Every year, I have an annual playthrough of my favorite games of all time: Mirror’s Edge, DOOM, DOOM Eternal, Shadow of the Colossus, and last but not least, The Last of Us (Part I and II). I have recently just completed my annual playthrough of both parts of The Last of Us. 

Both playthroughs were on their most up-to-date variants, The Last of Us Part I and The Last of Us Part II Remastered. To me, these are the best ways to experience the story of The Last of Us, but the question remains: Do The Last of Us games still hold up to this day? I think the answer is yes, and here is why.

The Last of Us Part I

Twenty years after the world fell to a viral disease outbreak, Joel, a rugged smuggler, must transport a young girl named Ellie across the country. Ellie is immune to the disease that ended the world which turns infected humans into ravenous zombie-like creatures. Joel, who lost his daughter when the world collapsed, slowly begins to treat Ellie as his child as the two bond over the course of their journey.

Upon its release, The Last of Us was immediately hailed as a classic. The story of the game is gripping and heartfelt. Even though we did not see much of her, you could feel Joel’s pain when Sarah died in the opening. This is thanks to an amazing performance by Troy Baker as Joel. Throughout the rest of the game, you then get to see Joel’s hardened exterior slowly begin to break. Which reveals his brokenness and determination to do anything for his new daughter, Ellie.

While dated, the gameplay of The Last of Us still holds up. Nothing beats fist-fighting a horde of infected and nothing is more terrifying than hearing the screech of a clicker in a dark room. On the harder difficulties, ammo and supplies are scarce. This means that every shot you take needs to count and getting into larger gunfights is usually discouraged. All of these aspects lead to an experience that is like no other zombie game or media that still holds up in 2024.

In all, there is only one real complaint I have with the game, and that’s the final infected segment. After a really wholesome experience with a giraffe, Joel and Ellie have to go through a flooded tunnel. In this tunnel are a good amount of normal infected as well as some clickers. In addition to this though, there are not one nor two, but three bloaters, large tank-like infected.

To me, this kind of seems unnecessary mainly because it is not the true end of the game. For first-time players, they will see this and just assume “Oh that’s a lot of infected, might as well use all I’ve got,” not knowing about the upcoming real final segment. On replays, players will just sneak past the infected, making them kind of useless anyway. I’m not saying this is a bad segment, but rather a bit too artificially bloated in regards to enemies.

Regardless, the game as a whole is amazing overall and definitely stands the test of time.

The Last of Us Part II

While out on patrol, a traumatic experience drives Ellie to Seattle on a violent quest for revenge. On her path of vengeance, she witnesses the true violent nature of humanity and the extent to which others will go through to survive. At the same time Abby, an ex-Firefly, embarks on her own journey to find her ex, Owen. While searching for Own, Abby rescues two rogue Seraphites, a primitivist cult who are at war with Abby’s faction, the Washington Liberation Front.

Spoilers are to follow:

The Last of Us Part II is the most divisive game in the series, and probably one of the most divisive games of all time. This is mostly due to Joel’s death and the overall pacing of the story. It feels like a jigsaw puzzle that has all the right pieces, but they have been arranged in a strange way. For instance, we have numerous scenes of Joel and Ellie bonding throughout the main game. Why couldn’t have those been at the start of the game before Joel’s death?

The main backbone of the first game was the growing bond between him and Ellie. So, killing Joel off in the first act of the game seems a little strange. Sure, it elicits an emotional response from the player to go after his killer, Abby, but to new players, they have no idea what’s going on and why Ellie is so attached to Joel. Additionally, the game’s switching of perspectives and having you play as Abby is also a strange decision. Again, you just spent the last thirteen-ish hours hunting her down, and now you are forced to play as her. It just doesn’t make sense story-wise other than to force you to like her character.

In regards to gameplay, I think Part II is better than Part I. Its movement and combat feel very similar. However, with the addition of going prone and silenced pistols, stealth is extremely satisfying. Taking out an entire group of enemies without them even knowing you are there is one of the best feelings in Part II. Of course, the infected make a grand return now more decayed and dangerous. However, the new infected type, the Shambler, is a bit dumb.

The Shambler is essentially Part II’s rendition of the “runs at you and explodes” enemy. Usually, these enemies are fairly fragile and die once they’ve exploded. That is not the case with Shamblers. They are a little stronger than Clickers and they can explode as many times as needed leaving a cloud of spores in the air. They’re not horrible, but also they’re not great either, just kind of “meh”.

In all, The Last of Us Part II does have some glaring issues. But does that make it a bad game? No. Does that make it a game worthy of “Game of the Year”? I don’t think so, but really that can still be debated. Either way, just like Part I, The Last of Us Part II is still an enjoyable experience and is highly replayable to this day.