Thoughts on Ellie's redesign in TLoU: Part 1

[Bartholen]

The (egregiously priced) remake of The Last of Us came out some time ago under the name The Last of Us: Part 1. There's not much to say about it, it's just TLoU again with much prettier graphics. One instantly noticeable thing this shift has brought are some slightly changed character looks. Tess looks a bit more haggard and older, which makes sense. Bill actually looks a bit more spry IMO, with pronouncedly less dark circles around his eyes.

But easily the most noticeable of these is Ellie, who looks decidedly different. Having watched a stream of this game, I was surprised at how much this redesign seemed to affect my perception of the character. And I'm left kind of torn on it overall, bouncing between points against and for each design.

• One one hand this change makes sense. They wanted to make part 1 Ellie to look closer to how she looks in part 2. There was also the whole "she's just Ellen (Eliot) Page" thing with the original, so I guess they'd want to avoid that the second time round. But on the other hand this design looks decidedly different, which raises a whole discussion about art preservation and which version will be considered the "definitive" version in the future.
• You could already tell in part 2 that it was clearly Ellie from the original, just grown up, so you can ask if making this new design look closer to that was even warranted.
• Ellie's design in the original had a distinctly childlike look, which reinforced the whole "innocence in the face of horror" aspect of her character. I don't get much of an innocent vibe from the new Ellie, she seems way more harsh, sad and jaded. But on the other hand that makes complete sense considering the world she lives in and what she's been through. And a lot of teenagers' faces are at some point in that awkward spot between looking like an adult and a child (like having an adult's face on a teenager's body), and this design captures that perfectly.
• But again, Ellie's entire character arc in part 1 is a coming of age story where she becomes more self-reliant and confident, so a more childish design fits that kind of story better IMO. With this new Ellie moments like her handing Sam the robot toy take on a much sadder undertone, coming across as less sincere and more like putting on a happy face. It's a pretty significant difference considering Ellie and Joel's dynamic is supposed to be all about him being the jaded cynical grump contrasted with her more bright-eyed demeanor. With this new version they feel more like a cynic and a slightly lesser cynic.

What d'yall think?

 

[Casual Shinji]

I mean, it's the same young Ellie face from the start and flashbacks of TLoU2, so this redesign has been around for the last two years.

Ellie looks fine, and in some scenes really great (with the lighting). Her original face was more doll-like since that was the best way to convey childlike features with the technology available. But now, just like with Sarah, they can create realistic yet recognizable childrens faces. At first I was kinda put off by Sarah's redesign, but as soon as I saw her in the game she looked fine.

The thing that bothered me were the lack of redesigns on some faces like Sam and especially Riley's. They still look like the more simplified original designs, and it really makes it stand out against Ellie's realistic features. Kinda sucks Naughty Dog didn't put the effort into really sprucing them up. What was also a bit weird was Maria's hair colour, which in the original and the sequel was a lot lighter, but in this "remake" has been darkened up for some reason.

 

[Bartholen]

I mean, it's the same young Ellie face from the start and flashbacks of TLoU2, so this redesign has been around for the last two years.

Huh. Well I'll be damned. Didn't remember that at all. Not surprising though, I haven't thought of that game in 2 years, and younger Ellie shows up for all of 2 minutes. I think the point still stands, as seeing the redesigned Ellie in the same scenes we saw her previous iteration does affect how those scenes come across.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Huh. Well I'll be damned. Didn't remember that at all. Not surprising though, I haven't thought of that game in 2 years, and younger Ellie shows up for all of 2 minutes. I think the point still stands, as seeing the redesigned Ellie in the same scenes we saw her previous iteration does affect how those scenes come across.

Yeah, but those two minutes were still better than what we got to see of older Ellie. *sigh*

It's going to affect it regardless since things look visually different, but the change in face itself didn't change the character or the scenes. Not for me anyway. The only time a scene felt different was the very final shot of Ellie's face, where in the original it looked dejected in the new version it looks suspicious. But that has less to do with the redesign and more with simply the expression they gave her for that scene.

By the way, that link you posted of Ellie's face is actually her face from TLoU2, and in that one scene it does look slightly weird. And it is just that one scene, because every other time we see young Ellie in TLoU2 she looks great. I do think they tweaked both her and Joel's face ever so slightly going from the sequel to the remake.

