The Last of Us™ Part II Remastered

While The Last of Us Part II Remastered may not be as good as its predecessor, it is still phenomenal and an easy recommendation. From my memory, the first game, which I did not play until it came to Steam in the form of a remake a few years ago, had better story, better characters, better pacing, and better graphics. However, the first game set an exceptionally high bar, so saying this game falls short in a lot of ways isn’t exactly a knock against it. The Last of Us Part II still manages to tell one of the most compelling and engaging stories I’ve seen, while making some nice gameplay improvements over the first [b]Throughout my review I’m going to try not to spoil anything and use spoiler tags where I feel they are needed, but this is a game that’s really hard to talk about without saying things that some may view as spoilers, so while I will use spoiler tags where I feel they are necessary, if you want to go in completely blind as I would recommend, I suggest you stop reading my review now and know that I do highly recommend this game.[/b] The Last of Us Part II is divided into 3 parts. You’ll know when you get to the second and third parts. In the first part, which took me about 16 hours, you play as Ellie from the first game. I say “about” 16 hours, because I was so engrossed in the game I forgot to write down an exact time stamp. Some years have passed since the first game and she’s older now. I enjoyed playing as her because I like her character, but they definitely fell into something I see a lot of sequels do where they make characters more aggressive, confrontational, and give them other negative traits seemingly just to create drama and lead them down a solo path. I’m never a fan of this, but it felt worse in this game due to the character driven nature of the first one. Part of what made the first game so good was the constant dialog and interaction between Ellie and Joel, but for many parts of this game, Ellie is alone. Even without that though, the first game keeps introducing new interesting characters that Joel and Ellie interact with for parts of their journey. That felt completely gone from this part. It ended up being a really weird experience. It often felt like Ellie was just wandering around somewhat aimlessly without any character interactions to drive the plot, until a random flashback would happen and develop characters and story. At times this made me feel like it was dragging on a bit, but I still found myself very engaged and wanting to see what would happen next. Unfortunately, this also meant that when [spoiler]characters get killed, as Naughty Dog seems to really enjoy doing, there isn’t any emotional attachment to make it feel anything[/spoiler]. Eventually, you get to the second part, which, in an as spoiler free way as I can say it, makes you play the whole game again, but from a different characters perspective. This part wasn’t as long taking only about 10 hours, which I again say “about” since I was still so engrossed in the game that I forgot to make note of my playtime, but I would say this is a testament to how engaging this game’s story is. Normally I really like seeing stories from different perspectives, but the character they choose is someone who had almost no interaction with Ellie or her friends for most of the story and at first I was worried that it would end up feeling like one of those bad TV specials where they give a minor character an episode that adds almost nothing to the plot and feels very out of place, except much longer. While it was true that this other perspective felt a lot more like a completely separate story than a different perspective, I actually really enjoyed it. It did not suffer from a lot of the issue I had with Ellie’s part. You pretty much always had a companion with you talking and progressing the plot, and this part of the game is a lot more linear, which is something I prefer, especially in plot heavy games such as this. Additionally, while the character in this part does a lot of bad things and is far from what I would call a good person, the story is about them trying to be better and break from their pattern, rather than letting rage consume them. I found them to be an interesting character that I enjoyed playing as. The game definitely wants you to see parallels between the two protagonists, but at times it was way too on the nose, to the point of it being super weird. For example, both characters are involved in an awkward love triangle involving a man and a pregnant woman. The third part of the game is really hard to talk about without spoiling anything. It’s much shorter than the other two taking up the remaining of my 28.6 hours of playtime. It starts a little slow, but it is linear and plot heavy like the second part, and while it definitely had some characters acting in ways I did not like it was absolutely riveting, especially towards the end. Outside of story, the game has a few improvements. Something that really stood out to me was how sometimes when enemies get killed, a different enemy will shout out a name, as if their friend just died. I’m pretty sure they were just reusing the same 5 or so names over and over again, but it really added a lot, even though it’s such a small thing. Another nice addition is crawling. I didn’t find I used it much outside of story and exploration, but it was neat, and did have a really neat combat implication. Sometimes when you get shot, you get knocked onto your back, but can still shoot enemies with your gun. This feels so great when it happens and shoot all the enemies before getting back up. Overall, The Last of Us Part II is fantastic. It may not hit as hard as the first game, and the writing, characters, and pacing aren’t at the same level of the first, but this is absolutely still a top tier gaming experience that I would highly recommend.

