speak more comfortably and openly. Manny's final scenes on the marina were among the last to be shot in the day, and Edda felt that the fatigue of the actors added to the intensity and desperation of their performances. Manny's design was based on Edda's physical appearance, which added more time to his work on the game; he worked on it for about two years. Reception The characters received a mixed reception. Kirk McKeand of VG247 described every character as "complex and human". Destructoids Chris Carter felt empathetic to the main characters, a sentiment echoed by IGNs Dornbush, who found Ellie's development particularly "riveting". Kotakus MacLeod and Times Eliana Dockterman appreciated the diversity of characters. Andy McNamara of Game Informer found the occasional absence of supporting characters alarming, having grown close to them. Webster of The Verge praised the relationship between Ellie and Dina, though noted some dissonance in the former's behavior between gameplay and cutscene. Similarly, GameSpots Kallie Plagge found Abby's character development incongruous with her "onslaught of combat against human enemies". Polygons Maddy Myers and Vices Rob Zacny criticized the characters' inability to learn from their mistakes. GameRevolutions Michael Leri found the new characters were less appealing compared to those in previous Naughty Dog games. Yannick Le Fur of Jeuxvideo.com wrote that supporting characters such as Jesse and Manny lacked development and were simply used to advance the narrative. Critics praised the cast's performances, particularly that of Johnson, Baker, and Bailey. VG247s McKeand found that the game's performances made the narrative moments more powerful. Tim Biggs of The Sydney Morning Herald lauded the performances for making the characters believable. Entertainment Weeklys Lewis felt that the acting saved the game "from being swallowed by its own darkness". James Dyer of Empire described the performances as "incredibly nuanced, big-screen worthy", additionally naming Woodward and Alexander as standouts. Keza MacDonald of The Guardian wrote that the acting made the narrative much more emotionally effective. References Bibliography Lists of Naughty Dog characters Characters Sony Interactive Entertainment characters