The release of The Last of Us Part 1 for the PS5 has gotten everybody talking about whether it's worth its full $70 price tag, most of the time. And in the chaos of the debates, I decided to go back and finish the game that Naughty Dog used as a graphical and technical benchmark for TLOU1's remake: The Last of Us Part 2.
To say that this game is one of the most polarizing ever made is a massive understatement. ND had tons of pressure on them to follow up on the success of their first masterpiece, and many people believed they dropped the ball with the sequel. A quick Google search will make you understand what I'm talking about.
But even if there were several instances where Naughty Dog DID drop the ball, The Last of Us Part 2 is still a harrowing, human, thoughtful video game experience. I'm not here to try to convince you to like the game if you didn't gravitate to it the first time around, but with the recent release of the remade The Last of Us Part 1, I feel like it's not too late to share my thoughts on TLOU2 in my 2022 review.
The Price of Revenge
TLOU2 was not made to revolutionize gameplay. It's not even close. I'd even go as far as to say that ND's gameplay mechanics should go back to 2013, right where it belongs. But it's the story, despite its flaws, that captivated me in a way very few games have done. And there were several moments (a lot of them, really) that elicited a physical response in me, to the point that those moments made me squeamish.
The main gist of this game's story, to me, is just how far you're willing to go for revenge. Revenge is a trope so overused in storytelling that it's not even funny. But so many stories miss the nitty gritty of this desire: is it really worth it? How far are you willing to go down the pit of madness and despair that comes with the feeling of loss and the desire to want some payback? Are you truly willing to become a monster to defeat the monster you've always had at the back of your mind?
Aside from that, there's also the fact that the hero, despite the game being designed to make you feel for them (in this case, Ellie and Abby), performs actions that ALWAYS have consequences. There were multiple times when I felt good about Ellie's kills, but then a few hours later, I'd see the consequences of the deed. The same thing goes for Abby. I always said during my playthrough that The Last of Us Part 2 played so much with my emotions that I felt exhausted after the fact.
All in all, this just goes to show that the world of The Last of Us 2 has no happy endings. You choose this path of darkness that comes with revenge, and you'll face the consequences. And that's what happened to Ellie in the end. She often said that she was scared of being alone. And at the end of this game, the price of vengeance rears its ugly head. No winners, just losers. This is the horror of e devastating global pandemic that has not only unraveled society in this game but bared the bloody, disgusting visage of humans whenever they get pushed over the edge.
When I finally finished the game, I just felt empty. It might be that I never accomplished my main goal as Ellie. One could say that she failed. I don't know if this ending was for the best for all the characters involved, but if Naughty Dog wanted me to feel real human emotions, they succeeded. By a mile.
Scrounging for Scraps
On the gameplay side, this The Last of Us Part 2 review won't be as kind. I said earlier that these gameplay mechanics are already so old by this point, and ND did almost nothing to redesign the wheel. There are some aspects that I liked, sure, but overall, the gameplay loop feels dated and stale, and I often found myself wanting to get to the story bits ASAP because I never cared much about anything else.
Combat in this game, as I'd put it, is better than the original game. But it's still far below what I'd expect from a sequel that was released seven years after the first game. One could never say that Naughty Dog "didn't have enough time" to innovate and make things far more interesting. They DID have enough time, and they still didn't deliver. It's a disappointment, to be sure.
The only noteworthy additions to the combat are the fact that Abby and Ellie's loadouts differ greatly from each other. This ensures that the two don't play and "feel" the same, more so during the intense firefights against humans and the infected. Aside from that, the addition of the new faction called the Seraphites/Scars give encounters a refreshing feel. When these guys are out, you truly feel like you're the one being hunted. Their whistle calls and silent bows are threatening all on their own, and the fact that they're a fanatical cult who's ready to die at any moment gives their attacks so much more gravitas.