The Last of Us series is one of the most emotional, well written, captivating, intriguing games ever produced. What made this games so great is how it managed handle the strong expectations as a sequel of one of the most successful games of the past decade. Part 2 features some extraordinarily vicious combat animations I’ve seen in any game I can think of. It also fits to the respective situations and tones. The most frequently witnessed crime i.e. Ellie sneaking up on an enemy before slicing its throat or stabbing it to death while holding the mouth shut is not even the most brutal animation this game has to offer. Kills with Shotguns can lead people’s extremities getting (partially or completely) blown away leading to the targeted person slowly, excruciatingly bleeding out. Trip wires and trap mines e.g. almost certainly cause the victim to get cut in two halfs making for a terrible and hard-to-digest sight. Furthermore the fact that the POV doesn’t just includs Ellie’s contributes to the already high empathy and understanding developed for the respective characters in this series and allows you to fully find out about what lead to certains events. When Ellie was finding shelter in the theatre along with Dina and Jessie, in her mission to track Abby, I personally thought the game was close to coming to an end, but after Abby pulled up and shot Jesse it turned out it was no longer Ellie and her friends who were the hunters and, instead it was Abby herself. Afterwards Abby was to be played for lots of hours covering many, many chapters showing her story and journey, which lead to the eventual events in the theatre. It shows Abby wasn’t just a soulless, heartless, unempathetic person, who simply enjoys killing people. No, instead it showed that Abby’s father was one of the three doctors shot dead by Joel, right before their planned surgery on Ellie, which would’ve sacrified her for a vaccine, Hence, her succefful ambush on Joel, during which she brutally tormented and killed him. Another interesting element here is quite a difference between all the existing factions and groups as well. On one hand, you got the Seraphites (or Scars), which are traditional, nature-based fighters with bows and arrows using whistling as their form of communication whenever they suspect an enemy nearby, while on the other hand you have the WLF (Washington Liberation Front), which turn out to be a very vocal, transperient and loud group fighting and dressing in a way more comparable to wars and conflicts seen nowadays. And of course, who would‘ve guessed, there are Infected as well. They can be divided into few categories and species, but they all have one thing in common, aside from being dead and attempting to infect others by biting them. They obviously don’t communicate with the other living dead and instead just attack the humans in mobs and head-on in a very simple, yet effective and intimidating way. Onto the special and more advanced forms of Infected: There is the Shambler, who throws noxious, toxic spore bombs at his enemies cutting off potential escape routes or obscuring enemies in the process, the Stalkers, who are able to remain invisible in Ellie’s amazing Listen mode, which massively eases their attempts to outflank and surprise Ellie in their obvious attempt to infect her. Sneaking up on the player is no issue at all for them. Especially when they got more colleagues around, who can simutaneously charge at the played character, whilst the one sneaking up can already grab it until reinforcements arrive. The enemies are just so aware, intelligent and varied in this second part. Once suspicious of any breach they start checking and clearing the surrounding area, which includes bushes, gras and the small spaces under vehicles, right away. This automatically forces you to get familiar with the respective areas and use the environment to your advantage after studying it. Being forced to resort to using the environment properly in order to advance has to be done in a way more creative way than during Part 1, in which you mostly just had to use a floating palette serving as a raft for Ellie to reach and climb up a point, which couldn’t be accessed by Joel from the water. Part 2 is way more different when it comes to that. It offers so many contextual challenges such as angling a rope to swing from one room to another locked one or navigating around a series of well-placed trip wires to name a few. This sequel just makes much, much better use of its surroundings and beautiful environment than its predecessor, preventing it to solely be reduced to some sort of attraction useful for taking gorgeous screenshots and instead fully incorporates that into the players‘ experience and gameplay. That’s a massive plus. Although that game is not open-world, it still allows you to conduct thorough explorations learning about the lost history, short stories and last moments about corpses you’ll come across in the process. Lots of which can be found out about in the rough, beat up and run down remains of a Seattle district destroyed during the pandemic. That very district causes you to be fully immersed its exploration, unlike in anything you could ever come up with. There are so many former shops, ruins and abandoned, yet well preserved buildings awaiting discovery and exploration, which isn’t done solely by the players, but company as well, who keeps exploring while the player is busy reading a left note. That’s a huge Pro to me. The colleagues don‘t just stupidly wait for the player to finish reading, but instead go on to explore the respectives sites all by themselves. Conclusion: The Last of Us Part 2 is a stunning and brilliant masterpiece more than worthy of its predecessor. Now after I’ve just finished the story I can understand why this game has received so much universal acclaim and countless rave reviews. It improved every aspect from its predecessor and raised the bar to a level almost impossible to reach. It just delivered in every aspect. I can’t believe I never touched this game before, let alone watched a Let’s play of it.

