For me, this remaster is more in line with a Criterion Collection kind of package: I'm basically paying for the extra features and content, rather than the actual graphical "remaster" effort itself. The graphical upgrade is so miniscule that its embarrassing to talk about, so let me use this review as a way to talk about the two extra features that I care about the most. If you want to know my thoughts of the main game: it's my 2nd favorite game of all time. I wrote a review for it sometime ago here.

I'm entirely satified with the Lost Levels and the director's commentary. There's a cutscene selector now, so you can just watch all of the commentary that way. I'm always down to learn more about the behind the scenes of this game, and the lost levels especially are so cool to me. There's a ton of insight and fun moments from Neil and the rest of the cast, and I get to learn more about this game that I really love. Can't really ask more than that.

No Return is the kind of game mode that I've been wanting from TLOU for a while now, especially with the Factions game being cancelled. TLOU Part II has one of the best third person combat system out there, and I just wanted a way to experience it while being detached from the main story. In that regard No Return definitely succeeds. It showcases the combat at its most chaotic heights, especially when the games' crazier modes (infected holdouts are insane) or mods (like the invisible enemies mod, or the random photo filters) show up. But it still feels more like a once-in-a-while kind of mode, rather than this addictive thing that makes you want to keep playing one more time. And that's fine by me honestly, I still got what I wanted anyways. I will still miss Factions though.

Anyways, that's it really. If you're interested in the features above then it's definitely worth the upgrade price. If you haven't played the OG game then it's a no brainer full game purchase. Everybody else can sit tight.

P.S.
Some deeper thoughts about No Return:
- The intensity of the gameplay have been ramped up to the point that it almost feels tiring at times. Kinda reminds me of RE4 Remake's almost non stop combat barrage. It definitely adds to the fact that I can't play this mode for too long in one session, haha. It's not necessarily good or bad, I just thought that it's an interesting feeling to have in a roguelike thingy, where usually the game likes you to go right back in straight away.
- If they ever update this mode, I would love to something that makes choosing the branching paths more interesting. Maybe a free gun upgrade as a reward for one of the levels, or a permanent buff mod reward.
- I noticed that while your selected character still says some lines, the things they say makes it feel so detached from how the main story portrays them. I can see a lot of people being bummed by how disconnected this mode is from the main story, but I think that's for the better. I want this mode to feel like a fever dream that the character would have in the game's world. Looking at it from that perspective, I'll say that it's a pretty great time.

An artist's worst nightmare is to create something that nobody will care for and that will be quickly forgotten.

TLOU2 is a game people still have strong feelings about and is remembered 4 years on, and will continue to be so for years to come just like the first game.

It's become one of my favourite experiences, putting it even higher then the first, precisely because it challenged me in ways few games have before.

I was angry , I grieved and now I am healed. Ready to return to this world, and to do it all over again.

I don't really have much to say about the campaign than what I really already said about in my original review. I mainly here to check out the updates and the No Return mode that was added. A ten dollar price tag to upgrade was pretty nice. The extra's here are really good and you get quite a bit of content, especially if your a first timer. There's a lot of reasons to replay here. I especially love the commentary features and behind the scenes podcasts you can listen to while you play.

As for No Return mode ultimately I am not a fan. Which is a shame cause the gameplay is as good as ever but I feel like the RNG on this mode is really bad. It's fun playing as the other characters with their own uniuqe skills and loadouts. It really does kinda feel like a Last of Us version of a Resident Evil minigame. The best part of Last of Us part 2 is the gameplay. Although the balance is all over the place. Some stages are really easy and give you a ton of loot and others enemies just infinitly spawn in aggression in the most inconvient places. I think the vast majority of the time I died was from instant deaths from clickers spawing from behind me. A lot of the stages force you to play a certain way and it can be over really fast in your favor or not. I found it more frustrating than anything. I would have a thrilling stage of cat and mouse with a enemey set then load up in the next stage and immeaditly lose. Some gametypes are much harder than others. Invisible enemies was the worst. I can see why others like it but to me it's appeal is fleeting. As soon as I get into a run it's over. Even when you when it feels empty, not much to work towards. It's a fine distraction from the main game but it's not something I'm going to put time into.

Platinum #202

Remember when Naughty Dog used to make games like Jak & Daxter and Uncharted while not being held hostage by a egotistical Zionist who believes he can do no wrong and a bigger company who so desperately wants the same 7 franchises they've relied on heavily since 2017 to be cinematic video game showcases so they can easily translate them into movies and TV shows because said-company's previously existing movie/TV IPs have either underperformed or is forced to have shared custody with the Mouse™?

On a completely unrelated note the Last of Us Part II is a very nothing remaster and they're now announcing the new cast for season 2 of the show.

A half-hearted remaster of a game that really didn't need it- pathetic in every sense. Fuck Neil Druckmann and free Palestine.

