Naughty Dog didn't just make a sequel; they built a trap. When The Last of Us Part II hit shelves back in 2020, the gaming world basically caught fire. People were livid. Some were crying. Others were demanding refunds because the story didn't go the way their fan fiction predicted. But honestly? That was the point. The game is a brutal, 30-hour mirror held up to your own capacity for hatred, and even years later, we are still untangling the knots it tied in our stomachs.
It’s a heavy game.
You play as Ellie, but you also don't. That’s the big "gotcha" that leaked months before release and sent the internet into a tailspin. Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross wrote a script that forces you to inhabit the skin of the person you hate most. It’s uncomfortable. It’s supposed to be. If you aren't feeling a pit of dread while playing as Abby, the game isn't failing—you're just experiencing the exact emotional friction the developers intended.
Why The Last of Us Part II Still Hurts So Much
The opening hours of the game are a masterclass in subverting expectations. We all wanted another "Joel and Ellie's Excellent Adventure" through the apocalypse. Instead, we got a golf club and a funeral. It was a choice that felt like a betrayal to many, but looking back, it’s the only way the story could have mattered. If Joel died a hero saving the world, his death would have been a sacrifice. By making it a messy, vengeful execution, it became a catalyst for a cycle of violence that feels horrifyingly real.
The game thrives on perspective shifts. Halfway through, just as you think you’re reaching the climax of Ellie’s revenge quest in Seattle, the timeline resets. You’re back at day one, but this time, you’re playing as Abby Anderson.
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This isn't just a gimmick.
It’s a structural gamble that few AAA studios would ever take. You see the "monsters" Ellie killed from a different angle. You realize the WLF (Washington Liberation Front) members weren't just cannon fodder; they had names, dogs they loved, and complicated relationships. It makes every button press in the first half of the game feel significantly heavier in retrospect. You realize you weren't the hero. You were just another person with a gun and a grievance.
The Technical Wizardry of Naughty Dog
Let’s talk about the "glass." Or the "rope." Or the way the grass parts when you crawl through it. The Last of Us Part II pushed the PlayStation 4 to its absolute breaking point, and the Remastered version on PS5 only highlights how ahead of its time the tech was. The animation system, known as motion matching, ensures that Ellie doesn't just "snap" into a running animation. Every step, every stumble, and every weight shift looks organic.
- The "Listen Mode" was tweaked to feel more grounded.
- Silencers are makeshift and breakable.
- Enemies call out each other’s names, making every kill feel personal and dirty.
- The gore system isn't just for shock; it’s designed to make you feel the "cost" of the combat.
I remember the first time I threw a brick through a window in downtown Seattle. The way the shards fell wasn't just a canned animation. It felt tactile. That level of detail extends to the AI. Enemies don't just stand there. They flank. They communicate. They mourn when you kill their dogs—which, let’s be real, is the hardest part of the entire game. Honestly, I still feel bad about Alice.
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The Controversy That Wouldn't Die
You can't talk about this game without mentioning the "discourse." The leaks were a disaster for the marketing team. Contextless clips of Joel’s death and Abby’s physique flooded Twitter, sparking a wave of "review bombing" before the game was even playable. People accused the game of being "woke" or having an agenda.
But if you actually play the thing? It’s one of the most nihilistic, bleak explorations of tribalism ever put to digital paper.
It doesn't care about your politics. It cares about how quickly a "good" person can turn into a monster when they think they’re justified. Ellie’s descent into darkness is painful to watch. By the time she reaches Santa Barbara, she’s a husk of herself. She has lost her fingers, her partner Dina, and her ability to play the guitar—the last physical connection she had to Joel. It’s a tragedy in the classical sense.
Some critics, like those at Polygon or Kotaku, pointed out that the game’s violence often felt at odds with its "violence is bad" message. They have a point. You spend hours meticulously upgrading guns to be more efficient killing machines, only for the cutscenes to tell you that killing is destroying your soul. It’s a ludonarrative dissonance that Naughty Dog hasn't quite solved yet. However, the sheer emotional weight of the performances by Ashley Johnson and Laura Bailey usually bridges that gap.
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The Gameplay Loop and Evolution
Combat in The Last of Us Part II is vastly improved over the first game. The addition of a dedicated jump button and the ability to go prone changed everything. You aren't just stuck behind waist-high cover anymore. You can slither through tall weeds, dive under trucks, and use the environment to lose line-of-sight.
The "No Return" roguelike mode added in the Remastered edition is a total blast, too. It strips away the heavy narrative and lets you just enjoy the mechanics. Playing as Lev or Mel offers different playstyles that the main campaign didn't fully explore. It proves that the core combat loop is strong enough to stand on its own, even without the gut-wrenching story beats.
Lessons From The Wreckage
If you're looking to actually get the most out of this game in 2026, you have to approach it with an open mind. Don't look at it as a sequel that's supposed to make you feel "good." It’s art designed to make you feel "bad."
- Play on Grounded: If you want the true survival experience, turn the difficulty up. It forces you to use every brick and bottle.
- Listen to the environment: The world-building in the notes you find is incredible. The story of Boris in Hillcrest is better than most full games.
- Check the accessibility settings: Naughty Dog set the industry standard here. You can customize almost everything, from visual aids to high-contrast modes.
- Don't rush the Abby sections: It's tempting to blast through them to get back to Ellie, but Abby's combat encounters (especially the descent through the hotel) are some of the best in the series.
The legacy of The Last of Us Part II isn't going anywhere. With the HBO show catching up to these events, a whole new audience is about to be traumatized all over again. The game remains a towering achievement in technical prowess and narrative bravery, even if it leaves you feeling like you need a long, hot shower after the credits roll.
To truly master the mechanics and appreciate the depth of the world, focus on a "perma-death" run of specific chapters. It changes your relationship with the stealth system entirely. Stop treating it like a shooter and start treating it like a survival horror game where every bullet is a mistake you can't afford. The nuance isn't in the headshots; it's in the moments where you choose not to pull the trigger.