The Last of Us 2 finally launches on June 19, 2020 and will offer a much more open series of locations for Ellie to explore.
While the game won't be open-world, there will be opportunities for side objectives while moving through the world and events that can be entirely missed.
Read More: The Last of Us 2: Release Date, Leaks, Story Mode, Characters and Everything You Need To Know!
In the gameplay trailer below, the game's co-director Anthony Newman says "In this game, we've gone so far in making the level design open that there are actually entire story moments, entire combat encounters, full scripted sequences that you may completely miss."
"And there are things that we feel like, even though a portion of our player base may never see these things, the fact that when you do encounter them, you feel like you discovered them, it lends them this charm and this magic I think is unique to games that this happened to me, because of what I did and the place I explored to."
Expect plenty of "water-cooler" moments, but in an interview with IGN, director Neil Druckmann explained how the team isn't looking to pad out the experience.
"Here are some optional things you can go explore, some side stories, or you can go directly next to where you’re meant to go. It’s not padded, it has that pacing of the first game".