Before game publisher Sony Interactive released "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End" in May, many speculated that it would be the last adventure of protagonist Nathan Drake and that he would meet his demise by the end of the installment. Drake is alive, however, and he even has a daughter with Elena.
Game director Neil Druckmann of developer Naughty Dog dished out some details about the character. He said in a Writers Guild of America podcast that when they decided to end the series in a definitive way, people thought that Drake would die. They did deliberately try to "throw people off" during interviews and kept people in the dark regarding the protagonist's fate. However, they were really not intending to have the character killed.
"We pretty early on decided that, tonally, [killing Drake] wouldn't be right for this kind of lighthearted pulp action-adventure series," Druckmann said, as quoted by GameSpot.
There are, in a way, two endings to "Uncharted 4," with the first one being the actual ending. Kotaku explains that it happens after the gamer escapes Danger Pirate Island. Sam and Sully embark on new adventures, and Drake starts a new life with Elena. After this, the second ending is shown in the form of an epilogue that is playable.
The events in the epilogue take place more than a decade later, with the couple's daughter Cassie left at home. Gamers play as Cassie, taking her from room to room in their big house, only to discover some mementos from her parents' adventures before she was born.
With Drake finally telling his daughter what happened, it seems the series has really come full circle, but is it really the ending or is it the beginning of yet more adventures? "A Thief's End" is the last in the "Uncharted" series for Drake and Naughty Dog, but, as GameSpot puts it, there could yet be a fifth installment by another developer with a new hero (or heroine).
Here's a video from IZUNIY on YouTube showing the final boss fight and epilogue of "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End":
