The long awaited sequel to 2013’s The Last of Us is here in The Last of Us Part 2. Featuring a focus on two protagonists Ellie and Abby, the sequel follows the two women currently at war with each other for different reasons. Ellie now a young adult faces new challenges both as an individual and living in an ever growing in danger world that puts all of her skills and fortitude to the test as she tries to survive. The Last of Us Part 2 continues to teach that the infected aren’t the most dangerous element of Ellie’s world.

The Last of Us Part 2 is a 2020 action-adventure video game, it is developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is available exclusively for the PlayStation 4.

Editor’s Note: The review copy used for this review was purchased personally by the editor. Medium to complete spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 may be present within this review.

My how Ellie has grown.

I’m going to be as honest as I possibly can with this review because seven years is a long-ass time to wait for a sequel. Just allow me to say this…The Last of Us Part 2 is one of the greatest and most disappointing games I’ve ever played. There’s so much right with the game that clicks like a sequel should, but there’s also plenty wrong with it and not from just a story point but a mechanics point and that’s a bit heartbreaking when you consider this is new hardware being used for the sequel that’s leaps ahead of what was used on the franchise’s debut with the PlayStation 3. Normally I open these reviews with some kind of relevance to the story or history of the game itself, but I didn’t exactly know where else to place this without it being awkward and off (I guess Overall Thoughts but oh well).

The Last of Us Part 2’s world is breathtaking and emotionally overwhelming.

THE GOOD: The Last of Us Part 2 starts just four or so years after the events of the original game with Ellie now being a 19 year old young woman. While she and Joel still have a close relationship and try to remain in touch (despite her knowing he saved her life ending the development of the cure) she is very much independent from him. So much so that she even has her own home and spends time with people within her age group such as her girlfriend Dina. One of The Last of Us 2’s strongest elements is it’s attention to detail there are times when it rivals that of Red Dead Redemption 2’s, which…if you’ve read my review of the game take that as you will. Then there are other times when these little details feel so unique to the entire experience of The Last of Us 2 that it’s kind of astonishing that we’re only now reaching this point in the games industry. For example, when you get to the portion of the game where most of the enemies are human NPCs if you kill one within a decently sized group one of the enemies will scream out their name in horror such as “Charlotte!” or “Oh God no, Nathan!” just to name a few. This is done to remind players that, yeah you’re actually killing in-game characters representing real people. It’s neat to see because that’s something that hasn’t really been done before and it adds to the storytelling which more of can almost never hurt. Most of the combat from the original game is more or less the same which is fine in practice. I kind of struggle coming up with many differences but if you dug the combat in the first game you’ll likely not take up much issue with the combat here. Weapon and support crafting returns and that does have some edits such as stun bombs and the like. Exploration at times is a big part of the game giving players the opportunity to unlock optional secrets such as new weapons and upgrades, in addition to just discovering more of the world building within the game.

Character building and relations once again takes center stage in The Last of Us Part 2.

Ok, before I begin the story portion of the game I just want to point out a few things: 1. Yes, you are a shitty person for not liking the fact that Ellie is a lesbian in this game. You A) chose to blatantly ignore the signs pointed out in the first game or B) blatantly chose to ignore or flat out not play the DLC “Left Behind” which was even more open about Ellie’s sexuality than the main game. 2. Yes, you are also (probably) a shitty person for not liking the fact that Abby is a muscular woman, and I say probably because not liking Abby’s character model is fair game Naughty Dog could have done a better job than the typical “military chick” typecasting they did for her. Though keep in mind people were quick to believe Abby was a transsexual woman after the leaks occurred, speaking of. 3. Yes, you are also a shitty person if you’re upset over there being a trans character in this game (and she’s co-lead to Abby’s portion of the game). Going back to Abby a lot of the heat one of the key spoilers got was honestly bullshit for that very reason. Yes there’s genuine reasons to be upset about the death like the fact that the deed is done by a character that took nearly fifteen hours to fully establish as a member of the franchise. However, if you’re apart of the camp who pronounced the spoilers as “X gets killed by a ‘tranny’ with a golf club” please kindly fuck off, moving on.

While The Last of Us 2 most certainly improves in some areas it takes a heartbreaking down turn in others.

