The Last of Us Part II Remastered - Game Nights Ep 1 with Game Director Matthew Gallant | PS5 Games
Jump into The Last of Us Part II Remastered, new game modes, and enhancements with Naughty Dog Game Director, Matthew Gallant. Join hosts Anthony and James Deveney of @raidersofthelostpodcast_ for The Last of Us: Game Nights.
Jump into The Last of Us Part II Remastered, new game modes, and enhancements with Naughty Dog Game Director, Matthew Gallant. Join hosts Anthony and James Deveney of @raidersofthelostpodcast_ for The Last of Us: Game Nights.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:14 We didn't want players who are new to the series,
00:16 who wanted to experience the story,
00:17 to have this really jarring jump in technology.
00:20 You have to go from one console generation to another.
00:22 We wanted two games that really felt like a continuous experience.
00:26 I'm so excited for players who this will be their first experience of the game.
00:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:32 Welcome to The Last of Us Game Nights, a web series that
00:35 explores the unforgettable characters, gripping story,
00:38 and thrilling gameplay of The Last of Us Part II Remastered.
00:42 I'm your host, James Devaney.
00:44 And I'm Anthony Devaney.
00:45 Joining us to talk new game modes and PS5 features
00:48 is Naughty Dog game director, Matthew Gallant.
00:51 Welcome to the show.
00:52 Great to be here.
00:53 All right, let's dive in.
00:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:56 Don't shoot him!
00:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:02 Because you're a game director at Naughty Dog,
01:04 we get to look under the hood of this game,
01:06 talk about some new features for the remaster,
01:08 and basically the development of the game in general.
01:11 Can you talk to us about your duties at Naughty Dog?
01:13 Yeah, I've been working at Naughty Dog for over a decade now.
01:17 I started at Naughty Dog on the original game, The Last of Us
01:20 on the PlayStation 3.
01:21 I was very fortunate to get to step
01:22 into the role of game director on The Last of Us Part II Remastered.
01:25 A game director is essentially the person
01:27 overseeing the project and making sure
01:29 that it's all moving forward smoothly.
01:32 Last of Us franchise has always been pushing the boundaries.
01:34 What was the main motivation for the remaster?
01:37 We love these games, and we know there's always
01:39 a really big audience for them, not only players who
01:41 might want to revisit them, but also players who've never
01:44 played these games before.
01:45 The Last of Us Part II Remastered on the PlayStation
01:47 5 is just the definitive way to play the game.
01:49 We've been able to take advantage of the hardware
01:52 and just max out all of our art settings, fidelity,
01:55 and performance modes.
01:57 We have the DualSense integration,
01:59 which I can nerd out about all day.
02:01 It's really exciting.
02:02 That enhances the immersion for players.
02:04 It's like--
02:05 [GRUNTING]
02:06 [SPLASHING]
02:07 How's that feel?
02:09 Refreshing.
02:10 You know, we really love these games.
02:11 We think they're evergreen.
02:12 There's always new players discovering these games.
02:14 When they come here, we want them to just give them
02:16 a version of the game that just feels absolutely fresh.
02:18 You good?
02:19 Yeah.
02:20 One of my favorite parts of the game
02:21 is when you're with Dina and Ellie,
02:23 and you enter this open world in Seattle.
02:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:28 It's so detailed.
02:29 Can you talk about how the remaster just made
02:31 that such a better experience?
02:33 Yeah.
02:33 So that's a section that we were really
02:35 pushing the hardware on.
02:36 It's this big open world.
02:37 There's lots of foliage.
02:39 With the additional power on the PlayStation 5,
02:41 we get to do things like bump up the sun shadow quality.
02:44 We can say that the distance at which objects
02:47 get into greater detail as you approach them,
02:49 everything's higher resolution.
02:50 The world just has a lot more detail.
02:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:56 The other thing that you'll get is
02:57 you'll get the DualSense haptics.
02:59 There's a moment that I really love
03:00 in the opening of the game where Joel is polishing a guitar
03:03 that he's going to give to Ellie.
03:05 I'm supposed to take her to the fireflies and walk away.
03:09 And each little moment on that, when he's polishing it,
03:11 you can get this little haptic.
03:13 You go halfway across the country.
03:16 Those little subtle moments--
03:17 riding a horse, petting a dog, feeling the rain--
03:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:25 --it's really immersive to be able to play the game
03:28 and get all those little details,
03:29 all those little moments.
03:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:33 And the DualSense haptics are just another way
03:35 we get to do that.
03:35 You're affecting another sense of the player.
03:37 That's great for immersion.
03:40 Let's get off the roof before someone sees us.
03:43 It goes into accessibility, which, naughty dog,
03:45 you're industry leaders in accessibility features
03:47 last of us parts who already had plenty,
03:49 but what's been added with the Viewmaster?
03:51 So we have a ton of accessibility features
03:53 in The Last of Us.
