and actually after the E3 presentation 2018 (keyword: Kiss by Ellie) – sometimes violently criticized. Loud Eurogamer a loud minority would not accept any representation of diversity at all and spread a lot of hate about it. In an interview, Game Director Neil Druckmann commented on the diversity (LGBT) of the characters in the game and reaffirmed the goal that they want to tell good and honest stories with interesting characters. You don’t want to get bonus points for diversity. They just want to tell a believable story and present the aspects that are normal as normal.
Neil Druckmann: “We always try our best as far as the characters we bring into our game. We took a trip with Ellie – and Ellie is who she is. It was defined in the previous game. We will be with her going into the future, she is now 19. How do we figure out all the facets that mean being 19? You think you are invincible. You think you know what is right and wrong in the world “You are sexually attracted to people you are attracted to. These are all things that we want to sound out for this character – and so we do honest storytelling.”
“So if you have any problem [mit der Diversitt] has, well, that’s shitty, but history will always speak for us. It’s ironic or maybe sad – I think the people who are screaming the loudest right now will benefit the most from this kind of story, but I hope there is enough in the game to address them and the things which are normal, simply to be portrayed as normal. It’s part of our society and it’s part of having an interesting, nuanced character, “the game director goes on to explain.” And yes, a big part of the misunderstanding is that we would somehow sacrifice history to add diversity points win. And that’s not how we work. Everything is in the service of history. A greater diversity gives us a better story and gives us fresher perspectives on conflicts. And I hope that as soon as they play the game, people will recognize that. ”
Last but not least, Druckmann said that there would be games that would be a “soothing pleasure”. The Last of Us Part 2 would not be one of them. There would also be some of these “beneficial” elements, but these components would really pose emotional challenges.
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