Let me start this off by saying that the game play and controls are absolutely phenomenal. I truly believe the game play should be the template for 3rd person shooters going forward in the gaming world. The story on the other hand is meh at best in some parts and abysmal the rest of the time. This review will have major spoilers ahead. Its a revenge story told twice except the character we know and love is vilified as a horrible person who should just forgive and forget the people who viciously wronged her, while the character you are going to hate is propped up on a pedestal as a shining example of her community. To go in depth, you play as Ellie for 15 hours, give or take. The whole time, you are on the war path to find and kill the people who killed Joel, specifically Abby. You kill a few of her friends along the way, including a pregnant woman. Then, once you find Abby, the game switches to you playing as her and you see the events of the game and the world around you through her eyes. Joel was a pillar of the community in Jackson, and we know his past is dark and rocky, but after finding Ellie, he found a renewed purpose in himself and becomes a better man now that he has the chance to be a father after his first chance was killed in his arms. When he is killed, he has no idea who or why Abby kills him. Then, when we switch to Abby, we find essentially the same character. She's a pillar of the WLF and people look up to her. Except her motivating factor the whole time was revenge and the satisfaction it brought her. Joel is an awful man for killing her father, but Abby was perfectly okay in killing Joel. Then after letting Ellie live, Ellie goes on the same warpath except it is seen as evil and horrific. Abby is mad that Ellie "wasted" the chance she gave her and Tommy by letting them live when they killed Joel, which is just downright stupid. Abby already traveled hundreds of miles to exact her revenge, but there's no way these people would possibly do the same thing after killing their loved one in front of them. Abby has the audacity to be mad and surprised when Ellie does the SAME THING SHE DID. Dina and Jesse, Ellie's friends, even comment on how this won't be worth it and only went along because Ellie was going to go regardless. Abby's friends all went with her and were chomping at the bit to make Joel suffer and kill him, and once they do that, it was so totally worth it and the right thing to do and Joel should have suffered more. The game also fully retcons key aspects of the first game. The fireflies had no idea what they were doing. Multiple notes you find throughout the game express doubt that they will be able to make a cure, how could they mass produce it with antibodies from only 1 person, and the "doctor" performing the surgery on Ellie is a veterinarian and not a real doctor. This also has to be compounded with, you can't vaccinate against a fungus in the first place. But now, all of a sudden, the cure would have worked absolutely, mass producing it would have been easy and quick, distribution would have been swift, and Abby's dad may have been just a veterinarian but trust me guys he was a genius the surgery would have totally worked. Then, to top it all off, after going after Abby TWICE, the choice of actually killing her is ripped from the players hands and Ellie lets her live regardless of how the player feels. If you're going to tell the story from 2 perspectives, at least give the player the choice of choosing the viewpoint they side with. Don't force us down the viewpoint you clearly support as the writer. The other point of contention being, you already killed everyone else associated with Joel's killing as Ellie. You kill a pregnant woman and her boyfriend, you are past the point of forgiveness and redemption. Then, all of a sudden, Ellie does a complete 180 as a character and changes her mind while in the middle of drowning the woman she was after the whole time and then just lets her go. The story feels like it was specifically written to alienate and be dissatisfying to fans of the first game. As stated, the game play is phenomenal, the graphics are good and the game runs surprisingly well on my outdated rig. Other than that, its not as great as others praise it to be.

The Last of Us Part II is an action game survival horror and setting out to kill someone. It involves impeccably story of family, horror and loss. Expect anger, fear, pain and disappointment. It will hurt you in ways that no game has ever done before.

Beautiful game, the execution is immaculate, but I have never seen a story fumbled so hard in my LIFE. I genuinely feel like I've wasted my time. A horrible and completely unsatisfying conclusion.

One of the top post-apocalyptic games out there, the scenery is stunning, and Naughty Dog’s optimization is on point. As for the story, I’ll let you be the judge...XD