03:54 We have a lock-on aim option, which
03:56 is really great for players who just aren't
03:58 used to aiming and shooting with a controller.
04:00 It makes the game much friendlier, more approachable.
04:02 If you're not someone who's used to playing with dual sticks
04:05 and having one stick controlling the character,
04:07 one stick controlling the camera,
04:08 we have a one-stick option mode, where
04:11 the camera is going to automatically rotate
04:13 to face where you're moving.
04:15 So for players who are maybe less used to standard action
04:17 game controls, that's a lot friendlier way to get into it.
04:20 We have some options for navigation assistance.
04:23 So if you're lost, you can turn on an option
04:25 that lets you press a button and directs you
04:27 along the golden path of progression.
04:28 The game is actually there supporting where you are.
04:31 This is a game you can play at any skill level.
04:33 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:35 [GRUNTING]
04:37 It infected me.
04:39 How about we get into some new things from The Last of Us
04:42 Part 2 Remastered, like lost levels?
04:44 I'm so curious to get into the lost levels.
04:46 What exactly is it?
04:47 [GRUNTING]
04:49 [CRASH]
04:50 [SCREAMING]
04:52 The lost levels are levels that we had in development.
04:56 Some ideas, we were exploring some beats
04:58 that we thought were going to be in the story.
05:00 We have taken those levels and kind of, you know,
05:02 given them a--
05:03 dusted them off a little bit, because they
05:05 were cut a long time ago, and made them playable again
05:07 in that in-development state.
05:10 So it's like you're behind the scenes
05:12 of a movie that you love, but you
05:13 get to see what didn't make it into the cut.
05:15 And the trail of blood seems to lead
05:17 into this convenience store.
05:18 I think I might hand off the controller here.
05:20 Let's see if you can discover what's inside.
05:22 There's been a lot of blood.
05:23 You have a rifle.
05:24 I'll be OK.
05:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:30 Shit, a board.
05:31 [LAUGHTER]
05:32 Oh, I got to take the sucker out.
05:33 OK.
05:34 You got this.
05:35 [LAUGHTER]
05:36 Oh, man.
05:37 [GRUNTING]
05:41 Now, on top of the lost levels, I'm
05:43 also ecstatic about No Return.
05:46 Can you explain to us, what is No Return?
05:49 Oh, jeez.
05:51 [GUNSHOTS]
05:55 No Return is a brand new roguelike survival mode,
05:58 where players will be thrown into randomized encounters
06:02 drawn from the main story.
06:04 We've randomized enemy factions.
06:05 We've randomized maps.
06:06 And we can play as other characters.
06:08 Yes.
06:09 Each of them are playable.
06:10 They have their own unique traits and identities
06:12 that will influence how you play them.
06:14 I'm excited to experience maps that we relate to with community
06:18 and war, like somewhere like Jackson
06:20 turning into an absolute war zone.
06:22 We get to do whatever we want in terms
06:25 of making fun, surprising combat situations.
06:27 [GRUNTING]
06:31 And another addition we've noticed for the remaster,
06:34 part two, is speed running.
06:36 Can you explain that?
06:37 Run, Dana!
06:38 Ellie!
06:39 Right here!
06:39 Don't slow down!
06:40 There is a really amazing community
06:43 of people who speed run.
06:44 [GRUNTING]
06:47 And we worked with them to develop the speed run mode,
06:49 where basically what it does is it has an on-screen timer.
06:51 It's going to tell you as you're playing through the game
06:53 how fast you're doing this chapter.
06:54 And you can do permadeath for either the whole game
06:57 or per chapter or per act.
06:58 Yeah, permadeath, where basically,
07:00 if you opt into it, we will delete your save
07:02 file when you die.
07:03 Oh, my gosh.
07:04 It really does that, that sense of stakes,
07:06 that sense of tension into the game.
07:09 When you die, you really die.
07:10 [GRUNTING]
07:12 This has been a long-term vision that we've had.
07:15 We didn't want players who are new to the series,
07:17 who wanted to experience the story,
07:19 to have this really jarring jump in technology.
07:21 You'd have to go from one console generation to another.
07:24 We wanted two games that really felt
07:25 like a continuous experience, that you could hand this
07:28 to someone who was interested in The Last of Us
07:30 and wanted to understand what players loved
07:33 about these stories and these characters
07:35 and these adventures, and have two games that are companion
07:38 pieces.
07:39 You can play them side by side, and they'll
07:42 have this beautiful art style, art direction,
07:45 and you can play them back to back.
07:47 It's going to be a really great way to experience the series.
07:50 And that ends this episode of The Last of Us Game Nights.
07:53 Matthew, thanks for joining.
07:54 It was so great to get your perspective
07:55 and look under the hood of this game.
07:57 It was great to be here.
07:58 Thank you so much.
07:58 All right, take care, everyone.
08:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:03 (((NO-SYSTEMS)))