The first “The Last of Us” became a critically acclaimed video game and a commercial success when it was released in 2013. Fans from all around the world fell in love with Ellie and Joel’s journey through the post-apocalyptic world.

Sony announced a sequel to “The Last of Us” back in December during a PlayStation event, but so much mystery surrounds the project since Naughty Dog, the game’s developer, has not given much information on it since the initial announcement. The release date of the new video game, titled “The Last of Us Part II” has not yet been revealed.

The question is, how could Naughty Dog make “The Last of Us Part II” equal to or even better than the first game?

The multiplayer portion of “The Last of Us” was different from most of the usual multiplayer shooters available when it first came out. It focused more on tactical thinking and stealth than on action and keeping up a fast pace. Running into gun battles without being in cover or mindlessly shooting usually leads to death.

This multiplayer portion was great until they added weapons people had to buy with real money, which puts people who do not want to spend real money on these guns at a disadvantage, since they could only use the weapons if they bought it. Because this type of greed ruins the balance of the game and makes the multiplayer mode not as enjoyable, it should not happen in “The Last of Us Part II”.

The story of “The Last of Us” was a father-daughter type story. Even though Ellie was not Joel’s daughter, Joel took care of Ellie like she was his own. The first game thrived off of Joel and Ellie’s heart-touching relationship. However, the creative director at Naughty Dog announced in December that “The Last of Us Part II” is going to be about “about hate,” which is great to hear.

Focusing on Ellie and Joel’s relationship as they did in the first game will not cut it the second time around. It will be great to see the usually witty and loud-mouthed Ellie be more mature and serious in the next game.

Glitches and bad Artificial Intelligence characters also plagued the game. There were a few times where Joel would fall through the map, or Ellie would not help during a fight or fail communicate in optional conversations.

Instead of following the trend of most modern games where they will rush out the product without fully checking the game, those at Naughty Dog should make sure this game is as bug free as possible and the computer-controlled character does something other than stand there. This trend plagued Naughty Dog’s other popular game “Uncharted”, where computer-controlled characters would do nothing during gun fights, making game play harder than it needs to be.

The “The Last of Us” series means a lot to the fans. While Naughty Dog has a lot to live up to, they should not get overwhelmed. A lot of other video games that have to live up to great games that preceded it ended up failing because the developers assume they can make a sub-par game and it would sell because of the name alone, like “Mass Effect Andromeda”.

Naughty Dog has a great track of avoiding this issue, as most of their sequels are equal to or even better than their predecessor. “The Last of Us Part II” should be no different.