 

[laggyteabag]

Disclaimer: I haven't actually played the game.

If I were to sit there and look at both pictures side by side and compare, I would certainly find some differences. But outside of that specific isolated scenario, I really don't think that I would notice when playing the game. From the image that you posted, the TLoU1 Remaster Ellie looks enough like Ellie always has in my brain, so there is absolutely no issue for me.

But hey, if Halo Wars 1 and Halo Wars 2 are anything to go by, it could have been much weirder,

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

I didn't notice any difference when playing, other than a lot more pronounced expressions. Was weird cause the preview screenshots gave the impression of various changes, and even the desaturation doesn't seem to make an obvious appearance in game, as there's still plenty of colour about, perhaps even more with the HDR doing its thing too.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I didn't notice any difference when playing, other than a lot more pronounced expressions. Was weird cause the preview screenshots gave the impression of various changes, and even the desaturation doesn't seem to make an obvious appearance in game, as there's still plenty of colour about, perhaps even more with the HDR doing its thing too.

Yeah, the previews and promotion material made it look a lot more washed out than it does when it's actually running on your screen, and I don't even have HDR. The game manages to make everything look really dank and drenched while still keeping a very good colour contrast.

 

[BrawlMan]

Ellie's look was the least of my problems with this "remake".

 

[CriticalGaming]

It is a little jarring whenever a character goes through a redesign, no matter the media.

Hell even a recasting of a actor for the same role can jar people. Batman knows this a lot because you've had several actors play the character and every time a new actor is announced the audience cringes until the move actually comes out and people see the job the new guy did.

It's harder with long-term designed things as well. Imagine a new actor playing Wolverine after nearly 20 years of Hugh Jackman killing the role. The new actor will probably be fine, but it's going to be uncomfortable for a while.

When you have the image of a character in your for a long time like Ellie from TLOU or the more recent issue with The Little Mermaid being a black girl now. You are always going to have people complain because these characters have existed in people's heads for a long time and there is a set appearance with out people expect the characters to look. People don't really like change so when you change a character too much it breaks people sometimes.

Ellie's new design is fine, and the same for that girl playing the Mermaid I am sure she'll do a fine job with the role (though the rest of the movie might be a bunch of piss in the ocean). So it's just a matter of getting over the shock, and it shocks you more when you care about the character, as we did with OG Ellie from part 1.

 

[BrawlMan]

The new actor will probably be fine, but it's going to be uncomfortable for a while.

Not me. As much as I love the guy, it's going to happen at some point. Before Hugh Jackman, the voice actor for Wolverine (who sadly passed away in the late 2000s if I remember correctly) during the 90s X-Men animated series I was so used too listening, it was jarring seeing somebody else play the character when I was a kid. It didn't take me too long to adjust though.

when you care about the character, as we did with OG Ellie from part 1.

I admit that I didn't care too much for the character, nor Joel. I had nothing against her, and Ellie had a nice arc, but she really didn't do much for me even back then. What didn't help, in my case at least, was that I've already seen plenty of variety of bad ass girls and women. Most in their own way or fashion. That number is only gotten bigger since then.

 

[Terminal Blue]

Honestly, her old design weirds me out a bit.

Like, I don't think the character's age is actually stated, but she's meant to be a teenager, right? Her old design just looks overly neotenic (I'm trying to avoid saying moe) in a way that I find a little uncomfortable because it feels manipulative.

Like, as someone who doesn't have children, never wants children and has had surgery to ensure I never will have children, I still feel a strong motivation to protect children from harm. I don't think you need to try so hard to elicit that feeling.

 

[BrawlMan]

Her old design just looks overly neotenic (I'm trying to avoid saying moe).

It's partially why the Japanese love Ellie so much.

​

 

[Samtemdo8]

Ellie's look was the least of my problems with this "remake".

I gave it an honest look and yeah it is a leap.

 

[BrawlMan]

I gave it an honest look and yeah it is a leap.

Still unnecessary and not worth the $70+. The PS4 version is still available, cheaper, and comes with all of the extra bonuses and DLC. The fact the Definitive Edition was charged at $60 when the game first launched, is a case of Sony learning nothing, but how to exploit the consumer even more.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Still unnecessary and not worth the $70+. The PS4 version is still available, cheaper, and comes with all of the extra bonuses and DLC. The fact the Definitive Edition was charged at $60 when the game first launched, is a case of Sony learning nothing, but how to exploit the consumer even more.

