Lost Legacy Chapters

[Henry Gallagher]

Nadinewas the secondary antagonist in Uncharted 4, initially providing a fun hate-at-first-sight relationship with Drake that included multiple MMA-style beatdowns. She was blunt, serious, militant, and wholly unlikable.

Much of that has changed for The Lost Legacy, as both women are given much more depth and nuance. Chloe was barely anything beyond a sultry Lara Croft knock-off, while Nadine abruptly walked away from the end of Uncharted 4 with very little recourse.

The story is centered entirely in India, with about three-quarters of it within a jungle tileset that may as well be the exact same lost island set piece as the latter half of Uncharted 4. While I enjoyed the breath-taking vistas, sun-dappled waterfalls, and hidden caverns and temples, it definitely felt like a retread. This is one occasion where playing an Uncharted game directly after the last one actually felt like a hindrance.

That chapter was a lot of fun, and like the rest of the game it was perfectly paced. My desire to explore and tackle the different bundles of baddies, traps, and platforming puzzles was perfectly satiated in the 2+ hours it took to complete it. Afterwards I was also glad to move on and return to the shorter, more linear, narrative-focused chapters for the rest of the journey.

Picture this: an open world Uncharted game in the style of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. A main hub area, Egypt for example, could be where the protagonist sets up shop as they take on main missions within the city, and then explore age-old riddles within the pyramids and the outskirts, follow up on rumours of treasures buried in the sand, and go on excursions to uncover more Egyptian history in their own time. You'd still go on globe-trotting missions through the main story as it takes precedent, but during a lull, an open world environment to go back to could provide some much needed distractions.

Do you agree with Liam? What were your overall thoughts on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy's open world chapter? And could you see the concept of a fully open world Uncharted becoming a reality? Let us know in the comments below.

Liam grew up with a PlayStation controller in his hands and a love for Metal Gear Solid. Nowadays, he's found playing the latest and greatest PS5 games as well as supporting Derby County. That last detail is his downfall.

Great article, Liam. I really enjoyed this chapter, too: it was clearly an experiment but I think they made it work well. I agree with you that we'll be seeing areas like this in The Last of Us 2, and like your idea of future Uncharted games working from a hub.

The Egypt setting could be good but it sounds a bit like Assassins Creed: Origins - just set in the modern era. Not that I would be disappointed . I am sure Naughty Dog would excel in whatever direction they went. Instead of horses and camels you have a jeep, instead bows and melee weapons, you have guns and fists but then you have something ND excels at and that's characters, interpersonal relationships and that incredible attention to detail that sets them apart from many other devs. I wouldn't hesitate to pre-order - whatever direction ND wanted to pursue with Uncharted. Its gone for the 'very' linear to a more wide and open world game - putting exploration and 'adventure' into the game and Uncharted, especially with all the 'dialogue' between characters whilst just driving or exploring etc makes this perfect for a more open world experience. Of course it wouldn't necessarily benefit from being 'totally' open world, but each new 'chapter or so' could be a big open area as you travel the globe hunting a specific treasure and clues but could also add more exploration and additional treasure hunting etc in these Hubs whilst looking for the clue(s) to the final goal.

For some though, that may not be a good thing - especially those completionists or those that want to 'find' all the collectibles without having to rely on a guide - some of those in 'Madagascar' where particularly well hidden...

I really enjoyed the chapter, but I don't want Uncharted to ever be a fully blown open world game. Every game nowadays seems to be open world. Linear games are OK! Lends itself to much better storytelling.

Great article. When I played the open world section in UC4, to be honest I just looked for the narrative elements I needed and then wandered off. However, Western Ghats was great and I did the side quests. I started worried I would get lost but actually, lots of routes and really fun driving around.

I think a few levels like this broke up the story and then made me appreciate the narrative heavy chapters afterwards even more. It gave you time with the characters and their growing banter, admiration for each other without slowing down the more exciting story.

I certainly enjoyed both the Tomb Raider games and love the way they have given Lara a more 'human' character and introduced the more RPG elements. Both Tomb Raiders I have bought more than once and enjoyed playing through each to 100%.

As I said, ND can do no wrong at the moment. I know the Last of Us didn't really connect with me - either on the PS3 or the remastered PS4 edition (I did try...) but I cannot fault the production values and attention to detail that ND put into their games. Whether People think the Last of Us or Uncharted 3 were the 'best' looking games of last gen, regardless of whether you preferred PS3 or XB360, ND proved that they could get stunning looking games with limited hardware. Now with more power to play with, they yet again set new standards.

