Review: The Last of Us Part II Remastered – Still one of the best games of recent years

Now its remastered version is not saved from a quite similar scandal. Only this time the reason is its simple existence. Well, it is a remastering of a game that is not so old and that still looked pretty good in its time. Was it really necessary? Here we tell you.

What is The Last of Us Part II about?

The Last of Us Part II It takes us four years after the events of the first game. During all this time Joel and Ellie settled in a town in Jackson, Wyoming. However, a fateful event causes Ellie to leave the protection of this place towards the city of Seattle, in search of revenge.

On the other hand we have the new character of Abby Anderson, who finds herself in the middle of a war between two different factions in the same city. She is a soldier on one side, but upon meeting a couple of boys from the opposite side she begins to see the errors of war.

The story of The Last of Us Part II In my opinion it is very good. Even so, it is its most controversial point and the one that generated the most hatred since its launch. Above all due to the fact that narratively it tells you something that is often contradicted in the field of gameplay.

By removing these ludonarrative dissonance issues, you are left with a very interesting and well-written story. Not to mention characters with whom you come to empathize or hate despite their infrequent appearance. Which in a certain way does send the message it wants, although with some flaws in the execution.

The gameplay is where it shines the most

In the gameplay section The Last of Us Part II He has practically nothing to blame him for. It combines stealth, hand-to-hand combat and the use of firearms very well so that you can go from one to the other in the blink of an eye. It all depends on how you decide to play.

As in its predecessor and the original, Here you can explore the scenarios in search of resources to craft tools. From knives to make very quick stealth kills, to mines to catch enemies who are after you off guard.

The main difference is that The Last of Us Part II has more open spaces to explore. Doing so is highly recommended, as you can find what you need to upgrade your weapons, be able to carry more of the same type, or even open new branches for your upgrade tree.

This openness also extends to confrontations, as they tend to be in very varied scenarios that give you ample options to overcome them. Take the stealthiest path, feel like an action hero and eliminate everyone or even escape without killing anyone. So as a player you can make sure that no time you play it is the same as the last.

As if that were not enough, it does not need its most cinematic moments. Like you fight with huge bosses or horseback battles in the middle of a war and with a city on fire around you. This makes the experience never feel monotonous and worth experiencing.

Is The Last of Us Part II's new content worth it?

I don't want to focus so much on the gameplay because you probably already know it from the original. Rather I want to talk more about the additions of The Last of Us Part II Remastered. The most interesting and even most publicized is the No Return mode.

This mode puts us in a roguelike within the universe of The Last of Us Part II, which becomes quite entertaining. Not only is it interesting how it works mechanically, but it is also loaded with rewards that invite you to play again and again.

In this mode you choose a character to face various combat scenarios. Before each one you find yourself at a base of operations from where you can choose your next confrontation. Depending on the difficulty of the confrontation, the rewards you get will be. They always give you coins, pills and resources, but in different amounts.

Once you finish each level, you return to base to upgrade your weapons, buy new ones, or upgrade your character. From there you choose the next scenario again and so on until you reach the end of the route. There's always a boss at the end, so make sure you come prepared.

This mode of The Last of Us Part II Remastered It is very entertaining and varied, which makes you spend hours on it. No confrontation is the same because they can sometimes include modifiers, in addition to giving you full-level missions that can complicate your life, but give you very good items.

In addition to this, the more you play, you unlock new characters to play with and each one has their own weapons and advantages. You also unlock other villains to face and final bosses. So it's very worth it.

A more complex way than you imagine

The mode No Return in The Last of Us Part II I found it much more complex the more I played it. To begin with, the confrontations are never the same because it is never the same scenario or the same modifiers. Furthermore, the latter change the experience quite a bit, whether for your good or bad. Since for example, some make you gain health with each melee kill, but others can make enemies have more health.

In terms of characters, although they all play relatively the same, they have differences that make them better or worse for each style of play. For example, Ellie could be said to be a balanced fighter, since she starts with a semi-automatic pistol and can create Molotovs. While Dina is more for stealth, since she can create mines to make traps, but she only has a slow revolver in case things get complicated.

