Jackson Party transcript

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The following is the full transcript of "Jackson Party", the first Lost Level of The Last of Us Part II Remastered, including the introduction video and developer commentary. In-game dialogue is presented solely through on-screen subtitles, with no recorded voice lines.

Transcript

Introduction Video

[A video plays featuring Neil Druckmann, creative director of the game, as he addresses the player.]

Neil: You're about to play an unfinished level from The Last of Us Part II.

[The screen cuts to black. "LOST LEVELS" and "JACKSON PARTY" appear in bold white letters. The screen fades back to Druckmann.]

Neil: The reason we added this section is there are a few sequences, and we picked the three of the best ones that we cut from the game, you know, often we build a game that's much bigger than what ends up being the final product. They were months away from being finished, but we wanted to give you an insight of what it's like when we built the game, 'cause often, we have this whole thing constructed, and it doesn't have final art, or audio, or dialogue. And here, you get to see the building blocks of what it's like when we first string a bunch of these levels together. This is the intro to the first deleted level, and this one is the roughest of the three. We wanted to show more of how Jackson operates.

[Concept art of the Jackson dance scene, including Ellie and Dina dancing together, flash on screen.]

Neil: So, this is the festival where Ellie ultimately kisses Dina; this sequence would've come very late in the game as a flashback sequence while you're in the farm with Dina. And we wanted to show, what is the rest of Jackson doing? Um, and wanted to put on the stick, make it interactive. So you could see, when you're outside, there are all these, almost like, carnival games that you can play.

[Concept art of Dina holding a glass of alcohol, children dressed in winter clothing, and Jesse flash on screen.]

Neil: You could mix drinks, you could play with these kids that are playing a sort of clicker Marco Polo, sit down, listen to conversations. And all the different interactions were first or second pass, very, very early passes. The building blocks are there, but nothing is final. And ultimately, while we were very excited by this sequence—it's pretty fun and lighthearted—it just slowed things too much as we're barreling towards the end of the story at this point. So again, reminder: rough, missing audio, missing animation, missing gameplay tweaks, missing dialogue, but pretty representative of what it would've been. So, enjoy.

Overview

[The screen cuts to a close-up of Ellie's shaking hand while she stands in an alley in Jackson. She lets out a long exhale.]

Ellie: [Under breath] What the fuck is wrong with me?

[The camera pans up to Ellie as she opens a bottle of alcohol and chugs it.]

Ellie: Ahh, all right. Let's do this.

[The player is now in control of Ellie. As she turns the corner, she catches a glimpse of two people jogging down the adjacent path. The first developer commentary, titled "Overview", is found here. Interacting with the prompt plays the following audio clip featuring game designer Banun Idris.]

Banun: Originally, this level was going to transition us to Farm. We would go all the way through to the dance, where Ellie and Dina share their first kiss. Then we would play through Farm, and when Ellie plays the guitar at night, she would remember the Seth incident. So… the opening for this was a little tricky. We needed it to match at least a little what you might expect emotionally coming from prior beats, 'cause we were already purposefully disorienting you in time and space. Remember, you just came from this huge fight. To jump straight into it would've been a little too jarring. After some back and forth, we rooted it in Ellie's nerves, calling back to her hands shaking in the theater. But this time, for a much more innocuous reason we'll find out later, she's nervous 'cause she has a crush on Dina, who is the only reason why she's here at the dance.

Emotional Context

[Ellie continues following the path until she comes in front of a gate. Here, the second developer commentary can be found, titled "Emotional Context".]

Banun: Something we really wanted to do was highlight the way their lives had turned upside down since she went down this path. We had this idea of re-contextualizing all of our usual gameplay mechanics that were designed for really violent ends: the workbench, door bashes, throwable weapons, and even the infected, which is my personal favorite. Peppered throughout the level are moments of levity or shared history, all the while seeing how happy and mundane they all were before her huge revenge odyssey.

[Ellie goes through the gate, leading to the grounds of the town church where a festival is being held. Residents of the community populate the area as they share conversations, drink, and socialize around bonfires. Several attractions and stalls are set up as "Little Sadie" by Crooked Still plays in the distance from inside the church.]

The Milk Bottle Game

[Ellie approaches a nearby stall with a milk bottle game, where the player tosses balls at stacked glass milk bottles. The third developer commentary, "The Milk Bottle Game", can be found here.]

Banun: It is not a festival without one of these throwing games! This one of course uses our throwable system, where you're often chucking explosive things or stunning things, but for a more wholesome purpose, although some people take this game really seriously. A fun aspect of this is if you did well, you could win a toy here. Ellie would place it in her pocket. If you had done this, you'd find the toy with JJ, the baby, later back at the farm. When we cut this, the toy made it through anyway 'cause it was so cute. It is the same one you see on the tractor at the farm: "Ollie" the elephant.

[Ellie plays the game and attempts to knock over three sets of stacked milk bottles using tennis balls.]

Male operator: Nice try, Ellie.

Ellie: Shut up, this game is rigged anyway.

The Makeup Artist

[Ellie leaves and approaches the face painting stand set up across from the milk bottle game, which is being run by Ellie's ex-girlfriend and tattoo artist, Cat. Next to her is the fourth developer commentary, titled "The Makeup Artist".]

Banun: The makeup artist is pretty simple. It's one of those little in-game scenes we peppered in to make it feel like Ellie had roots in the town. Halley, our writer, mentioned that, in her mind, an ex-girlfriend of Ellie's tattooed her arm to cover up her scar. So we figured this might be the only time you get to see that. We wanted to hint at it and allude to it and make you feel like there had been so much more that had been happening, and so much more that Ellie threw away.

