Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophetis an upcoming third-person sci-fi game directed byThe Last of Usco-creator Neil Druckmann. The game, which was announced during The Game Awards 2024, takes place in an 80s-inspired retrofuturistic sci-fi setting and follows experienced bounty hunter Jordan A. Mun, who gets stranded on a distant planet called Sempiria while chasing a new target.Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophetis going to be released exclusively for the PS5, but it currently has no launch window.
Judging by its reveal trailer,Intergalacticseems to be very different from Naughty Dog’s previous works. Other thantheJak & Daxtergames(which are more science fantasy than regular sci-fi), the Sony-owned studio has never made a traditional sci-fi game before, soIntergalacticwill be its first proper foray into the genre.Additionally, the game appears to have melee-focused combat unlikeUncharted, which primarily features guns and ranged weaponry. In spite of these differences,Intergalacticwill probably share a strength with at least one Naughty Dog franchise,The Last of Us, when it comes to collectibles.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet’s Collectibles Will Likely Be On Par With The Last of Us
The Collectibles in The Last of Us Part 1 and 2 Are Surprisingly Detailed
The Last of Usis often praised for its well-written characters and immersive gameplay, but many forget to mention thatthe series has great collectiblesas well.The Last of UsPart 1and2may not be collectathons, but they certainly have a lot more collectible items than the typical linear action-adventure game. The franchise as a whole has exactly 440 collectibles, 286 of which are fromThe Last of Us Part 2. Naughty Dog could have easily made nothing but useless collectibles just to add some replay value to the games, but, fortunately, the developers gave this aspect of the franchise a lot more attention than was strictly necessary.
There are six types of collectibles inThe Last of Usfranchise: artifacts, firefly pendants, coins, training manuals, comics, and trading cards. The artifacts are mostly miscellaneous items, such as notes, journals, and maps, while the firefly pendants and coins have no specific functionalities. Training manuals, however, do come in handy, since they allow players to upgrade their weapons or unlock new abilities in skill trees. With that said, the comics and trading cards are probably themost interesting collectiblesof them all.
InThe Last of UsPart 1and2, the comic books and trading cards that players can discover are part of a fictional sci-fi franchise calledSavage Starlight, which tells the story of a space-faring scientist named Dr. Daniella Star. There are 14 comics inThe Last of Us Part 1and48 trading cards inThe Last of Us Part 2. Each comic has its own cover art and blurb, giving players an outline of the series' plot. Each trading card, meanwhile, has detailed explanations of the characters inSavage Starlight. The fact that Naughty Dog put such a great amount of effort into creating the lore for a fictional franchise that most people will likely overlook is admirable.
Intergalactic Should Have Collectibles Inspired by the Retro Anime in the Game
SinceIntergalactic: The Heretic Prophetis 80s-inspired, it would make a lot of sense for the game to have collectibles similar to the comic books and trading cards inThe Last of Us. Naughty Dog could, for instance, make collectible items based onthe retro anime that Jordan A. Mun is seen watchingin the game’s reveal trailer. The company could even take things a step further by giving players the ability to collect VHS tapes on Sempiria and watch episodes of the anime on an in-game television, sort of like what is possibleGTA 5. Doing something like this would require a lot of extra work, but if there’s one company that would be able to pull it off, it’s Naughty Dog.