In a way, although playing more No Return It makes you more adept, it also makes it more difficult. Because as I mentioned the more you play, the more options there are for matchups and enemies to face. For example, the infected are very violent and once they find you, you cannot avoid them so easily. The rattlers faction are also very violent but they also use firearms. The easiest ones in theory would be the WLF and the Seraphites.

Likewise, it is not always the same objective in this mode of The Last of Us Part II Remastered. Well, one confrontation may make you eliminate a certain number of enemies, another may make you survive waves for a certain time and still others give you a companion who you must protect at all costs.

Playing No Return also gives you rewards that you can use in The Last of Us Part II Remastered campaign

If the simple entertainment it provides No Return is not enough, playing and completing certain challenges gives you rewards for the campaign. The Last of Us Part II Remastered. Most of them are character skins that you can change at any time from the pause menu.

There are also decorations that change the appearances of weapons, for your next trip through the campaign. So there are quite a few incentives to play this new mode and I could say that it is worth paying that $10 upgrade to play it.

The lost levels are more designed for fans or those interested in game development.

Another difference present in The Last of Us Part II Remastered are the so-called Lost Levels. These were sections that were going to appear in the story but for different reasons did not make it into the final product. Now you have the opportunity to try it and even hear feedback from its creators about how they made them.

Contrary to what many might believe, these levels are no longer included in the story of this version. If you want to see them you must enter a special menu where you can find them and 'play' them, although they are unfinished versions. In my opinion this was a slightly wasted opportunity, as it would have been better if they had already included them in the narrative.

I also take this opportunity to talk about the guitar free play mode, which is also found separately and not at a moment in the story within the game. While it may be fun for music lovers, there really isn't much incentive to play it.

How about the performance of The Last of Us Part II?

In terms of graphics The Last of Us Part II It was always a beautiful game since PS4. This version for PS5 looks much better and sometimes the scenarios feel real. However, in this version I often found textures without loads, especially when opening furniture in search of resources. Something I don't remember happening in the original.

Perhaps the biggest difference is the practically non-existent loading screens. Not even two seconds pass from the start menu to continuing your adventure, which shows the power of this new console. Likewise, dying hardly gives you time to see the advice they give you because you can immediately return to action.

As a personal memory, my PS4 sounded like an airplane turbine every time I played the original. On PS5 with The Last of Us Part II Remastered At no time were the fans turned on with such power. In general the experience was very good.

Still, besides the loading of textures, I found some errors that never happened to me in the original. For example, my character getting stuck in a narrow hallway, the characters' voices playing but their mouths not moving, and a funny jump into the stratosphere a couple of times after stealthily killing an enemy. Maybe something went wrong at the time of remastering, but I think that with a future patch this can be fixed.

Should you buy The Last of Us Part II Remastered?

Four years after its original release, I still consider that The Last of Us Part II It is one of the best games in recent years. At the time I also considered that a remastering so soon was not necessary. I honestly still think it isn't.

However, taking into account the additions, it may not be necessary, but it is fun. Especially due to the inclusion of the mode No Return which in my opinion alone justifies paying $10 for this remastering. While others only give us better graphics, this one added a quite entertaining, complex and engaging mode.

Now The Last of Us Part II Remastered, With everything and its errors, it becomes the optimal version to enjoy this story. With a graphical improvement that makes it look very beautiful, speeds that make you not miss a moment of play and interesting additions that even give us a look at its creationis a must-see relaunch for fans.

The best thing is that the price is not so exaggerated. Fans who already have it only have to spend $10 while the rest of the world can find it at a price of 49.99. So it wasn't released at full price either, as many reproach today's remasters, but it does give us good additional content. If you buy it, don't forget to share your opinion on our Discord.

We played The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PS5 with a code provided by a PlayStation representative in the region.

(Visited 15 times, 13 visits today)