Highlights

  • The Last of Us Part 2 remaster is more tenable than the previous remake due to the content it adds, rather than showing how much more visually impressive it can be.
  • The inclusion of new gameplay content and a discounted price for those who own the original enhance the value of the remaster, making it more than just a basic upgrade.

The Last of Us Part 2 is receiving a remaster in a couple of months and it is thankfully more tenable than The Last of Us’ remake, let alone that remake’s abysmal PC port. It’s great that this remaster will be launching so soon after its announcement and while it’d be easy to hop onto a bandwagon of critiquing abundant Naughty Dog remasters, there’s really no reason why the Part 2 remaster should be condemned in the same way that The Last of Us’ past regurgitations rightfully were.

There will inevitably be comparisons between the original and the remaster when it releases in January, but this time around the remaster can genuinely stand behind its merits as a fully current-gen experience, at least as long as it is technically sound and its performance is comparable to other current-gen games. However, because The Last of Us Part 2’s remaster won’t be able to hide behind an extreme fidelity makeover like The Last of Us Part 1, the remaster has a legitimate opportunity to showcase the additional content it brings with it.

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The Last of Us Part 2’s Remaster Needs to Let Performance, Gameplay Speak for Itself

The Last of Us’ Remake was Largely a New Coat of Paint

The Last of Us Part 1 received a massive visual overhaul to have it look like The Last of Us Part 2 and that was a huge boon in bringing it to the modern console generation. That said, because The Last of Us’ IP will now have had more remasters/remakes than actual installments when the remaster of Part 2 comes out, it is understandable why such regurgitation has been received with such fatigue.

Interestingly, there’s almost an identical time span between the original Last of Us ’ PS3 launch and the launch of the PS4 as there is between The Last of Us Part 2 ’s release on PS4 and the launch of the PS5.

It’s true that The Last of Us’ first remaster made sense due to its release in the summer following the PS4’s launch, meaning that such a remaster for Part 2 would’ve likely been appreciated more as a summer 2020 title for the PS5. But no matter how late this remaster may seem it is fortunately not arriving empty-handed. Instead, there will be new gameplay content to peruse in The Last of Us Part 2 as well as obligatory cosmetic goodies.

The Last of Us Part 2’s Remaster Deserved a Director’s Cut Title

Naughty Dog and PlayStation must’ve known that putting out a vanilla remaster of Part 2 without any goodies would’ve landed them in boiling water, and what it includes does not disappoint, especially for anyone who would already be willing to purchase the remaster without it. The best decision made with the remaster was to give it a discounted price tag of $10 for anyone who already owns the original, which would’ve been an exceptional price even if it was a simple PS5 remaster without any of the supplementary content it features.

Indeed, being able to experience three ‘Lost Levels’ and a survival roguelike mode titled No Return are cherries on top that make the remaster more than worthwhile, going as far as to seem more like a director’s cut edition than a basic remaster ordinarily would. It’ll also be interesting to see how much time is shaved off of the sequel with less loading times inherent on the PS5 since that could have a tremendous effect on The Last of Us Part 2’s speedrunning community, let alone casual play.