Highlights
- The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered for PlayStation 5 will feature alternate skins, lost levels, improved load times, and a highly anticipated roguelike mode called No Return.
- No Return is a challenging mode with twelve levels and ten unlockable characters, but it's odd that Owen, an important character in the story, is not playable.
- The absence of Owen in No Return could be due to a lack of unique abilities to give him, or to maintain an equal number of playable characters from both Ellie and Abby's stories.
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will not only bring an updated version of one of the most critically acclaimed games ever made to the PlayStation 5, but it is also set to feature some interesting bonus features. This includes alternate skins for Abby and Ellie that see the former getting a survivor skin that looks like something players would see in the Fallout franchise, while the latter gets the spacesuit she always dreamed of having. Lost Levels will allow players to take a look at parts of the story Naughty Dog scrapped, while load times will be greatly improved. However, it is No Return that really has The Last of Us players talking.
Considering how great The Last of Us 2’s gameplay was, the concept of a roguelike mode that gives players challenging fights where they have to craft builds to survive for longer sounds like a terrific idea. Supposedly, the mode is far deeper than many might expect, with early rumors suggesting that No Return will have 12 levels to work through. Additionally, players know that there will be 10 characters that can be unlocked for use in the mode, though even with that high character count, Owen has been forgotten.
The Last of Us 2 Remastered's Lost Levels Missed One Perfect Opportunity
The Last of Us 2 Remastered's lost levels are one of the most exciting new features, but it's missing the chance to reveal deeper lore.
The Last of Us 2 Remastered’s Omission of Owen in No Return is Odd
Why Owen Would Have Made Sense For No Return
One of the main reasons Owen not being playable is so strange is because of his prominence in The Last of Us 2’s story. Other than Lev, there is arguably nobody as important to Abby’s character arc as Owen, as his defection from the WLF and soft spot for the Seraphites is the first nudge Abby has toward redeeming herself. Though The Last of Us 2's Owen is fairly divisive due to his treatment of Mel, he is still a complex character that many would have preferred to use over someone widely hated like Manny or someone like Mel who mostly stays on the sidelines.
Owen is not the only major character in The Last of Us 2 who does not make the cut for No Return. Nora, who Ellie tortured for information on Abby during one of the game’s most harrowing scenes, is someone that would make sense for a playable character but is strangely absent.
Possible Reasons Why Owen May Not Have Been Included in No Return
As for why Owen did not make the cut for playable characters, one possibility is that Naughty Dog could not come up with a unique ability for him. Though Mel may seem like an odd pick for No Return, her medic background means she can have a play style built around those skills, similar to how Joel has an unstoppable build and Ellie can do a bit of everything. Owen swearing off violence against Seraphites as part of his character arc could have played a part in this, as though he was a top killer for the WLF in the past, he is not shown fighting much at all in The Last of Us 2.
Alternatively, Owen may have been left out so that the number of characters from Abby and Ellie’s stories would be perfectly balanced. Ellie’s side features Joel, Tommy, Jesse, and Dina, while the playable characters from Abby’s part of the narrative are Manny, Mel, Lev, and Yara - making for four supporting characters alongside each main character. Still, to add Owen without making things uneven, Maria simply could have been introduced as a playable character from Ellie’s story to balance things out. Regardless of why Owen was not featured as a playable character, it is truly strange that a key player missed No Return while a far more minor one like Manny made the cut. Though he could theoretically be added in a future update, there have been no updates promised for the mode after release, so fans may unfortunately never be able to control Abby's complicated love interest.
The Last of Us Part 2
The Last of Us Part II is the follow-up to the original game in the series. This time around, players control both Ellie and Abby. The game won many awards, including smashing the record for the most Game of the Year awards.
