When Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End released last year, Nathan Drake’s nearly nine year adventure came to a close. While Nate’s chapter has ended, Naughty Dog has at least one more tale to tell in the same universe with Uncharted: The Lost Legacy—which is set to launch exclusively on PS4 August 22. The standalone title was one of the most surprising reveals during PSX last year, and held the coveted opening spot during Sony’s E3 2017 press conference.

During a behind-closed-doors gameplay presentation at the show, we got a bit more insight into the dynamic between Uncharted‘s new leading ladies: series’ favorite Chloe Frazer (Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3), and fellow badass (and the villain of U4), Nadine Ross. As per usual for an Uncharted title, the girls are hunting for a long lost treasure–in this case, the Tusk of Ganesha–in an exotic and beautifully realized setting, India’s Western Ghats mountains. The most fascinating thing here, however, is the intriguing pairing between Chloe, an impulsive and unpredictable treasure hunter, and her companion Nadine, the calm and collected former leader of the paramilitary Shoreline organization.

While it is especially exciting to see a first party developer put such a diverse pair of women at the forefront of a video game (Chloe is Indian/Australian, while Nadine is South African), I can’t help be drawn to the complexity of the characters themselves, and how their differing personalities are going to both clash and complement each other as the story progresses. We got a delightful taste of how they’re going to work together (or not) from a ten-minute extended gameplay demo.

At the beginning of the scene, we found Chloe and Nadine at the top of a rock formation, looking off into the distance at the likeness of Ganesha carved into the cliff. “Worth it?” asked Chloe, in reference to the view. “Impressive,” remarked Nadine. The site was certainly worth it and one I can’t wait to explore. After making it to the ground, Chloe suggested a route, while Nadine insisted on taking point. After a cheeky “lead the way” from Chloe, the ladies pushed forward.

The entertaining fight for dominance continued from there. While hiding in the bushes, Chloe once again laid out the plan for taking out the two enemies in front of them: “you take left, I take right.” Instead of sticking to the plan, however, Nadine demonstrated her combat prowess by leaping onto one of the men while simultaneously kicking the other. When Chloe responded with: “That works too,” the group of viewers in the meeting room let out a hearty chuckle.

Naughty Dog’s knack for picking an engaging (and hilarious) pair has always been the heart of the series. It’s great to see it translate so well to a standalone adventure with different protagonists at the helm. Nadine’s no-nonsense focus is a nice balance to Chloe’s wit. Though action, combat, and traversal are always remarkable in the world of Uncharted, and on perfect display in the footage we saw, it is the relationship between the characters themselves that I can’t wait to watch develop.

Couldn't make it to #E3? See the reveal of the Uncharted: The Lost Legacy gameplay demo next Tuesday, 6/20. Details: https://t.co/Sfyzpe7Gcw pic.twitter.com/U51vqqZFcm

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) June 16, 2017

At the very end of the demo, the girls stumbled into a tomb where they came toe-to-toe with the game’s menacing villain, Asav, a rebel leader who has been rallying his forces and creating turmoil in India. He was impressed (and disgusted) by their ability to find the Eye of Shiva artifact while his men hunted for a week and came up with nothing. According to Chloe, he must have chosen the wrong experts. It looks like The Lost Legacy‘s dynamic duo are  going to have their hands full when the game launches in two weeks.

Thirsting for more details? Naughty Dog will be unveiling the extended demo next Tuesday. According to Naughty Dog’s blog, Creative Director, Shaun Escayg, and Game Director, Kurt Margenau will be sharing more details about the game and answering viewer questions.

Are you excited to see Chloe and Nadine in action? Which other characters would you want to see paired up? Let us know in the comments below!

Image: Naughty Dog