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The Last of Us Part 1 intro and the magic it exudes

This may not reveal anything new to anyone, or at least most of you reading these words, but be clear: The Last of Us Part 1 is a masterpiece. We’re not just facing a title he got create unique momentsbeing such that the moment of giraffes are already iconicbut also continues to maintain the type after its featured sequel issues that weren’t in the original.

The title alone The naughty dog has moments that not only leave you in silence watching all that happened, but even they become overwhelming faced with the powerlessness of seeing what is happening at certain times on the screen and not being able to do anything because The Last of Us team decided this cutscene would be like this.

However, despite the fact that the entire game has authentic momentazoswhat is certain is that the intro to The Last of Us deserves a separate mentionsince, without too much hesitation, I could say that we are facing the best 15 minutes of opening a video gamesince in the time it takes to prepare a dinner party, Naughty Dog summed up the whole premise of the game.

And that is precisely why, before the imminent arrival of its remake, which will take the form of The last of us part 1I want to talk to you about this start of the 2013 title, because I consider it to be as memorable a moment as it has been The Last of Us Part 2 finale. And in case anyone has any questions about this: there will be spoilers.

A normal life destined to break

Although all previous trailers have shown us a fight for survivalthe first minutes of The last of us part 1 is the antithesis of what is to come, for before the onset of the nightmare that would devastate mankind, we present Joel and Sarah as two normal people.

There is nothing remarkable about this, since Joël is someone who is looking for a job and who needs money.

while Sarah is his beloved daughter and the person he appreciates the most Joel in the world. There is nothing that distinguishes them. Nothing special. They’re just father and daughter with whoever tries Make ends meet. And it is in the simplicity that we discover the brilliance on the part of The naughty dog.

However, the the tragedy is what marks The last of us part 1we can therefore imagine that this situation will not lastthus giving rise to the fact that after finding out, in a joking tone, that his daughter was selling drugs, Joel and Sarah fall asleep after celebrating the protagonist’s birthday. happy last birthday.

Sarah’s memory never died

The latter is not accidental, since the way the game of materialize Joel’s regret for the past is reflected in the fact that this he keeps the watch Sarah gave him, it’s the last thing his daughter gave him. And it must be said that it is not something that limited to first gameso that in The last of us part 2 could be found in his room after Joel and Abby went golfing.

After this analogy which avoids spoiling the second part, there is nothing left to say about what happened after this father and daughter meeting, since we go from one moment of everyday life to another of uncertaintythis being something that is not done in a banal and vague way.

On the contrary, The last of us part 1 he is doing a very smart thing by abandoning us sarah’s controlfrom the first minutes of tragedy that will end society we see it from a child’s point of view. That’s why, despite being at homeSarah walks in fear so much for the news he sees, the distant explosions and can’t find joel.

The first death at the hands of Joel

and after that uncertaintythe game shows us how the situation gradually becomes more and more tensearriving at his final colophon when, after reuniting with his father, Sarah sees how he shoots his neighborJimmy Cooper, who unbeknownst to him was already infected with the cordyceps.

Nail death more than necessarysince despite walking by itself, Jimmy Cooper was already deadhis only goal being to die definitively or infect others. In this direction, Joel even trembles. He had to be tough to protect his daughter, but it was only the first of many deaths needed to to survive.

However, it is nothing more than the materialization of two of the key principles of The last of us: the human drama there the fragility of lifethis being something that continues to be seen in the following minutes as we see Tommy, Joel and Sarah looking for a safe place. And we know it’s all seen from the a child’s point of view.

Selfishness in times of crisis

I always said that The Last of Us is the most realistic vision of an end of the worldbecause although many films try to capture the union of the human race for the common good, the truth is that the panorama seen in to the Naughty Dog saga This is much more in line with what we see in real life: in an emergency, everyone looks through their navel

.

And it is something that is also seen when, going down the road, Joel pushes Tommy not to take on a familybecause after what he saw all he cares about is protecting sarah. And all this despite the fact that Sarah and Tommy point out that this family had one child.

It is at this point and as the plot progresses that They give us brushstrokes of what we will see in the gamesince this way of acting Joel This is the one we will see later, because if you have to leave someone behind it is not Elijah to save himself, he will. In fact, the only reason to protect someone is for mutual benefit. There is nothing left. It’s the game’s way of showing that his humanity crumbles.

The end of the world

Right now we’ll be barely 10 minutes out of the 15 that this intro lasts, but so far we’ve been able to see tension, uncertainty, fear and selfishness. However, the worst is yet to come, because on arriving on the highway and seeing that everyone is trying to run away is when chaos breaks outwhen a driver exits his vehicle and is attacked by an infected.

This leads to Tommy turns aroundlucky enough to be able to escape as soon as we arrived, but unfortunately all the people caught in the traffic jam are destined to die victims of the infected. Each time the tension rises and it brings them to a small town where disaster is comingsince a traffic accident obliges them to continue on foot with a Sarah who can’t walk.

It’s at this point where, with explosions in between, Tommy, Joel and Sarah fall into despairtaking the protagonist’s brother to shoot everyone not knowing exactly what is going on. All this with a Sarah cries and trembles in her father’s arms.

It’s no use: Joel dies

It is at this point that, with the cover of tommywho first seems to sacrifice himself so that his brother and niece survive, Joel and Sarah manage to reach the quarantine zone.

. However, it is there that, fleeing a infected They are saved by a soldier.

It is at this moment that we think that It’s finish there you are safeBut this despair I was talking about earlier has spread faster than cordyceps itselftaking this to clarify the commands: kill anyone who tries to enter the safe zone.

Joel’s character dies along with Sarah the night the outbreak began.

You can already imagine the result, since this fact leads to Sarah physically dies unwittingly covering his father. However, the point here is that Joel also dies. Your body can move, but events tonight have led to Joel symbolically diesgiving rise to the birth of the character that we end up meeting in the game: a Joel with no other goal than to survive.

In fact, the title does a very clever thing at this point, because we have a brief shot of tomny tambaléandose in the face of the impotence of seeing her niece die. And without further ado fade to black and the title The Last of Us.

The Last of Us and Forgiveness

With all the above, it can be considered as Dog Nautghy materialized a perfect summary of The Last of Us in only 15 minutesnot only in the playable realm, but the story also features these elements: tension, despair, sadness, loss of uncertainty.

Are all the notes that define what is the last of usa story that far from focusing on killing zombies, focuses on its characters and their relationships. A story that deals with the human drama and how the fragility of our principles can crumble.

It is precisely for this reason that with the music of the greats Gustave Santaolalla in the background we woke up 20 later with a character who is far from being the Joel we knew. On the contrary, the protagonist we see is rude, gets angry easily and has only one goal: to survive. It’s a broken character.

Ellie is Joel’s second chance to get it right. Forgive yourself for not saving Sarah

It ends up turning perfectly when meeting Elijahsince, although taking it with the The fireflies start like a racethe relationship formed by these two characters allows Joel want to Elijah As if it was Sarah, protecting him no longer for payment, but as a way to redeem himself for failing his biological daughter. To not keep her safe.

And it’s there the prologue and the end are linked and are in perfect synchronicitysince what we can see from Joel is a man who not willing to lose a girl a second time and by the same infection, this being something the the title manages to convey to the player.

For all that has been said, what it conveys, what it symbolizes and what it drives forward, I can only see this moment and not applaud, but stay quiet. Because, like many things in life, Sarah is dead. And we can’t do anything to prevent it.