Speaking in an interview withThe Washington Post, Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckmann iterated that he has been intrigued byElden Ring’s storytelling techniques to helpThe Last of Us' worldbuilding over cutscenes and dialogues.
“I’m more recently intrigued by stuff like “Elden Ring” and “Inside” that doesn’t rely as much on traditional narrative to tell its story and is–I think there’s some–some of the best storytelling in “The Last of Us,” a lot of it is in the cinematics. But a lot of it is in gameplay and moving around a space and understanding a history of a space by just looking at it and examining it.” Druckmann elaborated on which parts of Elden Ring and Inside he has been inspired by to improve his own storytelling.
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Although Naughty Dog’s and FromSoftware’s use of storytelling techniques may be opposite in many ways, Neil Druckmann stated that he is drawing inspiration from the way Elden Ring’s game design always puts the player in the center of the screen. However, that does not mean Naughty Dog will change its own philosophy which heavily relies on environmental storytelling. “That doesn’t mean we will never have dialogue, or cutscenes, I think those are tools in your toolbox… And I think there’s a way to push that stuff forward, at least for the kind of games we make at Naughty Dog,” Druckmann said.
Druckmann believes that making use of dialogues and cutscenes is a crucial part of their storytelling. “our philosophy at Naughty Dog usually is like if it’s an action sequence, it should not be a cut scene. It should be on the stick. If it’s something that, again, you want to focus on someone’s face, well, that’s really hard to do in gameplay, not impossible, but often you have to remove their kind of game-play loops and mechanics that are connecting them to the character.”
When asked what he prefers to focus on first when creating a story, Neil Druckmann detailed his perspective on the subject, saying that he is interested in spontaneous stories without knowing where they are heading." I like some clear thematic ideas, some simple concept that everything could be strung on, hung on, whatever term you want to use."
Neil Druckmann is currently assuming the role of writer, executive producer, and creator of HBO’s The Last of Us TV series, which will premiere on July 07, 2025.
