The Last of Us Part II is a beefy game as it is, but that doesn’t mean it covers every possible caveat of its story. Some characters’ adventures are left up to the imagination, leaving plenty of room for happenings which can still be explored through downloadable story expansions. With all this in mind, we couldn’t help but come up with five DLC ideas that would make The Last of Us 2 even better.
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*
Lev and Yara’s Escape From the Scars
Lev and Yara have emerged as some of the fan-favorite new characters from The Last of Us Part II, but there’s still plenty of their story that remains unexplored; namely, how they escaped from the Seraphites.
The trek from the Seraphites’ island into Seattle is far from a short one, and it has clearly had an impact on them by the time Yara is captured alongside Abby.
Not only that, but they would have had to avoid detection or capture by the WLF, serving to turn the trek into a tense journey of stealth and survival.
This makes them prime candidates for being the focus of some DLC or even a small stand-alone game.
Players could step into the role of Lev and act as a master archer, guiding him and his sister through the dangerous warzone in stealth and combat-focused segments.
It would also offer up the chance to further flesh out the siblings’ relationship.
The two could share several conversations regarding the Seraphites, their dreams of what lies outside their island and insights into their religious beliefs, fleshing out their characters further while also expanding on the series’ lore as a whole.
Jesse’s Side of the Story
Jesse serves as a surprisingly likable member of The Last of Us Part II’s cast, though his time in the story – and the explanation for what he was up to before he’s introduced into it – is brief.
Aside from some brief info on being Ellie and Dina’s friend, and wanting to support Ellie in avenging Joel, not much light is shed on what he went through before and during the mission for revenge.
What he was up to before he showed up to save Ellie in one iconic scene, and how he saved Tommy when he split off from Ellie further into the story, were both pushed into the background while Ellie and Abby’s stories took center-stage.
Fortunately, this leaves these sections wide open for further exploration via an expansion.
Much in the same way Ellie and Dina pieced together the location of Abby’s friends, Jesse could be shown to have tracked his friends across the country toward Seattle.
Other states, and their level of post-apocalyptic chaos, could be explored and provide new stories through his eyes.
On the other hand, Jesse’s rescue of Tommy could be just as interesting.
How he makes his way through WLF territory, and how he managed to get Tommy to safety, could make for an adrenaline-pumping experience, and that’s to say nothing of the dialogue and exchanges he could share with Tommy post-rescue.
Abby’s Ill-Fated Jail-Break
If we’re being honest, The Last of Us Part II’s final stretch is one of its weaker parts, if only because the introduction of the Rattlers and their compound feels so rushed.
In the blink of an eye, players are introduced to a new faction of survivors who capture and enslave others to sustain themselves. Not only that, but Abby has been captured by this group and been pushed to the brink of death after a failed escape attempt.
It’s more than a little messy, but it does serve to open up an interesting avenue for some DLC.
Things like how the Rattlers were formed, and how they’ve managed to establish such a stranglehold on Santa Barbara, could be explored from Abby’s perspective after she’s brought to their compound through dialogue with other captured individuals and their journals.
On the gameplay front, players could be tasked with carrying out her doomed escape attempt. They could be tasked with making their way out of the compound sans-weapons, sneaking their way past guards and releasing Clickers to take out would-be pursuers.
Tommy’s Mission for Revenge
The Last of Us 2 isn’t without its share of unanswered questions by the time the credits roll, but one, in particular, opens up a wide array of DLC avenues: What was Tommy up to during most of the game?
A former Firefly and Joel’s brother, Tommy carved a bloody swath through the WLF in his pursuit of Abby and her friends.
On more than one occasion, Ellie and Dina find remnants of his carnage in the form of tortured or killed individuals, and Abby witnesses it first-hand when he kills Manny from long-range.
It all culminates in Abby eventually gunning Tommy down, forcing him to stop his pursuit of her due to some lasting injuries that nearly kill him.
It’s a bit unsettling to be sure, but it would also make for decent material to flesh out by putting players in Tommy’s shoes via DLC.
Making their way through WLF territory, and hunting down Joel’s killers one by one, would make for some intense and visceral gameplay segments tinged with guilt at the knowledge of their larger implications to Abby and her story.
There would also be plenty of thematic ground to be broken. How Tommy feels about Joel’s death, and the impact it has on him, could be explored via scenes with him or dialogue shared with himself or someone else.
The pain he felt, and whether or not he’ll ever be able to process it, could be put on full display and play into the wider narrative of the base game.
Joel’s Final Days
Joel’s time in The Last of Us Part II is brief – so brief, in fact, that there are a slew of questions left up in the air as to what he has been up to since the end of the first game.
For all of the scenes regarding his and Ellie’s falling out, and the hinted-at dulling of his vicious survival instincts, Joel’s life in Jackson is left largely to the imagination.
Was his time in the town really 100 percent peaceful? Were his fights against infected alongside Ellie out of the ordinary, or was he a go-to person in terms of clearing out nearby pockets of dangers to the town?
With a DLC expansion focused on him, these questions could be answered. Players could step back into the role of Joel for one last ride, clearing out infected near the town alongside Ellie, Tommy, or another survivor that might help illuminate what his time in Jackson was like.
Likewise, it could also explore his literal final days.
Players could take up control of him during the blizzard where he and Tommy are ambushed by hundreds of infected, smashing, and shooting their way to safety right up until they encounter Abby.
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