First things first. If you haven’t played The Last of Us Part 2 yet, this is the definitive version of the game. As a technical achievement, it is a near flawless expression of the medium, one that shines on the PlayStation 5.
In terms of acting and directing, Naughty Dog’s game is a peerless showcase, whatever the generation. As a company, they’ve always excelled at cinematic storytelling, and The Last of Us Part 2 is the closest to an HBO series gaming has to offer. Unless you count the actual The Last of Us HBO series.
As for the remaster, what first seems superfluous (after all, we just got a 60fps update for the PS4 version last year), soon reveals itself a vital update to a game that deserves further inspection. Whether it’s the smooth as butter frame rates or the improved clarity and sharpness, there are reasons aplenty to experience The Last of Us Part 2 on the PlayStation 5 once again.
The added No Return mode, which takes The Last of Us into roguelike territory, is similarly a happy surprise. Its emphasis on the gameplay is especially a welcome inclusion, as the main story delivers actual freedom in fits and starts. In No Return, it’s all exploration, combat, and reward, all the time.
Which brings us to why The Last of Us Part 2 is such a complicated experience to love. It’s still, after all the toxic nonsense that shadowed its original release has died down, an unfocused and confused game. One that constantly spins against the way it drives.
The story, set years after the original and focusing on Ellie’s quest for revenge, is a Greek tragedy about the futile cycle of violence. One ill deed deserves another, and so forth. But its gameplay mechanics are in direct opposition to that message. As with the equally problematic Spec Ops: The Line, The Last of Us Part 2 wants to deliver an adrenaline pumping action thriller, but still admonish the player for taking part in one.
So for much of the playtime, as Ellie, the player wipes out hundreds of nameless people in increasingly horrifying ways. Each time, we’re rewarded with satisfying dings and loot when we do. When the game was released, director Neil Druckmann spent days sharing the most inventive kills on his Twitter feed.
Which would be fine if that’s the kind of game this was. There is a place for wanton rampage. But every cutscene in The Last of Us Part 2 places an emphasis on horrified reactions to Ellie’s violence. “How could you do this?” Her outraged compatriots ask, only for Ellie to mutter that she didn’t have a choice. Which, in fairness, is true. The game rarely gives the player an option to stealth their way through certain areas. If you do, you also miss out on loot that helps with the more difficult areas ahead.
Similarly, as the story splits to focus on Abby, the other side of Ellie’s road to revenge, The Last of Us Part 2 muddies the water even further. Her story is a mirror of the first game, as she takes in Lev, an outcast of a deadly cult operating in the West. The story wants to be a dissemination of nature vs nurture, but it never has enough time to fully explore these themes. After all, it took the first game the entire play through to get there. Here, that narrative has to share the limelight with Ellie’s journey, and the gameplay that’s in direct opposition to the story it wants to tell.
This leads to a frustrating dead end, where neither gameplay nor story fully take control of the experience. If you simply go with the flow, The Last of Us Part 2 delivers an emotional and impactful experience on the surface. One that has multiple undeniable high notes – especially in devastating flashbacks to better times. But it cracks the moment you apply any critical pressure to the story, or the game mechanics themselves.
In fact, the best parts of the game are those that quietly succeed in the marriage of narrative and gameplay, and they’re not the ones you’d initially expect.
Early in the story, Joel wants to make amends with Ellie, still guilt-ridden by his actions, which he claims he doesn’t regret. He’s found an old guitar on one of his raids, and repaired it to like new. “I promised one day I’d teach you,” he says, before clumsily playing a rendition of a classic song that says what he feels in his stilted heart. It’s charming and painful in the way that any emotionally stunted declaration of love can be.
Later, as time passes, Ellie plays that guitar again. Only this time, the player can take full control of it. You can spend as long or as little as you want strumming and noodling. Some have played entire covers on the damn thing. But the point is, that guitar becomes a direct connection between Ellie, us, and Joel. A memento that reminds us that it wasn’t always like this. The moment we let it go is the moment the violence returns in full force.
From there on out, I sought out that guitar every chance I got. Like an old-school save point, it became a safe harbor for me. Sadly, The Last of Us Part 2 doesn’t introduce anything like it again in the story. Everything else feels static in comparison. For example, when we meet Abby, the entire introduction to her world is delivered in clinical meet and greets, where characters stand in place for convenient exposition, and scattered notes contain plot-important backstory.
It’s something that once worked for the Uncharted series, but now feels dated and, at times, even lazy. When everything else innovates, it’s odd how some narrative decisions play things so safe that they actually detract from the full experience.
If it sounds like I’m torn over The Last of Us Part 2, it’s because I am. On one hand, I applaud it for taking chances, playing with audience expectations, and delivering something that actually inspires conversation about difficult themes. If gaming ever wants to evolve further, it needs more of that.
But at the same time, I find myself frustrated over how poorly paced the story is, how the gameplay rarely is in sync with what the game wants me to do, and how, in a better world, it wouldn’t be such a hot take to say either of these things.
I think everyone should play The Last of Us Part 2. Simply because it’s a technical masterpiece, and because for all its faults, it is a work of art that has come to define the PlayStation as a platform. There is rarely a conversation about games as art that doesn’t include The Last of Us in it. And it’s for good reason, even if I don’t always agree with its inclusion into the hall of heroes.
That’s the case with all good art: We can’t all love it. Or we can love parts of it, and dislike others. I’ve now played through The Last of Us Part 2 three times. All of which brought something different to the conversation.
Now, looking back on the latest play through, I find myself more appreciative of the experience than anything else. It’s not my favorite game of the generation, but it might be one of the most important ones, nonetheless. After all, very few other titles have inspired this much conversation or interpretation. If that isn’t the sign of a future classic, then what is?