Fair warning: this review contains major plot spoilers. Talk about heavy hitting. The Last of Us Part II explores a ton of themes that are difficult to confront in the real world, even before you try to craft a video game out of them. This story took serious writing chops. Niel Druckman and Amy Henning - you should take a bow for this work. I know the both of you will never read this. But..... in case you do. I thank you. At its core, this story is about revenge - pure and simple. Yet - it's not so simple......is it? You explore the gritty, dark, and unfiltered consequence blind revenge can have. At times - I felt Ellie's plight seemed hopeless, never catching a break, and there was never even a hint that all-is-right-with-the-world brilliant sunset was within her grasp. The decision to kill Joel. That was an unpopular decision - wasn't it? Why? Because he was a *very* popular character. You'd been on this tough journey with him in Part I, and you wanted that sunset for him too. You cared when he died. You were filled with that bitter taste of anger - and that primal urge for revenge yourself at his death - weren't you? Who cares when some bit-character dies, right? Ever watch a AAA movie where some character dies after 10 minutes and you feel you're *supposed* to care? And you just don't? Well - Killing Joel is how that's meant to feel. You've seen it done right for once folks. Powerful - isn't it? The storyline is split between playing as Ellie, and playing as Joel's killer, Abby. An interesting tactic. In the beginning - you want Abby to just *die*. I hated having to play as her. Her stupid story with her love life - Gahh! Who cares! Find me a bridge to jump her off already.... And yet that's how you're meant to feel. Those dark places I mentioned..... Gifted story craft there's no doubt. That's not to say I'm waxing lyrical about being forced to play as Abby. I felt Abby's story was far too drawn out and had far too many subplots. By the end - I was glad to be at the end of her sequence. Abby does have different weapons at her disposal, and a different crafting list which is refreshing but ultimately not enough for the length of storyline given to her. I wanted to be back at the pointy end of the story, rather than wading through Abby's padding. Much has been said about Ellie being gay. WOKE crap people say. Lev being a girl and wanting to be a boy. You feel about those story elements in the way that's right for you I suppose. For me those things being set against the backdrop of war and the despair of human destruction didn't seem out of place, or in any way token, or gratuitous. Ellie is gay. She has a love story with another gay character, Dina. I felt for them. I felt for their struggles to have a normal life - as impossible as that was. Character relationships in games often feel a little cheap - because you're not that invested. Here that's different. There's also no feminism being over-pushed here - for me anyhow. We have female lead characters, who suffer, love, and grit their way through a harsh world. Love is where you find it, not where it *should* be, or where you might have been thinking. The port to PC was largely extremely well done. I say largely...... because there were a number of crash to desktop moments. One *very* nasty bug during Abby's storyline where a cutscene *always* crashed to desktop nearly bought the whole game undone. A google search revealing the solution was to cap the game at 30FPS for that cutscene and a few savepoints after that. Nasty. Very, very nasty. I also had a few visual glitches along the way - such as Abby's pistol having this bullet fire 2D asset pinned to it for a whole section of the game in Santa Barbara. Still - the rest of the game was so well made I did forgive these things. The world has been exceedingly-well crafted, and the scenery has been built and designed to a very high level of polish. A clear design idea has been arrived at and built with care and purpose. This world being overtaken by nature and decay is extremely well realised and presented. Never did I feel anywhere that something had been rushed - and I constantly stopped to admire the small details and art direction on display. No - the game isn't cutting edge. After all, us PC players are *very* late to the party (never again right Naughty Dog?). Yet the water effects, sunlight godrays, and general ambient lighting were all done to a very high level - which I continually appreciated throughout the game. The fog and mist were also things that caught my attention - and how these were blended with overcast lighting for wet rain and dripping forests. My old 5800X3D and 4090 got though this title without too much trouble. That beach area in Santa Barbara was to die for. Two things of particular note. First, the voice acting is simply some of the best I've ever experienced. The actors injected so *much* into their characters. The emotion was real to me, as if the actors were really there and living out the nightmare, and the love, and the tension, and the uncertainty along with their characters. Second - the animation work is also some of the best out there. It does look like some sort of motion matching and warping has been done - or in the least - Naughty Dog made a *huge* list of animations to cater for the different character movement scenarios in the game. There's been effort put into transitions between animation states like Swimming, jumping gaps, climbing ladders, balancing on beams etc. All done with seamless smoothness. Take note studios. The game is violent, there's no escaping it. Too much so? That comes down to where you personally draw the line. It's one of those things that's different for everybody. For me, the violence fit the narrative. The world *is* harsh. The world *is* violent. The weak do not survive. There's this...depravity almost...in the world...that's infected the remaining human population. It's war, it's fear of death, it's hopelessness, it's sorrow...it's the damage that does to a person. To tone the violence down would have been jarring and inconsistent. You can't have too much sunlight in a story such as this - it just wouldn't fit. Though.... that does drag the game to dark places as already said, which *can* feel overly heavy at times. What didn't I like? I felt at times that too many story elements got in the way of where I wanted to be - and that me getting to this location or that location was starting to drag a little too much. We also stayed in the same location for far too long. I would have liked a shorter stay in Seattle and a move to another location to continue the story. I know. More assets. A different art direction and extra story elements would have been needed. Yet - I felt Seattle was thoroughly stale by the time we were done there. And so - to finish... Neil Druckman: Your story isn't done. You made a quite complex, multi-layered, and thought-provoking part II. However, don't be closed to completing the story because you felt that Part II was a masterpiece. Ellie still has her immunity to impart upon the world, and humanity needs to bring itself back from the brink of destruction. That depravity needs to lift - the darkness driven back. Abby and Lev spoke about going overseas - and perhaps that's where the future story lies. Ellie needs to finish what she and Joel started - finding a doctor who can complete the work Abby's father began. There's growth to be had, there's that darkness you portrayed so brilliantly in Part II to lift away and shine a light of hope through. A story can be simple - yet with good writing can also have great depth along the way. I call you out. Finish the story you started. Only then can you lay it to rest. Right now it isn't done. Never leave business unfinished. As Ellie knows - that never goes well.

Brutal and intense combat matched with one of the most emotionally intensive stories ive ever experienced. If i could, I would do it all again. 11/10 Endure and survive

---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☐ Decent ☑ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☐ Old Fashioned ☐ Workable ☑ Big ☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☑ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☑ Good ☐ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☑ Average ☐ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☑ 8 ☐ 9 ☐ 10 ---{ Author }--- ☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template

The game is just fine, way better than the first remake on PC. The story, the pacing I just didnt enjoy any of it. Had to play it to have my own opinion.

Couldn't get into it. to be fair i did get spoiled but I'm not into the story and that's what the game is really about. (12 hours on ps5)

