The Last of Us Part 1 has been a relatively hot button topic since its initial leaks. There has always been a considerable degree of excitement with regard to the PS5 remake and the obvious visual improvements that would be possible due to current-gen hardware, but there has also been a fair amount of collected controversy about the reasoning behind its necessity or desirability. Much of this discourse concerns whether The Last of Us Part 1 is a cash-grab, with arguments on both sides having been supported reasonably.
Of course, the remake releases this week and fans have a choice to make. Many of The Last of Us Part 1’s early reviews are raving about how it is the definitive way to play the game, while some mention the fact that it is largely the same experience. Now that The Last of Us Part 1 marks a third release for a single game, regardless of how improved or upscaled it is as a remaster or remake, it begs the question whether this trend will be imparted onto its sequel, The Last of Us 2.
The Last of Us Spans Nearly 10 Years and Three Console Generations
It would be difficult to deny The Last of Us’ influence or fanbase, and its multigenerational life span is a glowing declaration of that. Having originally released on PS3 before being remastered for PS4 and remade for PS5, its reach has been stretched as far as possible to meet new audiences and take advantage of new hardware capabilities.
The Last of Us Part 1 is billed as a remake with much more work put into it than a remaster may entail, and it is basically up to fans now to discern whether the features and content in it are enough to sell them on it or not. Rather, enthusiastic fans of The Last of Us who still enjoy the original game will likely be pleased to play another remaster, remake, or whatever other iteration Naughty Dog develops if it means that they get to play it again.
The remake gets to revel in current-gen consoles' technologically advanced bells and whistles, but for all its rebuilt upscaling and undeniable detail The Last of Us Part 1 is still intending to be faithful to a PS3 game. Therefore, The Last of Us Part 1 will have always been held back by the notion that it could have been more, had it not decided to keep so many features and mechanics the same. It is interesting to note that The Last of Us fans have not seemed to fatigue, though that may be the result of there only having been two actual games in the franchise.
Following the remake’s release, however, there will technically be four individual entries that fans have been able to purchase, despite three of those being the same game. Further, The Last of Us’ HBO series is also an interesting demonstration of how fans are perennially excited for Joel and Ellie’s tragic adventure to be revisited.
The Last of Us surely has mechanics that could be considered outdated, having originally released back in 2013. But The Last of Us 2, which was released on the previous-gen PS4 and not even on the current-gen PS5, is another matter entirely. There is currently no reason to believe that The Last of Us 2 is also intended to be given its own multigenerational legs, but fans may not have anticipated that being the case with the original game either. Naughty Dog will hopefully avoid establishing such a trend with The Last of Us.
Naughty Dog Should Focus Efforts on New Entries or IPs
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The Last of Us 2 made emergent strides that not only excel past that of the original, but have redefined what interactivity and accessibility options are possible in games. It could certainly be argued at the moment that The Last of Us 2 does not need a remaster or remake, but the same has also been said about The Last of Us since its original launch in 2013.
Especially compared to The Last of Us’ early remaster on PS4, there have been salient arguments made about how comparable the remaster is to the 2022 remake, at least in terms of fidelity. The Last of Us Part 1’s environmental art is unmistakably upscaled with entirely new textures and the like, though screenshots comparing how certain character models look are less distinguishable in terms of which is the remaster and which is the remake.
Characters like The Last of Us’ Tess have seen a massive facial model change on PS5 with reworked facial animations, but the reason why fans may not be wholly impressed by other models in the remake may be because they have seen these models before. Characters like Joel and Tommy may not look as drastically different to fans since they were last seen with these same models in The Last of Us 2.
It is unknown what The Last of Us’ future will look like besides its untitled multiplayer game, but with three unique installments of the initial entry it is possible the same fate will befall The Last of Us 2. This would be neither a positive nor negative occurrence, but because of the mixed and ambivalent reception fans have expressed, it would likely be controversial to continue putting out remasters and remakes unless Naughty Dog can fully rationalize its decision to do so.
Instead, Naughty Dog may wish to eschew that formula following The Last of Us Part 1 in order to avoid the idea that generational remakes are its new modus operandi. New IPs and games are in Naughty Dog’s future already as teased by Neil Druckmann, and that may be Naughty Dog’s best course of action.
The Last of Us Part 1 releases September 2, 2022 for PS5, and a PC release is also in development.
