Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is an upcoming third-person sci-fi game directed by The Last of Us co-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 Prophet is going to be released exclusively for the PS5, but it currently has no launch window.
Judging by its reveal trailer, Intergalactic seems to be very different from Naughty Dog’s previous works. Other than the Jak & Daxter games (which are more science fantasy than regular sci-fi), the Sony-owned studio has never made a traditional sci-fi game before, so Intergalactic will be its first proper foray into the genre. Additionally, the game appears to have melee-focused combat unlike Uncharted, which primarily features guns and ranged weaponry. In spite of these differences, Intergalactic will probably share a strength with at least one Naughty Dog franchise, The Last of Us, when it comes to collectibles.
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Possible Intergalactic Reference Found in The Last of Us: Left Behind
A recent finding in 2014’s The Last of Us: Left Behind suggests that Naughty Dog may have been planning Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet since then.
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 Us is often praised for its well-written characters and immersive gameplay, but many forget to mention that the series has great collectibles as well. The Last of Us Part 1 and 2 may 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 from The 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 in The Last of Us franchise: 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 the most interesting collectibles of them all.
In The Last of Us Part 1 and 2, the comic books and trading cards that players can discover are part of a fictional sci-fi franchise called Savage Starlight, which tells the story of a space-faring scientist named Dr. Daniella Star. There are 14 comics in The Last of Us Part 1 and 48 trading cards in The 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 in Savage 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
Since Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is 80s-inspired, it would make a lot of sense for the game to have collectibles similar to the comic books and trading cards in The Last of Us. Naughty Dog could, for instance, make collectible items based on the retro anime that Jordan A. Mun is seen watching in 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 possible GTA 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.
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Sony Interactive Entertainment