I’m not ruling out playing The Last of Us Part II a third time. The remastered edition comes with director’s commentaries and other extras. And I can always increase the skill level, which itself forces a very different experience. What I do know is that there are things I missed about the characters when I played during the long winter of lockdown in 2020. It’s a realisation you have as you get older: there is too much world and too much to love for just one time around.
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.
It's the opposite for me. I tried i really, really did but barely got past the half way point this time before i returned the game. I don't like the boring token ND linear game design anymore, i found the story even dumber this time, the contrivences were infuriating and the pacing was all over the place. The game drops like a 100 ton rock into a volcano for me immeditaley when the Abby section starts and it's a shame case the Elle section was just starting to get fun and tense. I still don't know what the hell ND was thinking with this game.
what's next? the game recovered u from depression? restored ur marriage? Made u fertile again?
Playing the lost levels adds some much needed context to Jackson. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Loved the first game. The second game is among my all-time favorites. Loved the story, Abby and Ellie, and with the new skins and No Return just adds to an already great game. Minor gripe, No Return would have been so much better being able to get online with you buddy, co-op, but other than that great job, ND, one of my favorite devs.