Five whole years since its controversial-ish release in 2020, and after multiple rereleases and even its own TV show, the game finally landed on PC and I finally decided to give the game a shot after being a fan of its initial 2013 release of Part 1. To start off with, the Last of Us Part 2 is an absolutely jaw-dropping gorgeous game. Thanks to the game originally being developed for the Playstation 5 and Naughty Dog's decision to update an already modern and great looking game, The Last of Us Part 2 remastered is one of the most graphically impressive games I have played. There is just an insane amount of detail no matter where you look in this game, between the foliage in post-apocalyptic Seattle to the junk and debris of decaying buildings to every accurate human anatomy piece you see when you blow off a junk of someone's kneecap with a well placed shotgun blast, this game is undoubtedly a graphical masterpiece. It also helps that this game runs pretty well on PC, with a lot of graphical settings to tweak to your heart's content. The animations from facial animation to body animation are done extremely well, probably the best in class as of writing. You can see every subtle changes in their facial expression and body language to match their emotions. The sound design in this game is also unmatched. While the OSTs are great and should be praised, what I think TLOU 2 does best is their direction in sound design for enemies and the atmospheres. Every gun shot feels extremely weighty, with a loud boom that echos the environment. Every time you move you can hear the shift in your clothes and gears, depending on the environment you're in you're either drown out by the rain or your movement is dampen by the grass. The clickers and other infected have such recognizable sounds that will send chills down your spine the moment you hear them in a dark corridor. And whats best is how meaty the sound is when it comes to the violence. When killing anything from a regular human to an infected, you can hear almost every detail when it comes to blowing off a chunk of flesh off somebody. For example, when you sneak up behind someone and drive a knife through their neck, you can actually hear flesh being torn and ripped as you force the knife through their neck, its not a quick slash like other games. You can even hear the air escape through the gap in their neck sometimes which absolutely does an amazing job in giving weight to all the violence you experience in the game which also ties into the story of the game. Gameplay wise it is a pretty great 3rd person shooter. As mentioned earlier, the action feels great in large part due to both the amazing animations and sound designs for both melee and ranged combat. NPCs in this game are pretty smart depending on what type of enemy they are, so most of the time every engagement feels great for both stealth and rambo-style gunfights. Human NPCs actively react to their environment and comrades, they will even scream out the names of the NPCs you just killed which really sells you that these aren't just nameless grunts for you to kill and move on from. They even alert the others accordingly with things like "Nicole just got killed!" and what not before going on alert. Infecteds are also fun to play around, often forcing you into the stealth playstyle on higher difficulties. Trying to figure out how to approach this group of clickers and runners is always fun, having to decide how to pick them off one by one with stealth and luring one away from the group or if you have enough ammo to just go in gun blazing. Puzzles are light and use real world logic so its pretty satisfying to complete them although there isn't a lot of variety. The more open world segments are okay, allowing you to explore Seattle a little bit and just soak in the environmental story telling. You will often find journals and entries from other survivors and what they gone through as well as just figuring out what happened to a certain area by just looking at the environment. Overall very fun gameplay although I'm still not a fan of shooting with a controller (Playing with a PS5 controller gives the best experience). Now to the most controversial aspect of the game, the story and characters. Instead of playing as Joel, you play as both Ellie and Abby in the game. Without getting into the spoilers too much, I did very much enjoy the story and characters from both of their campaigns. From moment to moment human interactions to the over-arching narrative about violence, I think the game actually does a great job telling the story that its trying to tell. Ellie and Abby's campaign are essentially narrative opposites of each other, and the choice to have us play as Abby later in the story as opposed as starting off with Abby really does work out, although I feel that a lot of the controversy about the story direction might have been reduced if we had played Abby first. I think both Abby and Ellie are phenomenal characters, both very flawed protagonists with their own goals and people they care about. I really enjoy how you switch between the two whenever they continue the cycle of violence and revenge, how their campaigns humanizes every character they interact with, how Ellie and Abby have such similarities with both their stories and motives, and how the game shows you how actions definitely have consequences. This game is very heavy and depressing, a far departure from the first game. While TLOU 1 was gritty and heavy, there were pockets of hopes and perseverance and moments of bonding between Ellie and Joel, and ending aside, the first game showed us that you can find beauty even in the worst situations. This game don't really have that, instead if just beats you with the depression stick over and over again which is probably a turn off for many fans of the first game. Overall I did very much enjoy the story and the conclusion of it, its a very heavy emotional story about revenge and although flawed in some aspects, was still a great journey to the end. The ending is heart wrenching and devastating, extremely bittersweet and I loved the way it tied everything up without outwardly telling you how to feel. The pieces are all there for you to put together. Overall, fantastic game I would recommend to most gamers. After finishing the game, I can see why some people would dislike the direction the game went with its story but I personally enjoyed it for what it is. Even brushing the story aside, the gameplay itself is still one of the best in the market for those who wants to play a stealth-action game with beautiful graphics. There is even a roguelike mode and other content added to the game for those who only want to appreciate the game's combat.

Went into this almost completely blind after recently finishing part I. I'll try keep it spoiler free, but there may be a few minor ones. Lets start with the positives: - Gameplay is definitely enhanced since part 1. It's still simple, but well executed. Newer game and newer mechanics. The gameplay is enjoyable. - It looks good. This game is very pretty and captures the atmosphere of a post apocalyptic environment very well. - Weapon upgrades and customisation is pretty neat The negative: - The story is a scrambled mess. Taking place several years after the first game, you spend the first half of the game playing Ellie, who in this game has the personality of a cardboard box with little to no actual character development. She's one dimensional and boring, she doesn't have many friends. Her reason for rampage seems more like an excuse to vent than anything else. She makes bad decision after bad decision as you control her. The second half sees you playing as Abby. Abbys story is actually pretty well done considering. Although we may not agree with everything she has done, through her eyes we see that she does regret her actions and she has a somewhat decent arc. However, her story should be an option, and we shouldn't be forced to play as her for 10-12 hours. - The significant event that occurs a couple of hours in is stupid. I don't care that they did it or that it happened, but how it happened is bad. Even if the character had "grown soft", it's still a post apocalyptic wasteland. Even a "soft" person isn't going to trust a random small group armed militia - especially after having lived a similar life in the past. - The game is too long. Long games are fine, but this dragged. As the stories converge between Abby and Ellie, we expect a big climax, but there wasn't one - then the game continues for another couple of hours, but there is no climax, and we are given no time to process the events that occurred. As as previously mentioned, when we do get back there, it falls flat anyway. - Ellie demonises Joel for taking her from the Fireflies hospital - she despises him because it wasn't his decision to make. However, the great moral quandary at the end of the first game is totally glossed over - there's barely any mention of the fact that the Fireflies were doing the exact same thing. They did Joel dirty by completely glossing over this. If you're expecting a deep story driven game, this isn't it. Such a disappointment after how well the story in the first game was executed. I was left with an utter sense of bewilderment by the end - having felt like I wasted my time and money on an unpolished story with no real substance. If I could, I'd get my money back.

