THE LAST OF US PART II REMASTERED REVIEW: MORE THAN JUST A SEQUEL
WARNING: This review contains major story spoilers
PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION 5 5
HOURS PLAYED: 27
When I finished the Last Of Us Part I, I felt that Naughty Dog had left a lot on the table regarding world-building, combat, and moment-to-moment fun factor. However, it didn't take long into my play-through of the sequel to realize that Part I walked so that Part II could run. The Last Of Us Part II is a vastly more ambitious experience in almost every way. Its approach to storytelling is not only unique to The Last Of Us franchise but to gaming as a whole, and its approach to combat largely takes what worked in Part I and expands it in interesting and creative ways -- just to name a few examples. Though I walked away from Part I with only moderately optimistic feelings, I had a good enough time with it to want to play Part II. But what about those who walked away from Part I who didn't feel so optimistic? Should they give Part II a chance?
A Confronting Approach To StoryTelling
My main complaint about the story from The Last Of Us Part I was that it didn't do enough to build out the various moving parts of the world, making it feel like an experience that left important parts of the story on the table. The Last of Us Part II, however, strikes a masterful balance between being thoughtfully self contained and uniquely grandios. The stakes are higher, the relationships are deeper and more complex, and while Naughty Dog, again, chose to leave a number of important story elements regarding the wider world on the table, their decision to flesh out other key elements makes this a pleasantly complex story that you likely wouldn't have expected if you played Part I first. I know I didn't.
The Last Of Us Part II takes place four years after the events of Part I, and many aspects of Ellie and Joel's lives have changed. Ellie is now 18 and has a variety of complex relationships that we see her navigate throughout the course of the game. The mile high wall protecting Joel's hopes and guarding him against his fears has seemingly come down, as we see right from his first interaction with Ellie that he's become much more emotionally vulnerable in his adoptive father role. But now, the story is much bigger than just Joel and Ellie's relationship. Jackson has become a robust haven for those escaping the harsh conditions of the world -- containing men, women, and children from all walks of life. This expanded world illustrates the large sense of community that we didn't see in Part I. It serves as the bedrock for more complex relationships, and the multitude of situations that naturally arise from them, to occur. It turns the inward nature of Joel and Ellie's story outward, making it a more layered experience. However, Naughty Dog would ultimately make two shocking decisions that would shake the very foundation of the story.. and your expectations of it.
MAJOR STORY SPOLIERS AHEAD
DECISION #1
The first of these story decisions would come early in the game when an unknown group of travelers capture Joel and Tommy, with one of them taking Joel's life in brutal fashion. Joe's death scene raises many questions, chief among them, who exactly are his killers and why did they kill him? This scene is where we're introduced to Abby, the woman who takes Joel's life with clear intent for revenge, but why?. Furthermore, Ellie lays witness to his death, setting up her own revenge story. From this one scene, we have one character, Abby, seeking revenge for unknown reasons, and Ellie, who sets out on her own journey of revenge.
Though it happens very early in the game, this scene sets the wheels in motion for Ellie's profound character development. Much like any other child entering the early stages of adulthood, we see Ellie slowly breaking away from Joel's protective influence. However, in Joel's death scene, we see that protection violently ripped away from her, and now she must confront this change head on. Additionally, the adoptive father-daughter relationship we've grown accustomed to is replaced with the romantic relationship she has with fellow Jackson refugee, Dina. With Joel imparting his protective influence on Ellie, perhaps we would never have gotten to see Ellie truly explore the depths of her adult relationships, be it with Jesse, Dina, or even her vengeful feelings towards Abby.
Though it happens very early in the game, this scene sets the wheels in motion for Ellie's profound character development. Much like any other child entering the early stages of adulthood, we see Ellie slowly breaking away from Joel's protective influence. However, in Joel's death scene, we see that protection violently ripped away from her, and now she must confront this change head on. Additionally, the adoptive father-daughter relationship we've grown accustomed to is replaced with the romantic relationship she has with fellow Jackson refugee, Dina. With Joel imparting his protective influence on Ellie, perhaps we would never have gotten to see Ellie truly explore the depths of her adult relationships, be it with Jesse, Dina, or even her vengeful feelings towards Abby.
