Naughty Dog recently revealed that players will be able to play the banjo in the upcoming The Last of Us 2 Remastered. They’ll be able to do so as Gustavo, a minor The Last of Us 2 character who serves as a cameo for the game’s composer, Gustavo Santaolalla.
The Last of Us 2 Remastered lets players play the banjo as the game’s composer
One of The Last of Us 2 Remastered’s new features is a free-play mode for the existing guitar minigame. While the free-play mode is old news, Naughty Dog revealed on Twitter that players can also play the banjo. Instead of doing so as protagonist Ellie, however, players will get behind the fingers of Gustavo — Jackson’s resident banjo player.
The Last of Us 2 players encounter Gustavo playing the banjo in Jackson’s main square alongside the dog Buckley. While a minor character, the man behind Gustavo has had a massive impact on the series.
The real-life Gustavo Santaolalla was the composer for The Last of Us, The Last of Us 2, and the ongoing HBO series. While Santaolalla hasn’t composed for any other video games, he’s worked in film and television since 1999. He composed the score for 2005’s Brokeback Mountain, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Santaolalla’s film and TV work also includes Guillermo del Toro’s The Book of Life and the Netflix series Narcos: Mexico.
The Last of Us 2 Remastered launches for PlayStation 5 on January 19. The remaster costs $49.99, though owners of the PS5 version can get it for only $10. Of course, whether a game from 2020 really needs a remaster is something that fans will have to decide for themselves.
