“Five years after their dangerous journey across the post-pandemic United States, Ellie and Joel have settled down in Jackson, Wyoming. Living amongst a thriving community of survivors has allowed them peace and stability, despite the constant threat of the infected and other, more desperate survivors. When a violent event disrupts that peace, Ellie embarks on a relentless journey to carry out justice and find closure.”

The Last of Us series has experienced increased popularity over the past few years. With the mixed reception of Part II, the release of the TV show on MAX, and the “remake” & “remaster” of the original game now dubbed The Last of Us Part I and Part II Remastered. I had the original game back in 2013 on the PS3, played the remaster on PS4. There was a decent gap of time before the second game was released and I was super excited. This review is a mix of both my thoughts on Part II in general and if I liked what Remastered brought to the table, considering it was released so soon afterward. 

I remember actively disliking Part II after I had completed it back in the summer of 2020. The gameplay was truly a step up and really engaging, the graphics were beautiful. The story was themed around the concept of hate, and that’s exactly how I felt about it. To kill off Joel within 2 hours, give flashbacks of the years between each entry as you progress through the story, and seeing Joel just not talk or act like himself – it’s horrible. We understand his rationale for saving Ellie and not going through with the cure, but in all these flashbacks he talks so softly to Ellie as if they are always in a tender moment and never tries to defend himself when she questions him about what happened..? The situation that leads to him being killed by Abby, Joel would NEVER do that. Yes, the emotions do hit during this game, and the scene of Joel being killed is hard to watch even the second time around. But it doesn’t feel justified in that moment, and the expectation that halfway through the game I am supposed to play as Abby and understand her backstory is terrible. Don’t get me started on the scene where I thought she killed Tommy too, I almost uninstalled the first time around.

Now that my gripes regarding those story points are over, I do really like all of Ellie’s gameplay, and the second time through I thought Abby’s sections were great too. Each character has incredibly tense action and stealth sequences, it’s where Part II thrives.

So what does Part II Remastered offer? “Graphical enhancements, new gameplay modes like the roguelike survival experience No Return, full DualSense® wireless controller integration, and more“. What I can tell you is that the game is now natively 60fps at 4K – the original release had a 60fps patch I never got to experience and it was very good-looking before, so I can’t say there is anything noticeable in this upgrade. If you watch comparison videos on YouTube, the biggest improvement will be draw distance and shadows. Always welcome additions, but it’s not a remaster if that is it. No Return is an ok mode, you get to play as different characters in a permadeath arcade survival mode that offers new guns and upgrades after each level. The Lost Levels is something I wish other companies included in their games for ports because to see things that didn’t fully make the cut but are playable is always intriguing. You get to hear from developers about what all happens behind the scenes, what they intended for players, and the reasons why it wasn’t included in the final product. Who doesn’t love extra content? The only downside is that you can get through Lost Levels in about 20 min, I wish there was just a little more.

Considering I got Part II Remastered for $2 from a Best Buy gift card, I’m happy with my purchase. You can upgrade digitally for $10, but I need that physical copy. Does it deliver enough to be a remaster? Not at all, but it is the definitive way to play the game I suppose.