Stories are quite 'difficult' to assess, If you can't connect to the character etc, it can be 'hard' to get into a narrative driven game and then its the 'game-play' that becomes more apparent. If the Story and characters make you want to see what happens next, where the story goes, the 'game-play' becomes more secondary - unless of course its unstable and glitchy which takes you out of the story. To a degree this is where I fell with LoU. The story and characters didn't connect.

I tend to want more narrative driven game-play or at least 'some' narrative rather than just playing a game because its 'fun'. Some may say that they don't think ND games push 'game-play' forward but I feel their characters are characters I want to spend time with, find out where there journey takes them, the interpersonal relationships and dialogue add more to the game than the majority of cut-scenes can. The other aspect that Naughty Dog excel at is the way characters 'evolve' and 'grow' through a game, through a franchise and nothing shows that better than Uncharted 4 and where Nate was by that point. Obviously I followed his journey through each game and there is a progression through the games that led us to U4 and the Nate we had then. The Lost Legacy also shows how 2 characters evolve through the game - the little things like the dialogue that brings Nadine and Chloe closer together and how that dialogue develops over the course of the game. I am not going to say more because of spoilers but if anyone is looking to play, pay attention to all the dialogue whilst playing and how that changes over the course of the game...

Great article, Liam, and I have to agree. It was a great segment of a great game. I really enjoyed hunting down the hoysala tokens. Such a well designed area, and I really like the idea of your hypothetical hub based Uncharted. I could definitely see that happening, and it could be really good

This chapter was actually my least favorite part of the game. I felt that it really bogged down the pace that I love and expect from this franchise. I really hope that the Uncharted series does not expand in this direction, because while I like the same idea in other games, open area exploration just isn't what Uncharted has ever been about. I hope the franchise stays true to itself and continues to keep what sets it apart from other similar games. And yeah, I did post a similar comment in another article on this website.

@BAMozzy "If the Story and characters make you want to see what happens next, where the story goes, the 'game-play' becomes more secondary - unless of course its unstable and glitchy which takes you out of the story. To a degree this is where I fell with LoU."

Did you mean TLoU was glitchy? Or you couldn't connect with the characters? TLoU really doesn't shine until after a third/halfway into the game. For me, it all clicked falling in love with Ellie when you play as her. Like you said, you can get to know the characters better when the story pulls you into who they are more and more. For me, if you haven't completed the whole game, it's hard to connect with Ellie and Joel and understand better their choices.

@starhops The Last of Us played just as well as any other Naughty Dog game so it wasn't the game itself. I really couldn't connect with Joel - not once through out the entirety of the game did I feel any affinity to the character I was supposed to be for 90% of the game. Ellie also was 'annoying' - especially in the early stages. Throughout the entire game, I also felt that it was going to end in pretty much the way it did. I can't deny that some of the environments were 'impressive' if somewhat empty and many areas looked similar to each other. By the end I also couldn't care less if either/both didn't survive.

Because I had no affinity to the Characters, it showed up the 'game-play' and its 'problems', repetitive sequences, the 'life expectancy' of any characters you met on route, how shallow they were etc etc.

I have beaten the game so I know exactly how it ends and the game-play in between. The over-used 'horde' sequences. Sequences where you are limited to a certain area, whether that in a trap were you are 'upside down', in a top floor sniping the enemies as they run down the road, trapped in a log cabin (as Ellie) etc. There are also a number of areas that you have to get through were you cannot progress until ALL enemies are defeated and miraculously, the Door at the end suddenly unlocks. The AI is very poor too of the enemies - especially in those areas. For example you could walk up behind someone and kill them, yet any enemy 2m away don't react. I ended 'clearing' an area, trying to progress. After bullets had been flying etc, 1 enemy near the start hadn't moved and it took me 10mins+ trying to work out why the route forward wouldn't open. It was only after I went in every building, looking for an alternative route, and was just about to reload the level thinking it was 'glitched' or broken after examining almost everywhere, when, right at the start, where I had killed 2-3 guards, there was one stood in the shadows oblivious to me. After killing him, I started to head back to the door, when out of nowhere, another wave of enemies arrived. I also got fed up with the over use of the pallet - everytime I got near 'water' because Ellie can't Swim.

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