Naughty Dog, the team behind Uncharted and The Last of Us has been at the thief game for a long time. Uncharted is one of their staple series with Nathan Drake in the spotlight. They've made it unmistakably clear that Uncharted 4 was the end of Nathan's story. But that's not necessarily the end of the Uncharted series.
An entry to the idea of an Uncharted story that doesn't feature Nathan is being tested with the upcoming spin-off Lost Legacy by featuring Nadine Ross and Chloe Frazer on their own adventure.
Lost Legacy was planned as a sort of extra little gift for the fans, but it was originally a downloadable chapter that's since been expanded into a full game. Does this point to this concept branching out to become something bigger? Luckily, Eurogamer talked to Shaun Escayg, creative director, and writer on Lost Legacy, about this very question.
During the interview, Escayg was asked what the team is currently working on. After the announcement of The Last of Us 2, many would assume most of the team was on that project, but it turns out the entire team is working on Lost Legacy while The Last of Us 2 is being worked on on the side until the Uncharted title is finished. This makes Lost Legacy seem to be a bigger project than anticipated.
When asked about the title and its scope, Escayg stated that: "It doesn't have a number because we're over with the Nathan Drake story." But as they worked on fleshing out Chloe's story, they realized they had much more to tell, making it into a full-fledged game.
He was then asked if this meant the story of Uncharted could go on without Nathan Drake.
"I wouldn't say it's the end. This thieving world is huge. There's so many characters. Even before we settled on this particular story we were exploring Sullivan, we were exploring Cutter, and pairing each other up, thinking what would be right, what would have conflict, growth, something new, something fresh. And Chloe was the one that kept jumping out.
But to say the Uncharted world is done… I doubt that highly."
Later in the interview, the topic of other gaming trends came up. Naughty Dog has generally avoided fully open world games. When asked if they'd ever venture into that style of gameplay, Escayg said, "The future is uncertain there – we're always testing it. There's a segment in Lost Legacy similar to [Uncharted 4's] Madagascar where you can choose to explore and see different areas at different times, experience it differently. When we find a way to do things in an open world I think we'll definitely venture there at some point."
So if Uncharted is a personal favorite and Lost Legacy seemed tacked on, it may be time to reconsider that opinion, as it seems the full force of Naughty Dog is pouring their efforts into it. For those worrying about the end of the thieves, you may just have a surprise in your future.
