Like any other Naughty Dog game, the original The Last of Us is incredibly polished, with players unlikely to find many bugs when experiencing the story. However, they can still happen in rare instances, with one memorable The Last of Us bug seeing Joel fly out of the intended play space.
The bug in question happened during the final act of the game, occurring just moments before The Last of Us’ iconic giraffe sequence. After Joel tells a distracted Ellie to help get a ladder, she eventually does so, though she fails to lower it properly and drops it on the ground as she runs off to see the giraffe. Normally, Joel is supposed to pick up the ladder and place it himself before climbing up the ledge to see what has Ellie so excited. However, this is not what happened to Reddit user Easy_Resolution_2350.
In the clip shared by The Last of Us fan, everything plays out normally until Joel goes to pick up the ladder. The player controlling Joel steps on the end of the ladder as it is falling to the floor, and this seems to be the cause of the bug. Joel begins to slowly but steadily rise into the air, with his arms lifted above his head as if he were falling or dropping down a ledge. Eventually, he flies through the ceiling, with a black background and tree seen alongside Ellie’s frozen character model.
Eventually, Joel ascends into a death barrier, with the game correcting itself and killing Joel so that the Redditor can get back to the game and see the pivotal scene as it was intended. As pointed out in the comments, the bug would be funny enough on its own, but becomes truly hilarious due to the tip that comes up after Joel is dead.
Players were also quick to make jokes about the Joel bug, with many playfully suggesting it was foreshadowing of his fate in The Last of Us 2. Others, like BrentMusic, point out that Joel shouting for Ellie sounds like a cry for help, with the floating adding a new kind of meaning to the line. Another fun comment saw a player named Kymmru sharing that they had the same glitch happen to them five years prior but were unable to replicate it no matter how much they tried. Half a decade later, a player has stumbled upon the same issue.
While a similar bug was found in The Last of Us 2 that saw Ellie and Dina flying on horseback, this one should be particularly funny to fans of the first game. It could not have happened at a worse time, either, as Easy_Resolution_2350 was close to seeing one of the most beloved moments in the entire series.
The Last of Us is available now on PS3 and PS4.