What I don’t understand is why they don’t just charge people who already have the PS3/4 versions a highly discounted price if they so choose to upgrade to the PS5 version, like they do with new releases in general. People who never had a previous version of the game on their account are the only ones they have any business charging full price to.

This goes for any console maker, really.

 

[Bartholen]

Like, I don't think the character's age is actually stated, but she's meant to be a teenager, right? Her old design just looks overly neotenic (I'm trying to avoid saying moe) in a way that I find a little uncomfortable because it feels manipulative.

Ellie's age is clearly stated to be 14 when the game starts, so she'd be 15 at the end. I can see the point about the "moe-ness", but I had classmates of that age in middle school whose faces still looked like children's. Puberty is different for all people. And this might be just me, but her design looking so childlike reinforces the worldbuilding. We get what kind of world we're dealing with when even this innocent-looking girl is swearing like a sailor and stabbing and shooting people left and right in order to survive.

 

[Casual Shinji]

What I don’t understand is why they don’t just charge people who already have the PS3/4 versions a highly discounted price if they so choose to upgrade to the PS5 version, like they do with new releases in general. People who never had a previous version of the game on their account are the only ones they have any business charging full price to.

This goes for any console maker, really.

That's really the core issue with this remake. The amount of people who have a PS5, but have never played this game is going to be below the 10%. Most people getting this remake will have bought the PS3 version, the PS4 version, AND taken the effort to track down a PS5, but for them it's still 'yeah no, cough up 70 bucks'.

Honestly, her old design weirds me out a bit.

Like, I don't think the character's age is actually stated, but she's meant to be a teenager, right? Her old design just looks overly neotenic (I'm trying to avoid saying moe) in a way that I find a little uncomfortable because it feels manipulative.

Like, as someone who doesn't have children, never wants children and has had surgery to ensure I never will have children, I still feel a strong motivation to protect children from harm. I don't think you need to try so hard to elicit that feeling.

I had this less with her design and more with her characterization. Ellie feels a bit too 'one of the boys' in how she's written. And there's nothing wrong with that ofcourse, but in a genre like this and in a videogame it comes across very eager to not scare off the 16 to 35 year old male demographic. 'She's a teen girl, but she's not into traditionally girly things, she's cool, right?' This doesn't make her a bad character by any means, it's just something I wish male writers in the industry would get over.

 

[BrawlMan]

'She's a teen girl, but she's not into traditionally girly things, she's cool, right?' This doesn't make her a bad character by any means, it's just something I wish male writers in the industry would get over.

Yet again this is something the smaller games and indie scene usually get right. Developers on this spectrum usually know what to do. If they want to make their character cute, they do it within reason. One of my new favorite characters right now is Annalyn.

 

[CriticalGaming]

'She's a teen girl, but she's not into traditionally girly things, she's cool, right?' This doesn't make her a bad character by any means, it's just something I wish male writers in the industry would get over.

I mean the setting in which the game takes place restricts things a bit. Make-up, hair products, cute clothes, and other "girlie" things are probably no longer in use as they aren't made anymore and frankly aren't practical when you need to run from a Fungus man at any given second. Those clothes did sort of appear in Part 2 during things like the dancing/kiss scene where they were dressed a little more comfortably but even then it was held within universe.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I mean the setting in which the game takes place restricts things a bit. Make-up, hair products, cute clothes, and other "girlie" things are probably no longer in use as they aren't made anymore and frankly aren't practical when you need to run from a Fungus man at any given second. Those clothes did sort of appear in Part 2 during things like the dancing/kiss scene where they were dressed a little more comfortably but even then it was held within universe.

That I have zero issues with; she looks as practical as this world allows. Even her behavior isn't obnoxious, it's just that it's another example of male writers being way too anxious to make a girl character that isn't into what the male audience is likely into. Naughty Dog has an issue with being too eager to make their characters likeable. Which at face value wouldn't seem like a problem at all, but it's important to write some disagreeable aspects to a character. I like Ellie, but she just kinda has that sense to her like she's tailor-made (for her age) to apeal to guys; someone who won't annoy the largely male demographic that plays this type of game.

Now granted, in the face of the horribly written character Ellie becomes in TLoU2, this is honestly a non issue for me now.