Summary
Though its mere existence has proven to be fairly controversial,The Last of Us Part 2 Remastereddoes add a sizable amount of content to the original PS4 experience. Along with some shinier visuals and more consistent framerates,The Last of Us Part 2 Remasteredadds insightful developer commentary, a few prototype Lost Levels to explore, a Guitar Free Play mode to mess around in, and a fully-fledged roguelike mode that’s packed with hours of evolving content.
With all of this content packed in,The Last of Us Part 2 Remasteredfeels like more of a celebration for the four-year-old game than a greedy cash grab, and that’s definitely evident in the remaster’s wealth of fan service. Much like last year’sLast of Us Part 1remake,The Last of Us Part 2 Remasteredis filled with in-game collectibles, many of which change the appearance of its playable characters. These cosmetics contain some major references to both past Naughty Dog titles, and fellow video game IP, with some having a little deeper meaning than the others.
Some of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s Shirts Have Special Meaning
Hotline Miami Makes a Cameo In The Last of Us Part 2’s Story
One of the best unlockable cosmetics for Ellie inThe Last of Us Part 2 Remasteredis a shirt that referencesHotline Miami. Anultra-violent top-down shooter from 2012,Hotline Miamiwas clearly a source of inspiration for Naughty Dog when working onThe Last of Usfranchise, and when there was a chance to reference it inThe Last of Us Part 2, Naughty Dog took that opportunity and ran with it.
During a chapter that seesEllie sneak into WLF territory, players will sneak up behind an unsuspecting WLF soldier who’s preoccupied with playing a classic model PlayStation Vita. After Ellie kills the WLF soldier—later revealed to be called Whitney—players can spot that she was in the middle of playingHotline Miami, with the iconic synthwave soundtrack still blaring from the discarded earphones. It’s one of the best, and most morbid references inThe Last of Us Part 2, and it’s great to seeHotline Miamiget another little nod via the remaster’s cosmetics.
Mortal Kombat Has Strong Ties to The Left Behind
Another great cosmetic with a whole lot of meaning behind it isThe Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’sMortal Kombatshirt. In the originalLeft BehindDLC for the firstLast of Usgame, Ellie and Riley stumble upon an arcade in the dilapidated mall. With the machines themselves being broken, Riley gets Ellie to close her eyes and instead narrates a whole fighting game match while Ellie takes the sticks. Though the arcade game is called “The Turning,” Riley throws in some tongue-in-cheekMortal Kombatreferences, and in the HBO adaptation, they just decided to go all-out and make itMortal Kombat 2.
Ellie Would Have Loved Sci-Fi Games Like Destiny
ThoughThe Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’sDestinyshirt reference doesn’t really have any deep ties withThe Last of Usfranchise, Sci-Fi as a whole has a strong connection with the character of Ellie Williams. While the firstLast of Usbriefly hints atEllie’s love for space, the sequel explores it in quite a bit of depth, with its museum sequence still being a major highlight of the game. It seems pretty likely, then, that if Bungie’sDestinywas around inThe Last of Usuniverse, Ellie would have probably loved it.
