There was a time when The Last of Us really felt like something sacred. In the period between the launch of the first game back in 2013 and the official announcement of the sequel in 2016, many fans, (myself included,) sort of hoped that we would never see anything else from this universe again. This was a double edged sword of course; while a part of me wanted to see more from this world that I adored so much, I didn’t want anything to taint the flawless experience that was playing through that first game.
This was such a prevalent mindset within the fan community that when Neil Druckmann was doing press interviews in the run up to Part 2’s release, (after he unceremoniously elbowed Bruce Straley out of the company,) he spent a lot of time talking about how the team were going to do their best to justify the existence of a sequel. It is my opinion that The Last of Us Part 2 spectacularly failed to justify bringing these beloved characters out of retirement, but at least Druckmann and company seemed to understand how sacred this IP was at that time.
Well, that sentiment didn’t last long
Quite clearly, this was a mindset that was never going to last very long. In a world where franchise potential is like crack cocaine to an entertainment CEO, there was never really any doubt that The Last of Us meant little more to Sony and Naughty Dog than a cash cow to be milked dry. And milk it they did.
The first game that was originally released for PS3, was released again for PS4, and then again for PS5. A TV show adaption was aired on HBO last year, The Last of Us Factions online tie-in has since been announced and subsequently cancelled, and another sequel is rumored to be in the works; at this point, I am surprised that there hasn’t been a kid-friendly animated tie in show announced.
As much as I hate what Morrissey has become in recent years, I feel compelled to quote him here:
“Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before.”
In its infinite wisdom, the team at Naughty Dog has decided that it is high time to release a remake of The Last of Us Part 2, despite the fact that the game is less than four years old. People across the internet cried out when The Last of Us Part 1 remake was announced because it seemed too soon, but at least that game was nine years old at that point, Part 2 is less than half of that!
Is there really any doubt anymore that Naughty Dog and Sony are doing this purely for the money? The once sacred franchise is now rivalling games like Skyrim and GTA V in terms of the sheer amount of re-releases it has had. If there is anything that can be gleaned from Disney’s treatment of formerly ubiquitously beloved franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars in recent years, it is that the more that is seen of a franchise, the less special it becomes. Absence makes the heart grow fonder after all.
I have a feeling that we haven’t seen the last of The Last of Us
Again, I am far from the only person to feel this way within the fan community, and that feedback has directly reached back Naughty Dog thanks to VGC. In an interview that the outlet held with Naughty Dog developer Matthew Gallant, he was asked why he thinks that video game remasters are often met with fan backlash, to which he replied:
“I don’t understand some of the consternation about what The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered offers.”
Choosing to play dumb towards the many justifiable elements of the fan backlash seems outright disingenuous and as if he is being purposely ignorant towards the gaming community at large. There are many reasons for the community’s “consternation,” towards this egregious attempt to take even more money from dedicated fans of your franchise. So many in fact, that we at FandomWire have elected not to publish a review of this sorry excuse for a re-release.
For a start, let’s talk about the game’s graphics. Naughty Dog claims that in terms of sheer visual fidelity, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is the best way to experience the game optically. However it should be noted that technical visual fidelity stats don’t improve the character or environmental models and assets used in the game, to which no changes have been made for this re-release.
Even on its native console of PlayStation 4, The Last of Us Part 2 still looks breath-taking almost four years after it launched. In fact, I would even go as far as saying that it looks better than most PS5 games released in the years since. Thus, there was never any need to overhaul the game on a visual level, as even looking at the two versions side-by-side, the difference is negligible.
Aside from alleged improved graphics, the other new things being offered in the remaster are a bunch of different playable modes. The only one of these modes that I was remotely interested in upon first hearing about them, were the Lost Levels. These would apparently show off parts of the game that were originally planned and then cut for various reasons.
Sadly, none of these Lost Levels involve an alternate ending that isn’t a complete cop-out, spitting in the face of fans everywhere. Instead, their inclusion feels arbitrary, as they don’t add anything of any value to the game as a whole. Beyond feeling aimless, they are also left unfinished, with many sections lacking proper animations or voice acting. That’s right, Sony and Naughty Dog are actively charging gamers for content that the studio didn’t even bother to finish making.
Oftentimes, less is more
The next two modes do little more than undercut the intended emotional impact that The Last of Us Part 2 was going for. The first is a speed run mode, which allows players to get to the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of brutally mowing down hordes of infected and other humans as quickly as possible. The other is Guitar Free Play, because nothing blows away the woes of living in a depressing apocalyptic wasteland than shredding on your six string, am I right?
There was also supposed to be a documentary included that sounded interesting, called Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II. Though, it is not present at launch and will apparently instead be patched into the game at a later date. However, it has also been announced that the doc will also release online for free, so even if it was present here, it wouldn’t have really added any value to The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered as a package.
The value of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered as a whole is a very important thing to consider. Supporters of this re-release have argued that the complaints of tightwads like myself are unjustified, since Naughty Dog isn’t charging full price for this game, and it is available as a $10 upgrade to those who already own the PS4 version. The issue with that comes when this remaster is compared to what Sony Santa Monica did with God of War: Valhalla.
The reason for this comparison is because the most prominent mode included in this re-release is a survival mode called No Return. Just like God of War: Valhalla, it is structured in the style of a rogue-like. However, unlike Valhalla it offers no new story content, dialogue, or environments. It just sees players fight through waves of enemies within an environment recycled from the main game. Not only was Valhalla offered completely free to those who already owned God of War: Ragnarok, but it also offered a more fleshed out experience than the rogue-like mode seen in The Last of Us Part 2.
At least when The Last of Us Remastered was released in 2014, it came packaged with the Left Behind story DLC. What The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered offers feels shallow and tacked-on in comparison. If the rogue-like mode had been closer to that of Valhalla, if the Grounded documentary had been included, and if the Lost Levels were more substantial and complete, then an argument could be made to justify the $10 being charged for this upgrade, but as it stands it just feels like another lazy cash grab.
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