It was only a matter of time until The Last of Us Part II made its way onto the PlayStation 5 following the release of Part 1’s next-gen remake. Unlike its predecessor, however, The Last of Us Part II Remastered is not a remake, as it clearly states in its title. However, If I’m being truthful, despite its status as a remaster, I would say that The Last of Us Part II on the PlayStation 5 is the better value out of the two titles, thanks to the inclusion of a handful of meaningful additions and the option to upgrade for a small fee.
Originally released in 2020, The Last of Us Part II could be considered the swan song to PlayStation 4 users and a technical marvel that pushed Sony’s aging hardware to its limits. With its release on the PlayStation 5, The Last of Us Part II Remastered breaks free from its bottleneck—taking advantage of the added headroom with its Performance and 4K Fidelity Modes, alongside full Dualsense support and super-fast loading times.
For my playthrough, I stuck with The Last of Us Part II Remastered‘s Performance Mode, which grants users access to what appears to be an uncapped framerate with VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) implementations for supported displays. On my 120hz LG panel, I noticed the game seldom dropped a frame, with only a few occasions where I could discern noticeable judder, but nothing that lasted more than a second or impacted my gameplay experience meaningfully.
Even still, The Last of Us Part II Remastered is based on a last-gen experience, so it would have been nice to see some more in the way of performance options, such as 120hz support and ray tracing. However, for most, what is available is more than enough to justify its existence as a standalone PlayStation 5 experience.
“With its release on the PlayStation 5, The Last of Us Part II Remastered breaks free from its bottleneck—taking advantage of the added headroom with its Performance and 4K Fidelity Modes, alongside full Dualsense support and super-fast loading times.”
Outside of performance upgrades, The Last of Part II Remastered includes a few extras, including never-before-seen cut content, which consists of early-in-development looks into levels that did not make it into the game’s initial release. On top of a new commentary that delves into the game’s development, there is a good amount of new content for existing fans of the Last of Us Part II to warrant double-dipping or upgrading from the PlayStation 4 version of the game.
Cut content consists of three levels: Jackson Party, Seattle Sewers and The Hunt. Taking place during various points in the campaign, these early takes on levels are best reserved for a post-game look-through, as they feature DVD commentary-style forwards by creative lead Neil Druckmann. Although small and unfinished, the levels themselves are an interactive and novel way to experience extras or behind-the-scenes content of a game, something that other developers should take note of going forward.
Without divulging too much, my favourite of the three included cut levels would have to be the Seattle Sewers section. In contrast to the final level that shipped with the game, the cut version of the sequence features some water-based environmental puzzles and expands on the otherwise short section found in the full release.
“Outside of performance upgrades, The Last of Part II Remastered includes a few extras, including never-before-seen cut content, which consists of early-in-development looks into levels that did not make it into the game’s initial release.”
Other minor additions include Activity Card integration and a free play instrument mode, which allows the player to pluck some strings with not only Ellie and Joel but The Last of Us series’ composer Gustavo Santaolalla. In addition to the standard guitar, players can unlock other string instruments, such as a banjo and electric guitar, complete with unique sound samples that feel true to life.
Of course, the biggest addition to The Last of Us Part II Remastered includes the brand-new No Return game mode. No Return is a single-player roguelike mode that gradually allows the player to play as the extended cast of The Last of Us Part II, each with unique abilities and attributes that encourage experimentation.
I say gradually, as initially, No Return only allows players access to Ellie and Abby, which then unlocks other characters featured in the campaign based on alliances from either character. Generally, unlocking characters requires clearing three levels. New unlockable characters must be played with to unlock the next character up, which ultimately means you’ll be spending considerable time with No Return if you wish to unlock the full roster.
Thankfully, the No Return game mode is a lot of fun to play, especially if you’re a fan of roguelike titles and want a sandbox to experiment with The Last of Us Part II‘s gameplay mechanics. Outside unlockable characters, No Return features modifiers, weapon augments and even new game modes that can be unlocked by playing.
My favourite out of the unlockables would have to be a mode called Holdout, which pits players against swarming waves of the infected, tasking the player with keeping their AI partner alive while building up defences. Unlike the other modes in No Return, and especially the campaign, Holdout is action-heavy and transforms the often tense and atmospheric feel of The Last of Us into a fun and over-the-top action game, reminiscent of something like Left 4 Dead or Call of Duty’s Zombie mode.
If you’re like me and have a favourite game mode, No Return allows custom game types which give the player a wide range of modifiers to toggle, allowing everything from only specific enemy encounters to turning off certain mods, like, for example, having no invisible enemies, and of course, limiting the types of encounters to ones you prefer.
“…the No Return game mode is a lot of fun to play, especially if you’re a fan of roguelike titles and want a sandbox to experiment with The Last of Us Part II‘s gameplay mechanics.”
The amount of flexibility is reasonably granular, potentially opening up the opportunity to see exciting runs from content creators and streamers once The Last of Us Part II Remastered matures.
Each round in No Return occurs in a random location ripped straight out of The Last of Us Part II‘s campaign. These levels can be selected from a corkboard in one of two hub areas for either Ellie or Abby-oriented characters. Overall, for being a bonus mode in an already feature-packed title, No Return is a fantastic incentive to double-dip for those who have already played The Last of Us Part II‘s initial release.
As far as the main bulk of the content goes, you’re getting the same content found in The Last of Us Part II on PlayStation 4, with a smoother framerate and nuanced controller fidelity with Dualsense integration, ultimately bringing the divisive sequel up to snuff with The Last of Us Part I‘s recent remake, which in itself used the second game’s updated engine.
However, due to its $10 asking price for those wishing to upgrade, I highly recommend The Last of Us Part II Remastered, even for those who may have already played the game, as the small asking price is more than justified thanks to the inclusion of No Return and some of the other behind-the-scenes content included in the package.
