The trio also reflected on how games differ from film and television in their ability to immerse players in story.
“Sometimes the kind of story you want to tell is in conflict with the kind of game you want people to play,” Druckmann says, highlighting the delicate balance between narrative and gameplay. Drawing on his own experience he said directing Sarah’s death scene in The Last of Us Part I taught him “how to work with others on the stage to find the best version, the most honest version of a scene.”
Similarly, Salim, who transitioned from acting to game development, found making Tales of Kenzera: Zau “eye-opening in what it takes to make a game.” Emphasising how “it’s so different from film, TV, theatre, from any other medium.”
And Mazin admires how games allow players to experience stories directly. “There’s no disconnect from you and what’s happening around you,” he says. He recalls Ellie’s emotional confession to Joel, directed by Druckmann in The Last of Us Part II, as a moment that changed the landscape of game storytelling. “Games just hadn’t done things like that before. Not as beautifully as that,” he says. This speaks entirely to Druckmann’s approach to this scene which he felt was “high stakes” and an important part of the story.
