Hey, have you ever heard of The Last of Us and its multiple re-releases, variants, and TV show? Sure you have. Well, it’s getting another new variant again.
Hold on, put your pitchforks away for a second. This new version of The Last of Us: Part II is coming as part of a free update for The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and it’s totally changing the way the game’s story is presented. Welcome, Chronological mode.
Chronological mode, you guessed it, presents TLOU2’s story in chronological order, meaning you will be jumping back and forth between Ellie and Abby’s perspectives as opposed to how the original game laid it all out. The first time around, players played as Ellie for the bulk of the first part of the game before rewinding the clock and playing as Abby.
“Those who have already played will know its story is told non-linearly, as Ellie and Abby’s motivations, realizations, and emotional stakes unfold across myriad flashbacks and present-day storylines,” Naughty Dog said in the announcement. “While this structure is very intentional and core to how our studio wanted Part II’s themes and narrative beats to impact players, we always wondered what it would be like to experience this story chronologically. And now finally, we can answer that question.”
Naughty Dog says that Chronological mode will allow players to “gain even deeper insight into Part II’s narrative,” such as how “Ellie being gifted a guitar flows so neatly into her learning to play, for example, while the journey through Seattle will showcase the fascinating parallels between Ellie and Abby’s crisscrossing journeys.”
“You’ll see just how close they come into running into each other, how their actions impact each other, and more,” Naughty Dog said.
The prospects of this new presentation definitely sound interesting, but what I’m really curious about is how this will affect the pacing of the game, which was meant to be presented differently entirely.
The new mode offers new PlayStation trophies to unlock, along with some Easter egg costumes for Joel and Tommy in the roguelike No Return mode, dressing the brothers as Nathan and Sam Drake from Uncharted, respectively.
And hey, this is a free update that players can take or leave, so I don’t think there’s much wrong with this iteration of TLOU2 this time around. But I’m sure someone will take issue with it anyway.
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