Honestly, the Platinum for The Last of Us Part II is a bit of a weird one. If you’ve played Naughty Dog’s other heavy hitters, like the original Uncharted trilogy, you probably remember the absolute headache of "Crushing" difficulty trophies or those weirdly specific combat challenges. But here? It’s different. Getting the The Last of Us 2 trophy guide down to a science isn't about being the best shot in the world; it’s basically an exercise in thoroughness.
You don't need to beat the game on Grounded. You don't even need to touch Permadeath. But you do need to be smart about how you spend your supplements and parts, because if you aren't, you’ll find yourself halfway through a third playthrough just to find three more screws for a shotgun.
The Two-Playthrough Reality
Let’s get the big one out of the way. You cannot Platinum this game in one sitting. It's literally impossible.
The game doesn't give you enough Supplements (for player upgrades) or Parts (for weapon upgrades) in a single run to max everything out. Even if you scour every single corner of every single room, you'll still come up short. You’ve got to start New Game Plus (NG+) to finish the job. Usually, people finish their upgrades around the middle of Seattle Day 2 on their second pass, assuming they were fairly diligent the first time around.
If you’re the type of person who just wants the shiny trophy and doesn't care about the "experience" of scrounging for supplies, here’s a pro tip: play on Very Light. There is no difficulty requirement for the Platinum. On lower difficulties, you find way more resources, which makes the "Survival Expert" and "Arms Master" trophies much less of a grind.
Those Missable Collectibles (That Aren't Really Missable)
Naughty Dog was actually pretty kind with the collectible system. You need 286 total items for the "Archivist," "Master Set," and "Numismatist" trophies. That sounds like a lot. It is a lot.
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- Trading Cards: Ellie's thing.
- Coins: Abby's thing.
- Artifacts and Journal Entries: Everyone's thing.
The cool part? Chapter Select tells you exactly how many you’re missing in each sub-section. The "Sightseer" trophy in downtown Seattle is the one that trips people up. You have to visit every marked location on the map. If you miss one and the story moves on, you've got to jump back.
A lot of players don't realize you can use the Accessibility settings to make this a breeze. Go into the menu and turn on "Enhanced Listening Mode." You can set the scan range to 30 meters. Pressing R1 while in listen mode will literally ping every collectible nearby with a sonar pulse. It feels a bit like cheating, but hey, we're here for the trophies, right?
The Hidden Trophies You’ll Probably Miss
There are a few "interaction" trophies that don't involve picking up paper or coins.
Take the "Looks Good On You" trophy. When you’re in the museum with Joel during the flashback, you’ll find a hat. You have to put that hat on a couple of dinosaurs, and then eventually, you put it on Joel. It’s a small, sweet moment, but if you're rushing, you'll walk right past it.
Then there’s "Put My Name Up." During the aquarium visit with Owen, you’ve got to beat the high score on the bow and arrow game. It’s actually kind of tough if you aren't used to the physics. You need to hit more than 10 targets before the timer runs out.
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And don't forget the "Relic of the Sages" and "So Great and Small." These are nods to Jak and Daxter and Uncharted. You’ll find a Precursor Orb in Chinatown (Hostile Territory) and an Antique Ring in the bank. These count as artifacts, but they have their own specific trophies attached.
Handling the Remastered "No Return" Mode
If you're playing the PS5 Remastered version, you’ve got a whole new set of trophies to deal with in the No Return roguelike mode. Now, these aren't required for the base game Platinum, but if you want that 100% completion mark, they’re a different beast entirely.
The "May Your Death Be Swift" trophy requires winning a Daily Run on Grounded difficulty. This is where the "easy" Platinum vibe ends. In No Return, you can't just reload a checkpoint if a Clicker bites your neck. You’re dead. Run over.
To make the "No Return" grind easier:
- Unlock characters fast: Die on purpose in your first few runs to unlock the different paths.
- The "Burglar" Trophy: You need to open a safe in Capture mode without killing anyone. This is a nightmare unless you use the "Invisible while Prone" accessibility setting.
- Gambits: Don't ignore these. "Risk Taker" requires completing five in one run. They're basically mini-challenges that pop up mid-encounter.
The Chapter Select Trap
One thing that confuses everyone is how Chapter Select interacts with your save file.
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If you finish the game, then go back to Chapter Select to grab a missing card in Seattle Day 1, the game "resets" your progress to that point. If you then try to jump to Seattle Day 3 from that same save, you might find the chapters are locked.
The fix: Always keep a "Complete" manual save. Load that main save every time you want to use Chapter Select to ensure all chapters remain unlocked. If you're missing supplements for the "Survival Expert" trophy, don't just use Chapter Select. You have to do it in New Game Plus because those upgrades are cumulative. You can't just jump to the end of the game and expect to have enough supplements to buy everything.
Actionable Steps for the Platinum
If you’re starting fresh or cleaning up, do this:
- Check your stats: In the "Extras" menu, you can see exactly how many parts and supplements you still need. This helps you figure out how far into NG+ you actually need to play.
- Enable High Contrast Mode: If you’re struggling to see those tiny 1-cent coins as Abby, this mode turns the environment grey and items bright yellow. It’s not pretty, but it’s effective.
- Manual Saves are King: Before you finish a character's section (like the end of Ellie's Seattle Day 3), make a separate save. It makes "cleanup" much faster if you realize you missed a workbench.
- Focus on the Workbenches: There are 25 total. The "Prepared for the Worst" trophy is a Gold for a reason. Some are tucked away in buildings you might think are just "flavor" and not worth entering.
The journey to the Platinum in The Last of Us Part II is less about combat skill and more about your willingness to look under every desk and inside every drawer. It takes about 30 to 40 hours total. Just remember to enjoy the story on your first run; the second run is for the scrap metal.