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With HBO's live-action adaptation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us series looming on the horizon, some dedicated fans have modded The Last of Us Part 2 to incorporate Bella Ramsey's Ellie. The upcoming live-action TV series sees the very talented Pedro Pascal taking on the role of Joel and Game of Thrones' Bella Ramsey portraying Ellie.
The mod comes courtesy of Alejandro Bielsa (aka Vontadeh), currently working on Playground Games' upcoming fantasy role-playing game, Fable, as a character technical artist. Speaking about the mod, Vontadeh explained that they modified Ellie's "neutral" face from the vanilla game and sculpted it to resemble Bella's face from the show.
Given The Last of Us Part 2 is still a PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 exclusive, modding its files to add or replace character models isn't viable for everyone. However, it isn't impossible to mod games on PlayStation consoles if one has prior knowledge about modifying game files and save editing.
As such, fans like Vontadeh, who are well-versed in modifying game files and creating and adding custom assets, can come up with cool mods that showcase the true potential of video game modding.
The Last of Us Part 2 mod from Vontadeh, reskins Ellie as Bella Ramsey
According to Vontadeh, the mod is just a simple face model swap. Modifying files and assets in games isn't easy, especially if it's bound to a console ecosystem.
However, with the modder's expertise in game design, they were able to sculpt Bella Ramsey's face in The Last of Us Part 2 with immaculate detail and precision.
Although during regular gameplay and some of the cutscenes, the mod looks flawless and natural. However, it isn't perfect, as Vontadeh wasn't able to modify Ellie's different expressions and related animations, which often seep through the modded character model.
Speaking on the idea behind the mod and a few inconsistencies in the expressions and animations, Vontadeh said:
"We're just fans having fun with a game we love, and we're aware it looks a bit weird here and there, but ultimately this was a mod made with care and out of love and respect for both Naughty Dog (and the Outsourcing studios involved in the development of the games) and Bella, and so we wanted to put it out there anyway."
Vontadeh previously created another character mod for The Last of Us Part 2 that replaced Joel and Ellie with Kratos and Atreus, respectively, from the God of War series. Although it felt uncanny to see Kratos strum strings on a guitar and sing, it was a great showcase of the modder's talents in modding.
Despite its inconsistencies, the mod is truly remarkable and a testament to the talent of the modder in creating a mod that feels like a natural part of the game.
With the live-action series right around the corner, maybe Naughty Dog themselves can add a similar feature in The Last of Us Part 2 and the recently released The Last of Us remake to include Bella Ramsey's Ellie.
Naughty Dog usually adds a bunch of modifiers that players can use after finishing their first playthrough. These range from some cool gameplay modifiers like infinite ammunition to cosmetic modifiers such as different playable character skins. As such, it isn't impossible for Naughty Dog to modify the game's protagonists to resemble their TV series counterparts.