Havent played a game this immersive in years. I actually look forward to playing this when i get home everyday. Dont listen to the bad things they say about this game, Its life changing

i remember the night i first played this game in 2020, right at release. it was one of only two games i’ve ever pre-ordered. the last of us part i resonated deeply with me—especially as someone who grew up without real parental figures. from the very beginning, the story hit close to home. watching a man get a second chance at a father-daughter relationship with a kid who also needed that same second chance was both cathartic and full of longing. all of that made part ii feel like a knife to the heart. for me, joel’s death was inevitable, no matter how people feel about it. but the true beauty of this game doesn’t fully reveal itself until the final scene. seeing two people who went through hell together become estranged—because of a selfish choice made out of love—is painful. even more painful is the guilt that comes with trying to fix that bond too late. that guilt is what fuels ellie’s need for revenge. the man you once walked through fire with, then shut out for two years, is suddenly taken from you—just one day after you were finally ready to reconnect. it’s a devastating tragedy. and the way it's all woven into the narrative is nothing short of masterful. it’s not a perfect game, and others may have told similar stories with more subtlety. but nothing quite captures the raw humanity of the last of us. the characters feel real—especially in how they think and feel. so much sorrow comes not just from direct actions, but from the way people misinterpret and misunderstand each other. that’s something applicable to everyone's life, eventually. on a technical note, the pc port runs surprisingly well. the optimization is impressive—my somewhat dated system, especially the cpu, still runs it smoothly on high settings. the new roguelite mode is also fun addition if you just want to slaughter randos or play as joel. all in all, this game is a 1/1, 10/10, 5/5—whatever scale you’re using. joel and ellie are characters whose minds i can connect with in different ways, and that’s something truly rare for me. play MGS4 btw, that's my favorite game

it crash everytime i try to load my save, this happens with the last tree updates, it crash after playing more than 5, 10, 20, or 30 minutes for no reasons whatsoever and the worst of all is that this game is ass. i would only recommend this game if they make it playable in the next updates and with a 90% discount, it don't worth more than that honestly. the only good thing about this game is the gameplay and the graphic, nothing more

best game i've played the graphic are great stroy is great gameplay is great emotional is great its perfect

first one but better, story might be sad but you have to get over that, it is supposed to be sad, the way they made this game is so beautiful, your stupid to think this game is bad because of the story or because of what you may have heard. The combat in this game is SOO much better than the first one. This game is awesome, don't hesitate to buy but play the first one first.

The story is incredible. The stealth is great. The gun play is fun. I love it.

Truly one of the best games I have ever played through. I remember when this game came out and I remember hearing a lot of negative comments and opinions. Now that I have experienced the game for myself, I don't know how anybody could hate this game! Every aspect of this game was so tasteful and fit so well with the broader story while still giving unique perspectives. Nothing felt overdone or repetitive. The more I played, the game kept me wanting more! I was hooked! The environments the characters explore through managed to be unique without repeating the type of locales used in the first game. The combat was next level, they introduced a ton of super cool mechanics with this game. The story and the overall grim vibes of the plot felt very fitting for the universe they live in. It is a stark contrast compared to the first game but a realistic one. One final note worth mentioning on game performance, I played when this game was basically freshly ported to Steam. The only issue I had was a bug that would reoccur during cut scenes making the character models occasionally freak out. It was entertaining but definitely ruined the immersion. I'm sure it'll be patched soon enough. Great game, will be replaying soon!

Absolute Cinema. I wasn't expecting a sequel better than the original. You will love and hate at the same time the developers for the roller-coaster of emotions that this game is! The best I personally, ever played!

Part 1 is my favourite game of all time and I genuinely didn't want a second part. I knew it wouldn't be possible to keep that level of story writing, world design and the overall feeling I've had when I played Part 1 for the first time in 2013. I knew this was a one-time thing and no matter how good a sequel would be, it couldn't connect to that story on an equal level. Especially with so many feelings and nostalgia about the first part. I was completely wrong. This game is an absolute masterpiece and I genuinely don't want a third part, because I know ...

best game ever, you dissolve a cult and kill pregnant people, very emotional

Everything about the game is perfect: gameplay, sound, tech, level-design, environment and visual, story. Naughty Dog never disappoints. The only negative thing that can be found here is Sony, I really don't like these guys and their politics. But the game is definitely 10/10, definitely play it <3