Joel is dead, there I said it. His death occurs at the first to second hour mark of the game. And yes the story of course presented the knowledge that no matter how things were going to go down he was likely going to die in the sequel If you thought he was honestly going to survive with the way his character was written and the way The Last of Us presents it’s universe of characters, story, and world then I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe learn how to pick up better on story ques? Movies have been providing these context story clues for decades and gaming is no different. That being said it did feel like a bit of a dick move stating that there was only one playable character in Ellie pre-release only to not only give us two additional playable characters, but having one of said playable characters being the aforementioned Joel…for about fifteen minutes. Playing as or not playing as Joel doesn’t really add much that a cut scene couldn’t have. Following Joel’s death the next tenish hours is all about Ellie (mostly) and Dina as they go looking after Tommy who went out looking for revenge on Joel’s killers. Ellie travels cross country to the base of the WLFs a group of survivors similar to the fireflies only the WLFs are clearly experienced and former militant trained individuals. The WLFs are in their own war with a rival group known as the Seraphites who are a ruthless religious cult out for blood. Abby, the woman responsible for killing Joel is a member of the WLFs. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here, returning back to Ellie and Dina’s storyline, they travel together until there’s a stopping point where a horde of infected attack forcing Ellie to reveal to Dina that she’s immune and Dina who had been having health issues on her and Ellie’s journey in turn revealing that she is in fact pregnant. Ellie forces Dina to stay behind as she continues forward alone meeting up with Jesse at some point before continuing on alone again looking for Abby’s friend Nora whom she finds and interrogates for info. She later meets and is forced to kill Owen (Abby’s ex) and Mel his wife who just so happens to be pregnant horrifying Ellie upon learning.

Meet The Last of Us 2’s new protagonist Abby.

In the second half of the game you begin Abby’s story who was introduced within the first hour or so of the game. Abby is partnered with a companion named Levi; a transgendered man who goes through his own storyline and journey dealing with his identity as a part of Abby’s. Levi more often than not acts as a sign of conscience for Abby when she’s at her absolute most brutal, for example during one of the big moments in the final act of the game Abby nearly kills Dina, but Ellie begs for her to be spared due to her pregnancy. Abby refuses and nearly does only to be stopped by Levi. Most of their relationship is similar to that of Joel and Ellie’s in the first game whereas two very different individuals find solace and completion in each other after going through struggles thanks to the outbreak. Abby witnessing her friends and family being slaughtered at the hands of Ellie and Tommy contrasts Ellie’s continuously growing thirst for revenge. Having spared Dina, Abby and Levi leave and go on their own paths. Sometime passes and Dina has had her baby living with Ellie in a farmhouse. They receive a visit from Tommy who informs them of the latter’s location. Ellie, having suffered from PSTD for years due to her experiences has her thirst for revenge resurfaced and she goes off to find Abby and Levi. The two are captured by a group known as the Rattlers and tortured for weeks. Ellie saves them only to force Abby to fight her after threatening Levi’s life. Previously injured from a Rattlers trap an injured Ellie fights an injured Abby to the death. Abby is nearly killed but gains the upper-hand biting off Ellie’s fingers in the process. Ellie is about to kill Abby after regaining momentum in the fight, but in the end remembers her old self and spares Abby leaving them to their next path in life. Returning home Ellie finds it empty of Dina & their baby and tries to play her guitar. Ellie remembers the promise she made to Joel and leaves her home alone.

With no DLC currently planned The Last of Us Part 2 could truly mark the end of the road for these characters.

THE BAD: As I stated before The Last of Us Part 2 is in parts a great sequel and in others a great disappointment. For example there are times with the gameplay is some of the best the Playstation 4 has to offer, then it feels like it never really escaped 2013. Some of the combat is clunky and the gun play while not necessarily one of the strongest mechanics of the franchise is even worse here. In regards to the story, the real issue with Abby isn’t the fact that people thought she was trans or she was a muscular woman (though morons in that camp exist) it’s the fact that she’s immediately thrust onto players with virtually no knowledge of her existence prior to booting the game. There wasn’t a lick of promotional material for her and it was such a ghosting tactic by Naughty Dog that it’s understandable for people being upset about her being the cause of Joel’s death for those reasons. It’s actually kind of ironic that the game received the wrong kind of criticism for Abby originally being thought of as trans when the actual trans character Levi received heat from the LGBT community for being deadnamed among other things. It honestly felt like the team at Naughty Dog didn’t do much of their homework when they decided on doing this type of story. So in that regard there actually is a real sense of shoehorning with a lot of the writing. Again if you’re bitching about Ellie being lesbian you’re just an idiot because this was already established seven years ago. If you’re bitching about Levi simply existing in the game you’re also an idiot, but there is some genuine criticism to be had for his character. Also why did this game feel like one massive guilt trip? The downward spiral of Ellie, the whole thing with the dog and pregnant Mel. I know The Last of Us isn’t supposed to be all sun shine and rainbows, but Jesus Christ if I wanted to continue or gain a sense of depression with everything currently going on in the world while playing a game I’d rather just watch the news.

Ellie and Abby are both looking for revenge in The Last of Us Part 2

OVERALL THOUGHTS: The Last of Us Part 2 is at the end of the day a fine gaming experience, but as one of the final bows for the Playstation 4 before Sony officially shifts all development over to the Playstation 5 it’s a bit of an underachieving experience for some. There’s so much going for it, but it’s hard to ignore some glaringly obvious issues from a technical, story, and possibly even personal perspective.