Spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 are ahead.
I can’t believe Sony leaked The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered in the exact same way it did with the TLOU Part 1 remake. A leaked listing of the game and a reveal trailer hosted on a Sony website unveiled all ahead of what I have to assume was a planned reveal at The Game Awards. Sony later confirmed the remaster is almost upon us.
The remastered version of the sequel is set to hit PS5 on January 19. Here’s hoping the devs get enough time to make sure the PC port debuts in a better state than Part 1.
It’s, uh, an interesting choice by Sony to be releasing this game any time soon. Critics have suggested “the cycle of violence in The Last of Us Part 2 appears to be largely modeled after the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” It wouldn’t be surprising to see Sony delay the game if there’s a big enough backlash, given current world events.
Meanwhile, Naughty Dog’s new version has a brand new roguelike survival mode. Here’s what that entails, according to the leaked listing:
No Return – A Roguelike Survival Mode
Experience The Last of Us Part II’s deep combat via an entirely new mode! Survive as long as you can in each run, as you choose your path through a series of randomized encounters. Play as a host of different unlockable characters, some never-before playable in The Last of Us franchise, each with unique gameplay traits. The variety of challenges feature different foes and memorable locations from throughout Part II, all culminating in tense boss battles.
On the surface, that sounds pretty compelling. Can you imagine having to battle the Rat King while exploring downtown Seattle? I’m interested to see how that works in practice, in large part because TLOU Part 2 genuinely has very good combat mechanics.
But after taking a beat to think it over, I realized that this mode undercuts the game’s story.
While Part 1 was broadly a story about love, Part 2 is one of hate and revenge. One of its core themes is the cycle of violence and how to break that. (There’s even a track on the OST that’s called “The Cycle of Violence.”)
“We’re making a game about the cycle of violence and we’re making a statement about violent actions and the impact they have on the character that’s committing them and on the people close to them,” the game’s creative director Neil Druckmann told Kotaku in 2018, two years before Part 2 was released. “And our whole approach is to say, ‘We want to treat this as realistically as possible.’ When you stab someone — if you watch reference videos, which we have, it’s gross and it’s messy and it’s not sanitized like you see in most movies and games. And we wanted to get the player to feel that.”
The first fight between the two Part 2 protagonists ends with Abby (at Lev’s behest) letting Ellie and Dina live. She walks away from them after leaving the pair bloodied and broken.
That would have broken the cycle of violence, but Ellie just can’t let go. Once she has recovered and finds out where Abby is, she hunts down her enemy. Long story short, they fight again and, just as she’s about to kill Abby, Ellie relents and lets her foe go.
This appears to finally break the cycle of violence between the two — at least until the inevitable third game arrives.
The ending of the story doesn’t exactly dovetail with TLOU Part 2 Remastered having a roguelike mode. It’s clear that No Return will have a high emphasis on replayability. “Each run will offer a new chance to decide what rewards you get after each encounter, how you spec out your character, and more,” Sony said. There will even be leaderboards where players will compete in a Daily Run.
No Return is a literal cycle of violence that players will be encouraged to engage in. It strikes me as a little odd given the main theme of TLOU 2 and how the story ends. It’s hard to argue that Naughty Dog is “making a statement about violent actions” when there’s a new mode that will reward the player for taking violent action and surviving as long as they can.
I think The Last of Us Part 2, for all of its flaws, is an incredible piece of art. Not necessarily a fun game — I often refer to it as a misery simulator — but certainly an edifying, memorable experience.
Despite my wariness, I’m sure I’ll check out the remaster and No Return, especially given that there’s a $10 upgrade for those who bought the original game rather than having to pay $70. Heck, I perpetuated the cycle of violence in Part 2 myself, as I completed it twice to get the Platinum trophy.
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