So anybody got any input into this?

I was having a friendly debate with a friend (who also loved the game) about the ending. He thinks the ending is basically paving the way into the last of us 2. I disagreed, and while I do believe there will be The Last of Us 2, I believe Joel and Ellie's story in the TLOU universe is finished.

I argued the ending was just Naughty Dogs way of pointing out there is no victory, no conclusion and no resolution in a world like this. So they gave an ending which pretty much says Joel and Ellie are headed off to die, maybe not today, not tomorrow, or next year even, but they're going to die, just like in the real world, and that's the true ending. It doesn't really matter what happens in between "now" and when they die because it was all irrelevant to begin with. The overarching plot was Joel finding comfort in Ellies company and the chance he got to be a 'dad' again.

He still thinks TLOU2 will continue the story. He reckons the firefly woman isn't actually dead, and will be on the hunt for them.

Please prove him wrong and i'll show him the awesomeness of the internetional opinions.

I think the story of Joel was one of how the world changed him. He is not a hero and due to the ugliness of the world he became a survivor and a killer. Ellie represents redemption for Joel, but in the end he selfishly (but understandably) chooses her and himself over the world they inhabit. The point is he doesn't see the world worth the sacrifice it would take to maybe save it. I will agree it is a bit more open ended because there isn't a "ever after" sort of saying what happens after, but I think the point of the story was in the journey and the characters more than the end result.

My .02

There will be a sequel and it will feature Joel and ellie. Can they venture away from the characters? Sure.

I think, Joel And Ellie's story is finished. Naughty Dog explored it enough and ended it perfectly. Now just tell a story of another group of survivors in the same universe.

Ellie as the protagonist and Joel as e "secondary character"
To be honest I think that TLoU 2 would be incredibely hard to make.
Even for NaughtyDog.
What could make TLoU 2 great would be the evolution of its gameplay.(which I enjoyed Veeery much).

I think it will definitely at least have Ellie in the sequel, they've now got a strong female character and they will run with that im sure.

The game (and good characters) are all about how the journey changes them. The problem with Joel is that his change has come full circle from a parent > survivor > parent, so there isn't much more wiggle room to explore him. On the other hand, there is plenty of room for the development of Ellie.

One immediate change would obviously be how she would evolve directly after the ending in the encampment. As Joel said, "Don't tell anyone about your ... condition, they'll think you're crazy," and I'm sure Ellie would receive the same advice here too. What would that do to her? Finally, here is a chance for her to be amongst civilised (or close to civilised) human beings but having to keep a secret that could potentially make her a target of either ridicule, fear, expulsion or even attack. That's a lot for a 14 year old head to absorb.

I don't think Ellie could (or would want to) live like that. She would feel like an outsider, an outcast, 'ALONE' and we all know what her greatest fear is. She found solace in nature once before and perhaps she would seek solace there once again, preferring the honesty of survival over the travesty of a secret.

I think we'll see only Ellie in a possible sequel, being chased because of being the cure and trying to keep herself alive in the devastated world. That's what I got when I saw the fanart that leaked a while ago.

I agree with your friend about the next game having Joel and Ellie (Maybe not Joel, he'll either be even older or dead IMO), but there's no way Marlene is still alive, that's ridiculous.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/06/07/the-last-of-us-neil-druckmann-on-creating-a-future-classic/

"I think the world is ripe for more stories, but as far as the journey Joel and Ellie goes on it ends with this game. We were very conscious that we didn’t want to leave this story dangling. If we never do a sequel we’re ok with it, because we told the story we needed to tell."

- Neil Druckmann

So I guess that they're going to tell a completely new story.