Storytelling in Video Games: An Analytical Approach to Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II

This thesis investigates how video games tell stories, and if video games can be analyzed in the same way as we would analyze a literary work of fiction. To answer these questions, I will start by investigating the field of ludology and look at the ludology vs narratology debate that occurred in 1999 where there was a lot of disagreement between both fields when considering how one should analyze a game. I will also look at how the narrative in a video game is structured. My main source for this investigation will be Naughty Dog’s, The Last of Us Part II. To analyze this game, I am combining Konzack and Malliet’s layer theories which considers different aspects of storytelling in video game…