I just wrapped my first foray into The Last of Us Part 1 and moral ambiguity is what is sticking with me.

Before I continue, I want to leave a spoiler warning for anyone who hasn’t played the game or seen season 1 of HBO’s adaption. I have not played Part 2 or seen season 2 so please keep that in mind as well.

The Last of Us has overwhelmingly impressed me in many ways from its rich world to its complex characters. Its storytelling is some of the best I’ve seen in gaming despite its simple premise.

The game’s conclusion is what has left me with a lot to think about. Upon first experience, I thought it a bit anti-climatic. I spent the entirety of the game getting Ellie to the Fireflies only to have Joel change his mind.

The beauty of this ending is it leaves you something to chew on long after you view the credits. As I pondered this ending, I began to better understand it. This game is an exploration of human nature.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the zombie apocalypse genre and focus on the violence and survival aspects of those worlds.

It’s important to note that the original released in 2013, during the height of The Walking Dead‘s run. TWD explored similar ideas albeit in a more drawn out fashion. There are a lot of similarities with the show thought there are a lot of crucial differences.

One key similarity is the focus on the characters. The Last of Us develops these characters in remarkable fashion. We see both Joel and Ellie grow as they experience the untamed world between Boston and Salt Lake City.

Despite the post-apocalyptic nature of the game, there is still a high level of relatability as I constantly found myself asking, “What would I do in this situation?” Having this level of relatability usually yielded two answers: what I would do and what I should do.

The fact that the game is able to do that makes the ending so good. It’s easy to look at Joel’s decision to save Ellie as selfish act that just doomed the human race. It’s also easy to understand and agree with his choice because it embodies human nature and the need for connection and family.

It really is the trolley car scenario — a choice between saving one person and letting five die or saving five by killing the one — played out in video game format. This choice, however, isn’t confined to static characters, it’s about human beings.

Ellie grows into a daughter-figure for Joel, something that is welcomed after Joel lost Sarah early in the game. We could go deeper and point out that the Fireflies needed a win after so much failure, an extremely human emotion. You could go to the human nature of Ellie not only being the potential cure, but a human girl with a potential future in this new world.

Tommy’s dam settlement shows what humanity can do when it comes to making a life for itself amid a dark situation. Again, human nature is everywhere in this game.

That’s why these choices and instances become gray and ambiguous, because human beings are not simple. The Last of Us does a remarkable job at highlighting that and reminding us that even in a post-apocalyptic world, human nature often prevails.

To me, it is this exploration of human nature that really made the game memorable. The Last of Us is a strong case in favor of the idea that video games can be art.

What about you? What did you think about the human nature factor in The Last of Us? Where do you stand on Joel’s decision at the end of the game? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment (via Game Rant)

Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast about Video Games

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