Petition to remake The Last Of Us Part 2's story has an embarrassing number of supporters

Spoiler warning: this article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II. Yes, it’s that one big spoiler that you almost certainly already know about. If you don’t know what I’m talking about and don’t want to know, scroll away now.

The Last of Us Part II’s story immediately proved to be a swing and a miss for some fans, for one big reason. No matter how you slice it, no one is ever going to be thrilled about seeing a video game character they’ve grown to love get killed off in a sequel’s opening hours. It was a very bold move from Naughty Dog, I must say.

Take a look at Pedro Pascal modded into The Last of Us Part I below.

Joel’s death, although painful to watch, was the catalyst for the events of The Last of Us Part II. Without a reason for revenge, Ellie might have just chilled out in Jackson with Dina and her adoptive dad forever. Admittedly, that would have been a happy ending, but the second game couldn’t really have existed if that was the plot.

Despite the solid reasoning for his death, back at the game’s launch, an enormous amount of TLOU fans launched a petition to change the plot completely. Over on Change.org, the campaign to “remake the storyline of The Last Of Us Part II” accumulated a whopping 55,180 signatures in under a month before it was eventually closed on 15 July, 2020.

“The Last of Us Part II delivered excellent gameplay, great graphics, mechanics and phenomenal gunplay. However, the storyline was an absolute mess,” the campaign’s creator wrote. “They killed off our favourite character and forced us to use the character that killed off Joel[,] and we were supposed to connect to Abby throughout half of the game and the main character isn't even Ellie.

“We want Naughty Dog to remake the game with the scenes they provided at every trailer with Joel[,] and not rudely model swap him from flashbacks,” they continued. “We need a remake for the story or at least a DLC with a different ending. This was a massive disrespect for every fan of The Last of Us franchise that had to wait an entire seven years for the sequel. We deserve better than this, we paid $60 and we are entitled to make a change.”

Needless to say, the campaign wasn't successful, despite its impressive collection of signatures. Who knows, maybe Part II's TV adaptation might change some things around slightly? I highly doubt that poor Joel is ever going to escape his fate, though.