Highlights
- The Last of Us' Cordyceps infection sets it apart from other zombie media, making it more terrifying and unique.
- Ellie's immunity in The Last of Us doesn't define her as a great character, and she could easily be replaced without impacting the future of the franchise.
- Horizon's Aloy is invaluable to the franchise, with her genetic connection to Dr. Elisabet Sobeck and her potential for character development and interaction with the world.
The Last of Us’ Cordyceps infection is highly unique in a post-apocalyptic world that would otherwise be incredibly familiar to fans of most zombie media. Going up against undead individuals at increasing stages of infection between rabid, sprinting runners and hulking, fungi-plated bloaters, for instance, makes for much more terrifying journeys outside sanctioned quarantine zones. But where The Last of Us has had more of a profound effect is through Naughty Dog’s ‘man versus man,’ character-driven narratives, and how these characters’ struggles are punctuated in its dreadful setting.
That said, besides Ellie’s immunity playing a role in why she was meant to be significant in The Last of Us, it’s not why she’s such a great character. Her immunity hasn’t resulted in anything substantial thus far, largely due to Joel electing to take that opportunity away from her. Unless a cure somehow becomes possible in a sequel, Ellie could easily be replaced or have her story bookended with no impact on the future of the IP. Horizon’s Aloy, on the other hand, is a character that has been purposely woven into the richest lore of the franchise between Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, and Guerrilla might not be able to abandon her as a result.
The Last of Us Regurgitates Its Popularity Despite Brimming with Creative Potential
The Last of Us has been incredibly prominent as a mascot first-party franchise for PlayStation, which is startling due to the fact that The Last of Us only has two actual game installments aside from remasters and a remake. If any other studio or IP had done this it might be more clearly a cash-grab scenario or one that fans receive poorly, and although not everyone loves the idea of the same two games being thrown back into their faces, it’s a testament to how beloved The Last of Us is that some fans do genuinely get excited to see the same story again.
However, no matter how much fans adore The Last of Us’ characters, the franchise will eventually need to move on from Ellie as it will have hopefully done with The Last of Us Part 2. Indeed, fans have clung to Joel and Ellie and made them seem like inseparable elements of the IP, though that would be ridiculously inhibitory. Joel and Ellie have tremendous stories of grief and loss, but it isn’t as if their stories are exclusive to them.
Ellie’s immunity is perhaps exclusive to her character, for example, and yet her immunity isn’t why she’s an important character anymore. Some new protagonist could be introduced who is also immune if Naughty Dog wanted, but Horizon’s Aloy seems much harder to replace, at least aside from literal clone twins of her.
Horizon’s Aloy is Invaluable to the Franchise’s Main Entries
Aloy is written into the Horizon franchise as a clone of Dr. Elisabet Sobeck, and through that genetic relationship she is made undeniably foundational when it comes to uncovering secrets about the past or accessing parts of the Old World that only she can. The argument can now be made that other genetic clones may be found throughout the world like Beta, and perhaps one of these clones could end up usurping Aloy, but since they would all be twins and essentially clone troopers from Star Wars with unique upbringings, it would only make a difference in seeing what their upbringing was like.
Even if their unique backgrounds could be interesting to learn about, though, Guerrilla would need a fairly good excuse for substituting Aloy with one of her genetic twins and doing so for the sake of protagonist variety might not be enough. Either way, Guerrilla was smart to make Aloy as profoundly necessary in the Horizon franchise as she is, especially because it feels as if her character development still has a long way to go with many more influential characters to meet and locations to visit.
How Aloy might uniquely interact with the world of Horizon and how her connection to Sobeck could be reinforced is still in arguably elementary stages, and with Nemesis looming it would be a shame if Aloy’s development and significance in the world went unfulfilled. Meanwhile, The Last of Us could move on from Ellie and probably be all the better for it.
