‘The Last of Us’ TV adaptation resonates beyond gamers

LOS ANGELES — In the HBO series “The Last of Us,” a fungal infection has taken over Earth, rendering the United States an apocalyptic landscape protagonists Joel and Ellie need to traverse. “The Last of Us,” whose first season concluded Sunday, has not only won over gamers with high expectations, but also people who don’t play video games. “No one could have anticipated this, this reaction and how positive it’s been and how broad it’s been in its reach,” said Neil Druckmann, Naughty Dog co-president and the creator and writer of the video game, whose critically acclaimed first installment was released on Playstation 3 a decade ago. Netflix has had success with its own video game adaptations, “Arcane,” adapted from the online game “League of Legends,” and “Castlevania,” adapted from a gothic horror action-adventure video game series of the same name. “The stuff that’s exciting to me is we’re always trying to do something new, because the language of what a video game story can be, is broader than any other medium.”