Comparison, new features, changes, what is this PS5 version worth?

Announced in late 2023, The Last of Us Part II Remastered Naughty Dog’s latest game is a PS5 re-release. Available on PS4 since June 2020, this sequel to Ellie and Joel’s adventures (which launched on PS3 in June 2013) has been eagerly awaited by many fans on PS5. Here we are a few days before the game’s release, expected on Friday January 19, 2024.

In addition to the remaster allowing you to play in 4K with up to 60FPS depending on the selected graphics mode, you will enjoy discovering new current generation features such as much shorter loading times, the integration of haptic feedback or even re-adaptive triggers. The Last of Us Part II Remastered It will also be an opportunity to discover new content with “No Return” mode, “Lost Level” and much more.

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The Last of Us Part. II: Still as good and even more beautiful?

Given that The Last of Us Part II Remastered Being a remaster as its name suggests, don’t expect to find anything new in the main plot. The game takes a scene-by-line, line-by-line approach to the same story and narrative as the title game on PS4. The only difference is that you will benefit from two graphics modes: Fidelity, which will allow you to play at 30 FPS, but with 4K Native or Performance mode, which will allow you to play at 1440p with 4K rendering in 60FPS. To be perfectly honest, the result is not visible to the naked eye. Dogs has done such a great job on PS4 and PS4 Pro that it’s very hard to see a clear difference with the PS5 version. The latter naturally offers more refined details and textures with a slight improvement in display spacing.

We can see that some shots have been improved, especially the flashbacks with the character models The Last of Us Part I (a remake of the first opus released in September 2022 on PS5) that was integrated into this version Remastered On the PS5. In some shots, we feel that the camera has moved back, allowing us to get more cinematic wide shots.

With performance mode, the visual difference is not clearly noticeable, but 60FPS offers better fluidity with significant gaming comfort. Among other new features, or rather, gameplay improvements, we have the integration of DualSense features. And on this point, it’s a very positive response. with The Last of Us Part I

, we felt the Naughty Dog teams didn’t make it their priority with disappointing haptic feedback. With this version Remastered No The Last of Us Part II, it is day and night. Whether it’s Alley’s steps, your horse’s gallop, thunder’s roll or raindrops, you’ll feel every vibration in the palm of your hand. It is the same with adaptive triggers that will respond perfectly depending on the weapon you are going to use. As always when using these features, it’s a real pleasure, controller in hand.

Apart from that, the story of the game remains the same and hasn’t aged a bit. The Last of Us Part II This is a true experience that will once again manage to move you, touch you and take you to all your states, thanks to the masterful narration perfectly orchestrated by the Naughty Dog teams.

Our last part. II – No compensation

A major new feature of this version Remastered, this is the “no return” mode or, in our good French “sans retour”. This is a traditional “rogue-like” inspired game mode. Playable only solo, it allows you to play as one of the main characters The Last of Us Part II Along with Team Ellie (Dina, Jessie, Tommy and Joel) 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 will appear in your hideout. This is your hub where you’ll be able to buy and upgrade weapons, buy projectile crafting plans, improve your character’s skills, etc… Simply put, you’ll be able to make all the possible upgrades through your hideout alone. In “no return” mode.

You also have access to this table, which offers you two paths to the final boss. So you have to go through five encounters to reach the last duel with the boss. If you succeed, your “no return” mode streak ends and you can start over. If you die during (or before) a boss fight, then the series ends and you have to start over.

There are four types of encounters in the series: Attack, Hunting, Defense and Capture. In Assault mode, you must survive three waves of enemies (Infected, Scar, WLF). These come randomly and you must eliminate them anyway: melee, firearms, projectiles, stealth or not.

In hunting mode, you have to survive for a given time. Here again, you have a choice between finding a good spot and waiting for time to run out, or running into the pile to fight. In any case, the only rule is to be alive at the end of the allotted time.

In defense mode, you are with a teammate and must prepare your environment and survive hordes of enemies. If you die or your partner dies, it is a failure.

In capture mode, your enemies protect chests with many resources. You must somehow manage to reach the chest before the time runs out.

Bonuses or penalties are also possible during your skirmishes. In terms of weather with rain, fog, etc. but also in terms of your skills and your enemies. They may benefit from an improvement or decline in health. Your melee blows can trigger an effect that will trigger your enemies and so on. During some encounters, you may even have a companion (controlled by the AI) that helps you achieve your objective.

Of course, it is also possible to choose your range of difficulty, from very easy to realistic. You will earn bonus points based on the difficulty level you choose. Points are important because they will allow you to rank among the best players in the world (and to compete with your friends). While this “No Return” mode doesn’t offer a multiplayer variant, it does offer a score table so you can compare yourself to other players around the world. Points are determined by your approach (stealth or not), the damage you deal and receive, your time, items picked up, your difficulty level, etc.

Once your streak is over, all you have to do is start a new one or create your personal streak to unlock all the characters and all their bonuses with the various challenges you’ve completed. Please note that daily objectives will be launched and you will have bonuses and additional resources to unlock by playing “No Return” mode every day.

The Last of Us Part II Lost Level

This is clearly another major innovation of this The Last of Us Part II Remastered : “lost level” (or, again, “level pardus” 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 version RemasteredYou’ll be able to explore behind the scenes and play with these levels, in addition to audio commentary from the Naughty Dog teams that clearly explain to us why they weren’t chosen, but what the ideas behind these deleted parts were.

The first level was the base “Jackson’s Party”, a level that was supposed to be the end The Last of Us Part II (During the first stay on the farm). The purpose of this level was to introduce the sequence at Jackson’s ball where Eli and Dina share their first kiss. Basically, the player would have been able to control a very stressed Ellie, who would move around and interact with the residents of Jackson while participating in different activities.

The second level, “Seattle Sewer”, was to take place in the middle of Eli’s stay in Seattle. Again, this was supposed to be a lead-in when Ellie falls into fast-moving water and is carried by an infected person into a Seattle sewer. Initially, Naughty Dog considered adding more than ten minutes of gameplay where Ellie had to find a way to escape the sewers with a fairly strong sequence of clicker…

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 at the farm. Before finding Ellie, who brings back the rabbit from the hunt, we must play a treasure hunt, similar to the deer hunt in the first opus, this time to track down a wild boar. But here again, a significant incident should remind us of Ellie’s trauma that forces her to return to the farm empty-handed, with only a rabbit.

“Lost Level” will undoubtedly 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 jokes.

Other new features to discover

Finally, this reissue of TThe Last of Us Part II On PS5 you’ll find new cool little things like the “Free Guitar” mode that lets you freely play a mini guitar game with Eli, Joel and the game’s composer Gustavo Santaolala.

As a bonus, you can change the game’s graphic filters, activate cheat codes, and discover a range of new skins for Ellie and Abby. Nothing too extraordinary, but there are always two or three nice extras to find.

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