Dev explains why they didn’t include Prone or Dodge in ‘The Last Of Us Part 1.
Part I will be released in just days. Since the announcement, fans have been speculating on everything, from the revamped graphics to the new combat. The game has received positive reviews. My own review gave Part 1 nine out of ten. I wrote that “fans will not find any better way to enjoy this story, and new players will find a new favourite.”
As many others, I was shocked to learn that The Last of Us Part II didn’t include the dodge and prone mechanisms. It’s a controversial exclusion, but Matthew Gallant, the game director, explained why it was not included in the remake.
A dev said that adding prone would have “just broken the gameplay.” This was a common excuse, but it wasn’t. Gallant explained that dodge and prone were added to Ellie’s fighting style, which is much more agile than Joel’s. The introduction of the Part 1 functions could have helped to “avoid some of the tension” caused by Joel’s limited skill set.
“When we thought about dodge and prone in the Last of Us Part 1, we knew that the feeling of Joel was important and we added dodging and prone to achieve this goal. Gallant stated that The Last of Us Part II was designed to make you feel like Ellie. “She’s a young lady who has very different abilities and techniques to help you get ahead of enemies […]. We wanted that side to feel like Ellie and Joel to feel like Joel.”
Gallant said, ” Part 1 was designed very holistically. Joel’s Clicker toolkit has many interesting strategies and tradeoffs. Some of those would be subverted if Joel could simply dance and dodge away. It would remove some of the pressure of having Clickers bearing down on your face and you knowing that you have to take the right shot or stun it. […] We felt that we had to be careful not to lose that amazing experience of playing with these mechanics and Joel.
