Despite featuring many of the same weapon types, different games have varied ways of tackling how each of them works and feels. Sometimes this evolves through sequels, which is clearly evident when looking how how bows worked between The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. The decisions that lead to this change were numerous, according to a senior game designer at Naughty Dog, who has broken down exactly how it works.

In an enlightening thread on Twitter, designer Derek Mattson made the distinction between two popular methods of dealing with projectiles in games. One is used for slower moving ones, such a grenades, where a precise arc of movement can be displayed on screen to show players exactly how an object will move and where it will land, leaving just timing and placement up to the player. This is exactly how the bow in The Last of Us originally worked, with Mattson saying that the arrow could be seen as just a faster-moving grenade.