[Cat calls out to Ellie.]

Cat: Hey Ellie, come sit.

Ellie: Cat.

[Ellie sits in the chair across from Cat as she begins to paint Ellie's face.]

Cat: How's that tattoo doing?

Ellie: It's fine. Does the job.

Cat: We should touch it up. Maybe I can add something else.

Ellie: Yeah, maybe.

The Drink Station

[Ellie gets up from the chair and a little girl replaces her spot. She continues walking around the party until she comes across tables set up with food and drinks. The fifth developer commentary, "The Drink Station", can be found next to the table with the drinks.]

Banun: We use our workbench a lot to make a lot of things that kill and maim and hurt people. Here, we had this silly idea of using the same feel, harkening back to the same animations, using the exact same UI, to instead, fix a drink. Like the workbench, you could pick your base, and then you could add something to it. And at the time, we had some different reactions from Ellie based on how strong you chose to make the drink. Something we wanted to prototype, though, before it got cut, was picking up some ingredients around to add, like a lime, or maybe a bottle of someone's favorite whiskey, or salt, like you were earning upgrades. We also toyed with having Ellie carry around the drink you made and occasionally sip it, psyching herself up to go talk to Dina inside, 'cause she's nervous. It got too noodly though, 'cause she would need to keep placing it somewhere before she did anything, so it would've ended up more trouble than it was worth.

[Ellie approaches the table and browses the options of alcoholic beverages.]

Ellie: Hmm…

[She mixes herself a drink and sips it, then sets the glass back onto the table.]

Ellie: That was actually pretty good. Even if I do say so myself.

[She leaves and approaches the nearby high striker game, and takes the hammer from the operator.]

Ellie: Step aside, people.

[She swings the hammer. If the player manages to successfully hit the bell, Ellie will make the following remark as she hands the hammer back.]

Ellie: Aaand that's how it's done.

[If the player fails to hit the bell, Ellie will instead make the following remark.]

Ellie: Nuts!

The Clicker Game

[As she continues to explore the party, Ellie approaches a group of children playing a game resembling tag where one of them is imitating a clicker while the others hide. Next to them by some stacked coolers is the sixth developer commentary, "The Clicker Game".]

Banun: This is one of my favorite sections because I think that it achieves both the slice of life aspect of Jackson, while also being a stark reminder of how dark the world that they live in really, really is. To attract attention and curiosity, one of the kids was supposed to make this adorable, messed-up little clicker impression [Chuckles] and the others would giggle. We tried a version where if you got close enough, the kid might try to follow you a little before turning back. Since clickers are blind and move by echolocation, for this game of messed-up tag, Ellie must close her eyes and listen for when the children give themselves away. The thought was that these kids are in relative safety. They still grow up with the dangers of clickers and runners, and all those lessons would embed themselves in the games that they play. When the festival got cut, they tried to preserve this moment and move it to the front of the game, where the snowball fight is, as a tutorial. However, being in the headspace of a clicker doesn't really teach you how to deal with them. Eventually, it evolved and they instead made the snowball fight, which was, I think, way more effective. For me, it's character-illuminating that not only does Ellie know this game, she plays along. There's a familiarity with the kids that's really nice to see, especially 'cause it's such a difference from the Ellie we see later who has a sort of hollow normalcy that she's trying to get with JJ, but kind of fails.

Female child 1: [Imitating clicker sounds]

Child 2: [Giggles]

Child 3: Shhh!

Ellie: Oh, they're playing Get the Clicker!

[Ellie approaches the kid imitating the clicker and playfully picks her up from behind.

Ellie: Aaand gotcha! Hah!

[The kid struggles in Ellie's arms before letting her down. She turns around and points at Ellie.]

Female child 1: Hey, fuck you, Ellie! You're not even playing!

Ellie: I am now!

[Ellie starts tickling the kid, causing her to laugh uncontrollably, albeit without any animation.]

Child 2: Clicker down!

Child 3: Yeaaah!

Child 4: Oh no, she got bit!

Ellie: What are you talking about? I'm fi—Oh, no! [Begins imitating a clicker]

Child: Hide, she's infected!

[Ellie closes her eyes and continues to imitate a clicker while listening for the kids to give themselves away (by the player using listen mode).]

Ellie: Got you—!

Child: Get her!

[A pair of kids jump on Ellie's back and tackles her to the ground.]

Ellie: Okay, okay, you win!

The Party Couple

[Ellie gets up and leaves while the kids go back to playing the game. While exploring the rest of the party, she peeks into a secluded area in the corner of the party, where the seventh and final developer commentary can be found, titled "The Party Couple". There, she finds two teenagers sharing a kiss next to a bush.]

Banun: There is a hidden spot at the back that was just a bit of fun. It was highlighting Jackson's normalcy with something we would find in our real world. In the back, you would find teenagers finding some alone time with each other in a dark corner of a party. It was rewarding the player for peeking into a hidden corner, but ultimately redirecting them back to the festival. We also had versions of them smoking weed here despite Maria's consternation, probably having gotten it from Eugene.

[The couple are alerted of Ellie's presence and turn around.]

Male resident: Oh, hey, Ellie, um…

Female resident: I'm gonna go get a drink.

Male resident: Yeah, I'll go, uh, mingle.

[The two partygoers head back to the festival, having their alone time interrupted by Ellie. Later, Ellie approaches the entrance of the church, where Maria can be found standing outside. The two greet each other and share a hug, Tommy then walks up from behind Ellie and does the same. He opens the door for her and she enters the church, where a dance is being held. Tommy shuts the door behind her and the screen fades to black.]

Notes

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