The Last of Us TV showrunner claims original is the “greatest video game story ever told,” and the internet has thoughts
Sure, people like it, but is it the best ever?
Zack Palm 
Image via WarnerMedia
We’re weeks away from The Last of Us airing on HBO, and for the television adaption to be essentially the latest remaster for this highly acclaimed video game. Ahead of the launch, showrunner Craig Mazin was interviewed by Empire Magazine and was quoted as saying: “It’s an open-and-shut case: this is the greatest story that has ever been told in video games.” Although The Last of Us video game is critically acclaimed with a 95 Metacritic score, not everyone agreed with this statement a decade after the game was released.
The quote was shared in a preview of Mazin’s interview with Empire, but that didn’t stop some viewers from having issues with it being crowned as the end-all-be-all video game story, especially given many of the tales that came out of games from this year. We had shining examples from many game-of-the-year contenders, such as FromSoftware’s complex background storytelling in Elden Ring or the complex emotional journey many went through in God of War Ragnarok.
Related: The Last of Us TV Show on HBO gets its first teaser trailer
Fans also brought up other video game titles that have appeared throughout the years, such as Ghost of Tsushima, another PlayStation-exclusive title, A Plague Tale, and Red Dead Redemption 2, to name a few.
Mazin expanded on his quote, telling Empire that it was because the characters in the story were grounded and weren’t using any superhero powers. The Last of Us is a story about ordinary people up against an extraordinary threat who are trying to survive this challenging endeavor with very little hope of making it out alive.
With less than a month before it releases, we’ll be able to find out for ourselves if this adaption starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie can be as critically acclaimed. The Last of Us television show will be streaming on HBO Max on January 15, 2023.
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