Here's Everything We Learned From The Last Of Us Part II's E3 Presentation

Sometimes it's so good to see a familiar face. Tonight at Sony's E3 showcase, the publisher opened with an in-depth look at The Last Of Us Part II, offering the world a glimpse of how the sequel will actually play, as well as Ellie's whereabouts. There was a lot to unpack from this 12-minute trailer. If you want to watch the trailer for yourself, here you go:

With that out of the way, here's everything we noticed from the trailer:

• When the scene opens, we see an older Ellie. It's not quite clear how much older, but she seems to be an adult now. She has a friend named Jesse and a romantic interest named Dina/Dena.
• Jesse refers to Ellie's "old man" at one point, implying that Joel is alive at this point in the story. We did not see Joel during the demo.
• After a brief dance and some liplocking between Ellie and Dena, the game cuts away to a different scene, probably ahead in time, with Ellie stalking and avoiding enemies in a swampy area.
• These foes, apparently cultists of some kind, seem smarter than the already smart enemies from the original game. They whistle to one another and have search patterns that aren't easy to read when they're searching for Ellie.
• Cover is more than just cover. At one point, Ellie crawls under a truck, using it to hide. This happens not as a cutscene but as a direct action from the player.
• The action is incredibly fluid. At one point, Ellie runs through grass, picks up a bottle mid-spring and throws it at a foe's face, shattering it and making them miss their shot.
• Though this can obviously change before release, the UI and menus from the first game look to be the same here as far as health and the quick-access menu go.
• The brutality of combat from the first game is enhanced here, with bone-crunching blows from hammers and axes cutting through necks, spraying the area in blood.
• In one scene, Ellie grabs a foe and uses them as an arrow shield in a way that suggests this is a mechanic you can do throughout the game.
• In the original game, when you picked up ammo and arrows, it was quick movement, with the character stuffing ammo laying neatly on the ground in their pockets. The action seems to be a little more realistic here, with Ellie literally pulling an arrow out of a corpse to stuff in her quiver.
• An arrow strikes Ellie. A few minutes later, after reaching safety, she yanks it out of her arm. This seems like a mechanic too, not a cutscene, possibly an action you have to do to replenish health or use health items.
• The crafting system is expanded, with plenty of options. For the demo, Ellie crafted an explosive arrow and used it to smear an enemy across the shop as a thick red paste.

For more on The Last Of Us, be sure to check out our review of The Last Of Us Remastered.