i had my doubts about this game when it was announced. i felt that the last of us aged reasonably well, so remaking it just seemed like a waste of resources.
but after playing through the last of us part 1 i can confidently say that this is the 3rd best experience i ever had with any video game, only surpassed by the last of us pt 2 and the original last of us.
yeah i know i wish i wasn't such an absolutely insane sucker for naughty dog either, but i just cant help it. last of us games simply always get me emotionally invested into them in a way which no other game seems to be able to replicate.

apart from graphics, there are two major ways in which this game improves upon the original last of us:

the first is gameplay. it's pretty much just the gameplay from tlou p2, meaning way better ai, weapons that feel amazing to use and somewhat unsettling yet satisfying gore effects. it is incredibly intense and gratifying.
the original tlou had pretty good gameplay too, but this really took it up a notch.

the second area is facial animations. now this seems like a minor thing, but i was really surprised by how much these new animations enhanced every cutscene.
for example, the opening of the game never really got me that emotional. but this time, with the new facial animations? that shit broke my heart man... the characters emotions are simply so much more real and intense.

all in all, this game, with its vast improvements upon the original, gave me an experience i never thought to be possible:
it felt like i was playing my favorite game of all time for the first time again.

10/10