It’s been seven years since Naughty Dog graced us with their groundbreaking IP: The Last Of Us. Now all these years later, and during an ACTUAL pandemic, the follow-up to the 2013 classic is here. The Last of Us Part II is set five years after the events of the first game and mostly follows Ellie, now 19, on her mission of vengeance across the country as she squares up against a freaky cult in a post-apocalyptic United States.
The first thing the game presents you with is an incredible amount of accessibility options. This needs to be recognized. Many disabled members within the gaming community have come forward and labeled The Last of Us Part II as the “most accessible game ever.” There are over 60 different accessibility options, including new options for low vision and blind players, and fine motor hearing. It’s never been easier than now for people with disabilities to enjoy video games, and this game deserves a huge round of applause for that.
The next thing the game threw at me was a cinematic, and I was immediately sold. The cinematics look gorgeous; a few times I couldn’t believe I wasn’t watching a movie. A few things that caught my eye during the opening was how great the hair looks. There were detailed baby hairs, and even strands out of place that moved independently from the rest of the hair. Another aspect that grabbed my attention was the way the mouths moved.
The visuals barely wane outside of the cinematics, as well. While having conversations during gameplay moments, I noticed Ellie’s face naturally contort and react to the discussion being had. She would rub the back of her neck when she got embarrassed and looked confused when asked a hard question. I am, and always will be, a huge fan of those little details. Environmental interactions are next-level. While on horseback in the snow, I rubbed up against a snow-covered tree branch to see what would happen. Unexpectedly, the branch moved with the horse, knocking snow off and onto Ellie and her horse, and actually stayed there.
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The Last of Us Part II hasn’t just improved visually over the first game, but in many other aspects as well. The biggest improvement I’ve experienced so far is definitely the controls. Aiming, shooting, platforming, running, melee combat; all of it is a tremendous improvement over the 2013 game. The addition of the dodge mechanic alone evolved the combat stages above the first game. The combat is finally fun and taking on the infected without a weapon is no longer an eventual death sentence.
The game’s attention to detail literally made me say ‘Wow’ out loud a couple of times. At various points, Naughty Dog put little actions in the game that people can easily miss, and weren’t even necessary. For example, I came to a point where Ellie had to think about something and she started chewing her nails. Another time, I was at a workbench improving some of my guns. Before I started, Ellie turned the power bar on, and back off when done. The process of upgrading weapons has an immense amount of detail, too, with Ellie disassembling the gun, cleaning it, sanding it, etc. Obviously, these details are not a big deal, but occurrences like this definitely caught my attention and made the game a lot more interesting.
It comes as a surprise to no one that the performances are fantastic considering the game’s cast, but it still needs to be said. Joel is probably my favorite Troy Baker role simply because it’s damn hard to tell that it’s Troy Baker. Ashley Johnson returns as Ellie in Part II and does a terrific job with her. The game also adds Laura Bailey as Abby, who’s a part of the group Ellie encounters; the Washington Liberation Front. Like Baker, Bailey has a pretty distinct voice, and it took me a while with Abby to hear her in the character; a testament to her range and talent. Finally, newcomer Shannon Woodward as Dina is definitely a highlight, with her and Ellie’s conversations being one of the game’s shining moments for me. And, of course, going hand-in-hand with the beautiful visuals, the motion capture performances look amazing. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; voice actors and mo-cap performers don’t get nearly enough credit.
The relationship dynamic between Joel and Ellie is something that grabbed a hold of me the first time I played The Last of Us and it never let go. It’s not easy to create a meaningful and strong bond between two fictional video game characters, but Naughty Dog pulled it off in 2013 and it’s still as strong today. I haven’t been this emotionally invested in a video game relationship since 2012’s Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season One with Lee and Clementine. Caring about Ellie as much as I do is a direct result of the expertly crafted narrative and dialogue writing done by the team at Naughty Dog.
Thankfully, The Last of Us Part II does a very good job of making it clear that Ellie is very much NOT Joel. Playing as Ellie in Part II is not just playing a reskinned Joel. The move-set has changed and there are new ways to approach things; ways impractical for a big lug-head like Joel. Ellie is able to jump more freely. This plays into the platforming this game introduces. Another major addition (and quite a welcome one) is the ability to dodge, which I talked about previously.
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The game offers players a realistic combat experience, as no encounter ever really felt like a smooth killing spree. Every one of them felt like a desperate kill-or-be-killed situation that I feel is more accurate to the scenario.
The world presented is fleshed out, and it seems like every AI character has a name. This proves very effective as when you kill an enemy, as their mates will scream their name when they die, making you feel that much worse about killing someone obviously cared about. Part II also adds the elements of guard dogs, which you usually have to kill. They aren’t just used as weapons, they’re legitimate pets that the enemy cares for, and that’s apparent when they cry out their name when you kill one. This adds weight to the lives you take and gives you the feeling that you’re not just mowing down “NPC #4” – you’re killing friends and family members.
Finally, the music to be perfect. Whether it’s during a quiet somber moment, a feel-good moment with the plucky banjo, or in combat when things start to get tense. The use of music in the game was detrimental to the overall success of the environment and feel throughout. The game’s composer, Gustavo Santaolalla, did an excellent job.
One thing I’m really not a fan of, and I’m aware is totally personal preference, is the addition of guard dogs. While it adds a welcome peg of difficulty, my issue lies with the way Ellie deals with the animals. As an animal lover, I found no joy taking down these four-legged foes. As I spoke to the weight of Ellie’s actions earlier in my review, this is where the realization kicked in. That when I killed a dog, I was killing someone’s pet and not an instrument of destruction. I just found this certain aspect of the game to be gratuitous and unnecessary. As far as I know, there’s no way to humanely put down these canine companions, so until I find that I guess I’ll continue to look away from the TV.
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I only had a handful of smaller complaints with the game, such as the reusing of multiple NPC models. I’ll kill someone and immediately notice them as someone I’ve killed a few stages back. As a game with so much attention to detail, I just wish they would have paid a little more attention to this. A few blatant instances of video game logic definitely made me roll my eyes, situations that kinda stuck out, and took me out of the moment if for only just a second. Finally, I was surprised at the lack of bugs I encountered, but that’s not to say the game is completely devoid of them. Thankfully, none of them were game-breaking or caused any added difficulty, so they’re barely an issue.
The Last of Us Part II is a title that I can easily see myself playing again, and again, in the future. I need to experience everything the game has to offer, read all the notes, collect all the collectibles, record all the diary entries. This is easily the most captivated I’ve been by a game in quite some time. Unfortunately, it did get spoiled for me (some people suck), but that didn’t stop the game from blowing me away anyways. The Last of Us Part II was still an incredible experience, even going in knowing some of the biggest plot points. It’s all about the journey, not the destination.
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