Other additions to the combat include the new types of Infected enemies, which, for all intents and purposes, are still the same old stuff. Clickers are still Clickers, Runners, and so forth. While it can be pretty challenging in its own right, the Shambler enemy type is still far from innovative as it feels like a downgraded Bloater. As for the notorious Rat King? Well, the design is terrifying - but it also didn't add anything substantial to the combat besides making you just want to run away, reposition, scrounge up resources to craft bombs and ammo, and blast this thing until it's dead. I've seen that gameplay loop so many times before.
I would be a prude, however, if I didn't commend the game's massive list of accessibility options. There's a lot to unpack in just one paragraph, but the main thing about it is this: with these options, you can customize the game to make its gameplay run however you want. Annoyed with puzzles? Toggle the "skip puzzle" option. Annoyed by how the allies need saving from enemies grabbing them every ten seconds? There's a toggle for that too. To me, the fact that ND even cared to even ensure that people from all walks of life, skill levels, and commitment can play this game in their own way is nothing short of amazing. And really, you have to see these accessibility options to believe it.
Outside of these things, I can't commend anything else about The Last of Us Part 2's combat. There's simply nothing spectacular happening here.
A Paradise Beneath the Destruction
To say that The Last of Us Part 2 looks amazing is an understatement. Once more, the team at Naughty dog delivers on the world-building and environmental design aspects. Very few game worlds, even those featuring huge open maps, can hold a candle to TLOU2's world in terms of detail.
In my previous reviews, I always talked about how the beauty of video games would make me stop and just marvel at the beautiful vista in front of me. While The Last of Us Part 2 didn't make me want to "stop and smell the roses," so to speak, it was still one of the best-looking games I've seen. The main reason why I never stopped to look at the view is that the game's nature never lets you slow down. You're in a zombie apocalypse, duh. Though I would still say that the ruined husk of human society, despite its obvious ugliness, still hides a beauty within.
Character models are also among the most detailed (if not THE most detailed) ones that I have ever seen. This is even more evident in the model viewer menu, which you can only access after you finish the main story for the first time. The sheer detail in every single bit of the characters' designs is mind-boggling to me. You don't see this much during the moment-to-moment gameplay, but in this mode, you get to see the kind of work Naughty Dog's character artists put into every single person in the game. They're the most believable-looking digital humans I've seen so far, and not a lot of games can hold a candle to them right now.
But since TLOU2 was made using last-gen hardware in mind, I'm imagining how this game would look if it got a dedicated next-gen version for the PS5. I did play it on the PS5, and while the 60 FPS update is nice, the game still looks decidedly last-gen and nowhere near what a true next-gen game's visuals have to offer. Granted, the game was released at the tail-end of the PS4 generation (with the PS5 still unreleased back then), so I don't have the right to complain.
Maybe, though, JUST maybe: release a next-gen upgrade with new-gen features like ray-traced shadows, reflections, and lighting? That would be amazing. But I'm not holding my breath for it.
Making Do With What You Have
I'd say that Naughty Dog managed to extract just a little bit more out of the PS4's aging hardware to make this game look the best it can be. I started playing The Last of Us Part 2 on the PS4 until I managed to get my own PS5 console, and the experience there was pretty smooth, all things considered. But the 60 FPS upgrade on the newer console makes all of the difference, more so during the hand-to-hand combat sequences where the smoother frame rate makes it easier to dodge and move around.
That's pretty much it on the technical side, really. My next and last comment is a nitpick, but even on the PS5, you could see that TLOU2 was a game made for last-gen hardware. I doubt Sony's new console even cracks a sweat running this game at resolutions beyond 1080p with 60 FPS. I feel like there's a ton of power wasted by not having a dedicated next-gen upgrade, but I digress.
Final Verdict
I went into The Last of Us Part 2 well aware of the bad press about it. But instead, I found a game that was still pretty good despite the presence of flaws and aging gameplay mechanics. Still, it would've been a mediocre game had it not had a story worth sitting through - at least in my opinion. But on the subject of The Last of Us Part 1 already out, moving to this game from that will surely be not too much of a hassle now.
