The Last of Us is currently Naughty Dog's most popular franchise. With HBO's The Last of Us adaptation and a new multiplayer game coming soon, there will be a lot for fans to enjoy before The Last of Us Part 3 comes out. However, it would also be great to have a prequel game in which players get to play as Joel again prior to the release of The Last of Us Part 3.
Joel is one of the most beloved characters in the franchise. Due to how much fans loved Joel in The Last of Us, many of them were incredibly disappointed when he died in the beginning of The Last of Us Part 2. Since the only way Joel could appear in a potential third game is through flashbacks, a prequel game leading up to the original The Last of Us would be a wonderful treat, especially because there has been so much left unexplored with his character.
Joel's Life After Sarah Died
The Last of Us begins the night the outbreak occurred, and Joel's daughter, Sarah, was one of the first people that died. This would forever change Joel, turning him into a fierce man that tried to avoid getting close to others. However, fans know that Joel spent a lot of time with his brother, Tommy, and that the two of them had committed some horrendous acts together.
It would be very interesting to play as a younger Joel during the darkest moments of his life, and see the person that he became after Sarah died. Seeing as how Tommy hasn't been playable in The Last of Us, this could also be the perfect time to allow players to control the other Miller brother. However, if this prequel were to cover all the major events in Joel's life between losing Sarah and meeting Ellie, Tommy probably wouldn't make it into the second half of the game, since he and Joel had a fallout that caused the two of them to not speak for years.
Joel's Friendship With Tess And Bill Could Be Explored More
The second half of the game could revolve around Joel's bonds with other people, such as Tess and Bill, two of the few people he cared about when he first met Ellie. Tess was Joel's closest friend since they had worked together a lot, but players didn't get to know Tess and her friendship with Joel very well, as she died early on in The Last of Us. By understanding the things that Joel and Tess went through together, Tess could become a much more interesting character and fans would be able to sympathize with Joel more when he loses her.
While Joel wasn't nearly as close to Bill as he was with Tess, their friendship could also be explored in a prequel game. It would be interesting to see how the two of them met and what they thought of each other during their first interaction, seeing as how the two of them didn't completely get along during the small portion of The Last of Us that Bill was in. Besides Tess and Bill, it would be interesting to learn about other parts of Joel's life prior to meeting Ellie that have never been brought up before. The game could end when Joel and Tess meet up at the beginning of the original game, or could even have an epilogue in which players see more of what Joel's life was like before he died. Either way, a prequel game starring Joel would make a lot of fans happy, and it would be great if Naughty Dog made it before releasing The Last of Us Part 3.
The Last of Us Part 1 is available now on PS5 and in development for PC.