I am playing videogames since 1993. This game has the best story I ever played, period. It is also one of the best stories I ever watched, read or played, up there with my all time favorite classics. It nearly made me cry, it made me smile, it was emotional, gut wrenching, suprising and shocking. I also liked the first one, but while I think it is also a great game, I always thought that it had been slightly overrated by people. This one here is a true masterpiece. However, I have some criticism. The gameplay is servicable, but not particularly great. It's your typical sneaky, crafty, shooty stuff with some simple puzzles thrown in here an there, It can be surprisingly clunky from time to tiume and I had multiple moments where a button press did not what I intended, because there was another interaction right next to the one I wanted to do. Visual clarity was also not always given. Things in the world sometimes reflected the light making me think they are interactable for a second. Rain on the lens sometimes looked like the awareness icon of the enemies. It's not gamebreaking or anything but adds these little moments of confusion that slightly affect your overall experience. Hit detection and enemy AI were also clunky from time to time. The graphics look gorgeous of course and this is easily one of the best looking games I ever played, not only because of the fidelity, but also the detail in level design and visual storytelling. The amount of little ideas is mindboggling here, especially if you consider how long this thing is. (I needed 25 hours for my playthrough.) The crazy level of detail is across all departments here, also including the sound (enemies crying: "Oh no, they killed Derek!" when you killed goon #235) and physics. Especially the blood and gore effects are sometimes frighteningly real and disgusting. However, I cannot say that this game is technically sound on PC. I had at least 10 crashes on my machine, which I usually would say is completely unacceptable for a AAA title. I can only look over those issues because the story was so gripping. All in all a title every serious fan of videogame should at least tried. If you haven't, do it now, before watching the show, it's absolutely worth it.

Part II stands out in a sea of mediocre AAA videogame storytelling in its willingness to make the player uncomfortable. It's a game about empathy - not sympathy - and the (in)ability of its characters and the player to feel it. It's not going to work for everyone, but it certainly works for me.

Visually stunning, story just as amazing as the first game. All in all, a worth successor to the TLOU1

Wonderful game, fully playable on Steam Deck! I'm glad it returned back, because before it wasn't avalaible!

I love these games so much. Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker are legends for their work on this masterpiece. As well as Gustavo and Neil! The endgame mode " No Return" is very fun and challenging with lots to unlock! Highly recommend part 1 and 2 for amazing characters, story, music, gameplay, scenery, gore, combat and reward system with fun achievements to gather over time. Naughty Dog is a hell of studio! 11/10

I enjoyed Part 1's story more, but this follow-up beats Part 1 in every other category, which means this is a no-brainer as a 'must by' as well. The gameplay is so immersive, and it's unbelievable just how far video games have come since the early eighties; blurring lines between reality and what's possible to depict onscreen in a video game...just phenomenal.

Anyone who doesn't like this game entirely over Abby just lacks empathy and brain cells People who say the "writing is bad" are also just huffing copium and are incapable of higher levels of thinking Play the game, it's amazing

I love this game. Combat is peak and I enjoyed it overall but I would have trouble recommending it to most on behalf of it's story. It's not a bad story, in fact I think it's a fantastic story; it's just that it's heavy and brutal and doesn't provide much catharsis and satisfaction so I don't think it's for everyone.

At multiple hours in, I'm finding this to be a compelling continuation of the LOU series. Fun game play loop, unsettling as ever, and enjoyable evolution of the model (e.g. open-ish areas). Game runs pretty well on my PC, some stuttering and frame loss in larger areas. Probably a mix of hardware/settings and optimization. A far cry from the botched launch of the first installment on PC. Gorgeous game! I'm a fan.

Incredible moments and some of the best acting you will see in video games. However, the story is pretty weak, game is a little too long for the variety of gameplay it offers. Gets a little stale. Also feels like the year it was written in rather than its supposed to take place in. Only recommend buying if on sale. Idk what happened with season 2 of the show though...

Love both games but I hate where it ends. Like WHAT, Ellie chases after Abby again just to let her go, lose Dina, AND lose everything else?! They now have to make a new game.

This is an absolutely amazing game. Hear me out. I think the reason people didn't enjoy this game is because they weren't ready for one of the most real stories. They weren't ready to be challenged at such a deep emotional level that they simply said it's a bad game and moved on. I very much enjoyed the first TLOU. It was immersive in ways I never expected and had me connected to the characters as if I were there. There were times when I forgot they weren't real characters and I loved that the game did that for me. TLOU 2 did a similar thing. It continued the story and continued to grab me and keep me connected to the characters. I very much enjoyed the game, however there were moments that felt like a chore, like when you switch to play as Abby. After what she did, I went in full John Wick mode and didn't care. No matter how hard the game tried, I couldn't give her any sympathy. The fact that she put someone else in the same situation she was in when HER dad died and then not expecting anything to come at her was dumb. Parts of the game felt really slow and I'm still processing the ending because by the end of the game my mind was exhausted and when the credits came on the screen I was just flabbergasted. I loved the experience that came with playing the game. I loved (most of) the story and I'm happy I was able to still be just as immersed as I was in the first game. Even though I might of been unhappy with some of the story's choices, I still 100% would recommend this game. It's a game that will make you confront emotions no other game has made you come against. I'll give it a 9/10

This is a game — a game with a message, a vision, and intense emotions. You may not like it, but at least it comes from a bunch of people that wanted to tell a very specific story and it's broader impact to humans. It has some dumb scenes, sure, but also incredibly powerful ones. It's a somewhat lengthy experience that demands patience. But if you've seen the new show, you'll notice how well the game handled things: the beautiful art, the thoughtful pacing, and a story they truly committed to telling. To me, this stands in stark contrast to Season 2 of the show, which feels more like a cash grab — one that doesn't fully commit to delivering a meaningful message about violence. I honestly didn’t connect with most characters beyond Ellie, and it’s a shame that she has become the target of so much criticism. What resonated deeply with me was the theme of obsession and the emotional wreckage it leaves behind. Ellie’s journey in this game is powerful and, especially after watching the show, it’s clear how much craft, care, and seriousness went into her story. Funnily enough, I’d actually recommend someone watch Season 1 of The Last of Us and then play this second game. I’m not sure if the newer characters will earn the same emotional investment, but both the first season and this game treat their characters with depth and allow their stories room to breathe. There are definitely elements that feel like afterthoughts — things that have frustrated people across the political spectrum. But the core narrative, the gameplay loop, and the quality of the port more than make up for those gaps. In fact, some of the inconsistencies and knee-jerk emotional responses the game evokes are part of a broader, more human story it's trying to tell.

