Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann Is Intrigued by Elden Ring's Storytelling

ign.com:

Uncharted and The Last of Us are known for their cinematic storytelling, but Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann is becoming increasingly fascinated with more subtle worldbuilding. Speaking to The Washington Post, Druckmann said he's inspired by FromSoftware's minimalist storytelling in last year's Elden Ring.

"I'm more recently intrigued by stuff like Elden Ring and Inside that doesn't rely as much on traditional narrative to tell its story," Druckmann said. "Some of the best storytelling in The Last of Us is in the cinematics, but a lot of it is in gameplay, and moving around the space, and understanding the history of a space by just looking at it and examining it. To me, right now, that's some of the best joy I get out of games that trust their audience to figure things out. [Games] that don't hold your hand, that's the stuff I'm really intrigued by going forward."

FromSoftware and Naughty Dog's game design philosophies are polar opposites in a number of ways, but both studios have seen huge success. Given Naughty Dog's knack for curated, cinematic experiences. It's interesting to hear that Druckmann is drawn to Elden Ring, which cuts the player loose and doesn't seem to care what story beats the player picks up on.

Fans of The Last of Us may remember sequences that lean more heavily on environmental storytelling. For instance, in the original game, players can piece together the story of a sailor named Ish by picking up optional notes in one of the game's levels. Even though Naughty Dog has dabbled in environmental storytelling before, it seems the studio may lean harder into the concept in future games.

"That doesn't mean we will never have dialogue, or cutscenes, I think those are tools in your toolbox... And I think