Against all odds, The Last of Us, Part 2 Remastered’s No Return mode is nigh-on perfect

The Last of Us, when you really think about it, is the last game that should have ever gotten a roguelike mode. Think about it; this is a series that goes to great lengths to bemoan the use of excessive violence, that sternly wags its finger and says ‘tsk, tsk, tsk, can’t we do better than this?’ whilst standing in a pool of blood and looking sad.

To inject a non-canon roguelike into this game is anathema to the very point of The Last of Us, on the surface. Saying to its tortured characters “here, have an infinite pit of misery” or “here’s a gauntlet you can run, over and over, where killing is free and violence is celebrated” would no doubt horrify and alienate the more moderate members of the cast (read: Jesse, Dina, Tommy, Owen, and so on). Abby and Ellie may actually enjoy it, though – I always had the feeling they were sadists, at heart.

So how does The Last of Us get it so right? I have put 1000s of hours into roguelikes (I’d go as far as saying they represent my favourite games in the whole industry) and The Last of Us 2 Remastered’s No Return mode is up there with the best. The game’s encounter design was always top-tier; giving you little stealth sandboxes to run around with the option to ‘go loud’ if you get sniffed out (or giving you more than enough pathways to execute your ninja plan with aplomb if not) is only the first layer of the onion.

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