In games, movies, and even life, the death of a loved one often propels growth from within, and The Last Of Us is no different. As senseless and cruel as Joel's death seemed in the moment, perhaps it was the only way that Ellie could grow into the character that Naughty Dog had envisioned her to be. One who could survive this cruel and harsh world, and perhaps wouldn't have been able to do so under Joel's protective influence. Throughout the rest of the game, we see Ellie using the life skills Joel has imparted on her, whether it be in relationships or moments of survival, and everything in between.
DECISION #2
The second of these important story decisions comes halfway through the game, where we're tasked with actually playing as Abby, Joel's killer and the vehicle for Ellie's single minded white hot revenge. When Abby kills Joel, she's immediately positioned as the enemy, and Naughty Dog drives this point home by making Joel's death exceptionally merciless and gruesome. Seeing our beloved main character's life taken this way by Abby leaves us with no choice but feel the same desire for revenge as Ellie does. This is why when halfway through the game, when we're given control of Abby, it comes as a deep shock that only raises more questions, but also gives the story a level of depth and intrigue that's hard to untangle from.
Abby's story begins with a flashback of her spending time with her father. She's shown as compassionate and full of innocence, the complete opposite of the merciless, vengeful character traits she shows in Joel's death scene. The flashback would go on to reveal the reason as to why she would later go on to take Joel's life. She has a connection to him that was not shown in Part I, or in Part II up to that point, but this flashback demands that the player question whether or not Abby is really the enemy.
Throughout Abby's story, we're shown that she has many similarities to Ellie, another means of getting the player to question whether or not she's really the enemy. We're shown that Abby cares for her friends and family with the same ferocity that Ellie does. Hammering this point home in a deeply effective way is Abby's decision to team up with two Scar children for survival after they saved her life during a near death encounter. Like Ellie, Abby is fiercely loyal to those who she believes are for the greater good, even if those relationships conflict with the longer lasting, more established ones in her life. Like Ellie, Abby doesn't care much for siding with one clan or the other, rather, she holds a moral high ground, siding with people she feels are intrinsically good, regardless of clan.
Like Ellie, Abby also has a variety of complex interpersonal relationships. She mirrors Ellie's tough exterior, that of which can only be penetrated by those she deeply cares about. Abby's romantic relationship with Owen is one that exposes her emotional side, when originally, the story had positioned her to be heartless. Her desire to defend her comrades illustrates her fierce sense of loyalty in a deeply effective way. In turn, watching her comrades die around her further exposes that though at times she seems fearless, she's indeed a very fearful person, much like Ellie is.
In many games, the bad guy is just the bad guy, and that's it, and while it's common for a story to provide context behind the motives of the bad guy, most don't go as far as having you actually play as them to understand their character. In having the player actually play as Abby, the game is forcing you to not only understand her, but to confront your feelings about her in an uncomfortable way. At the beginning of Abby's play through, you'll likely beg the question, what is there to gain from playing as Joel's killer? However, Naughty Dog slowly disassembles our feelings about Abby, only to rebuild them in a way that can only be done by seeing the world directly through her eyes. Additionally, by showing us how similar she is to Ellie, we're put in a position where we go from seeing her as the enemy to feeling a deep sense of sympathy for her. The climax of the story, propped up by the immense tension that builds throughout the entire game, is made much deeper by having us play as both Abby and Ellie. Without experiencing both perspectives, the end of the game wouldn't feel nearly as emotional as it does.
In many games, the bad guy is just the bad guy, and that's it, and while it's common for a story to provide context behind the motives of the bad guy, most don't go as far as having you actually play as them to understand their character. In having the player actually play as Abby, the game is forcing you to not only understand her, but to confront your feelings about her in an uncomfortable way. At the beginning of Abby's play through, you'll likely beg the question, what is there to gain from playing as Joel's killer? However, Naughty Dog slowly disassembles our feelings about Abby, only to rebuild them in a way that can only be done by seeing the world directly through her eyes. Additionally, by showing us how similar she is to Ellie, we're put in a position where we go from seeing her as the enemy to feeling a deep sense of sympathy for her. The climax of the story, propped up by the immense tension that builds throughout the entire game, is made much deeper by having us play as both Abby and Ellie. Without experiencing both perspectives, the end of the game wouldn't feel nearly as emotional as it does.