The best game I've ever played. You want to hate some of the characters, but they're written so well that you end up loving them even through their flaws. This game does an amazing job of keeping each character in the morally grey area while having the best gameplay I've ever experienced. If you loved part 1, this is somehow even better.

The last of us games offer a story that I highly recommend everyone to immerse themselves in. You won't regret it. What did u do? I saved her

playing it for the second time and I can't help but feel sad finishing it, never commented on any game but tlou2 just hits diff, hold a special place in my heart<3 Who never played it please do you're missing out A LOT..

It ain't the same story as Part One, but my god the gameplay is so much better. Mixed feelings about the story and what ND was trying to do with the narratives between two characters. Would only recommend if you want to play TLOU P2 on PC c:

As a Xbox kid I never got to experience as many masterpiece story driven game as what Sony offered. When I got my PC for the first time five years ago I was itching to play all their exclusives. I knew some of the lore and story of both The Last of Us 1 and 2. I played TLOU 1 three years ago for the first time and it is one of the best games I have ever experienced. I don't think any other game has a dynamic like Joel and Ellie's, they just fit so well. Now, knowing how much hate this story got, and how it ended up I was going into it a bit biased but somehow brushed it off and went in with zero judgement. Playing this game for the first time when it released for remastered was AMAZING. Listen, not everyone likes Abby or how the story ended and I get it but I did and understood it. I have experienced so many emotions playing this game than any other. The characters even the side ones were amazing and had me invested in them. I quite liked some of Abby's group and their stories and of course Ellies. This game was visually stunning, the story was so emotional but had me craving more, and the combat is the best I have played in ANY game. Some games you wished you could play for the first time again and TLOU 1 and 2 are those. To past players, I see you coming back to play it. To new players get ready for one of the best ever stories you will ever experience. This just has me wanting more to experience from TLOU universe and will now be one of but if not my favorites series EVER. Long live Joel!

This game is A COMPLETE PACKAGE. 10/10 visuals, it's one of the best looking games I've ever played. 10/10 story, but I am going to let you make up your own mind. 11/10 combat, this is the best part of the game, it brings so much replay potential to this game. The different difficulty modes combined with the excellent open-ended encounter design, allows you to experiment and challenge yourself to beat the same sections again and again with different styles. Now for the PC port specifically, this is done much better than the Part I port, it performs significantly better, which is ironic since it's a larger scale game. It does compile shaders in the background so expect some stuttering when moving into new areas if you have a weaker CPU. Having the *option* to precompile all shaders like Part I would be nice, but this approach is still better than the *forced* long shader compilation in that game. PS: Forgot to mention how good and granular the settings are in this game, you can customise the smallest details of the way the game looks and plays. Ironic how playstation is setting a new standard for PC game customisation.

super impressive game, you really get sucked into it. gameplay wise i think it's better than part 1, but story wise i'd say i prefer part 1. i honestly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed part 1!

The first time i booted up this game the textures wouldn't load and it was all red and black,the game runs fine but the textures don't work.

Forget all the anti-SJW nonsense about this game. Game play is great, story is too.

I wasn't super aware about the controversy surrounding this game but just knew that people really hated it. After playing and finishing it, I cannot believe I was ever hesitant. This game, in my eyes, is just as perfect as the first one (although I don't hate gay people so maybe that's where I'm going wrong).

There are so many things I could say about this series. It's a story of love and loss, of vengeance, of humanity, and ultimately tragedy. The detail and the storytelling elements of every chapter blew my mind; I loved paying attention to every little detail, piecing together the story of those who were there before me, like Boris, the patients of Ground Zero, and just soaking up every moment of peace I got between the fighting. The environment can tell you so much about the world and the people living in it. There are many subtle parallels between the two main characters, but I'll let you figure that out for yourself. Getting to see the story from both sides somehow manages to make you love characters you hated, and sometimes there's so much symbolism its hard to wrap your head around it all. The structure of the story is unconventional and non-linear, it builds up to the climax just to throw a major setback (literally) in your face, and basically flips the entire story up on its head, changing your entire perspective. I know this game got a lot of hate, and it's not for everyone, but I think the imperfection of it is what makes it such a beautiful story. It's human, brutal, and raw. It really makes you think, and resonates with you differently once you've lost someone close to you. I recommend it to everyone. :) The graphics and soundtrack are top-notch too.

if you play TLOU2 before TLOU1 i think the story is much more enjoyable. gameplay and level of detail rival RDR2 definitely one of my top 10 favorite games of all time although I don't know if that will equal hundreds of hours like many of my other favorite games.

This is a tremendously depressing game. I can see why some would criticize it, but I thought that it was great. To be able to follow up the first game with something that's even close to comparable in terms of quality should be greatly recognized. To me, this game is able to meet that high standard.