Announced at the end of 2023, The Last Of Us Part II Remastered is the PS5 re-release of Naughty Dog's latest game. Available since June 2020 on PS4, this sequel to the adventures of Ellie and Joel (which began in June 2013 on PS3) was eagerly awaited by many fans on PS5. Here we are a few days away from the game's release, expected for Friday, January 19, 2024.
In addition to a remaster allowing you to play in 4K, with up to 60FPS depending on the graphics mode chosen, you will have the joy of discovering new current-generation features such as significantly reduced loading times, the integration of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. But this The Last Of Us Part II Remastered will also be an opportunity to discover new content with the "No Return" mode, the "Lost Levels" and much more.
pre-order the last of us part ii remastered
The Last Of Us Part.II: still as good, and even more beautiful?
Given that The Last Of Us Part II Remastered is, as its name suggests, a remaster, don't expect to discover new features in the main storyline. This game takes up scene for scene, line for line, the same story and narration as the eponymous game on PS4. The only difference is that you will benefit from two graphics modes: fidelity, which will allow you to play in 30 FPS, but with Native 4K, or a performance mode, allowing you to play in 1440p with a 4K rendering in 60FPS. To be completely honest, the result is not visible to the naked eye. The Dogs have done such a goldsmith's work on PS4 and PS4 Pro, that it is very difficult to see a clear difference with the PS5 version. The latter naturally offers more refined details and textures, with a slight improvement in the display distance.
We can see that some shots have been improved, especially on the flashbacks with the character models The Last Of Us Part I (the remake of the first opus released in September 2022 on PS5) which have been integrated into this Remastered version on PS5. In some shots, we feel that the camera has been moved back, allowing us to have more cinematic wide shots.
With performance mode, the visual difference is clearly not noticeable, but the 60FPS provide better fluidity with significant gaming comfort. Among the other new features, or rather, gameplay improvements, we have the integration of the DualSense features. And on this point, it is a very positive return. With The Last Of Us Part I, we felt that the Naughty Dog teams had not made it their priority with disappointing haptic feedback. With this Remastered version of The Last Of Us Part II, it is night and day. Whether it is Ellie's footsteps, the gallop of your horse, the rumble of thunder or the raindrops, you will feel every vibration in the palm of your hand. The same is true with the adaptive triggers which will respond perfectly according to the weapons you are going to use. As always when these features are used, it is a real little pleasure, controller in hand.
Besides that, the story of the game remains the same and has not aged a bit. The Last Of Us Part II is a real experience that will, once again, manage to move you, touch you and make you go through all your states thanks to a masterful narration perfectly orchestrated by the Naughty Dog teams.
The Last Of Us Part.II – No Return
The main new feature of this version Remastered is the "No Return" mode or, in our good French "Sans Retour". This is a game mode inspired by the traditional "Rogue-Like". Playable solo only, it offers you to play one of the main characters of The Last Of Us Part II with team Ellie (Dina, Jessee, Tommy and Joël) as well as team Abby (Lev, Yara, Manny and Mel). In total, 10 playable characters with a series of challenges to complete.
Once your hero is selected, you appear in your hideout. This is your HUB where you will be able to buy and improve weapons, buy plans to create projectiles, improve your character's skills, etc. To put it simply, you will be able to make all the possible improvements solo, via your hideout in the "No Return" mode.
You also have access to this table, offering you two paths to the final boss. You will therefore have to go through five confrontations to reach the last duel with the boss. If you succeed, your series of the "No Return" mode will be a success and you will be able to start again. If you die, during the boss fight (or before), then the series ends and you have to start over.
There are four types of fights in the series: attack, prey, defense and capture. In attack mode, you must survive three waves of enemies (infected, scars, WLF). They arrive randomly and you must exterminate them in any way: melee, firearms, projectiles, stealthily or not.
In prey mode, you must survive for a given time. Here again, you have the choice between finding a good hiding place and waiting for time to run out, or rushing into the crowd to fight. In all cases, the only rule is to be alive at the end of the allotted time.
In defense mode, you are with a teammate and you must prepare your environment and survive a horde of enemies. If you die or your partner dies, it is failure.
In capture mode, your enemies protect a chest with many resources. You must succeed by all means to access the chest before the end of time.
It is also possible to have bonuses or penalties during your confrontations. Whether it's the weather with rain, fog, etc... But also on your skills and your enemies. The latter can benefit from improved or reduced health. Your melee attacks can trigger an effect that will set your enemies on fire, etc. During certain fights, you can even have a companion (controlled by AI) who helps you achieve your objective.
Of course, it is also possible to choose the difficulty of your series, from very easy to realistic. You will earn bonus points depending on the difficulty level you have chosen. The points are important because they will allow you to appear in the ranking of the best players in the world (and to compete with your friends). If this “No Return” mode does not offer a multiplayer variant, it does offer a scoreboard so that you can compare yourself to other players around the world. Points are determined by your approach (stealthy or not), the damage points you inflict and receive, your time, the objects picked up, your difficulty level, etc.
Once your series is finished, all you have to do is start a new one or create your own personalized series to unlock all the characters and all their bonuses with the different challenges to complete. Please note that daily objectives will be launched and that you will have additional bonuses and resources to unlock by playing the “No Return” mode every day.
The Lost Levels of The Last Of Us Part II
This is clearly the second main new feature of this The Last Of Us Part II Remastered: the “Lost Levels» (or, again, «Lost Levels» in French). There are three of them. These are levels that were not completed by Naughty Dog and were not included in the final version of the game. Often for reasons of rhythm. With this Remastered version, you will be able to discover the behind the scenes and play these levels with, in addition to that, audio commentary from the Naughty Dog teams who explain precisely why they were not retained, but also what the ideas were for these deleted parts.
The first level "Jackson Party" was originally a level which was supposed to take place at the end of The Last Of Us Part II (during the first stay at the farm). This level was supposed to be an introduction to the Jackson prom sequence where Ellie and Dina share their first kiss. Originally, the player would have been able to control a very stressed Ellie as she walked around and interacted with the people of Jackson, taking part in various activities.
The second level, "Seattle Sewers" was supposed to take place in the middle of Ellie's stay in Seattle. Again, this was supposed to be an introduction to the moment when Ellie falls into the fast-moving waters and is carried away by an infected into the Seattle sewers. At first, Naughty Dog had thought of adding more than ten minutes of gameplay where Ellie had to find a way to escape from the sewers with a rather strong sequence near a clapper…
And finally, the third and final level "The Hunt" was also supposed to take place at the end of the game, during the first stay on the farm. Before finding Ellie, who brings back a rabbit from the hunt, we should have played a treasure hunt, similar to the deer hunt in the first game, to track down a wild boar this time. But here again, a significant event should have reminded us of Ellie's trauma that would have forced her to return to the farm empty-handed, with just a rabbit.
The "Lost Levels" will certainly be a great time for all fans of the license and this Part II. In total, count on a good half hour of additional gameplay with juicy anecdotes.
Other new features to discover
Finally, this re-release of The Last Of Us Part II on PS5 allows you to discover new nice little things like the "free guitar" mode which allows you to freely play the mini-game of guitar with Ellie, Joel and even the game's composer Gustavo Santaolalla.
In the bonuses, you can change the game's graphic filters, activate cheat codes and discover a range of new skins for Ellie and Abby. Nothing extraordinary, but it’s still two or three additional cool things to discover.
preorder the last of us part.ii remastered
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