In the latest detail that game co-director Anthony Newman revealed, he said that the companions in the upcoming video game sequel The Last of Us Part II will be more flexible and helpful in combat.
The Last of Us Part II improved companions in the journey
Newman said that the companion AI has vastly improved compared to the first version in the original game. Players will be able to notice that they will be more helpful in combat and have more flexibility.
In the past, in order to compensate for the AI in the original game they would have to be invisible to the human and infected enemies and only the controlled characters will be detected. There is no confirmation that this has been improved in the sequel, but Newman did say that there are improvements to friendly AI characters and their behavior in combat encounters.
Here’s his statement:
I think, as you may have noticed in the first part of the demo interacting with Dina, our allies can do a lot of pretty exciting new stuff where they can get stealth kills independently. They have their own pretty nuanced melee system where they can interact with enemies in melee and also help you out and rescue as they did in the first game. They’re a little bit more flexible and nuanced this time around.
Newman also hinted that the amount of time that players will be controlling Ellie alone during her journeys compared to the time she will be together with a partner. He did not say anything more specific, but he did confirm that allies are very important in Naughty Dog games.
I can’t get too much into the exact ratio of time you spend alone. I’d say the game is definitely a blend of being by yourself as you were in the second part of the demo, and being with an ally. Allies are at the core of Naughty Dog games. We get a lot of great stuff out of them in terms of this back and forth as you were pointing out.
The game will launch exclusively on PlayStation 4. It will be available on February 21, 2020.
Source: GameSpot