The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is a decent upgrade over the original, but what exactly is running under the new coat of paint?
WTMG's Kyle Nicol: "The Last of Us Part II: Remastered is a beautiful mess. An ambitious title that had all the right ingredients, but didn’t always pan out the way it should. The excellent survival action gameplay that showcases humanity’s brutality is often let down by a story that is trying too much and has poor pacing. Thankfully, Part II’s debut on PC improves on the last game, making it the best place to play, even with its imperfections."
If the story is deeply flawed to the blogger and it's a story game, how does the blogger justify giving it a 9? A deep flaw is unacceptable in any part of the game. If everything else was perfect, it would be an 8 game. Deep flaws are foundational issues.
Let me help:
Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Story: 8 (Overreliance on flashbacks. While the story beats are properly paced and the plot points are generally pacy, it tries to tell 2 stories at once, which led to a structural issue in the overall story, but despite this the message and mood are striking relevant.)
Gameplay: 8 (Turning in the game is awkward and it gets in the way or searching for stuff and the quick turn in combat doesn't feel intuitive.)
Overall: 9
CG says: In this video, we take a look at the same forest section on horseback in The Last of Us™ Part II Remastered that we showcased in 2020 on the PS4 Pro. It’s an amazing bit of exposition with not much happening aside from a bit of banter. However, taking it slowly rather than galloping past, the forest graphics are actually pretty detailed. One of the more beautiful moments from the game. PS4 Pro version holds-up pretty well (that output was upscaled 4K and back then, there was no DLSS or AI interventions that we know about).
The Last of Us Part II finally comes to PC - is Joel and Ellie's adventure as good on the home computer as it was on PlayStation? JDR straps in for more devastation in today's review.
I just picked up my NG+ run as a refresher for the TV show. Game has aged extremely well! Gorgeous, brutal. Poor Yara really gets it. 😔
With the game getting mods in the near future, this release will be everything you could shake a golf club at.
I don't think the game is going to look immediately better when you first start. I think it's going to feel better to play the more you do.
If you're expecting an upgrade in the visual department you're not going to find it here. This isn't actually a remaster at all, it's a rerelease with an extra game mode being billed as a remaster.
$10 upgrade for some simple basic enhancements, extra missions and roguelite mode is fine, I think how they called it "Remaster" just makes people expect a lot more more in terms of graphic upgrade.
I recall playing tlou2 about 12 months after the ps5 launched i was thinking there would be an update or something so I held off playing then grew impatient and played it anyway. But I'd still praise just how good the PS4 version looked and I'd say it trumped most ps5 games in the first 12 months it was that good.
However given how long the game was I don't see myself replaying it on ps5 again.
Maybe they shoulda marketed it as 10 dlc for the rogue lite with graphical upgrades. As it stands, the current patch looks phenomenal already. 4k 30 doesn’t seem to add anything substantial