Summary
I’ve dabbled in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s roguelike No Return mode, and it was pretty fun. TheGamer’s editor in chief Stacey Henley has written a comprehensive review ofthe gameandthe new mode specifically, which you should read because it’s going to be much more in-depth than anything I can say after the few runs I’ve done. All in all: I liked the experience and found the challenges a good incentive to keep going, but I’m not likely to play a ton of it because I don’t find The Last of Us 2’s combat especially compelling.
I did find one glaring omission in the game mode that was immediately made clear before I started my first run though: there is no tutorial. I haven’t played The Last of Us or its sequel since they were each originally released for the PS4, which makes it three and a half years since I’ve booted the games up at all. While The Last of Us 2 is one of my favourite games, it’s not one I feel the need to return to.
Before I entered my first run, the game told me that I should have finished the main story and that the mode assumes I’ll be familiar with the combat mechanics of the game. It also displays a graphic that details the controls, and gives me access to a load of text tutorials that you’d normally find in the campaign, reminding me that I can craft, evade, use listen mode and throw things as distractions.
This does not, unfortunately, serve as a tutorial, and there isn’t one anywhere else in the game. If I want to refamiliarise myself with the controls in an organic way, I’d have to go into the main campaign and pick up the skills again. As much as I’d love to relive the experience, especially with commentary included, I simply don’t have the time.
I didn’t port my PS4 data over to my PS5 when I upgraded, and the PS5 version of TLOU thinks I never finished the campaign. That means I can’t even play the campaign with commentary, because I have to unlock it first. Yes, I’m mad about it.
Unfortunately, that means that I had to fumble through my first run, confused and stressed out. It’s not that big a deal – through trial and error, I eventually figured the basics out again and managed to get my bearings. But it’s an annoying process, one that might throw off other players who, like me, haven’t played this three and a half year old game since they wrapped up their first go at the campaign.
This could have been easily remedied with a brief, skippable tutorial level before starting the first run, which would help returning players get back to grips with the flow of battle and that players who’ve just finished the campaign for the first time could ignore completely. There are alternatives, as well. God of War Ragnarok’s Valhalla expansioneases players back into the game’s combat very well, without needing a tutorial. The Last of Us 2 Remastered doesn’t do that either, which is a shame.
Considering that a majority of players checking out No Return are likely going to be returning players who haven’t played in a while, it seems like a major oversight that they didn’t include this. Just be warned: you’re going to be thrown in without much guidance, but you’ll figure it out.