Is this really where the games industry is headed? Games being rushed out to meet deadlines instead of being given the time they need, ever-increasing budgets making the AAA scene as we know it totally unsustainable, a fixation on graphic fidelity over gameplay innovations and the focus to make games more cinematic leading to a landscape where a huge amount of modern releases feel extremely similar.

I haven't played TLOU2, but I'm sure it's at least pretty good- ND are a phenomenally talented dev studio and I have faith in them. That said, their talent is wasted on this. This better not be an omen for more studios to follow.

As with the original PS4 release The Last Of Us Part II is a phenomenal game of revenge, redemption, brutality, and horror. Graphics, animations, and gameplay are top tier.

With this PS5 version of the game I was mainly looking forward to the No Return mode which I really like. I love all the different encounters and how whacky and chaotic it is. My favourite rounds are the holdout levels and thankfully you can create a custom run of all holdout levels, which basically turns No Return into a horde-like mode. Really fun and addictive. 👌🍄🧟‍♂️

This game has gotten way too much critisism for the decisions that the creators made. Even when this came out, I strongly disagreed with some of the critisism, because I felt people misunderstood the plot and the motives of the characters. Now that I'm playing the game for the second time and I can kind of relax, knowing how the story goes, I can focus more on how the story and the characters proceed, and the game is still amazing. It looks amazing and I love the characters because they seem like real people. Real people do things wrong, they are not perfect.

I feel like haters just concentrated on what happens to Joel. But the game shows that everything has consequences, even for the characters that everybody adores. If you cannot handle that, you should never watch movies, read books or play games, because it happens in every form of media. People that are loved, suffer or die. That is just life.

4,5/5

I'm very mixed on the Last of Us Part II. I find much of it flawed and I absolutely despise its pacing. But I am not going to act like there aren't moments that I find incredible and pretend that this is anywhere near a bad game. I said so as much in my original pro/con review of the 2020 release.

I truly believe after listening to the Director Commentary and checking out much of the behind the scenes stuff that this game succeeded in what it set out to do. It is an evocative experience that didn't play it safe and got the mixed reactions that only art can provide. That doesn't absolve it from being criticized, but there is a right and wrong way to do that.

We all know that poor faith criticism has been thrown it's way from the moment the game was leaked. To a lesser extent there has also been moments of downplaying or "talking down" to individuals by those who do consider the game a masterpiece. I think what we can all take away form this is that the discourse regarding the Last of Us Part II has been pathetic. It is genuinely not fun to talk about this game with most people. It almost rivals Star Wars discourse.....Almost.

All of this culminating to this re-release. We've seen this before and it is nothing new. Many PS3/360 era games received the remaster/rerelease treatment when the PS4 and Xbox One were in their infant years. Hell my favorite game of all time is a re-release version. I think the way Naughty Dog went about this version was fair. $10 upgrade or buy the boxed product for 49.99 US Dollars. I liked The Last of Us Part 1 remake but I felt $70 for a game we all played felt a little much for just a graphics update. For this to be priced this way, to include the No Return mode and the behind the scenes content? I think is fine. Originally I felt sour for my purchase of the upgrade but I've put enough time in the additional content to feel I justified my $10.

To sum up my thoughts on No Return, I really like playing it but it is far from perfect. Its progression, difficulty spread and variety is severely lacking. I've seen the same maps, same weapon upgrade animations, and same enemy patterns that I am seeing maybe too many runs play out the same way. Despite that I am still playing it at the time of this review because I like the combat. Aside from Joel and Tommy, whose lack of dodge makes them feel inferior player options, the tense survivor horror gunplay of playing this game on survival difficulty is incredible. Fuck Grounded but that is also fun too.

I'm choosing to rate this version higher than I did the original. While I still will say I don't like a good portion of this game, if any part of this clicks with you I think this version is an upgrade. I do hope however this is the last remaster/re-release we see from Naughty Dog for a while. Since 2020 they have released 3 of them and it's starting to get old. Hopefully the next time we hear from them they have something new.

TLDR: I would like this game more if Abby was the main character and the story was completely separated from the events and characters of the first game.

It's not as bad as the past 4 years of online hating made it out to be. This was my first time playing TLOU2 and while I feel it's narrative is much weaker than the first game I think that the combat is really fun. TLOU2 is much more flawed but still tells a decent story albeit with some bad pacing and some plot issues. I still feel TLOU1 should've been a standalone as that game is a masterpiece.

As far as a "remaster" goes I think they should've titled it differently, the $10 upgrade was fine for me (considering I bought the PS4 disc version for $10) but I think if they just offered this as a free update it would've been justified, they definitely shouldn't of called it a remaster though. I never played the original TLOU2 but I the visuals/frame rate doesn't appear to be that different from the PS5 patch. The extra content is nice but I don't think it justifies the price.

Honestly I'm a bit disappointed that there is no multiplayer as the OG Factions was a lot of fun and the upgraded combat here would've been awesome but it's probably for the best they cancelled the GAAS title. Definitely not a bad game but I don't think this was warranted as a 'remaster'.