The Last of Us Part 2’s Working Guitars Sound Pretty Good, Actually

The Last of Us Part II is nearly here, and in some cases, it already is depending on where in the world you are located. As embargoes lift and more and more folks get their hands on the game, new details are sure to come out fast and furious, and while there is already plenty out there to consume about the latest and greatest Naughty Dog video game, here’s one delightful detail: there are working guitars out there that Ellie can actually play.

Now, I have not personally given the game a go as of yet as I was not the one to write our review. But it would appear that there are several instances of working guitars in the world of The Last of Us Part II, and Ellie can pluck out some tunes if the player so chooses. It would appear to be both a more robust system than expected while still not exactly being the same as playing an actual guitar by any means, but it is wild to me that players can strum on the PS4 controller’s touchpad to play songs. VG247 has even put up a video of Ellie playing a working guitar, running through simple covers of several different songs. You can check it out below:

While the working guitars are a nice touch, it’s been known that music itself would feature significantly in the sequel. For example, The Last of Us Part II recently released an extended commercial featuring a haunting acoustic cover of the song “True Faith” by the band New Order, and while it was generally received well, one sticking point about it, and something many fans noticed, was the fact that it was clearly reminiscent of another cover of the song by musician Lotte Kestner. This, it turns out, was not a coincidence, and Naughty Dog‘s Neil Druckmann has since apologized for not appropriately crediting the artist.

“Ellie’s rendition of ‘True Faith’ was inspired by Lotte Kestner’s haunting cover of the song,” Druckmann said. “Due to an oversight on our end, she wasn’t credited as intended. Our deep apologies — we are rectifying this ASAP. We hope that [Lotte Kestner] receives the recognition she deserves.”

The Last of Us Part II is set to release for PlayStation 4 tomorrow, June 19th. Because of time zones and the like, some places in the world already have access to the title, so be wary of spoilers. The Limited Edition The Last of Us Part II PlayStation 4 Pro bundle will release the same day. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the latest Naughty Dog title right here.

What do you think about what we’ve seen of The Last of Us Part II? Are you excited to play around with the guitars? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!