Game:

The Last of Us (2013)

Duration: 9:46

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This is the third segment of "The Rootwork Building: Interactive and Thematic Structure in The Last of Us."

PROJECT OVERVIEW: This video essay explores how The Last of Us uses game design to tell a fixed story. The game uses interactive structure to set a pattern that appears throughout the game's presentation. Understanding this pattern is important for understanding how the game tells its story. Understanding this pattern is also important for understanding the story itself.

INTERACTIVE STRUCTURE III: L3 PROMPTS, JOURNEY GOALS, AND PACING

In our third segment, we conclude our look at the game's interactive structure by considering its most minimal interactive feature. At set points during the game, players receive a prompt to press the L3 button. This orients the camera to a special feature in the environment.

Some L3 prompts orient players to practical pieces of information such as puzzle solutions; we call these Orientation Goals. Other L3 prompts orient players to non-practical pieces of information such as destinations far off in the landscape; we call these Journey Goals. These goals contextualize the characters' movement through the landscape. This discussion focuses primarily upon Journey Goals.

Journey Goals appear in association with Joel's and Ellie's relationship. The frequency of Journey Goals also reflects the status of their quest to get Ellie to the Fireflies. Over time, as the characters must choose between the quest and their responsibilities to each other, they independently act to save each other rather than maintain the quest. The Last of Us uses Journey Goals to communicate this gradual shift in their priorities as their personal relationship strengthens.

NEXT SEGMENT: THEMATIC STRUCTURE I

MEDIA NOTES:

* The title card music is "Vanishing Grace" (Gustavo Santaolalla) from the official soundtrack of The Last of Us. The OST tracks used in "The Rootwork Building" were all legitimately purchased and have not been licensed for the purpose of this video.

* Visual and audio media in this video was recorded from The Last of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony 2013).

* This video uses the public demo of "Headliner No. 45" by KC Fonts. This font is used here for personal purposes and does not violate the terms on which it was made available for download.

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