Gameplay: Better Than In Part I, But Still Not For Me
This subheadline might suggest that I think the gameplay and combat is bad however, I actually feel that Part II thoroughly nailed it's very intentional vision for it. Part II expands on many of its gameplay elements, including enemy and weapon variety, the environments that conflicts take place in, and traversal puzzles. Each of these elements use Part I as a foundation, largely retains what worked, and removes what didn't making for a more streamlined experience.
When it comes to combat, the underlying foundation is largely the same. Weapons still feel weighty and realistic. Ammo is still incredibly scarce, meaning you'll need to make every shot, preferably head shots, count if you want to survive. Many of the same weapons from Part I have returned, along with a number of new additions that help spice up combat variety. The actual combat experience however, has seen some very welcome changes, the first of which comes rather early in the game while playing as Abby prior to Joel's death.
Abby splits off from the group to attempt to infiltrate Jackson, when she comes across a massive group of clickers. You could stealth this section, but I chose to try and outrun them down the mountain. Doing so will alert the 50-60 clickers to start chasing you in what eventually becomes a thrilling but terrifying downhill chase. During this sequence, you have to make your way through tight spaces, over fences and through crawl spaces to escape. The clickers are never more than one step behind you, so one wrong move and you're done for. In one part of the sequence, the clickers knock a fence over onto Abby, forcing her to crawl under it while being forcibly grabbed at. Part II is full of creative, heart pumping sequences like this, in addition to a variety of combat environments that are more than just recurring tight spaces full of flanking postions like in Part I.
Traversal puzzles also saw a nice uplift. Gone are the shipping palettes that seemed to make their way to almost every puzzle in Part I just in time for your arrival. The problem with the shipping palettes, as I noted in my Part I review, is that their recurring involvement always made it so you knew what the answer to the puzzle was. However in Part II, there are a wide variety of puzzles that require you to use your environment in a multitude of ways. It keeps getting from one area to the next fresh, especially since these puzzles are one of the main ways that you're meant to get from point A to point B in the game.
Despite these improvements, I'm left with the same problem I had with Part I: the gameplay just isn't very fun. I'm not suggesting that Part II fell short of executing effectively on their gameplay vision, in fact, they did so in a very decisive manner. My feeling is that outside of the thrilling action set pieces, improved puzzles, and thorough combat, the moment to moment gameplay that sits between these elements is lacking in fun factor, much like they did in Part I. Though, I would like to be clear that I don't think it's objectively bad and that it just wasn't for me. I can recognize and appreciate how thoroughly designed these systems are, and I'm confident many players will find the fun baked into them.
The Verdict
I judged The Last Of Us Part One largely for what I felt it wasn't, however, in Part II, I feel compelled to instead look at this story and overall experience for what it is instead. Part II showed us that while the clickers are an existential threat to the human race, they aren't the REAL enemy, rather, people are the enemy. It doesn't matter how involved the wider factions of he world are, because it matters much more about the actual people IN them, and the impact those individual characters have on Ellie and Abby. Seeing the story in this way has left me feeling much more appreciative of its self contained approach. As a sequel, its success depends on expanding on those elements in some way shape or form. It didn't do so by involving FEDRA, the Fireflies, or even the clicker sickness, rather, it did so by expanding upon and deepening the interpersonal relationships that both Abby and Ellie have with those around them. Complimenting the expanded story is the expanded gameplay systems. The combat is thorough, as it was in the last game, and retains it's emphasis on accuracy and ammo resource management. Grandios action set pieces paired with more varied traversal puzzles and interesting environments flesh the game out in ways that a sequel ultimately should. With that said, because The Last Of Us Part II expanded on Part I in incredibly effective and impressive ways, I can say with ease that this is a GREAT game, and one I would recommend to even the most skeptical of players who have only played Part I.