The remastered apocalypse continues. The Last of Us Remastered Part II.

Author’s Note: This review will contain some spoilers for The Last of Us Remastered Part 1.

The Last of Us Remastered Part 2 is a well-crafted, quality game. I want readers to keep that in mind from the start because it’ll look like I’m complaining a lot about it. My complaints don’t have to do with the story; the most controversial aspect. My complaints have to do with the pacing. I’ll go over all of it and then some in the review. That said, I still recommend this game if you had any semblance of enjoyment from Part I.

Years have passed since Joel and Ellie ventured across the United States, facing countless dangers to get Ellie to a Firefly haven. Ellie is now grownup and slightly jaded towards Joel’s decision regarding her sacrifice for a supposed cure to the infection. Now living in a makeshift town in Wyoming, Joel and Ellie live somewhat separate lives as they try to survive in the post-apocalyptic world. Joel and his brother go on hunting/gathering excursions. Ellie and her new fling, Dina, do the same. Life simply happens for the two of them. During another wintery day, Joel and Ellie cross paths with a group of outsiders lead by a woman named Abby. And, I’ll stop with the introductions there to avoid spoilers for those (like me) that knew nothing of the sequel.

Things get super wild, super quickly. The storytelling will keep you going. And going. And going. The Last of Us Remastered Part II is a long game; about double the length of the first. You’ll be seeing a lot of narrative. While said narrative is well-written, it takes a long time to see it all. Things were intense and emotional in the first game. That same level of intensity is in Part II. Now, picture that same level twofold. Pacing (there’s that word again) is the game’s biggest issue and it really started to ware on me about halfway through the game. On top of being an emotional drama, it was also a poorly paced one. The conclusion was worth seeing, but at the cost of boredom and stress.

I had the advantage of starting the second game immediately after the first. So, I had already grown comfortable with the control scheme. If you’ve played the first game (original or remastered) then you have an idea of what to expect. The tight controls, the crafting, the various weapons, and the multiple ways to go about navigating infected areas have returned. More options have been added to this game, too. Now, you can army crawl, fire weapons while on your stomach, upgrade your character with medicines in new ways, and uncover a plethora of new firearms. There are also new types of enemies, both infected and human, to deal with. Enemies have grown smarter since the last game, but they’re not perfect. It’s fun to mess with them; turning an enemy infested area into a graveyard.

All of this is very exciting at first. Once again, I channeled my history of playing Tenchu and opted for stealthier approaches to pick enemies off one at a time. There was one point where I hung back, crafted arrows from raw materials, and one-shotted enemy after enemy. Watching them freak out because there was a silent killer around was a lot of fun. After the enemies were disposed of, it was time to gather their belongings and search the area. Now, imagine this (not necessarily with the bow and arrow) for a good 25 hours. It got redundant, especially during the second half of the game. I added some extra time to that count with story beats and retries from game overs, but the point still stands. The pacing was hurt by the gameplay.

Another thing that remained consistent from the first game to the second is the look. Once again, players get to experience a beautiful post-apocalyptic setting. As mentioned, most of the game has you venturing through Seattle. (I’ve been to Seattle a few times myself; seeing the city in this light was extra enjoyable.) It gets redundant after a while, but it never stops being visually appealing. When you’re not enjoying the great outdoors, chances are you’ll be inside a creepy, fungal area riddled with all sorts of history and danger. One area that really stood out to me was a luxury hotel that looked like it was one of the infections’ initial spawning points. Nearly every part of this once lavish establishment was overgrown with nasty fungus with entire floors swarming with spores. I never stopped appreciating the game’s visuals, despite the game’s recycled use. Even when trying my best to survive onslaughts from spongey bosses or continuing the gameplay loop of stealthing, stabbing, shooting, and gathering.

I’ll reiterate: The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered was a well-made game. The story was captivating. The drama was just as intense as the action. The new combat and character-build options allowed for the discovery of various playstyles. But, I’ll always favor the first game over this sequel because of the pacing. Part 2 kept going and going, which inevitably caused me to grow tired of the gameplay. The story had me wanting to see things through to the end. And while the conclusion was exciting, it hinted that there was more story to be told. Hopefully, we don’t have to wait too long to see it, and hopefully it’s told more succinctly.

Overall, 7/10: The Last of Us Remastered Part II is a polished piece of gaming that could have been almost perfect if not for a poorly paced narrative.