Review: The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is much more than a $10 graphics patch

The Last of Us Part 2 is still one of the best games ever made.

It’s a game that excels in art, level design, performance, writing, visuals, audio design, polish, and a list that could go on endlessly. It’s the best-in-class in so many genres of modern AAA video game development, and that hasn’t changed since 2020. So why was the announcement of this remaster met with such a mixed response?

In short, it’s because Naughty Dog hasn’t put out an original game since The Last of Us Part 2. The studio which was once known for its unbelievably high pace of releases has slowed significantly. Naughty Dog released four original games on the PS3, two on the PS4, and so far, none on the PS5. This can easily be explained by the meteoric jump in production time, expense, and expectation between generations, but that hasn’t stopped some fans from feeling somewhat let down that before The Last of Us Part 2 remastered, the only thing Naughty Dog has released on this generation of consoles is another remake.

While often conflated in arguments against the release, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered doesn’t share much in common with the remake of The Last of Us, dubbed Part 1, instead it’s much closer to the PS4 release of The Last of Us, which Naughty Dog released early in the console’s lifecycle due to the original game pushing the PS3 to the brink.

The Last of Us Part 2 includes the base game, complete with visual improvements that bring the game up to the standard of a PlayStation 5 game. Even in side-by-side comparison videos you’ll probably struggle to really see them, but the change is much more clear when you play the game. The gameplay is far more responsive thanks to variable frame-rate options, which, on supported televisions, provide a mix of the game looking its best and feeling its best, a trademark of other rehomed PS4 titles like Spider-Man and Ghost of Tsushima.

The haptic feedback afforded by the DualSense controller is the best featured in a game since Astro’s Playroom,